The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (Vita)

Game Info

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is a shitty game.  And when I say that, I don’t mean in a negative manner.  I mean it literally. There’s shit everywhere.  In the levels where they hide items, in the enemies, and in the actual powerups.  One of the press bullet points even boasts “Rooms FULL OF POOP!”  Like I said, everywhere.  The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is also a very very good game.  Originally created for PC by one of the geniuses behind Super Meat Boy, this ode to old-school Zelda, old-school difficulty, and old-school biblical craziness has been brought to the Sony handheld (as well as the PlayStation 4) by the fine folks at Nicalis.  It contains all the content of the original Binding of Isaac, the Wrath of the Lamb expansion, and new stuff created specifically for the Rebirth release.

In The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, you play as a little boy named Isaac after he escapes into a mysterious hatch in his bedroom while trying to escape his murderous mother after God tells her she needs to sacrifice her son to him.  It’s based on a classic Bible story of the same name and sounds pretty heavy, but is told via animated doodles to lighten the mood.  After that you are dropped into the semi-pixelated world of Isaac.  Gameplay is a top-down room-to-room affair (think original Legend of Zelda dungeons) combined with the run and gun mechanics of Smash TV.  As you go from room to room, you’ll encounter all kinds of gross and disturbing enemies that you have to kill with your tears.  Some rooms hold much needed upgrades or trinkets, some hold shops to purchase items, and some hold nothing at all.  Every floor has a boss at the end, and when you defeat them a trapdoor opens to take you deeper and onto the next level.  Each time you play, you get a random layout of rooms (out of a possible 4 billion (!) seeds).  The early levels will only have a few rooms to make it through until you get to the boss, but later levels will have you exploring quite a bit before you reach the end.  As expected, the enemies get tougher too.  And once you beat the game, new levels get added.

There is so much content contained in this small seeming game it’s a little mind boggling.  A quick look at the items unlocked screen shows over 300 items to find and unlock.  300!  There are activated items that recharge to use multiple times.  There are passive items that add permanent effects to your character (like laser eyes, or decreased luck, or more HP).  There are mystery one-time use pills that can be good or bad for you.  There are one-time use tarot cards that can also be good or bad for you.  There are trinkets that add permanent effects, but can only be carried one at a time.  Then there are your regular old pick ups, like health or bomb or coin drops.  There’s also 10 playable characters, 100+ enimies, 50+ bosses, 178 secrets, and 16 different endings to get as well.  And then there are 20 challenges to complete if you’re still not satisfied.  If you’re a completionist, you could easily spend a good 100 hours (or likely much more) obtaining every last thing.  All this plus a new level layout every time you play guarantees this game will stay fresh for a long time.

If you’re going to spend a lot of time in a game with tons to collect, the game better bring the fun.  And this game does.  But it also brings the challenge.  The first few times, you’ll die early and often.  You have to destroy every enemy in a room before you can leave it, so no bailing if you see a particularly menacing foe.  But as you learn the enemy patterns and how the rooms work, you’ll get better and slowly progress deeper into the game.  The stacking powerups definitely help as well, so it pays off to seek those out.  Every time I died, I immediately wanted to jump back in to see how deep I could make it this time and to see if I could get a better set of powerups to randomly appear.  And that’s the true sign of a good rogue-like game.  Sure some deaths are frustrating and seem unfair, but you always learn from your mistakes, even if you got a raw deal on the load-out offered to you.  The game handles very well and is very responsive, which is good for a game all about quick movement.  You can move in all directions with the left stick and shoot in one of four directions with the right.  All controls can be easily configured too if they don’t fit you right.  The right amount of momentum is factored in when trying to stop, making everything feel very natural.

The game has a retro feel to it with a pixelated art style.  It’s not quite 16-bit, but the slightly upgraded version of that look, with more colors and variety and effects.  Whatever it is, it looks wonderful.  All the creatures look unique and animate very well.  The playable characters are also each have their own style to them, and seeing what a particular item will do to your appearance is always one of the highlights of a run.  The colors are bright when they need to be, and drab when the situation calls for it.  The map overlay works perfectly as well.  It never gets in the way, while always providing a good reference of where you are and where you need to go.  The soundtrack works really well too.  The music is ominous, the enemy noises are spot on, and the voice of your mother yelling at you is freaky.  A very well done job in the audio/visual department.

THE RECOMMENDATION

If you like challenging games, you should play The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.  If you like old-school games, you should play The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.  If you like unique settings and storylines, you should play The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.  If you want a lot of free time in your life, you should not play The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.  The whole package here will suck away many hours, but in a very good way.  The game may frustrate you, but it will also fascinate you.  A great port from the original PC game and a fantastic time, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is one of the best games to come out this year on the PlayStation Vita.