THE BINDING OF ISAAC: REBIRTH (VITA)
Quirky coincidence alert: I began playing The Binding of Isaac, a game that features a massive turd farting itself confidently around the screen, at about the exact same time my four-year old boy started to address me as ‘poo-poo-head’. ‘Eat your breakfast son’, I would say. ‘Daddy, you’re a poo-poo-head’ he would respond. ‘Lights off time for bed mate.’ ‘You’re a poo-head, Daddy’. Similar to the gameplay of The Binding of Isaac I’ve rather enjoyed this injection of subversive child-like toilet humour into the lukewarm water of my life.
Unfortunately for Isaac his father is absent (perhaps abandoning Isaac as a consequence of that one poo-related verbal too far) and his mother is a big bag of religious crazy. Following her God’s instruction to sacrifice her angelic son for the greater good (the greater good), Isaac escapes through a trapdoor in his bedroom to the basement below. His subsequent odyssey, battling through various stages of neurosis and poo-infested nightmares, eventually returns him to the womb and a final confrontation against Mother.
Everyone leaves the greasy puddle for someone else to clean...
That final confrontation will take a bit of time getting to though, owing to The Binding of Isaac being made of super hard sh!t. Granted, this is expected given Edmund McMillen’s previous form with Super Meat Boy, but the challenge here remains similarly rewarding. Much of this has to do with the simple interface and exquisitely diverse gameplay on offer. Firstly, the top-down 2D view of the basement, reminiscent of Smash TV, provides a simple yet addictive hook. Destroy all enemies using the neat concept of Isaac’s tears for bullets, exit through one of four doors and continue until you reach the boss at the end of the maze. Defeat the boss and jump through another trapdoor to take on ever greater challenges. Losing all of your hearts (this will happen a lot) ends in Isaac’s death. So try not to die. It’s a cinch to get into and on first view The Binding of Isaac plays in what seems a relatively straightforward manner. Slowly, however, the realisation hits that McMillen and company at Nicalis are not playing with even close to a straight bat, where death (lots of it) will befall Isaac rather quickly.
The real elegance of Isaac is the randomisation of, well, pretty much everything! Every run is unique from the layout of the map and the enemies encountered (including occasional mini-boss encounters) to the items available for pick up (of which there are an absolute sh!tload – upgrades to tears, more hearts, damage nullifiers, smart bombs called the bible, etc). Rather brilliantly, not every item or challenge room encountered provides a benefit every time. Often they can be downright stingy, but the few times they do pay out make every decision to ignore or take a chance on them palpable. Additionally, there will always be that one bastard room you wish you never walked into, but the enemies it includes and the layout will invariably be very different to the previous time the game took a giant dump on you from a great height. Whilst the general complexity remains no different over each stage (getting ever more difficult the further one progresses) the change in dynamics on each run keeps the game fresh and invigorating months down the line.
The real elegance of Isaac is the randomisation of, well, pretty much everything! Every run is unique from the layout of the map and the enemies encountered (including occasional mini-boss encounters) to the items available for pick up (of which there are an absolute sh!tload – upgrades to tears, more hearts, damage nullifiers, smart bombs called the bible, etc). Rather brilliantly, not every item or challenge room encountered provides a benefit every time. Often they can be downright stingy, but the few times they do pay out make every decision to ignore or take a chance on them palpable. Additionally, there will always be that one bastard room you wish you never walked into, but the enemies it includes and the layout will invariably be very different to the previous time the game took a giant dump on you from a great height. Whilst the general complexity remains no different over each stage (getting ever more difficult the further one progresses) the change in dynamics on each run keeps the game fresh and invigorating months down the line.
Satanist Disco. Now if those aren't Google buzzwords, then I don't know what is!
In addition, longevity is further increased as Isaac is the game that just keeps on giving. The further one progresses the more items and bosses are gradually populated into the random generation of it all. Even now, new bosses suddenly appear out of the ether to tear Isaac a new one, which is massively impressive given I’ve been playing constantly for the last couple of months. And considering the initial aim is to confront and defeat Mom within 20 minutes, the fact that the subsequent womb stages and besting Mom’s heart are still not even close to being the end-game finale just gives you a taste of the moreish nature of The Binding of Isaac. The relatively quick pace of a run also means the mantra of ‘I’ll just have another go’ is never too far away either. Isaac is short, sharp and incredibly punchy. Get bored of playing as Isaac and there are another seven biblical characters to choose from each with their own starting items, benefits and weaknesses. Oh, and let’s not forget the 20 challenges and 14 different endings! Trust me; the game is almost neverending.
