Anyone who appreciates the loneliness and isolation in games like Super Metroid and Limbo will fall immediately in love with Closure. Winner of the DICE 2012 Indie Game Challenge, Closure is a puzzle-platformer for PSN that taps into man's primordial fear of the dark in ways which few games has ever quite understood. One of the very first things you're likely to do in the game is walk just beyond a light source and immediately fall to your doom. You see, the world of Closure is sprinkled with light sources that not only illuminate the world, but actually bring it into existence. Step outside the beam of a spotlight or glow of a light bulb, and you'll find yourself tumbling down into a void of nothingness.


While black space in Limbo was used primarily to advance the mood and atmosphere, Closure takes the actual concept of darkness and weaves it into the game's mechanics. This creates an experience where the tone of the game is symbiotic with how it actually plays. In the early levels, you only need to pick up a light bulb and carry it across the level to the exit door. Simple enough, right? Well, like all of the best puzzle games, Closure reveals its intricacies slowly and intuitively throughout the experience. You'll soon find doors that need to be unlocked using a key, so your goal becomes finding that item in the darkness, then making sure that you bring it back to the door without losing it in a nebulous void. As the game advances you'll have to make flowers bloom using spotlights, create gaps in walls using darkness, and collect moths that show themselves only when illuminated.

At the start of the game, you're given the choice of three different doors to go through. Each door transforms you into a different character and tasks you with completing 24 separate puzzle rooms that slowly reveal how each of the individuals ended up in in this stark, monochromatic purgatory. The beauty with the narrative in Closure is in how much the developers leave for the player to fill in. I've had debates over what certain levels represent in relation to your characters, and honestly, both of our explanations were completely believable. Without giving too much away, each of your avatars is journeying through the dark abyss in order to find some form of, you guessed it, closure. The settings you wander through deal with mature themes in an allegorical manner that trust the player enough to piece together their own story.

Aside from presenting different narratives, each of the three paths also introduce new mechanics to the world that continually evolve the gameplay. One character utilizes stationary guns to destroy barriers, but because the barriers only exist when illuminated, you'll have to manage your light resources carefully. This trinity approach to the game also allows you to skip to another path if a specific puzzle proves to be too frustrating, which will undoubtedly happen throughout the game. The most difficult puzzles will stick with you long after you stop playing. Similar to Catherine and Portal, Closure will leave you taking concepts from the game and transferring them to the real world around you. I can't help but walk into my kitchen at night and wonder whether or not I'll fall straight into a gloomy void if I choose to not turn the light on. The puzzles themselves also nestle into your mind, particularly the difficult ones that necessitate taking a step back from the game and clearing your thoughts. I was stuck on a particularly tricky one a few nights ago, so I decided to turn the game off and watch an episode of Mad Men. I was fully engrossed in Don Draper's birthday party when the solution to the puzzle suddenly sprang to life in my mind. It takes a truly special game to take refuge in your self-conscious, and I promise you that Closure does just that.


As aesthetically beautiful and ingeniously planned as the game is, annoyance rears its ugly head when you're forced to micromanage two separate items at the same time. Since your character can only hold one object at any given moment, you'll occasionally find yourself inching forward through a level as you play hopscotch with a key and a light bulb. Real frustration sets in when you have to retry a level because you drop your key into a dark abyss just a few pixels outside of a light source. Yes, all of these mistakes are technically the fault of the player, but the need to restart stages because of things like this happen a bit more frequently than I'd like. That being said, the game wisely allows you to go back to the beginning of a puzzle without any loading screen whatsoever. If you're going to force the player to engage in many retries, at least Closure has the decency to make it as pain-free as possible.

Nitpicks aside, Closure is a perfect example of why some of my favorite experiences on the PlayStation 3 come from PSN. Closure joins the ranks of Braid, Limbo, and Journey as titles that shun conformity in favor of delivering a daring and original vision. The game is crammed with challenges and collectibles that will hold your attention well passed the expiration date of most downloadable titles. Those looking for a game that treads entirely new ground will find Closure to be a gorgeous beacon of puzzle bliss.