Console Corner: Review of Limbo

My review of Limbo will be quite short as I had the (relatively) unfortunate situation of playing it after having played Inside.  They are not identical games, comparable 1:1.  But the similarities far outweigh the differences, and Inside is simply the better game.  Had I played Limbo first, I think the positives, which there is no shortage of, would have shone all the brighter. 

Both Limbo and Inside are 2D side-scrolling dystopias depicted in a black and white color palette.  Both feature a boy trying to navigate lethal, platform-based puzzles that test the player’s lateral thinking and hand/eye coordination (more the former than the latter).   But where Limbo’s puzzles are unique and challenging individually, the whole fails to achieve the same degree of cohesion as Inside.  Another way of putting this is: Limbo is a brain-bending parade of puzzles that are challenging, and are fun and satisfying when they’re solved.  Inside is the same, plus the added degree that the puzzles are synthesized into a semi-story that gives rise to intriguing meta-questions about the game, and to some degree, life itself. 

Thus Limbo is easily recommended, just behind in line to Inside, which means you should play it first.  I bought it as part of an Inside/Limbo bundle from the Playstation Store, and I don’t regret it.  I would play it again, as I was engaged every moment of the roughly 3.5 hours I spent figuring my way through the lethal traps.  So, do play Limbo if the game type appeals to you, just be sure to play it before Inside to get fullest enjoyment.