The Binding of Isaac (PC/Mac) Review

Written by Troy Benedict Friday, 30 September 2011 09:00

The Binding of Isaac is cute, disgusting, gory, difficult and slightly offensive.  Oh yeah, it's also a lot of fun.

It doesn't take more than a few seconds to recognize that The Binding of Isaac has an art style reminiscent of indie darling, and my personal GOTY for 2010, Super Meat Boy.  That's because one-half of Team Meat, designer/artist Edmund McMillen, is leading the show.

The easiest way to describe Isaac is to say that it's one-part The Legend of Zelda, one-part dual-stick shooter like Smash TV, with the gore-adorable art style of Super Meat Boy.

The Binding of Isaac is likely not for everybody, and I'm not simply looking at the casual gamer who may find its start-over-from-the-very-beginning-when-you-die level of difficulty to be overwhelming.  The Binding of Isaac carries a very anti-Christian extremist agenda and isn't afraid to say it.  Isaac is a cute, bald little boy who lives with his mother who religiously watches Christian television programming.  Not only is she ultra-religious, but one day "A Voice From Above" speaks to her and tells her that isaac has become corrupted and she must take away his sinful things -- his toys, his clothes, the outside world -- and locks him away in this room.  "God" then speaks to her and commands her to kill Isaac to prove her devotion and love to him.  Isaac, anticipating his mother's action, finds a trap door in his room, escaping to the depths below.  Sure, you may be offended by the context of the story, but let's be honest, if you're a fan of independently-developed entertainment, you are already aware that these titles games are created by smaller groups of people, who don't have to conform to the restrictions that non-independent studios have to. 

Much like Super Meat Boy, Isaac is a tough game.  The overall feel is that of the dungeon exploring in The Legend of Zelda.  In fact, the game mimicks it in just about every way from the familiar layout of each room and how the doors won't open until you clear out the area.  Keys must be acquired to unlock doors, power-ups like bombs can be collected and used to access special areas, and heart containers are awarded for killing each level's boss. 

The dunegons are randomly-generated so no two playthroughs are alike.  Enemies come in a variety of different forms, like mutated (or headless -- sometimes spurting blood from the neck) versions of Isaac, giant flies, and other assorted semi-disturbing nasties.  Each level has a boss, that can be defeated by using your default weapon once you determine the pattern.  You can acquire random power-ups like "chocolate milk" which will charge up your attack (you're spitting oversized gobs of chocolate milk at the enemies) or "mom's heels" which you'll wear to give you more speed. 

Simple statistics are tracked from the main menu, including the number of times you've died, the number of mom kills, and the number of items you've collected.  There are also multiple endings to be found, secrets to discover (47, in fact), and items to be collected.  There are also alternative characters to play through, but will require your time and dedication to unlocking them. 

I really enjoyed The Binding of Isaac, and appreciate its homage to yesterday's video games and their hardcore sensibilities.  It's one of the things that attracted me to Edmund McMillen's Super Meat Boy.  While I'm not ready to call Isaac a Game of the Year contender the same way I did with Super Meat Boy, I do highly recommend checking it out.  It's available on Steam for both PC and Mac for $4.99, and if you purchase it by October 5th you can save 10%.

I will be honest and let you know that this game was not completed at the time of this review.  I am basing this solely on the the first few levels that I've been able to make it through, but it seems consistent enough for me to make a judgment call.  If this changes, and the game falls apart further in, I'll definitely post a follow-up review.