Among me and my friends, Commandos: behind enemy lines was a great hit. We'd always tried all sorts of tricks and traps to avoid getting seen while planning to pick off which enemies in what order. The game was hard, but this didn't stop us. Rather the contrary. When I first saw Desperados in a store, I think I bought it purely on a screenshot ("hey: this is commandos in the far west!"). It was...and still is. But as I played, it became clear that this went beyond a mere theme change. The atmosphere of a spaghetti western was spot on in every aspect, it had a storyline that was both great and fitting, and the abilities allowed for the same sort of sneakiness. Better yet: the insane hardcore difficulty of commandos was tuned down, as shooting guns could save you when you were discovered. These fire fights were much more rewarding, even though the chance of surviving them was still small at best. It even had the ability to zoom in and out! Now...we are obviously talking 2001-2002 here. There's a fair chance I still have the disk in my basement somewhere, but I really don't regret buying it on GoG. If for no other reason, to get the much later released linux port (which doesn't have the issues that I see in other reviews). The only reason it gets only four stars is that, to my own surprise, the game is much harder than I remember. I had forgotten the act of saving just about every step (and certainly after every unalerted kill). I had forgotten that random things like putting down a music playing watch could alert 5 extra guards. Exiting a door and punching someone in the face fast enough can't be timed in advance (and misclicks mean being discovered). I have been spoiled by "stealth games" where guards can just see a cone directly in front of them. All in all: it's a pretty hard game. An absolute gem...but know what you're getting into.
An absolute masterpiece of both horror and platforming. You play as one single guy, lost in some creepy black & white world, inhabited by gruesome enemies (arachnaphobiacs should avoid this game) and horrible places. Even the humans you'll encounter are "off" in the sense that there is no salvation, nowhere to hide and no safety to reach. The minimalism oozes throughout every part of the game; aside the menu option there is not a word spoken or written anywhere. The story is at best hinted at or up to the player to imagine. Your abilities are close to none: you can jump (slightly) and interact with a few things, and run left and right. That's it, and that's how it'll stay. There are no empowering mechanics or pickups in this game. Nevertheless, limbo makes more variety out of this limited possibility set than you would expect. It's not a very long game, but I don't consider that a bad thing either: it's more than long enough to completely draw you in with the atmosphere and lets you experience it the way it's meant to be. All in all, the five stars are absolutely deserved. There's a sequel to this game (inside) that's also very good. Fans will like that game as well, and vice versa.
