The twin-stick shoot ‘em up
is a genre synonymous with flashy effects and fast-paced arcade style gameplay
as exemplified in titles like Robotron
and the phenomenal Geometry Wars. The Binding of Isaac dares to plunge the
twin-stick shooter into the bold new territory of survival horror. The results
are surprising, if a little hard to stomach – for all the right reasons.
The Binding of Isaac draws its story influences directly from the Bible,
and tells a macabre tale of a mother driven mad by evangelical TV who, obeying
the voices in her head, plots to murder her young son in the name of God. Isaac flees to the cellar to apparent safety but must then confront a
legion of demons conjured out of his darkest nightmares using the only weapon
at his disposal: his tears. It’s a grim tale that sets an uneasy tone for the
game right off the bat. There is no ray of sunshine to be found. Gamers who
dare will find a brutal and uncompromising road ahead of them.
The game unabashedly models
its interface from the seminal Legend of
Zelda, and indeed there are similarities to be found within the game
itself. However, like the best survival horror titles before it, careful health
and inventory management is nothing short of essential. This is a game where
one stray hit can spell disaster in the long term, leaving you crucially short
of vitality at the end of a long boss battle. Special items grant different
abilities and effects, but some are only temporary and often it is impossible
to determine an object’s use right away.
The risk-reward balance is perilous, and often leaves the player feeling as helpless as the weeping hero on screen. Make no mistake, the designers do not want you to succeed. You will face gruesome enemies, each design more Lovecraftian than the last. Some of the game’s basic enemies include walking corpses that continually utter a throaty death rattle and spew blood from a neck wound. The boss models are no less impressive; one fight pits the player against two conjoined twins – one huge and bloated, the other an atrophied foetus. Every enemy has a unique attack pattern and requires an intelligent approach, all the more so when multiple enemy types fill a room and only grant escape once defeated.
It’s in extended combat
that The Binding of Isaac shows off
one of its most intriguing features: physics-based shooting. The movement of the
player directly affects the behaviour of the projectiles flung at your foes,
thus moving perpendicular to your shots results in a bending effect, allowing
the most expert players to hit enemies around corners or in a hidden weak spot.
The system works beautifully. It’s a great reward for perseverance and practice
and the results will be seen when, after each inevitable death, you find
yourself making better and better progress.
Exploring the dark, haunted
corridors is kept fresh with each successive playthrough thanks to a randomly
generated map; monsters, items and even bosses appear in different locations
each time. Unfortunately, this leads to annoying glitches making some treasures
inaccessible beyond bottomless pits or walls of stone. The replay value of the
game is bolstered with unlockable characters that become available after
reaching milestones with Isaac. These new characters – all Biblically derived –
possess their own stats and special abilities and drastically alter the play
style of a new game.
The Binding of Isaac is aimed squarely at a certain demographic of gamer:
a group that will not shy away from a challenge and does not expect to breeze
through a story in one playthrough. This is a game that rewards endurance,
practice and adaptation. However, brave the initial difficulty and beyond lies a deep
shooter with plenty to offer for a very low price. With the Wrath of the Lamb expansion pack just
days away, this is a title well worth consideration.
