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Release Date: September 28th, 2011
Developers: Team Meat
Publishers: Headup Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, and Linux.
Genre: Action-Adventure
Players: Single Player

The Binding of Isaac's plot is inspired by the biblical story of the same name. Isaac, a child, and his mother live in a small house on a hill, both happily keeping to themselves, with Isaac drawing pictures and playing with his toys, and his mother watching Christian broadcasts on television. Isaac's mother then hears "a voice from above", stating her son is corrupted with sin, and needs to be saved. It asks her to remove all that was evil from Isaac, in an attempt to save him. His mother obliges, taking away his toys, pictures, game console and even his clothes.

The voice once again speaks to Isaac's mother, stating he must be cut off from all that is evil in the world. Once again, his mother obliges, and locks Isaac inside his room. Once more, the voice speaks to Isaac's mother. It states she has done well, but it still questions her devotion, and requests she sacrifice her son. She obliges, grabbing a butcher's knife from the kitchen and walking to Isaac's room. Isaac, watching through a sizable crack in his door, starts to panic. He finds a trapdoor hidden under his rug and jumps in, just before his mother opens his bedroom door. Isaac then puts the paper he was drawing onto his wall, which becomes the title screen.

During the game's loading points, Isaac is shown curled up in a ball, crying. His thoughts are visible, ranging among rejection from his mother, humiliation from his peers, and a scenario involving his own death.

The Binding of Isaac is a 2D indie game style game with simple mechanics. The engine of this game reminds me of Legends of Zelda that I used to play on the Nintendo 64. There are many different "floors" in the basement dungeon that are considered rooms. In each room there are monsters that you have to defeat to be able to proceed to the next room. There are certain rooms where you can buy items from shopkeepers that will help you in later levels to beat the boss of that floor. You also might find keys in certain rooms that will unlock "treasure rooms" that might have a special weapon or power up. On every floor of the dungeon is a boss that you have to defeat. After you defeat a boss, you will be allowed to go to the next level.

This is a simple 2D style game so the graphics are not going to be the best. They are smooth however and are still far better than past generation style games. As long as you're able to play this game in the highest setting, I don't think you will have any complaints.

These controls are extremely simple. You use the arrow keys to shoot in the directions you're looking at and you use WASD to control which way you move. The simplicity of the controls make the game easier to control and funner to play being that you don't have to remember a ton of other random controls for each little key.

Gameplay: 8/10
Controls: 9/10
Graphics: 6/10
Overall Rating: 8/10