So, here’s something interesting. While dutifully taking a break from working on my paper (fine, I was “procrastinating”), I sat down and put together a spreadsheet of all the indie games I’ve bought from bundles with a couple exceptions (Indie Love Bundle and Steam sales). This collection includes all of the Humble Indie Bundles and two Indie Royale bundles (#2, #3).

I have just over 60 games to play total. I left out all of the duplicate games. Since I always pay above average for HIB, I got the previous bundles as well and then IR and HIB sometimes overlap. Over 60 games! That’s over a year of one-week sample play! I’ve also left out the Steam games I picked up from their sales (e.g., Orcs Must Die). I’m gonna be busy. I’ve played only two or three completely through and am just starting on the one-week trials.

The Binding of Isaac. Roguelike. Difficult, but not too frustrating. I still have yet to finish it. I like to think I’m getting better, at least.

This year, I felt like I was pounded with the term “roguelike.” I’d keep looking it up every time I saw it, but it was one of those games where until you play it does the term actually stick. Unlike my previous post with Scoregasm and not having to progress through the previous levels each time you hit a game over, TBoI forces you to restart. But, you get a randomized dungeon each time with different monsters, bosses, and power ups. So, normally I would get frustrated with this repeating over and over, but the randomization of the levels works in its favor. A death equates to a game over.

As I mentioned before, I still haven’t finished it. I’ve gotten as far as level 5 (out of 6) but always die before I can make it past the boss. I’m getting better. My first time through, I hit level 3, then I had a learning curve for the next few play sessions, either not even getting past level 1 or just barely hitting level 2. Then I started getting better, hitting level 3 and 4 and finally 5. I will hit level 6 eventually. Not sure when.

Anyway. The basic story is a parody on the Bible story of Abraham and Isaac except instead of Abraham, it’s Isaac’s mother who is intent on sacrificing the poor kid. The intro movie is available and would give a better sense than me just writing it out. It’s only a couple minutes long.

The game plays much like Zelda with a top-down view except Isaac’s main weapon are tears instead of a sword. This makes Isaac a ranged character. This is nice except just about every other monster is also ranged. And you don’t get a shield. So, what I ended up doing was running around each room trying to avoid enemy missiles (and generally running smack into them because that’s how I play) and shooting a steady stream of tears in the general direction of the enemies. It’s worked.

What often gets in your way are objects that block your tears, your tears travel roughly half the length of the screen (unless you find the increase range power up), [melee] enemies that can hop over said objects or rush you while you’re trapped between them. Kind of sucks. But it’s fun. The mechanics are simple enough to pick up. Where the complicated-ness comes in is in regards to the power ups you can get.

When I first started, I was picking up power ups, wondering what this pill did and what that tarot card would do. There’s no explanation, you just have to try it out. Sometimes it’s beneficial. Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes you’re wondering wtf just happened only to realize you’ve been teleported to a room with enemies and now you’re frantically trying to stay alive while clearing them out. I’m still not clear on the whole power up concept because some effects appeared to stack while others would completely replace a [good/desired] effect you already had. It’s like a mixed bag of goodies and curiosity drives you to keep playing.

I mentioned previously that this game plays very much like Zelda. I would also like to add that the exploration bits reminded me of Diablo II with its randomly generated dungeons and the constant search for the next stairwell. That’s essentially the point of this game is to keep going. I heard you eventually kill Isaac’s mother, but I can’t say for certain since I haven’t been there yet. I have received her shoes and lipstick, though. And menstrual pad. Yeah. Disturbing.

Part of why I might not have finished the game yet is because much like in Diablo II, I tend to want to explore each level and map it all out. So I get myself into rooms with enemies a little more than necessary. Especially when I’ve already around out where the boss is.

The design of the levels and rooms in each level is fairly simple. Sometimes, you have enemies to kill, in which case you’re locked in the room until they’re all cleared out. Other times, you just have a few rocks and a treasure chest. You have bombs and keys, much like in Zelda. Each level has a boss you must defeat in order to continue to the next level. Enemies and bosses are random. I also want to say that certain enemies stick to certain levels. For example, the Lord of Flies common monster doesn’t appear until you hit levels 4 or 5, not sure which but around there. There’s also elements of old RPGs where bosses you defeat reappear as normal monsters afterwards, but you don’t necessarily have to defeat the boss in order to get the normal monster to spawn.

The music I didn’t find memorable considering I’m having a hard time just trying to think of any songs just sitting here. I’m sure once I hear it, I’ll recognize it, but for the most part, the audio didn’t stand out to me. Which could be a positive thing considering audio shouldn’t stand out too much or it runs the risk of irritating players.

I found this game to be fun and slightly addicting, especially when you die on the first two levels and you know you can do better. You can play as Isaac or unlock other playable characters. I unlocked the girl but haven’t tried her out yet, wanting to finish the game first with Isaac. I imagine this game will be the type of game to stick in player’s minds for nostalgia reasons once they’ve moved past it. It’s definitely a game to check out when you have a few hours to kill, but not a good one if you need a quick a break – because it won’t be quick.