Now Playing - The Binding of Isaac
Roguelikes have been on the way out as of late. As popular as the oldschool Zeldas are, those types of games don't seem to fit what gamers want nowadays. The graphics aren't pretty, the actual gameplay can get a bit repetative, and because the levels are usually randomly generated, you can end up getting your butt handed to you. Or end up with an unbeatable dungeon. There's not a lot of choice or character creation, and story tends to be rather... Lacking.
So let's slap on a bunch of dead baby jokes and make ourselves a game.
This seems to have been the thought process when it comes to The Binding of Isaac. Made by the same guys that made Super Meat Boy, it's a roguelike that has a twisted sense of humor that could make even Southpark cringe. I'll get into that a little later. More importantly, though, instead of being the normal hack and slash roguelike, it uses a shooting mechanic instead. Don't forget powerups. Lots of them.
Gameplay-wise, if you know what a roguelike is, you know what The Binding of Isaac is. That is, a top-down dungeon crawler with randomly generated floors and rooms. It uses a standard room size with randomly generated monster layouts, floor layouts, and more. And it also uses the 'top down shooter' mechanic instead of your normal Zelda-clone hack and slash. This means that the power-ups the game uses can be a little more unique. And there are lots of them. 110+, with at least 4 characters, three of which are unlockable. There are only six floors in the standard game, but as I said, randomly generated. And only ten or so rooms per floor. Supposedly, once you beat the game, more stuff unlocks.
Sound-wise, the music's good. Creepy, as it should be. The sound effects are... Okay. Middling decent. There's not much they could have done. The gooey sounds gooey, the drippy sounds drippy. The monsters sound like monsters. I didn't expect much out of this.
Graphics feel like a roguelike. Considering it's partnering with Newgrounds and runs Flash, you can't expect too much. At least it isn't ASCII or sprites. Hand-drawn characters that feel cartoonish, that add a certain charm to the subject matter.
Speaking of that, I might as well get there. Basically, Isaac is a young kid. I gathered somewhere around 6, I could be wrong. His mom watches a lot of evangelical Christian shows. One day, God speaks to her. Tells her that Isaac is corrupted, she must purge him. So she takes away all his toys. God speaks again, says it's not done, she must do more. Out go the clothes, and he's locked in his room. God speaks again, this time saying she must kill Isaac to show her devotion to God. She agrees, and tries to do so. Isaac, thinking quickly, finds a trapdoor to the basement. And then dives down it.
That's where we come in. You can already tell, this game is ten kinds of screwed up. It gets worse. Two powerups are (as far as I can tell) the dead and/or aborted brother and sister. Mom's pad (yes, THAT kind of pad) is a power-up. Sticking a coathanger through your head gets faster shooting. There's a tarot deck that helps you out. You can make a pact with the devil for better abilities. Isaac will cross-dress with Mom's things to get powerups. Dead baby jokes abound. Things continue to get worse the deeper you go. There are jokes that are not quite as dark (the bomberman clone, some of the items), but expect to think "Oh my god" more than once.
It's sick. It's twisted. And it works.
How much is the game gonna run you? $5. It's cheap. $6 if you want the soundtrack. How much is it worth? $7-10. Don't get me wrong. It's a great game. That said, it FEELs like a flash game. The price point fits the game fairly squarely.
However, there's that Hamburger Rating, right? I've got 9 hours into this game, and I haven't even beaten the final boss on a single run yet. And apparently more unlocks then. So we're already assuming 2:1 here, and I'm planning on Let's Playing this for a while, one run at a time. As such, a resounding two patties up.
Comments