The Binding of Isaac (from the English - “The Sacrifice of Isaac”) - a computer game in the genre of action-adventure with elements of roguelike and top-down shooter , developed by Edmund Macmillen and Florian Himsl. The game, developed on the Adobe Flash platform, was originally released for Windows in 2011 through the Steam digital distribution platform ; later The Binding of Isaac became available on Linux and macOS . In 2014, a remake of the game was released - The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth - ported to a number of platforms, including game consoles .
| The binding of isaac | |
|---|---|
 Steam Game Cover | |
| Developer | Edmund Macmillen |
| Publishers | and |
| Release dates | September 28, 2011 (Steam) |
| Genre | Action adventure , roguelike , shooter |
| Creators | |
| Game designer | Edmund Macmillen |
| Programmer | Florian Himsl |
| Composer | Daniel Baranowski |
| Technical details | |
| Platforms | Windows , Mac , Linux |
| Game engine | Flash |
| Game mode | single user |
| Carriers | and |
The name of the game and its plot refer to the well-known biblical story with the same name : the main character, a child named Isaac, hides in the basement of the house from his mother, whom the "voice of God" ordered to kill her son. When controlling Isaac or another of the six characters to choose from, the player must go through several levels of the basement, consisting of many procedurally generated rooms and inhabited by hostile creatures. Inside the rooms, the gameplay is designed as a shooter - the character must, "shooting" with his own tears, hit the enemies, while avoiding collisions with them. Death in The Binding of Isaac is irreversible - if the character loses all his health, the player will be forced to start the game from the very beginning. According to McMillen, the game touches on topics such as child abuse, gender identity, infanticide, neglect, suicide, abortion, and how religion can harm a child - topics that they usually try to avoid [1] .
Although The Binding of Isaac was created as an experimental game during the Game Jam , it received high press ratings and gained considerable commercial success: in 2014, more than 3 million copies of the game were sold. The Binding of Isaac was also called a game that attracted the interest of both players and developers in the previously niche genre roguelike [2] .
Content
Gameplay
The Binding of Isaac - A top-down 2D-RPG, a game where the player controls Isaac or one of six unlockable characters while exploring basement dungeons. The mechanics and external design of the game resembles the earlier games of the The Legend of Zelda series , but with the addition of an element of chance, irreversible death and procedurally generated levels - the mechanics typical of the roguelike genre [3] . On each floor of the dungeon, the player is forced to fight with the monsters in each room to move on. Along the way, he can collect money to buy equipment in the store, keys to open treasures, new weapons and various power-ups to increase his advantage over enemies. There is a boss on each floor of the dungeon who must be killed in order to be able to move to the next level.
Story
The plot in The Binding of Isaac ́ is based on the biblical story of the same name [4] . Little Isaac and his mother live happily in a small house on a hill. Isaac draws pictures and plays with toys while his mother watches Christian programs on TV. Isaac’s mother suddenly hears a “voice from heaven”, narrating that her son is defiled by sins and must be saved. He asks the woman to remove all evil from Isaac in order to save him. The mother obeys and takes away from his son all his toys, drawings, game console, even clothes, and apparently, he circumcises him.
The voice again speaks to Isaac’s mother and tells her to break the connection of her son with the evil of this world. She obeys again and locks Isaac in his room. But the voice spoke to her again. He praises her for obedience, but he is still not sure of her devotion and demands to sacrifice Isaac. She obeys, grabs a cutting knife and heads for her son's room. Isaac, watching this through a crack in the door, begins to panic. He finds a hatch hidden under the carpet and immediately jumps into it, just at the moment when his mother opens the door.
On loading screens, Isaac is shown sobbing in an embryo pose. His thoughts can be observed. They range from the mother's abandonment of her son and bullying by peers to the scene of his own death. The game has 12 endings.
The Binding of Isaac: Wrath of the Lamb
The add-on to the game, Wrath of the Lamb (from the English - “Wrath of the Lamb”), was released via Steam on May 28, 2012 [5] . DLC adds 70% of the content to the original game and contains several new bosses, more than a hundred items, more than 40 unlockable items, two new endings and two additional levels [6] . This addition also added new “alternative” floors that can replace the usual Basement, Caves, Depths and the Uterus with the Cellar, Catacombs, Necropolis and Womb. On these floors, more powerful enemies and a different set of bosses. Of the other innovations, a new type of objects can be distinguished, key rings, which can be responsible for passive or active effects when they are with the player; as well as new types of rooms and the possibility of a "Super Secret Room" to appear on all floors.
