GameLight Review - The Binding of Isaac

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/113200/

Source: Youtube Channel iamjamesid

Developer: Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl
Publisher: Edmund McMillen
Platforms: PC/Mac
Release Date: September 28, 2011
Genre: Action-RPG

Pros:
-Simple, short and challenging each playthrough
-Randomly generated dungeons, items, and enemies make for a unique experience each time
-The difficulty, grotesque art style, and mood setting music creates quite the atmosphere

Cons:
-The game does require a bit of luck in order to get through to the end
-The game doesn't have much left to offer after all items and characters are acquired unless they update
-Some room designs make it impossible to avoid getting hit or killed

The Binding of Isaac is an enticing and provocative Action game with elements of RPG and Rogue-like games that keep things fresh each time the player decides to play it.  Referencing to the biblical story "Binding of Isaac" in title and plot, the protagonist escapes his mother as she seeked to sacrifice him in the name of the Lord himself.  The player will traverse through the winding basements fighting off various enemies and lost brothers and sisters in a Robotron or Geometry Wars kind of control scheme.  The player will acquire equipment, gain health, and purchase items like in an RPG while the levels are designed like a rogue like game where each room that the player goes into is a risk or reward as well as the enemies that attack the player.  It's a challenging game and very difficult, but very much possible to beat almost every time as long as the player is cautious and makes wise decisions.  The game is definitely not for everyone, but those who enjoy a challenge will find the entertainment value of this game to be quite satisfying.

Graphics
The first and last impression of the game's art style is that it's grotesque, freaky, and down-right disgusting.  What's funny is that it works.  The obscure looking enemies, eerie corridors of each room and bloody effects from the defeated enemies places the player in an uncomfortable environment and leaves quite an impression even after retiring from play.  What I find surprising is that despite the muddy dark colors of each level and objects, the environment, enemies and players are easily distinguishable which is very important when the fighting gets really messy.  The user interface is a reference to (if not direct copy as an homage) The Legend of Zelda as well as the way the dungeon are set up.  With the game's levels set up as a room to room design, navigation is extremely easy while creating randomly generated contents for each play through is much more effective in creating a new experience each time the players stats a new game.  The only complaint I have about the graphics is that it's difficult to determine the trajectory of some of the enemies bullets when they're tossed into the air.  Graphics: 9/10

Audio
I've taken quite a liking to Danny Baranowsky's style of music from Super Meat Boy and now in The Binding of Isaac.  SMB was a lot of exciting and upbeat tracks, but in order for The Binding of Isaac to get the darker and almost horror-like feel, the music is a lot more subtle.  Lower tones, dissonance, and a bit of rushing makes for a tense and frantic feel for the level and gameplay.  It's a lot less synthetic than SMB and has a lot of those low strings and trickling piano that you hear used in thriller or horror movies.  The sound effects works really well as each enemy has their own unique cry or moan.  The sfx's association with the enemies' look and action are like signifier of what to watch out for.  One example is the enemy "Gluttony" and its similar counter-parts where they rip open their rip-cages and shoot a long stream of blood at the player.  The first time that happened, it freaked me out.  That sound was so prominent that I always become very cautious whenever I see one of them (which usually turns out to be six of them in one room).  Some of the best audio has to be the voice of the mother.  It is pretty dang scary hearing her call out Isaac and have her foot stomp on the player.  Audio: 10/10

Gameplay
The Binding of Isaac isn't one of those games that I want to continuously keep playing and keep coming back to day after day like with Super Meat Boy.  The challenge is opposite of what the developers did for Super Meat Boy in that in SMB, you memorize and get used to the level that you're playing and race for the fastest time possible.  In The Binding of Isaac, the player will want to slow everything down and take on each room carefully with a clear mind.  Fast reflexes and reactions to each situation is needed to fight off all the unique enemies within the game in order to survive.  And since the game randomly generates everything each playthrough, there's no way to memorize any of the levels and each room is an unexpected surprise (be they good or bad).  I've already gotten all the characters and half of the items in the game already after beating the game several times.  Each time I thought I was going to lose, I was able to pull through as long as I never got over-confident and was conscious of everything around me.  It truly delivered a different experience each time as each character has their own starting statistics, abilities, and each playthrough will give different power-ups.  The game does require a bit of luck as certain items can help or hurt a player in sticky situations that they can't get out of.  A player could walk into a very narrow corridor in a room and get attacked from a distance right from the get-go or be charged at by and enemy with no where to escape.  Getting a special item, a certain card/pill, or even half a heart for health can be the difference between victory or death.  I think once the player has discovered every item, enemy, and character in the game, the replay value will rely solely on the player's desire to play through it again and not to find anymore content.  It'd be great if the developers continued to add more like they did for the Halloween special, but that''ll depend on the developers.  As I've said in the beginning, it's not a game I'd play continuously, but rather play once in a while as a break in-between my other games.  It takes me about an hour for each successful playthrough, and there's no save function.  Still, I had fun each time I played through it and will probably continue to play in the future until I've collected everything.  Gameplay: 8/10

Overall
For a game I paid less than a dollar for (I got it during the Humble Voxatron Debut), it was well worth it.  I've already played it more than I did for some of the retail games I've bought.  I like how I can quickly start it up and play through it and (hopefully) get a satisfactory playthrough it as many big names games require the player to sit through long dialogues and tutorials (which is okay if it's what you want at that moment) or that a game is too simple and feels like an on-going monotonous action.  It can be frustrating because sometimes things happen when you least expect it and end up having to start all over.  But I think that's what makes it so satisfying if you can get through it all the way to the end.  I'm not sure who to recommend it to since it's so weird and freaky looking, but I suppose I would tell anyone who's remotely interested to get it since it's only $5 on steam.  I'm looking forward to what Edmund McMillen has in store for the future.  Overall: 9/10