I've always wondered: where do developers take the story from to pour it into games? or if it's gameplay they pour into stories; and this is not the exception:

A child who plays with toys and draws pictures one day is found by misadventure when his Mom is practically told by God to murder him. As I said before, I wonder if they invented the whole story as an excuse to include creepy stuff and that amount of gore, or if they invented the story (not so original as it's taken from the Old Testament) and then decided they had to feature such things to make it match.

 

 

The binding of Isaac by Edmund McMiller (one of the brains behind Super MeatBoy) is a very peculiar game in which the user controls a crying child with no clothes whose primary weapon are tears; the game follows a Rogue-like scheme through dungeons similar to the first Zelda's, accompanied by randomized events.

 

 

 

Thrilling
One of the major aspects of the game remains on the fact that you never know what's coming next, there is a very large variety of items (though most of them don't quiet paint the goods they carry), the excitement kept by what you are going to find, and how stronger/faster etc. it'll turn you gives the game a big 'Plus', and I say turn because almost every item affects the appearance of Isaac, which makes it even more rewarding and gives you a feel of how powerful you've become as the game goes on.As for AI I'd swear the game has intelligence because if you only need to open 1 door, keys are the only treasure you find, wich results in lacking bombs or coins when you need them the most and viceversa. Many monsters walk or fly without a specific path but others find the way to surround you and reduce your options to make a move, however once they're eliminated they won't respawn even after leaving the room.

The enemies you encounter may vary from lap to lap as well as the level design, although the order they  appear isn't always static, the game follows a formula: greater progress corresponds greater difficulty.

 

Meaningless?

Short scenes between each level show parts of Isaac's cruel childhood, seems like the poor child is having one hell in a life where crying is the only way out literally. The bizarre elements of the game seem to point in a direction or maybe it's just me, but seeing so many biblical references and that much dimness makes you think "what the hell?", at some times I started to think if the game actually had a meaning behind all this stuff or if Edmund just wanted to create something dark.

Frustration

Though the elements justify the beating of the game it has a high dependence on 'luck', whether it is enemies you encounter or items you get, not to mention the lack of description they offer; finding a pill with the signs ??? and being uncertain about swapping it for your card just to find out it lowered your shooting range later isn't something I'd laugh with, or giving your hearts to Satan in change for something you don't know what will do may keep gamers away from discovering the full game, I guess only experience and wikis are a solution in these situations.

Sometimes you will be thankful, while sometimes you'll want to shake the monitor, though the randomness of the game helps for replayability the anger felt when losing in the last level could be big enough not to put it on for a good time as it is a lose-start over game, especially if you were at your highest and made a mistake accidentally gives you the thought:

"damn I’ll never be in better shape, there's no point trying again".

 

The game offers many elements making it worth a go and maybe 2 or 3 if you're optimist, however the ability of a developer doesn't rely on how hard you can make a game. If you are the type of gamer that never gives up and want to know what happend to Isaac no matter what, I recommend this game to you.