The Binding of Isaac: Repentance

The Binding of Isaac: Repentance by Nicalis, Inc. Everyone remembers when they first played Binding of Isaac, that unique gameplay that stuck with us for years. Well that rogue-like action RPG shooter is back and in fine form with the new DLC that is available for us all to dive back into the basement and enjoy.

Gameplay

Procedurally generated combat awaits you, as an extension of the original game; Repentance introduces a lot more of what we love. A tremendous amount of running and gunning will come along, the point of the game is movement and combat, there can be so time to dilly dally.

Repentance follows an identical gameplay style to its predecessors but has been called “far more difficult” and toted as presenting an all new challenge for players to engage in. Fast action style means you require whole lots of quick thinking and speedy trigger fingers.

One of the best things about this title are the power ups, picking up items or picking different characters can give you some interesting abilities that can twist the game in your favour. Some regain full health; some can increase all the characters attributes, the power effects stack up too which is brilliant. This game is hard, with a heavy dose of permadeath which I fully expect to be prevalent in the Repentance DLC. It will be interesting to see where the game goes as technically.

Art Style

With a unique design that is purely of its own breed, the closest thing I could compare it to would be Super Meat Boy. Cute but brutal…’Cutal?’ I won’t reduce myself to portmanteau but the point is it fantastically toes the line between a ghost filled gory laser fest with mutants and a healthy sprinkling of brilliant boss monsters opposing the adorable sprites with big heads and huge eyes.

The Story

Following the original story of poor little Isaac’s life being threatened by his hyper-religious mother who hears the voice of God. Isaac must hide in the basement where many other evil and horrible creatures lay in wait. It’s heavily suggested that the other beings that exist within the basement are actually all of Isaacs’s siblings and other children that the mother has been asked to kill by “god.”

There is so much in this game that requires a little bit of solving and thinking when it comes to lore and I couldn’t be more thrilled to see it. I truly appreciate a game that makes you think and this one really does.

Pros

• More Isaac is always good
• Prospects of different power-ups and gameplay

Cons

• Wish it was out already
• It may just be exactly identical to the other games with no improvements, let’s hope not