When The Binding of Isaac released against the huge wave of PC games in 2011, it was hard to see it being a likely underdog under such AAA and indie competitors as Total War Shogun 2, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Minecraft, and Terraria. Yet during the release and subsequently many award shows later in the year, Edmund Mcmillen and Co proved the naysayers wrong. Now nearly five years later, The Binding of Isaac has released it’s second full expansion. Is it still as compelling after this long wait? Here’s my verdict.
Gameplay:
In terms of gameplay, not much has changed as much as they have been added to. Afterbirth features new levels, traps, enemies, bosses, and many other new challenges to tackle. There are also many new items that affect how you navigate this rogue-like, and you could put many hours into unveiling what this rightfully cherished expansion has in store. The added gameplay, while not massive, is amazing and to finally experience after such a wait was fantastic.
Story & Design:
The design of the new gameplay elements is synonymous with the rest of the game and after a while it hardly feels like an expansion, but as if it was always in the game. Most of the items and concepts consist of the same, memorable, morbid humor that permeates throughout the rest of the game. Afterbirth also includes a few new endings when you complete the game in specific and new ways. As expected, these are all pleasant and subtle additions to design and story.
Presentation/ Visuals & Audio:
The way all of these new items, areas, etc. are presented are as they should be: to be discovered through meticulous care and thoroughness. Everything: items, enemies, bosses, levels, endings are just put in the game and randomly generated as would regular elements in the vanilla game. Having to discover new things without the game holding my hand was exceptionally fun, and the game continues the trend of great atmosphere that’s been present in previous Binding of Isaac expansions.
Conclusion:
First off, I’ve been waiting for this expansion for a long time, and to finally play it was incredible. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is one of is one of my top 10 favorite games and and can easily say that Afterbirth adds quite a bit to the game. Afterbirth adds new gameplay elements such as new items, game modes, challenges, etc. This DLC is well worth the price and if you are able to, I highly recommend that you purchase it.
The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth gets a 9/10 (Very Good)
We’d like to thank Nicalis for sending us a code!
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