Say what now?

What's this?

I'm so far away from the hypesphere, I've go no idea what this is!

http://www.ntsc-uk.com/review.php?platform=360&game=LIMBOXBLA

I didn't read beyond the first line as I didn't want to 'spoil' the experience.

There's definate promise in the game and it has thrown up some nice little surprises. I'll post some more impressions when I get a bit further in.

I played the demo last week, was quite taken with the visual design, but not really won over by the game design.

The mechanics are really nicely implemented, its fun for sure, but also pretty basic. At 3 hours long I'm not keen to spend £10 on it.

The 360 Castlevania on the other hand is really great! I'll post some impressions on that when I've played it more.

That's the multiplayer 2D jobbie isn't it. I loved the last Castlevania I played on the DS after going back to it. Aria of Sorrow (maybe?). Alucard is a badass. Played through nearly the whole game again after unlocking him

Have you tried it co-op yet?

Didn't think I would ever see you post something like that.... O_o

I don't think those 3 hours are good enough to warrant a purchase, based on the demo. There isn't any replayability there either.

If it was 3 hours of great game that would be different...

Yeah. It has a PSO vibe, but I've not played enough yet.

In Limbo I'm dying a lot. There's a hefty lump of trial and error. I'm hoping that once I get to grips with the world objects and their behaviour I will be able to work out the puzzles on the fly without dying so much. However up to the point I've played so far there has been no let-up in the introduction of new game elements.

I quite like the way in which the game plays with your hardwired 'game-knowledge'. There have been a number of situations where it tricks you into thinking you have worked out the pattern or you expect something to behave in a certain way and then.... snap, crunch, splitch... death. It's almost mocking.

Yeah, the confounding of expectations is interesting, but also frustrating, and the demo highlights the same chore of continually having to work out what each new game object does. I guess that discovery process is in fact 'the game'.

If each new thing was really fun and imaginative that might be great, but the demo only really offers contrariness. Not so much fun, and probably not as clever as it thinks.

I didn't finish the demo, so I'm not sure if I've passed beyond it or not, but so far the only thing that has really stood out (spoiler) are the little brain slugs that drop onto your head and force you to move continually either left or right..

The demo only goes as far as the (first?) encounter with a big spider.

Ah OK. I think that's a pretty good representation of the game from what I've played so far. I'll post some more impressions when (if) I finish it.

And yes there are more big spider thingies, but they don't appear to be the primary antagonists.

80% done now. Man this game is short. I'm also sort of stuck...

The whole thing feels more like a set of tutorials designed to introduce you to the game objects. To be fair some of the puzzles are genuinely engaging. It's crying out for DLC, a level editor or both.

Now unstuck and stuck again. The last 20% looks like it will be good. Lots of (spoiler) Super Mario Galaxy Gravity Switching

Damn, you boys are late to the party!

I got this a few weeks ago and completed it already. It was a case of love at first sight for me.

The trial and error gameplay didn't bother me at all; you are SUPPOSED to die a lot while figuring out what to do.

At it's core, it's basically just an old-school platformer with an interesting graphical style. Very well made, and certainly better than the hugely overrated and utterly pretentious Braid.

As always

I've certainly enjoyed it and it is a very pretty game. I would disagree that Limbo is an old school platformer though. We've got physics based puzzles, virtually no exploration (save for a handful of achievements) and scripted action sequences. None of those really fit with the old school moniker in the way that a game like Cave Story does for example.

Having watched a friend and my wife play through the first portions of the game again. I've noticed that there's some quite nice signposting of latter events and sections as you work through the game. Also there's a lovely shift from rural to industrial aesthetic as the game progresses. It's beautifully thought out in that respect.