Developer: Ed McMillen & Florian Himsl
Steam Release: Sept 2011
Hours Played: 6.9 (Includes Rebirth)
Similar To: Larva Mortus / Our Darker Purpose / Starward Rogue / The Weaponographist
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Edmund McMillen, of Super Meat Boy fame, is a big name in the indie gaming world. That masterpiece and this are considered major heavyweights in their respective genres. Binding of Isaac is a top-down, 2D screen-scroller that follows our eponymous hero in his effort to escape from his insane mother. Unlike its two sequels, it is bafflingly not compatible with an Xbox controller. Each level consists of around half a dozen to a dozen rooms which you can see in the form of a map in the top left corner. Put simply, you fire tears at the enemies to clear each room and pick up loot left over. Some take quite a few hits to take down, some split in half while some morph into something else etc. The more nasty ones have a health bar. A level finishes with a tricky boss fight and you are rewarded by going through the trap door to the next level below.
As you play you pick up and use: bombs (which you detonate to remove rocks); keys (to unlock doors and chests); hearts (extra lives); coins (to spend on extra lives or bombs etc) and power-ups. You also pick-up collectables. Now while the game is undoubtedly fine to play, I can't see why it’s practically worshiped to the skies or revered as the epitome of its kind. Movement is a little restricted and tight on occasions due to the small areas and at times it can seem a tad podgy and slow. Enemies, while they do vary in their patterns of attack have similar qualities which can also give the game a repetitive quality. But to be fair, immersion is great and these minor shortcomings do not hinder the rich overall gameplay experience.
One feature that adds to the immersion and that rich experience is the accompanying creepy music that really brings the spooky vibe and subversive nature of the game to the fore. However, by contrast, I would have liked to have heard more varied sound-effects. Explosions and deaths for example – which should be prominent and intense in a game of this nature - are practically silent or understated squidgy affairs. Meanwhile, the scruffy and untidy, minimalist hand-drawn main menu of pale greys and soft yellow pulsate and throb much like the Rhubarb & Custard cartoon of yesteryear. The Options path here offers a few graphical and screen-size tweaks with a few low resolution choices.
On pressing Start you're given the choice of character to play and then it's away you go! There is no best score to beat and no time-attacks of any kind, just rooms to clear. When you lose your three lives that's the end, a spotlight descends over the hapless hero and it's game over; no score, no indicator to see how many levels you did or monsters you killed - just game over and a prompt that asks you if you want to replay the game. There is a stat-screen (which you can get to from the title-screen) but these are largely irrelevant figures that you accrue just by playing the game naturally anyway. You may also view the items you have gathered by visiting the Collection page. Personally, I would like to have had something clear to aim for; any type of high-score or record of furthest level reached would have sufficed.
TBoI offers plenty of originality in art and design. It sets a new standard in quirkiness and peculiarity and certainly pushes the envelope when it comes to what is considered appropriate in a video game. However, I can't help feeling that it's a much overrated game - possibly down to the spell cast by Super Meat Boy. Larva Mortus, for example, released two or three years before this offering gets no credit whatsoever yet is clearly a title that Isaac has borrowed features and gameplay elements from. I also believe there is something to be said for a high-score system where repeated playthroughs have more meaning. Regardless, for all those who like a good romp through a solid top-down RPG will return to it again and again to see what lurks in its depths. With Rebirth adding a slew of curiosities there is even more to it that binds us to Isaac.
No comments:
Post a Comment