Time for a double whammy of sweet pixelated goodness. I've had both The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (from Nicalis) and Enter the Gungeon (from Dodge Roll) installed on my PS4 for a few years now. They are amazing. I'm going to spend the next few minutes of your time to try and convince you of that.
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| The elevator is a bullet, they really run with that theme |
First off, both of these games are extremely tough. Don't let the cute art style fool you. I have no idea how many times I've died in both games altogether. (Although Isaac has a death count. I'm sitting a little shy of 200 at the time of writing) You start with three hearts. Enemies do half a heart of damage per hit. This can mean some "runs" in either game can end pretty quickly.
"Yeah, sounds great Gavin. I love dying in videogames." - Everyone ever
Fear not! These games are going to equip you with the weapons and power-ups you need to defend yourself and push through to the end. The best part is the more you play, the more of these items you'll unlock so even though you might die you could be better equipped for the next run. In The Binding of Isaac, for instance, you fire your tears to kill enemies. As you might expect that isn't the most efficient way of clearing a room. The power-ups range from your tears bouncing or acting like boomerangs to becoming lasers that can home in on your enemies. Each floor, to a certain point, will have a room that gives you a new ability and you also receive one for beating the boss of the floor. There are also shops where an upgrade will be on offer for a price. These powers can stack in a multitude of awesome ways meaning the screen can be filled with death for the enemy. For a game where you start off relatively weak, it can be really empowering to clear rooms in a few seconds.
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| Yup, those giant coins are my "tears" |
Enter the Gungeon has you play as one of a selection of characters with a dark and shady past. Your goal is to reach the bottom of the Gungeon and obtain the "Gun That Can Kill the Past". With that, you can go and rewrite history. Sounds fun, huh? You are equipped with a pretty basic gun to get you started. Bang bang, reload. Does the job but isn't really anything special. On each floor, there will be two chest rooms containing a new gun or upgrade. The number of guns and items in this game is incredible. Pretty much every one of them is a pop culture reference ranging from heart containers from Zelda to a gun called the Laser Lotus, a reference to the excellent sitcom Community. The descriptions for each weapon can go into further details that have often had me burst out laughing. Each run of these games is randomly generated so no two runs are the same. For me, with the increasing number of rewards to pick up, this makes it such an addictive experience. I've had Isaac for longer and easily spent around 150+ hours playing it. Gungeon isn't that far off. (FACT: I've been trying to write this for 3 weeks and every time I go to grab screenshots for either I end up playing it for about 2 hours, screenshotting nothing in the process)
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| That's a small portion of the "Gun" screen |
Enter the Gungeon operates as a top-down shooter, using one analogue stick to move and the other to aim your weapon. R1 fires and square reloads your weapon. (Like most regular shooters) L1 initiates a dodge roll mechanic which can become the difference between life and death in later levels. This can create a fast paced, tense encounter in any given room. (Though especially in some of the boss encounters) To my knowledge, there are multiple endings to the game with one for each of the characters as well as a "TRUE" ending.
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Actually one of my favourite bosses, despite the laser
eye vision |
It received a major update back in January that added a bunch more guns, items and even more enemies to the game. It came as a free patch which was pretty great. As I've said, the art style is very cartoony, opting for an almost Saturday morning cartoon vibe and with the addition of its very many pop culture references I would say this would make a very welcome addition to your game collection. Currently it's going for £10.99 on the PlayStation Network for PS4 and the same on Steam and Xbox One.
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| Enter the Gungeon, they said. It'll be fun, they said |
The Binding of Isaac has you play as Isaac or one of a number of alternate versions of him. You are, first and foremost, trying to escape from your psychotic Mother. Deeper into the cellar you go through you find darker forces at work. The game operates with one stick to move and the other to shoot. There isn't a fire button. The direction you're facing is the direction you fire in. There isn't a dodge mechanic either, you move around each room firing your tears at enemies while trying to out manoeuvre them and their projectiles. Depending on the power-ups you can pick up this can become a "bullet-hell" situation for your enemies, clearing a room in seconds. However, Isaac isn't above throwing a few curve balls your way. Some pick-ups can harm you just as much as help. Remember the "coin tear" picture above? Those had the boomerang effect added to them creating the cool "X" formation of tears. I stupidly picked up a power-up I shouldn't have that turned all my tears into bombs. (Bomb + boomerang = me swearing a lot and starting a new run)
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Oh yeah, the "Win Streak" is quite happy to remind you
how often you've lost in a row |
The Binding of Issac: Rebirth has one add-on pack, Afterbirth. With that comes so much more content including; power-ups, bosses, enemies. Even floor layouts. It easily added and extra 100+ hours of game for those hungry to dive into it's madness again. As you may have seen from the screenshots, and some of the references I've used, Isaac isn't geared for everyone in terms of tone. Think Ren and Stimpy if it was going to be aired past the watershed. (Which is saying something considering half the shit R&S got up to) I enjoy it mostly for the "let's see what combinations I get this time" gameplay rather than its particular brand of humour though.
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| Behold my "pain train" of little minions and tremble |
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is available for £11.99 with its add-on being an additional £8.99 for PS4. (Also available on Steam, Xbox One and Switch) I picked up both in a sale so would advise the same if just to get an amazing game for cheapsies. Oh, did I mention both of these games have couch co-op? They do. It's pretty great. Please consider these two brilliant games next time you have a spare bit of cash to burn. (Plus who could say no to this face?) Kisses.
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This screen appears when booting up Gungeon on PS4
It makes me so happy |
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