I liked this game, but in all honestly I would be lying if I told you that was the reason I want to review it. I am reviewing it because just like Guacamelee that I review a while back it makes me feel like a videogame hipster. On with the official stuff, 'The Binding of Isaac' was developed by Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl and was published by Head Up Games. Currently the game is located only on the PC platforms regardless of OS, but there are on-going attempts and there were attempts to get it on consoles and handheld devices.
Despite the cutesy artstyle that the game has 'The Binding of Isaac' has to be one of the darkest games I have played in a very long time. The narrative is essentially your struggle as a small naked child, who is trapped in a dungeon, as your mother comes looking for you to kill you. On top of that the game has some very heavy and very dark biblical references. These themes were in fact the reason the game failed to actually get a port approved for the 3DS since Nintendo didn't like it, the word "questionable" was even brought up.
Looking just at the aesthetics of the game you can understand why Nintendo might have come to this decision. Your enemies range from killer flies to smiling zombies that only die once you beat their mushy remains into the void. The game's music aside from being somber and thematically spot on is also sometimes interrupted by haunting bouts of distant crying just to make sure that you don't forget what game you are supposed to be playing.
In terms of gameplay 'The Binding of Isaac' was both a very compelling and very frustrating experience for me. I find it a bit difficult to describe, but the game has a ton of side scrolling elements but the space you are allowed to move in isn't a standard 2D plane but square rooms. In addition to being a side-scroller (I guess) the game is a shooter much the same way games like contra were shooters with you having projectiles to launch at enemies to kill them. Those projectiles are your tears and/or piss by the way (I told you this game was dark). As/if you progress through the game you are given health and power upgrades to make you tougher and stronger. Aside from the standard fair though the game has a bunch of different powers and upgrades that give you rechargable super moves of varying effectiveness.
Now, while everything that I said above might seem like a set up that would make a fair game I would like to make it clear that the game has a massive luck factor in its inherent design. This random/luck factor manifests itself in two ways. The first is the level design, where each time you go from one stage of the game to the next an entirely new level layout is generated meaning that no single play through is like the one before it or after it. The second are the power up drops, these are also randomized and you can end up with some really unoptimized sets of powers that make it really hard for you to actually fight your way through the game. As a result these two factors combine to give you game that is endlessly replayable but also endlessly frustrating. This is more of a personality issue though, I personally found it frustrating after a while, but I do understand why some people would really love these mechanics.
What really makes 'The Binding of Isaac' a good game though isn't one individual element, its how it all ties together so well to match up thematically bringing together a really compelling experience. The dark overall themes, the random levels with unknown monsters and power up that always keep you on your toes, the music and art design ensuring that you know this is a giant metaphor for a trip through the seven layers of hell. At the end of the day though I know that the 'The Binding of Isaac' isn't for everyone, if you like retro games like Contra then you should get this otherwise stay away because the very reason that makes this game good (a perfect side scrolling shooter true to the genre) is the same reason that people will hate it. Its a matter of taste and you really should be taking some of the blame if you have no idea what you like and don't like by now.
Time to be a videogame hipster again, like I was in my Guacamelee! review. 'The Binding of Isaac' has some very clear influence from Newgrounds.com a flash game portal that while still popular had its peak in the early 2000's. It goes beyond the rather massive logo right at the start though. The symbol used to represent the bosses in the game is actually the mask from a unique Newgrounds.com IP, you can find it through this link. The symbol used to represent the bosses lives is what used to be one of the faces from the sites rating system, specifically the "BLAM" face which was used if you wanted the content removed from the site. Alright. Geek. Out.
Looking just at the aesthetics of the game you can understand why Nintendo might have come to this decision. Your enemies range from killer flies to smiling zombies that only die once you beat their mushy remains into the void. The game's music aside from being somber and thematically spot on is also sometimes interrupted by haunting bouts of distant crying just to make sure that you don't forget what game you are supposed to be playing.
In terms of gameplay 'The Binding of Isaac' was both a very compelling and very frustrating experience for me. I find it a bit difficult to describe, but the game has a ton of side scrolling elements but the space you are allowed to move in isn't a standard 2D plane but square rooms. In addition to being a side-scroller (I guess) the game is a shooter much the same way games like contra were shooters with you having projectiles to launch at enemies to kill them. Those projectiles are your tears and/or piss by the way (I told you this game was dark). As/if you progress through the game you are given health and power upgrades to make you tougher and stronger. Aside from the standard fair though the game has a bunch of different powers and upgrades that give you rechargable super moves of varying effectiveness.
What really makes 'The Binding of Isaac' a good game though isn't one individual element, its how it all ties together so well to match up thematically bringing together a really compelling experience. The dark overall themes, the random levels with unknown monsters and power up that always keep you on your toes, the music and art design ensuring that you know this is a giant metaphor for a trip through the seven layers of hell. At the end of the day though I know that the 'The Binding of Isaac' isn't for everyone, if you like retro games like Contra then you should get this otherwise stay away because the very reason that makes this game good (a perfect side scrolling shooter true to the genre) is the same reason that people will hate it. Its a matter of taste and you really should be taking some of the blame if you have no idea what you like and don't like by now.
Time to be a videogame hipster again, like I was in my Guacamelee! review. 'The Binding of Isaac' has some very clear influence from Newgrounds.com a flash game portal that while still popular had its peak in the early 2000's. It goes beyond the rather massive logo right at the start though. The symbol used to represent the bosses in the game is actually the mask from a unique Newgrounds.com IP, you can find it through this link. The symbol used to represent the bosses lives is what used to be one of the faces from the sites rating system, specifically the "BLAM" face which was used if you wanted the content removed from the site. Alright. Geek. Out.
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