A revolting biblical tale of multiple personalities, each giving a new experience to a decade old game.
If you’re looking for a Legend of Zelda (1986) experience without the eyebleeding torture of eight bits, “The Binding of Issac: Rebirth” will absolutely scratch that need. Being a top down 2-D rogue-like action adventure game, it’s a go to for people who want to get into the genre.
“The Binding of Issac: Rebirth” was developed by Edmund McMillen and produced by Nicalis. “Rebirth,” a remake of the original Newgrounds version of The Binding of Isaac, was developed after a landslide of positive reviews by users on Newgrounds and game reviewers alike.
Picture this, you’re a 5 year old kid with a happy life when out of nowhere your own mother, being deceived by a false god, is told to sacrifice her son, i.e. you, the player. The intro cutscene shows Issac jumping into an unknown dark basement hatch where the game begins.
There is an infinite amount of randomly generated levels for each “floor.” The deeper you go down the basement, the harder the enemies and bosses get. On every floor up until the womb or utero floors, there’s a treasure room with one free item you can use to aid or hurt you during your run. Note that in this game, when you die on a level, no matter how deep you are, you always restart at the basement.
Game play wise it is as repetitive as it gets, usually the only thing that changes is the level design as every floor is randomly generated including mobs, rooms, items and bosses. While this may seem boring and uninteresting, the game never gets boring or old. Including the storyline which is based on personal experiences and biblical stories, the game has over 30+ new playstyles and strategies for players to unlock.
The story is usually told within animated cutscenes or still images after defeating bosses. Once you defeat Issac’s mom as the final boss you see the rest of the first cutscene. After his mother enters the room wielding a knife to sacrifice him, a bible falls off a shelf onto her head and apparently “kills her.” The scene cuts to Isaac celebrating but it’s cut short, revealing the cutscene were just his drawings. His mother opens the door still wielding the knife with the intent of murder.
As you complete the game with other characters, most of which being biblical or different versions of Issac, you can get more endings. Some show Issac locking himself in a chest and suffocating due to his own religious guilt and the game was just hallucinations he was having as the oxygen cut off to his brain.
In conclusion, “TBoI: Rebirth” is a solid 10/10 game, new updates to the game are on their way and the community is still alive and well.
