‘Binding of Isaac’ Spawns Excellent ‘Afterbirth’ Expansion
Welcome to Indie Spotlight!
Last year, we delved into the strange, gut wrenching world of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. It’s time to take another look with its latest expansion — Afterbirth!
I simply have to say that I’m overly impressed with how much the expansion has … well, expanded the game. Despite having put well over 70 hours into the original game, I was still far from finding and collecting every item that existed. Now, there’s over 100 more added to the list, all more unique than ever before!
The monster roster has a bunch of new players, though most of them are variations of ones we’ve seen before. Some are now full of oil instead of blood. Others are permanently on fire, or summon different minions to send your way. Ultimately, they manage to spice up your gameplay and offer even more challenge in surviving each playthrough.
The new bosses, however, are their own brand of crazy. You’ve got Dangle and Brownie, blobs of corn-filled dung that splat and slide all sorts of dirty things at you. Little Horn is an adorable black demon that uses black portals to move around the room or suck you in. Several others fill up the cast of baddies, each as unusual and challenging as the last.
My favorite part of Afterbirth are the two new game modes! First, on some runs after you’ve defeated Mother, you may gain access to a secret room that contains some free upgrades. Beware, for if you pick one up, you’ve initiated the Boss Rush! Two random boss spawn at a time, and you must survive around a dozen waves!
Second, you can now play in what is called Greed Mode. Instead of traversing random levels as per usual, you essentially enter a coliseum-like battle. Each floor contains an open room with an upgrade, a locked room with an upgrade, and a shop. Whenever you’re ready, you step on a button in the center to start the waves of enemies. A timer will make sure the fight goes on — you’d better clear everyone out before it ticks down, otherwise you’ll find yourself quickly overrun! Eight waves of minion, two waves of mini-bosses and one boss completes a level. After a slew of these, you get to face ULTRA GREED…
All in all, any Binding of Isaac fan will be greatly pleased with the addition of Afterbirth. It feels like I’m playing it for the first time again, and it’s a great way to appease my weird side.
Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth is available on PC, Xbox One and PS4.
