Review: ‘The Binding of Isaac’ is gross, offensive, and rather fun

Nov 5, 2011 by Joshua

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Posted under: game feature, games

: Isaac is not having a good day.

Game: The Binding of Isaac

Developers: Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl

Systems: PC, Mac, Linux

Genre: RPG, roguelike

May appeal to fans of: The Legend of Zelda, Super Meat Boy

Key points: Disturbing content, addictive gameplay, plenty of replayability

It’s pretty clear that “The Binding of Isaac” was made with intent to offend.

It’s gastronomically visceral, with copious amounts of blood and feces cartoonishly depicted throughout. It dabbles in the Christian and the Satanic, tossing rosaries in with pentagrams in a story about religious fanaticism gone off the deep end. On top of that, it has a rather disturbing family vibe, like a young boy caught in the act of trying on his mother’s dresses and makeup.

And it’s pretty fun, to boot.

“The Binding of Isaac” begins with a simply drawn story about a boy whose Christian television-obsessed mother suddenly hears a voice from above, commanding her to protect her son from sin. She takes away all his toys and clothes, locks him in his room, and, when the voice tells her that the boy is still not safe from corruption, she takes a butcher knife and prepares to kill him as a sacrifice – hearkening to the Bible story from which the game takes its name. The boy, Isaac, catches sight of his mother stalking toward his room with the knife, so he searches frantically for a way out. He comes upon a trap door to the basemen, and he jumps down hoping to escape his mother’s wrath.

So begins Isaac’s journey through the horrific depths below. The player must guide the naked, crying child through a series of floors made up of rectangular rooms, in a play style not unlike the first “Legend of Zelda” game. And in this 2-D, top-down, randomized dungeon crawler, Isaac has only the keys, bombs and various powerups he finds along the way.

: Oh boy! I found a dead bird!

And what bizarre powerups they are, ranging from the humorous to the horrifying. Find Mom’s heels to gain range to your attacks. Find a former pet dog’s severed head to make Isaac’s eyes enlarge, strengthening his tears (which serve as projectiles), or a dead cat to gain nine lives. Make a deal with the devil to acquire Satanic symbols that transform Isaac into a black, winged, horned, demonic beast that rains hell upon his enemies. And as you acquire these items, they appear on your avatar, until eventually Isaac is nigh unrecognizable under the weight of all his new-found accessories. At one point, my little guy had bat wings and a spelunker’s hat with two floating fetuses and an animated wad of meat hovering around him.

And all of these tools are vital to surviving the basement. The game is brutal and unforgiving. Isaac has one life, and if he loses it, the player loses all powerups and must start from the very beginning. There are strategies to defeating each type of enemy, but the price for learning them is death, multiple times. Should you manage to reach the end and defeat Mom, a new chapter will open, and even more powerful enemies will appear for your next playthrough.

: Yep, that’s a giant, floating fistula.

It should come as no surprise that this game was co-created by Edmund McMillen, part of the team behind “Super Meat Boy”. Like SMB, “Isaac” is chock full of splorches and bodily fluids, as the basement transforms into something more organic the farther Isaac goes down into it. Many of the enemies he encounters are anatomical in nature or just downright intestinally disturbing, from the clot and the maggot to the fistula and the blastocyst. To counter Isaac’s tears, many of the enemies’ attacks consist of blood, urine and flies. “Isaac” is not a game for the faint of heart, though all these things are depicted in a fairly bright, colorful way.

Disgusting visuals and subject matter aside, the game stands out for its difficulty and replay value. It’s hard but not impossible, hitting that sweet spot where whatever frustration failure brings is deflated by the excitement of finally succeeding. Arduous tasks, like defeating the level boss or clearing a challenging room, are usually well-rewarded. In additional playthroughs after the player first beats the game, new bosses give new and more powerful items upon their defeat. The list of available powerups is rather extensive, and the player can view from the menu screen which ones have been found and how many are still hidden.

: I’m ready for my closeup.

I had some misgivings about trying out “Isaac” at first because it seemed too disturbing for my tastes and, to be honest, I wasn’t exactly smitten with the difficulty curve in “Super Meat Boy”. Even so, I gave it a chance, and now I find myself starting it up for one or two quick runs when I have a bit of free time. The game has no save feature, and none of the items carry over from one game to the next. Yet I’m driven to play again, to unlock new playable characters, or in the hopes of beating it and seeing another ending and some new enemies.

Assuming you’re reading this post relatively close to the date I posted it, and if you’re curious to play the game yourself, take advantage of the Humble Voxatron Debut going on until Nov. 14. Pay more than the average for “Voxatron” and they’ll throw in “The Binding of Isaac” along with “Blocks That Matter”. I hope to get reviews out for the other two games before the event ends.

Anyway, here’s a trailer: