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The Binding of Isaac
PC (Steam)
Losing My Religion
4/5 stars
I took a chance on this as I do not consider myself a fan of the roguelike games that are completely random and usually unforgiving. But I loved the demented style and Zelda-like look of Binding of Isaac and when the game went on super-awesome Steam sale, I couldn't pass it up. Lucky for me - as Isaac has that old-school feel coupled with the art style of someone clearly a bit left of center with a dose of sticking it to the ultra-orthodox school of thinking.
Presentation: Isaac was originally a flash game, so the graphics are not exactly next-gen here. Yet I think it serves this type of game well. Character and enemy models aren't that far apart - in fact, many enemies could be considered version of the main character who didn't last as long. But even with this limited palette, there is a lot to go around. Common enemies range from flies (some follow you, some shoot at you - some divide, etc) to eyeballs that shoot lasers and blood geysers rights at you. Enemies can fly, walk or be totally immobile (and usually shoot at you ) - because the game is completely random, you never know just who you're going to find.
The music is alright - nothing outstanding, but nothing grating or annoying either. There basically no voice acting (other than the opening narration really) and the enemies mainly grunt or sound like they are throwing up (if they say anything at all). The game isn't meant to be pleasant and it shows. Enemies spew blood and many looks like they have tumors or are just plain disgusting (a bag of rotting innards just rolling around, for instance). But that's how I roll - it makes things interesting, that's for sure.
Story: At the beginning narration - we're told that Isaac's mother, who watches religious programming all day, hears the voice of God who tells her to sacrifice her son. As Isaac is cornered in his room, he discovers a hatch leading to the basement - thereby beginning his adventure. Isaac goes deeper and deeper in this world - each level has a cutscene depicting various instances of humiliation or violence against Isaac (disturbing - including getting his pants pulled down in front of a girl - who proceed to laugh at his single-pixel manhood - or being locked in a trunk and running out of air - or simply being pooped on by two boys, who also proceed to laugh at him). Go down far enough and you eventually confront "mother" - who is still trying to kill you, of course. But it doesn't end there - let's just say the real power isn't on the good side of religion (though that isn't hard to see coming).
Gameplay: Like any good Zelda clone - you're in full-on dungeon mode. Keys, bombs, hearts and money are your three main items you collect. Keys open doors and chests, bombs blow up rocks and secret rooms and coins buy you items or can be used in the random arcade, slot machine or beggar that show up. Hearts come in two varieties - red refills your main life points, while blue "soul" hearts give you an extra life point that can't be refilled once it's gone The game sometimes delights by providing plenty of one or two of these items while providing few of the third. It's great when you have thirty coins and ten bombs but zero keys. Did I say great? I mean annoying as hell. But that's the way it is, sometimes.
But beyond those items, the game delivers a huge random assortment of other items - these also come in three main types - you have a main "attack" button that usually delivers some massive damage attack - from dropping a precision bomb to poisoning an enemy with a dead head to the dreaded Shoop da Whoop. You can also collect "satellite" items that follow you - some provide hearts, soul hearts or coins - others are smaller versions of bosses and enemies that shoot out their own projectiles and you can get halo enemies that absorb projectiles themselves (very useful). Finally you have the items that give you various abilities (from increasing stats and health to being able to see through walls). These also change your appearance - a fun little aside.
Finally you have the secondary buttons - Tarot cards and Pills - that also provide a variety of abilities. The pills are completely random (unless you are lucky enough to have a specific item) - these can increase or decrease stats, completely refill your health or just give you a really dumb look on your face. The Tarot cards are much more useful - instantly teleporting you to the boss, secret or treasure room - dealing massive damage or giving you the ability to fly. Use these wisely.
The game gets progressively harder as you go along. The farther you go in the game, you also unlock more power-ups and even more characters to play the game with. You also unlock more bosses from the four horsemen (and the headless horseman) to the blob-like Gish and wormy C.H.A.D. - but the worst are the demons - Loki and The Fallen - they have the ability to completely decimate you, especially if encountered earlier rather than later - and since they are random, you can count on it happening some time. Each time you pass the full game - you also unlock a new item as well. Unless you are lucky, you can't even access the real final level until you pass the game ten times (and unlock the final character). I finally was able to get to the final boss - hint, it's not God - who has three forms (each progressively more terrible) and wasn't quite able to kill the final one, but am confident I could do it again.
The variety really makes this fun to play - and also makes it sometimes very frustrating. But you take the good with the bad and for the most part - it was a lot of strange, strange fun.
Replayability: Since this is a "roguelike" game no two playthroughs are going to ever be the same. Rooms, enemies, items and even bosses are random - plus with multiple characters, you really get your money's worth out of this one (if this is the type of game you like, of course).
Overall: The game will give you fits, it might disgust you but it's never boring. I would gladly go back to this as it's easy to play (a full game lasts about half-an-hour if you're good) but might be impossible to master.
Presentation: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Replayability: 5/5
Overall (not an average): 4/5
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