Anyways, The Humble Voxatron Debut came out a few days ago, run by the amazing people who bring you the Humble Indie Bundles. If you are reading my blog and have somehow managed to avoid any explanations for what the Humble Bundles are, then fret not, amazingly new reader: the Humble Bundles are pay-what-you-want bundles of video games that are released every so often. In general, it's a great way for an indie-developed game to get a lot of exposure very quickly, and on the consumer end, to get multiple games for one low price and to give some money to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and/or the Child's Play charity. (As of this writing, you have a little under 10 days to buy the Voxatron Debut, and I highly recommend doing so.)
And I may have actually let Voxatron fly under my radar if my good friend and editor of 8-Bit Banter [name redacted] didn't tell me that they added The Binding of Isaac to the debut. I had heard of the game, what with its being developed by Edmund McMillen of the fantastically frustrating Super Meat Boy, and after I had heard that it was added to the bundle, I researched the game for its design influences and play-style. Just kidding, I went to the Humble Bundle website and bought the game as quickly as I could type.
If you were to ask me for a short, bare-bones description of The Binding of Isaac, the first words that would come out of my mouth would be, "the most fucked-up version of The Legend of Zelda that you have ever seen." The format is very very similar to The Legend of Zelda (the original one), but with no overworld.
A short version of the game's story: Isaac's mom hears the voice of God tell her to sacrifice her son. Isaac escapes into his basement, where all sorts of terrible creatures reside. That's really all you need to know on that note. For a more atmospheric introduction to the game's world, though, I recommend watching the trailer. In fact, I highly recommend it. Stop reading and click that link. This review can wait. It's only like a minute long, click the link.
Okay, did you click the link? Good because there's a quiz.*
One of the main draws to The Binding of Isaac is that the dungeons are randomly generated. Out of my dozen or so playthroughs (so far), I have never run into a moment of "Oh this is familiar." I have maybe gotten a duplicate item twice. Maybe. On that note, though, I should mention this: when you die in The Binding of Isaac, you lose everything. Progress, items, everything's gone. You start anew every game. It can get a little frustrating, I suppose, but it really gives you a reason to fear death. In addition, there are so many items and collectibles in the game that having to start all over feels about right.
I've only run into a couple moments of complaints with the game. Like Super Meat Boy before it, the game does not seem to run properly on my machine all the time. It was much more obvious in Super Meat Boy,
And I may have actually let Voxatron fly under my radar if my good friend and editor of 8-Bit Banter [name redacted] didn't tell me that they added The Binding of Isaac to the debut. I had heard of the game, what with its being developed by Edmund McMillen of the fantastically frustrating Super Meat Boy, and after I had heard that it was added to the bundle, I researched the game for its design influences and play-style. Just kidding, I went to the Humble Bundle website and bought the game as quickly as I could type.
If you were to ask me for a short, bare-bones description of The Binding of Isaac, the first words that would come out of my mouth would be, "the most fucked-up version of The Legend of Zelda that you have ever seen." The format is very very similar to The Legend of Zelda (the original one), but with no overworld.
Your only weapons are your tears. I really cannot overemphasize how fucked up this game is.
A short version of the game's story: Isaac's mom hears the voice of God tell her to sacrifice her son. Isaac escapes into his basement, where all sorts of terrible creatures reside. That's really all you need to know on that note. For a more atmospheric introduction to the game's world, though, I recommend watching the trailer. In fact, I highly recommend it. Stop reading and click that link. This review can wait. It's only like a minute long, click the link.
Okay, did you click the link? Good because there's a quiz.*
One of the main draws to The Binding of Isaac is that the dungeons are randomly generated. Out of my dozen or so playthroughs (so far), I have never run into a moment of "Oh this is familiar." I have maybe gotten a duplicate item twice. Maybe. On that note, though, I should mention this: when you die in The Binding of Isaac, you lose everything. Progress, items, everything's gone. You start anew every game. It can get a little frustrating, I suppose, but it really gives you a reason to fear death. In addition, there are so many items and collectibles in the game that having to start all over feels about right.
Well, as right as anything feels in this game.
but the Slowdown Monster may show up and bog things down a little. When this happens, I suggest taking advantage of it and dodging what projectiles you can with your improvised bullet-time. Pretend you're The One, or something like that. In addition, if you're all about backstory for items and reading descriptions, you're going to see remarkably little even in the way of instructions and uses for the items. I was one of the guys who wanted to scan everything in the Metroid Prime games do that I could learn about the world, so I was a little disappointed that each item didn't come with a little description or something. I can get behind it, though, seeing as this is a (terrifying) mystery world for Isaac and the player.
Do you like gore-splattered games? Play this. Do you like loosely-interpreted Biblical overtones in your games? Play this. Do you want to maintain that little shred of your innocence which hasn't been destroyed by the dark corners of the internet? Maybe steer clear of this one. But really, for five dollars, it's hard to get a game with a higher replay value. I'm going to be looking for unlockables for months on this one. I recommend picking it up while it's bundled with Voxatron and Blocks That Matter (purchasable here!), but even if you're reading this and the Humble Bundle offer has expired, $5 is a very low price for a game this good.
*Of course there isn't a quiz; what are you, nuts?
Hey, I was promised a quiz! JK, but I think you did a fine job explaining the seriously messed-up yet interesting nature of the game. I'm sure there's some deeper meaning behind the tears as weapons motif but I'm just still stuck on the fact that you cry your way through a violent Bible game. Keep us informed of more of these games...I think...
ReplyDelete