There is no doubt that the Indie genre is full of small pearls that are more or less successful depending on the case, and some of them have even been able to revive videogame genres that were believed to have been lost for several years. Spelunky (2008), in his day, was able to take the credit for relaunching the roguelike genre (along with other titles such as Weird Worlds: Return To Infinite Space), and the good Edmund McMillen (who seems to have a certain fetish for the development of games that inc * zzare) took "inspiration to leap" to make one of his most successful works since Super Meat Boy: The Binding Of Isaac.
Those who grew up in a particularly religious family may feel as their own some of the themes in the original by McMillen, who has repeatedly stated that he drew inspiration from his own family experiences to create the story of little Isaac. Defined by its developer as "a risky game" that he himself would not have paid a penny, The Binding Of Isaac turned out to be one of the most "popular" titles of 2011, in part thanks to the support of numerous YouTubers who have made entire playlists of videos for the game. In the end, Isaac's story was so successful that it caught the attention of Nicalis, which has decided to "reborn" the original McMillenian with a more refined graphic design and a new name: The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth.
On the occasion of the arrival of The Binding Of Isaac: Afterbirth on console, Holygamerz has decided to review the breviary of the saints to once again face the adventure of the child with lethal tears (literally).
Version tested: PlayStation 4 (USA)
Abrama & Isaac
Rebirth's storyline has remained unchanged from the original
The story of The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth it has remained substantially unchanged from the original, with no changes whatsoever. Inspired by the sacrifice of Isaac narrated in the Old Testament (“Binding of Isaac” in English, in fact), McMillen wanted to tell the story of a child and a mother who lived alone in a small house on a hill; while Isaac spent much of his time drawing and playing with his toys, his mother spent whole days watching Christian broadcasts on TV, until one day she heard God's voice asking her to "purify" her child of sin.
After locking little Isaac in his room ("to protect him from the outside world") and taking away his clothes and toys, the mother hears one last time God's voice asking her to prove her faith by killing the baby. Isaac manages to escape into a mysterious trap door under the carpet of his room, and begins his "journey" inside the dungeon, where he will meet the most fearsome monsters and face his worst fears.
And what tools can a fragile and naked child have to survive if not the most dangerous weapon of all, in the hands of a defenseless child?
Don't Cry (1991)
Isaac will defeat monsters and bosses just by crying
Strange as it may seem, The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth represents one of those cases in which crying can be useful in solving a problem. By shooting (from the eyes) nothing but small droplets of water in most cases, little Isaac will be able to defeat monsters and bosses simply by crying, and his innocent little face will always be, constantly streaked with blue tears that will look like reflect his bewildered and disturbed state of mind.
In essence, McMillen's little gem is a successful twin-stick shooter which allows the player to move and shoot at the same time, using both the directional cross and the front buttons and the two analog sticks. The controls are always precise and responsive, and it is really difficult for players to lose a game simply because the controls did not respond as they wanted: each monster / boss faced by Isaac has its own attack patterns, and it will be exclusively up to the player to study and analyze them properly to avoid a ruinous and unwelcome death.
Isaac will face procedurally generated rooms and levels
On his journey in search of his mother (who will act as the final boss), Isaac will be helped from the depths of the dungeon with various upgrades, items and treasure rooms, which will offer the little protagonist from time to time a series of tools to face the darkness in increasingly effective ways. In short, Isaac will (initially) find himself traversing about six procedurally generated levels, with each room substantially different from the previous one and a large number of monsters to face as he delves into the depths of the dungeon.
Between Lovecraft and San Girolamo
A journey into the mind of a child ...
A dungeon that, after a first impact, seems to mirror little Isaac's mind almost more than necessary, giving the impression that the whole adventure is the result of the child's imagination rather than a trip to a real physical place. The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth it represents a clear attempt to escape from an innocent child, a cry for help from Isaac who finds himself facing all his worst traumas alone (as can be seen from the short scenes of passage between one level and another). The fact that Isaac's mother is the first of the "final bosses", by the way, is pretty indicative in itself.
