Research: The Binding of Isaac

The Binding of Isaac Afterbirth + is an indie rouge-like game created by Edmund McMillian who worked with the company Nicalis. The gameplay and user interface was based on the Legend of Zelda and is rouge-like due to the progress gained each time you die. It is a procedurally generated dungeon which includes randomised items, levels, enemies and rooms which means that each run of the game is different. 

You can see the similarities between the original Binding of Isaac and the Legend of Zelda. The HUD (heads up display) on both games display the life counter using a heart symbol, weapons/items, consumables and the map.



The Binding of Isaac Afterbirth+ upgraded/expanded version of the original Binding of Isaac which was originally created in Adobe Flash. Unfortunately this had limitations and led Edmund to work with Nicalis who were able to build a dedicated game engine from scratch using C++. 

Narrative
Inspired by the Biblical story of the Binding of Isaac, the opening cutscene explains the story of Isaac and how his Mother hears a message from God demanding her to sacrife her son in order to prove her devotion to her faith. This leads him to escape to the monster-filled basements where the game unfolds.

The aim of the game is to survive the enemies and bosses on each floor so that you can continue to the next floor, until you reach Isaac's Mother. This is so that you can kill her before she kills Isaac! Depending on how you 'complete' the game you are shown a different ending cut scene which gives you different parts of Isaac's story.

I specifically like this game due to the art style of the character and the concept of using Isaac's tears to fight the enemies as this adds to the story. I enjoyed the challenging aspects of fighting the bosses as they became more difficult as the levels progressed. This leads you to learn their attack patterns to defeat them without losing health.

This is the title screen [Own Image]

An example of a randomised level [Own Image]

An example of an enemy room [Own Image]

An example of death showing the enemy that killed you and the items collected [Own Image]


Bibliography
PINTEREST (n.d.). Discover ideas about The Binding Of Isaac. [Online - Image] Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/250935010469041574/ [Accessed: 3 February 2019]
WIKIPEDIA (2019). The Legend of Zelda (video game). [Online - Image] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda_(video_game) [Accessed: 3 February 2019]

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