Alongside the exquisite gameplay the general feel of The Binding of Isaac just adds to the overall quality. The stick person introduction of Isaac and his mother’s relationship is wonderfully done with pitch perfect narration; the player can really buy into Isaac’s peril and it’s not unsurprising that a feeling of guilt wells up inside every time you fail to save the little dude’s soul. Music is classy with the odd metal-styled guitar riff to get the adrenaline pumping thrown in amongst a solid main score. The visuals have a slightly retro feel but with the touch of the modern that ensures everything whizzes around perfectly. Of course the quality is in the minor details and the enemy design is marvellous. Giant turds and small poo nuggets bounce around leaving a skid-mark trail on the floor, which is nice. Isaac styled babies with swollen bee-stung faces wail non-stop (perhaps a metaphor for Isaac’s emotional state) and explode into flies when enough damage is received. Flies circle around any number of curled out turds that Isaac encounters, which is also a treat. Then there are spiders, a variety of worms and decapitated bodies leaving poisonous blood streaks on the floor, all revelling in the bullet hell and fast-paced chase that they send Isaac’s way. Room for manoeuvre can run out pretty quickly in this game when backgrounds are generated with lots of rocks or holes in the floor to hinder Isaac’s escape route.
Alongside the exquisite gameplay the general feel of The Binding of Isaac just adds to the overall quality. The stick person introduction of Isaac and his mother’s relationship is wonderfully done with pitch perfect narration; the player can really buy into Isaac’s peril and it’s not unsurprising that a feeling of guilt wells up inside every time you fail to save the little dude’s soul. Music is classy with the odd metal-styled guitar riff to get the adrenaline pumping thrown in amongst a solid main score. The visuals have a slightly retro feel but with the touch of the modern that ensures everything whizzes around perfectly. Of course the quality is in the minor details and the enemy design is marvellous. Giant turds and small poo nuggets bounce around leaving a skid-mark trail on the floor, which is nice. Isaac styled babies with swollen bee-stung faces wail non-stop (perhaps a metaphor for Isaac’s emotional state) and explode into flies when enough damage is received. Flies circle around any number of curled out turds that Isaac encounters, which is also a treat. Then there are spiders, a variety of worms and decapitated bodies leaving poisonous blood streaks on the floor, all revelling in the bullet hell and fast-paced chase that they send Isaac’s way. Room for manoeuvre can run out pretty quickly in this game when backgrounds are generated with lots of rocks or holes in the floor to hinder Isaac’s escape route.
Isaac also goes through a series of graphical changes as he picks up various items, all of which transform the cute hero into a ghastly iteration of his original form. Claws dug deep into his head, eyes gouged out, a blood-clot stuck to his face or needles sticking out of his arm all highlight the wonderfully perverse and slightly grim aesthetic of the game. The graphics are engrossing albeit rather demented – think the garbage pail kids for the 21st century. In addition bosses are large, fast moving, uncompromising and resolutely ugly, be they spider, poo or worm themed – just what any good boss should be like. The first Mom battle is a highlight with Mom’s huge size 9 stilettos thumping down on the screen in an attempt to squish Isaac, complemented by her obese eyes and warty hands reaching out for him from the doors of the room. The seven deadly sins and the four horseman of the apocalypse mix things up a little, I’m still not sure what in the blue hell The Gurglings are supposed to be, but none really beat Monstro for style - a large bouncing testicle of doom that spits out the occasional bullet-fest from his sack. There’s little more depressing for Isaac than being flattened by what appears to resemble a sweaty gonad.
