Video Game Harmony

Limbo/Inside

Released: July 21, 2010/June 29, 2016

Developer: Playdead

Composer: Martin Stig Andersen and Søs Gunver Ryberg

It’s spooky season now, so you know what that means! It’s time to talk about spooky games. To start out, I will talk about the games Limbo and Inside, and the reason I’m talking about both is because they’re both similar games by the same developer, with a similar score by the same composer. It only made sense to include both of them.

These games were an experience that I will not forget. They can be classified as horror games, but they don’t feel like many other examples of the genre. There’s no fear that something’s going to jump scare you, and the music doesn’t make you feel under pressure. They just have a feeling of creepiness and dread throughout.

The coldness I feel while listening to the main title of Limbo leaves me both relaxed and saddened. You can feel the emptiness of this world that the boy has entered. I love to listen to this track to fall asleep and contemplate my whole life. It does things to me that can’t be fully described, but it’s somewhere between relaxation and fear. You just need to go listen to it for yourself.

Speaking of cold, I could not go through this post without mentioning the submarine theme from Inside. The moment you enter the fast depths of the oceans is one that won’t be forgotten. Everything feels so large and empty down here. I feel a combination of being in awe and feeling sad. Just to get an idea of what it feels like, watch a couple minutes of this video.

Much of the soundtrack to Limbo sounds more like noise than music. The officially released soundtrack may have used actual sounds from the game at times. The Gravity Jump track and that vibrating sound heard throughout it reminds me distinctly of the part where I got to use gravity change to my advantage. Some may find it annoying, but I felt a good amount of unease with this score.

Much of inside is a similar kind of dark ambient as the main theme of Limbo. One part that specifically sticks out to me, though, is the Shockwave track. We are hearing these huge shockwaves coming through, and if you get hit by one you’re dead instantly. Then, during the second part of the song the shockwaves aren’t as distinct. They sound faint as if the boy is going temporarily deaf, while we’re starting to hear this soothing and hopeful ambience coming through. It’s truly a moment that starts to take you out of the unsettling feeling, and it’s breathtaking.

What I compare these soundtracks to is the YouTube channel Cryo Chamber. This channel has a plethora of dark ambient music that is both relaxing and somewhat frightening at the same time. I absolutely love this channel. It’s music that at times I like to sleep to but at other times I like to work to. Because of that, I also really love these soundtracks. In addition to listening to them regularly, they really made me feel the cold emptiness of these worlds. I highly recommend these two games and their music, therefore I give both soundtracks five out of five stars.

★★★★★

I look forward to posting about more spooky games this month!