Between dark rooms, gigantic piles of feces and rebel fires, Isaac will encounter a large number of macabre and downright disturbing monsters, ranging from simple possessed children to slightly more complex creatures, such as worms or floating faces surrounded by a shield of flies.
… With an impeccable artistic styleWith an artistic style halfway between comics and computer graphics, The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth it features a sensational character design for both bosses and common monsters, with an attention to detail that borders on the manic. Details that will also be reflected on the body of Isaac himself, which will be modified from time to time as the child collects power-ups around the basement (such as mother's lipstick, infected syringes and many other interesting items).
To give variety to everything and to add a pinch of extra challenge (excluding the various tablets and passive / active objects that Isaac will be able to collect and use), from time to time the good Satan will make his appearance after the defeat of a boss to propose a series of pacts, which will reduce Isaac's overall health in exchange for some offensive or defensive benefit. Nothing too overpowered, however: apart from in some rare cases, in fact, the difficulty level will always remain balanced and constant, regardless of the number of upgrades that Isaac can collect.
Here, San Girolamo perhaps it is better to leave him out ...
However it goes, Rebirth will always remain balanced
Don't be scared, therefore, if your first runs up The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth they will be almost as traumatic as little Isaac's past. After losing half a dozen years of life amid curses and saints down from heaven, the title of Nicalis should start to get simpler: as you defeat bosses, in fact, the game will unlock upgrades and increasingly useful items to balance the gap between little Isaac and the countless amount of monsters that will try to eliminate him.
As already mentioned, however, Rebirth will never get too easy or boring: thanks to the large number of objects and upgrades present in the game (more than 200 in total), each game will be substantially different from the previous one, and will always encourage you to explore every single room in search of that small object that could make a little the race to the final boss is less tiring. As with all roguelikes, however, the risk is that frustration will come quite easily, forcing the player to leave the game if only to avoid having to restart the "rise to power" from the basic form of Isaac.
Babies crying at 60fps
A remake that refines the efforts of the original
If McMillen's original title had obvious optimization problems, the developers of The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth (including Edmund himself) have been able to work hard to correct those few technical defects of the base game, managing to package a product that is overall successful and substantially varied at every game. With the addition of several new bosses, items, power-ups, base monsters, and small overhauls to the overall balance, the title of Nicalis is presented as an excellent remake of a game that had already been a great success back in 2011, able to entertain and irritate in a very pleasant relationship of hate / love that will accompany the player until the last failure.
The only sore point, if you like, lies in the soundtrack, which maintains a very high quality level but is decidedly less incisive than the original game. Apart from that, The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth is a title that, while not suitable for any type of player, could take more than a few hours to anyone looking for a demanding challenge, guaranteeing an experience that will hardly be able to bore you.
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Verdict 9/10 I promise you tears and blood Comment Prepare to remember the hatred, frustration and suffering of a child who has nothing left to lose but his own life: Isaac is back in a new guise, and is ready to make you more nervous than ever. Whether it's facing common monsters or giant and evil bosses, the tears of the helpless little baby will accompany him on another journey with new enemies, items and power-ups to collect, in an attempt to face (and defeat) all the worst fears ever conceived by the mind of a child (including mom). In the new fur coat given to him by Nicalis, The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth presents itself as an excellent remake of an already excellent title in itself, now enriched with new enemies and tools to accompany Isaac on his journey in search of freedom, more varied than ever at every single run. Rebirth is a small pearl of the roguelike genre that does not deserve to be ignored in general, least of all by those looking for a challenge that is always different and more and more satisfying at every game. In short, you just have to take out your wallet: you have a child to save. Pros and cons ✓ Exceptional artistic sector✓ Always varied and fun
✓ Very high replayability rate
✓ Small pearl of the roguelike genre
✓ Continuous, engaging and rewarding challenge ... x ... But easily frustrating
x Soundtrack subdued compared to the original