The Binding of Isaac is one of those games where all the constituent parts fit together perfectly to create one glorious whole. Presentation is bang on, it’s immediately playable but the difficulty makes for a compelling, rewarding and lasting challenge. Bosses, for once, are no pushover, and there are so many of them with different attack patterns that memorising all is a challenge in itself. Likewise item descriptions are often vague in the bonuses they provide Isaac and with so many different drops recalling the most useful is not always going to be possible, which is essential when some items can really screw up an otherwise textbook run. This is perfect old school gaming – no hand holding, no easy prescribed game mechanics – the player needs to scrutinise and work things out for themselves, which is as close to gaming bliss as one can get. Of course, this would normally justify a decent overall score on its own, but when you add dollops and dollops of poo-related shenanigans amongst the layers of grimy imagery, a prologue sequence which is spot on and the genius of the boss rush (lots of bosses one after another for about ten minutes is absolute insanity but so utterly marvellous) well, you pretty much have a near faultless masterpiece on the Vita.
Quirky irony alert: unsurprisingly Isaac has been the game of choice for the last few months on the commute to work and for when the kids need dropping off at the pool…
The Binding of Isaac is one of those games where all the constituent parts fit together perfectly to create one glorious whole. Presentation is bang on, it’s immediately playable but the difficulty makes for a compelling, rewarding and lasting challenge. Bosses, for once, are no pushover, and there are so many of them with different attack patterns that memorising all is a challenge in itself. Likewise item descriptions are often vague in the bonuses they provide Isaac and with so many different drops recalling the most useful is not always going to be possible, which is essential when some items can really screw up an otherwise textbook run. This is perfect old school gaming – no hand holding, no easy prescribed game mechanics – the player needs to scrutinise and work things out for themselves, which is as close to gaming bliss as one can get. Of course, this would normally justify a decent overall score on its own, but when you add dollops and dollops of poo-related shenanigans amongst the layers of grimy imagery, a prologue sequence which is spot on and the genius of the boss rush (lots of bosses one after another for about ten minutes is absolute insanity but so utterly marvellous) well, you pretty much have a near faultless masterpiece on the Vita.
Quirky irony alert: unsurprisingly Isaac has been the game of choice for the last few months on the commute to work and for when the kids need dropping off at the pool…
PIXEL SECONDS: THE BINDING OF ISAAC: REBIRTH (VITA)
For a long time, I feared roguelikes and I might never quite see eye-to-eye. Procedurally generated levels have typically proven a poor substitute for concerted design, so often resulting in uneven or peculiar levels that lack inspiration or effective structure. This was until I played The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. Nicalis’s adventure, which mixes dungeon crawling with twin-stick shooting, manages to bypass a lot of issues that conventionally plague the genre. Firstly, it gets the basics right: the controls are great, the gameplay is persistently tough but extremely rewarding and there’s plenty of secrets to unearth. Secondly, it evades the age-old problem of repetition through an almost unfathomable range of game-altering items, attributes, weapons, traps, enemies and bosses. Every playthrough feels utterly far-removed from the one before it. Smart design also ensures that new playable characters and scenarios arise from your progress. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth has an odd charm to it and, despite featuring a considerably greater quotient of cartoon faeces than your average video game, is strangely atmospheric. The lurking sense of danger, strong soundtrack and grim metaphors writ large in its design lend the game a magnetic appeal. Though a run can be finished in half an hour, I enjoyed returning to Rebirth for months. A perfect fit for the Vita, and an essential purchase. [9] - Tom Clare © 2020
For a long time, I feared roguelikes and I might never quite see eye-to-eye. Procedurally generated levels have typically proven a poor substitute for concerted design, so often resulting in uneven or peculiar levels that lack inspiration or effective structure. This was until I played The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. Nicalis’s adventure, which mixes dungeon crawling with twin-stick shooting, manages to bypass a lot of issues that conventionally plague the genre. Firstly, it gets the basics right: the controls are great, the gameplay is persistently tough but extremely rewarding and there’s plenty of secrets to unearth. Secondly, it evades the age-old problem of repetition through an almost unfathomable range of game-altering items, attributes, weapons, traps, enemies and bosses. Every playthrough feels utterly far-removed from the one before it. Smart design also ensures that new playable characters and scenarios arise from your progress. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth has an odd charm to it and, despite featuring a considerably greater quotient of cartoon faeces than your average video game, is strangely atmospheric. The lurking sense of danger, strong soundtrack and grim metaphors writ large in its design lend the game a magnetic appeal. Though a run can be finished in half an hour, I enjoyed returning to Rebirth for months. A perfect fit for the Vita, and an essential purchase. [9] - Tom Clare © 2020