Preview Limbo of the Lost Developer: Majestic Studios Publisher: G2 Games Release Date: January 2007 Platform: Preview by May 3, 2005

Do you believe in Fate and Destiny? If not, then maybe you should reconsider as the twin brothers, Fate and Destiny, are battling for supremacy over mankind! Their battleground: a vast stone citadel, called The Keep of the Lost Souls, created by The Elders and housed within the realm known as Limbo. Soon mankind’s fate will be determined: if Fate wins, Armageddon shall be birthed and mankind will suffer for eternity. If Destiny wins, mankind prospers. Fate’s allies are the four warriors of darkness, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Destiny’s allies are Captain Briggs and… you!

Captain Briggs carries the seal to the Sufferance, a book crafted by the Elders, scripted from the souls of the lost and inked with the blood of the suffering. The Four Horsemen guard the Sufferance at the very top of The Keep. Captain Briggs will have to reach the top of The Keep and seal the book. This is the only way to defeat Fate. But Fate will make sure that his way will not be paved with roses. On the contrary, Captain Briggs will have to overcome the many devious puzzles that Fate has laid along his way and for that he will need help from you – his Earthly Guide.

Limbo of the Lost is a classic 3rd person point & click adventure game. Left-clicking on the screen will have Briggs walk around, or go to an exit. Right-clicking will bring up the Ouija Board! The Ouija Board is the game’s interface, which looks like a, erm, Ouija board. It includes the commands Sense, Action, Look or Take. Also, some of the letters of the board can be selected: S to save, L to load, O for options and Q for quit. Overall a very original idea for an interface! I have one small gripe though. Every time the Ouija board appears, it makes an “electric” effect, which has to be played to its end in order for the Ouija board to be used. At first this effect was interesting, but it soon becomes slightly tiresome to watch every time you need to perform an action. Maybe this effect should only appear the first time the Ouija board is opened, or usage of it be possible while the effect is taking place.

The demo features the first rooms at the bottom levels of the Keep. Although that was just a few rooms, several characters made their appearance, and they were all very interesting and fun to deal with! William Nilmate, a prisoner who is such a chatterbox that even the skeleton in his cell plugs his ears with his boney fingers to shut him out; Grunger, the jailor who always sleeps and great punishment awaits the ones who wake him; Edd the Head, Grunger’s servant, who is a head residing at Grunger’s feet and who is very sarcastic; and Cranny Faggot, Grunger’s mom, who makes his favorite brew and loves hard liquor! Characters seem to be a very strong point in Limbo of the Lost!

All puzzles in the demo are inventory based, not too hard, but pretty clever! They require a good deal of thinking as well as imagination in order to be solved! The inventory is at the top of the screen, and items can be manipulated using the Ouija board, combined in the usual click one on top of the other way or used on hotspots on the screen. Looking at an item while it’s in the inventory activates a full screen image and description.

The graphics are impressive. Characters are 3D, very detailed, making various facial expressions. The rooms are also very nicely designed, with beautiful colors and high detail. There is no music playing, but there are sounds coming from the dungeons like evil laughs, screams, wind blowing etc. Speech is very well done, and everyone has a distinct way of speaking. Unfortunately, some creatures’ voices are a bit hard to understand, so an option for subtitles would be very welcome. During dialogs, a close up of the person speaking will appear on screen, which features almost perfect lip-syncing!

In general, Limbo of the Lost could be categorized as black humor. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a horror comedy, since it’s not scary, but it features corpses, skeletons, ghosts, witches, severed arms, skulls and… snot! Still the humor is abundant and the dialogues are funny and witty. The early demo is great and if it is an indication of the potential of the full game, then we can be looking forward to a grade A adventure next year!