Recent reviews by auderian

Binding of Isaac: Rebirth takes everything that made the original so fun to play, fixes all the original issues, throws a ton of new content in, and adds a massive number of other improvements as well.

To list all the improvements from the original to Rebirth:

• Completely new game engine
  
• Completely new music
  
• New graphics
  
• Incredible amount of new content
  
• Fixes for all the broken mechanics from Binding of Isaac
  
• Well coded and fluent game design

Now to break that list down point by point

Completely new game engine
Binding of Isaac: Rebirth uses a different game engine than the original Binding of Isaac. What does this mean in terms of game improvements? It means far smoother gameplay (I've had nothing but a smooth 60 FPS on my laptop which struggles to run Team Fortress 2). It means different graphics, which I initially found jarring however after a couple of runs I've found myself preferring the new graphics. It means new mechanics are possible, many of which have been introduced as new items. Overall the new engine is far superior to Flash, which the old game was coded in.
Engine: 10/10

New music
Although music is a very subjective topic, I believe I speak for the majority of Binding of Isaac fans when I say that the new music is absolutely incredible. While the original game had pretty good music, I found it at times to be too "in your face" or not fitting for the game at that moment. The music for Rebirth is not "in your face" or unfitting. In my humble opinion, it is very close to perfect. Subtle enough that it doesn't distract from boss fights, while still being beautiful at that moment when the dust clears and you, the player are still alive with half a heart. The music never fails to disappoint, with all the tracks fitting together as a whole while still being destinct and at the same time hauntingly beautiful.
Music: 10/10

New graphics
One of the most polarizing aspects of the new game is the graphics. Some people argue that they depart from the original design in a way that makes the game worse, however that is untrue. While Rebirth looks entirely different from the original game, I feel that this new look is certainly and improvement. The new graphics look cleaner, interact with each other better and simply feel more professional as a whole. While Rebirth is not the best looking game ever made, it still looks amazing especially considering how well it runs on low-powered or outdated machines. Everything in the game has new graphics, and it makes the game far more beautiful and immesive than the original. Although unnoticeable in tense situations such as boss fights, litle additions like streams running down the sides of cave walls or scratches in the walls of the Depths or fireflies in darkened rooms improve the atmosphere of the game by a marked amount and make it far superior to the original.
Graphics: 10/10

New content
Binding of Isaac: Rebirth introduces a massive amount of new content. I've seen it called the same amount as Wrath of the Lamb, and this is a good approximation. I've seen more new items than I can count, some of which have become instant favourites. There are new bosses all around (I think I've seen four or five). There's new characters as well, so that all players should be able find a character they enjoy playing. Almost all other categories have received new content as well. There are also many new types of monsters, some which have become favourites and some which have become instant hatreds, however the brilliance of Rebirth is that even the most annoying monsters are still beatable. Very few depend on luck, if any and at the end of the day a player's success in Rebirth depends entirely on skill. Every single death I have suffered I feel has been justified, never have I died just to sheer bad luck. Finally, there's new types of fire, new beggars, new rooms, new rocks, decorative pots and skulls that drop items when broken, a new type of heart, new types of poop, and new drops from rocks. To sum it up, nearly every aspect of the game has had new content introduced, but in a way that the content vastly improves the game rather than simply being there as something to advertise.
Content: 10/10

Fixes to broken mechanics
This topic has much less to be said about it, and much of the fixes are owed to the new engine. That being said there are major differences between the original game's mechanics and Rebirth's. My favourite fix is the much improved interaction between items. Whereas in the original game it was entirely possible to get an item which was traditionally powerful but useless due to the items you already had, such occurrences are rare in Rebirth. Nearly every item interacts with another one in some way, and most of the time in a beneficial way. Numerous other bugs and issues from the original game have also been fixed, the most notable being the freezing issue.
Fixed and new mechanics: 10/10

Game design
Last but not least comes the game design, something that as a programmer I feel is often overlooked in reviews. Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is excellently designed, all the way from the menu to the gameplay itself. The menus themselves are well coded, fluent, and easy to navigate. The game is easy to control, and the game itself is very very fun. While I often found myself becoming frustrated while playing the original game due to getting useless items, I have not experienced that frustration once in Rebirth. Useless items have been buffed, overpowered items have received (very much needed) slight nerfs, and the game overall has been made less frustrating. That isn't to say that the luck element has been eliminated, as luck plays a very large role. However due to the balancing, bad or unlucky runs are still enjoyable as even bad items have a certain amount of use, so runs that would be impossible in the old game due to sheer bad luck are now simply very challenging, leading to a game which is much more enjoyable overall.
Game design: 10/10

If you, the reader have sat this long reading my (likely terribly written) review, I thank you. All in all, Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is massive improvement over the original, shedding the what made the original so frustrating at times, adding a ton of new content, and ending up as an incredible rogue-like that will have the player coming back over and over again for more. It is definitely one of my favourite games of 2014, and is probably the best $10 I have ever spent on a game (I own the original and pre-ordered Rebirth). From the graphics to the engine to the music, Rebirth is incredible in every way, and comes highly recommended by me.

10/10

Well, I smashed my keyboard and PC out of rage at this game.
Gaming has been ruined forever for me.
I hate Edmund McMillen more than anyone else on this planet.

10/10 not bad