Canceled Port on Nintendo 3DS
The developers mentioned on Twitter that the game would be ported to Nintendo 3DS using Nintendo eShop, and were waiting for confirmation from Nintendo . Nintendo had previously rejected the game due to "dubious religious content" [7] [8] . This decision prompted Edmund Macmillen to praise Steam for the freedom that it provides developers regardless of the content of the games (compared to Nintendo), and several gaming communities have responded sharply negatively about Nintendo [8] . Despite this, a remake of the game - The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth - was released on the New Nintendo 3DS console [9] .
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is a remake of the game, developed by Macmillen in collaboration with Nicalis and released in 2014. This game has been ported to many platforms, including Windows , macOS , Linux , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation Vita , Xbox One , Wii U , New Nintendo 3DS , iOS, and Nintendo Switch . Rebirth uses a different game engine and is not bound by the limitations of Adobe Flash technology ; the plot and gameplay are similar to The Binding of Isaac , however new characters, levels and objects appear in Rebirth . In 2015 and 2017, respectively, two downloadable add-ons called Afterbirth and Afterbirth + were released for the game.
Ratings
| Reviews | |
|---|---|
| Summary rating | |
| Aggregator | Rating |
| Gameranks | 84.23% [10] |
| Metacritic | 84/100 [11] |
| Foreign language editions | |
| Edition | Rating |
| Eurogamer | 9/10 [12] |
| Game informer | 8/10 [13] |
| Gamepy | [14] |
| IGN | 7.5 / 10 [15] |
The Binding of Isaac received mostly positive reviews from gaming critics. At GameRankings, the game received an overall score of 84.23% based on 22 reviews [10] . At Metacritic, the game received 84 points out of 100, following from 30 reviews [11] .
In Germany, the game received an age limit of 16+ due to potentially blasphemous content [16] .
According to the results given in April 2013, the game was sold in an amount of more than two million copies [17] .
Notes
- ↑ McMillen, Edmund Postmortem: McMillen and Himsl's The Binding of Isaac (November 28, 2012). Date of treatment February 17, 2014.
- ↑ Mike Mahardy. Roguelikes: The Rebirth of the Counterculture . IGN (July 4, 2014). Date of treatment May 19, 2017.
- ↑ Scheirer, Jason Nightmarish Indie The Binding of Isaac Shooting Up Steam Next Week . Wired (September 19, 2011). Date of treatment January 27, 2012.
- ↑ Youtube video of the trailer (December 2011).
- ↑ Fletcher, JC The Binding of Isaac's Wrath of the Lamb begins May 28 . Joystiq (May 7, 2012). Date of treatment May 7, 2012.
- ↑ Marchiafava, Jeff The Binding of Isaac Expansion Dated . Game Informer (May 7, 2012). Date of treatment May 7, 2012.
- ↑ Kollar, Phil Binding Of Isaac Blocked From 3DS Due To "Questionable Religious Content" . Game Informer (February 29, 2012). Date of treatment March 1, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Nintendo won't allow Binding of Isaac on the 3DS eShop . Destructoid (February 29, 2012). Date of treatment February 29, 2012.
- ↑ Dave Letcavage. Review: The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth . Nintendo Life (August 30, 2015). Date of treatment May 19, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 The Binding of Isaac for PC - GameRankings . GameRankings CBS Interactive . Date of treatment May 19, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 The Binding of Isaac for PC Metacritic Score . Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Date of treatment May 19, 2017.
- ↑ Teti, John The Binding of Isaac Review . EuroGamer (October 7, 2011). Date of treatment May 19, 2017.
- ↑ Biessener, Adam Equal Parts Gross, Disturbing, And Fun - The Binding of Isaac - PC . www.GameInformer.com (October 3, 2011). Date of treatment May 19, 2017.
- ↑ Meunier, Nathan GameSpy: The Binding of Isaac Review - Page 1 . GameSpy . IGN Entertainment (September 30, 2011). Date of treatment May 19, 2017.
- ↑ Johnson, Neilie The Binding of Isaac Review - PC Review at IGN . IGN PC . IGN Entertainment (October 11, 2011). Date of treatment May 19, 2017.
- ↑ 16er-Einstufung wegen ... Blasphemie (German) (4. Januar 2012). Date of treatment February 9, 2012.
- ↑ Makedonski, Brett The Binding of Isaac broke two million sales . Destructoid (April 19, 2013). Date of treatment April 19, 2013.
Links
- - The Binding of Isaac official site