The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
You know, I’ve played an awful lot of games in my 21 years of being alive. However, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth really takes the cake. It falls under one of my favorite game genres, roguelike, in which each floor is somewhat procedurally generated in that you won’t often run into the same dungeon layouts, even if some of the rooms in the dungeon are the same. Along with this, items and powerups are also randomly distributed so each run feels brand new. Once you die though, you lose everything, starting back from the very beginning as your starting character. No obtained powerups and items. Combine that with some pretty high difficulty, and you’ve got a tough game that feels very satisfying to beat.
Story
So, the story for this game is a little..strange. You play Issac, a child who lives with his mother at the top of a hill. Your mother, a very Christian woman, begins to hear “voices from above” telling her that her son is corrupted with sin and must be killed to save him from this evil. Isaac sees her coming with a knife through a crack in his bedroom door and jumps into a trapdoor under his rug into the basement, where the game begins.
That’s really the story, but don’t leave yet, because the story ultimately doesn’t matter when it comes to this game. What really matters is the gameplay, which is honestly incredibly expansive.
Gameplay
The gameplay basics are relatively simple: move around with WASD and fire your tears (this game’s bullets) with the arrow keys. The tears do have a set range, but this can be increased with various power-ups. There are two difficult levels, normal and hard, and 11 characters (10 of which have to be unlocked through various methods). Between the number of powerups you can find, and the large variety of enemies you run into, you can easily forget that you’re playing as a naked, scared child killing poop monsters and demon children that spawn flies with your tears.
When I say there are a lot of items, I mean a lot. Rebirth boasts 343 of them. Many of which work together in various ways. Get a quad-shot plus brimstone (a blood laser)? You now fire 4 of this things that will kill many enemies instantly. Death scythe + IPECAC? You know shoot green scythes that explode when they hit something. Along with items you also have 21 arcana cards (one-time use item), 5 Playing cards (one-time use), and 5 special cards that have powerful effects. There are 8 runes that give you different effects. Pills that give you a random effect per run, and so much more. Honestly, each run will be almost guaranteed to be unique to you. If you want to try a run again, however, a “seed” is generated that you can type in to try that specific run again. You can share these seeds with others as well, if you want to see how other people handle the same run.
DLC
On October 30, 2015, the first DLC for BoI: Rebirth will be released called Afterbirth. This DLC will be available for $9.99 or your regions’ equivalence and will bring a lot of new content to the table. New content includes a new game mode, daily challenges (runs), 10 new challenges, 1000+ new rooms, a new playable character, 8 new bosses, 25+ new enemies, and a lot more. The Binding of Isaac games have always had fantastic DLC and Afterbirth promises to deliver content for many more hours to come.
Stats
343 items
2 awards from the Playstation Blog for being one of the year's best Vita and downloadable games.
Average gameplay time is over 100 hours to 100% complete the game.
$9.99 DLC named Afterbirth to be released on October 30, 2015.
Available on PC, New 3DS, and PS Vita
Base game available for $14.99 or your regional equivalent.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, this is one of my top games for 2015. I have put over 200 hours into this game, and I go back for more nearly everyday, even for just a half-hour or so during lunch breaks. Honestly, the $14.99 is incredibly worth it, and it that’s too rich for your blood, it’s put on sale for at least 50% off fairly often. If you’re into rogue-likes or even twin-stick shooters, give this one a shot. With Steam’s new refund system, it’s worth giving this game a shot and see if you like how it plays + the weird aesthetic. I for one, would rate this game a 9/10 easily, and have already preordered the DLC because I know I’m going to get my money’s worth. I haven’t even mentioned all the features in this game, by the way, so explore the game a little and check it out!
