Binding of Isaac Game Review

Binding of Isaac

Introduction

Imagine a game where the map randomised every time you started again. Where each room had a different item or different enemies. Binding of Isaac does exactly that, no two times will the game be exactly the same. Released on the 21st of September 2011, Binding of Isaac brought a whole new game style which people had to adapt to just to survive each floor which could change the outcome with every turn.

SinglePlayer (8/10)

With only one objective Binding of Isaac is a simple but complex game, Defeat Mom. Through out the game, you are fighting to survive each floor at a time, starting from floor one to the final floor which contains Mom. Each time getting progressively harder, forcing the player to change their tactic in order to survive.
Each floor the AI of enemies adapt to trap the player in order to triumph over the player, or to trick them into resetting the room by causing an explosion that pushes the player out of the room, meaning they have to reenter and redo the room all over again. The bosses have a different AI compared to standard enemies that allow them to learn the player faster, and to guess where the player is going to head before they do.
Controlling the character is as simple and WASD and the arrow keys, WASD controls the movement of the character and the arrows keys to shoot either tears, or any other weapon you pick up during the game. Another key feature to Binding of Isaac is its challenges it hold for when you finish the game multiple times, each challenge holds a different problem for the player to over come, for example one hit and your dead, but you have nine lives. Or you have no map to use so you have to play each floor blind.

Graphical Quality (7/10)

Binding of Isaac has cleverly kept to basic graphics which doesn't put the player off as they have to concentrate. Each character has a different size, which means each character has to have a different hit box, other wise taken down enemies would be rather tricky. With a basic graphical design comes basic memory needed to run the game, only the performance to hold a randomiseor to produce each floor takes the time to load.

Sound Quality (4/10)

Sound isn't a big need for binding of Isaac as your more paying attention to surroundings then you are on anything else. The sound produced by the game though are simple and slightly off putting for when your hit, or if you hit a wall or enemies as it is the same sound over and over again.

Overall Impression (6/10)

If you think you can handle being focused on one thing for more than half an hour just to get beaten by Mom unless you have collected a good amount of items to beat Mom. A game at the price of £3.99 is worth getting, whether or not you get annoyed by the slightest, but be warned you may find yourself stuck playing just to win.



Image by HeadUp Games (publisher), Edmund Mcmillen and Florian Himsl (Designers), Danny Baranowsky (Composer)