In the upcoming action game Spine, I follow protagonist Redline as she engages in a close quarters fight against an imposing enemy wielding a shotgun. A neon-tinted market street serves as the backdrop to the battle; vibrant pops of color and a futuristic edge show off the area's distinct cyberpunk aesthetic. Redline spins out of the way of incoming blast with fluid ease before landing a kick and priming her dual pistols to shoot back in kind. Her movement looks every bit as smooth as John Wick's, never stopping for a moment to ensure she dodges each hit. Once her opponent is down, the shotgun is hers for the taking, and the timing couldn't be better. As more foes enter the fray, I watch as the shotgun's impactful blow up close propels them back and sends each one crashing into the market stalls.
Once the weapon is out of bullets, Redline is once again surrounded, which is where her spraycan comes in handy. Twirling on the spot fills the air with a burst of blue paint, opening up a window to throw some punches and put some distance between herself and her combatants. Just like the encounters that came before it, this fight is fast-paced,frenetic, and shows first-hand how Spine from developer Nekki wears its movie inspirations – which range from Bullet Train and The Matrix, to the aforementioned John Wick –on its sleeve.
With the chance to see Spine's third mission in action, community lead Arthur Ovchinnikov controls Redline while game director Dmitry Pimenov acts as my guide. Pimenov outlines that the team is striving to create a cinematic Gun Fu experience complete with action-packed sequences, close quarters gunplay, and freeflow combat inspired by the Batman Arkham series. From what I see of Spine, it certainly appears to fit that bill and then some... In fact, by the end of the demo, I'm positively itching to see if it feels as slick to play as it looks.
I know Gun Fu
As Pimenov explains, Spine will take us to a cyberpunk, dystopian world where we'll "explore this idea of a human-AI relationship". With an autocratic AI known as Tensor controlling the city, we'll step into the shoes of Redline, a rebellious graffiti artist (hence the spray can in combat) who finds herself in the possession of an AI known as Spine that attaches to her, well, spine. As well as serving as the game's namesake, Pimenov emphasizes that the Spine is a character on its own, acting as Redline's companion and providing new abilities as she develops her relationship to it.
Pimenov says "the idea of spine was born eight or 10 years ago, and we were just waiting for the time to do it." After assembling a team that could deliver on the combat, the story developed with the moral that "AI is a tool and it's not inherently good or bad" in this world - it all comes down to the AI's owner and how they use it.
As an experience that's setting out to deliver a gunplay experience that channels Gun Fu movies, the team tell me they watched films on a weekly basis, looking at the likes of 2020's Extraction and John Woo's A Better Tomorrow during development. While there were "a lot" of film influences, they also drew from older action games such as Don't Nod's Remember Me and Stranglehold from Midway Studios and Tiger Hill Entertainment, with a desire to capture their feel with "modern mechanics".
Action-packed
During the mission I get to see, I'm told that Redline is searching for her brother, during which several fights unfold. I get a taste of some of Spine's influences right away, with the camera angle switching up from a cinematic view to a side scroller format during one sequence - as I watch Redline fight foes side on, Pimenov says this is a nod to Old Boy. While Spines are rare in this city, they're not unique, which is why the demo ends in a boss fight against another AI Spine user. As the pair face-off, it does look every bit like an action movie, but I can't help but wonder if controlling Redline is as effortless as it appears.
I take the opportunity to ask Pimenov if players that aren't as seasoned with action games could get stuck in and be as efficient as Ovchinnikov, who's playing the demo, appears to be. In order to make the combat more approachable, the team decided that the main challenge of the game is the tactical component rather than reaction times.
"The timings [in combat] are there," Pimenov says, "and if you do them [react in time], you operate more efficiently. You dispose of enemies much faster, but the main challenge is looking tactically, and if you make some mistakes, you lose."
For those that are looking for a challenge, there is a hardcore mode where "you have to play without getting a single hit". In another humorous nod to action movies, Redline will be wearing sunglasses at the beginning of the game if you choose this mode, and if you get hit your sunglasses will fall off - so if someone's still wearing them at the end of the game, you know they've pulled off every fight and they're "very cool".
Every mission has been designed to be like a "short movie on its own", and from what I see, I certainly get that vibe. I see a mixture of hand-to-hand combat, gunfighting, and the way Redline can use the environment to take out foes, and the action never stops for a minute, even between fights when a chase sequence ensues. While it's an early build and only a small slice of what's to come, I can't wait to see if I can become a bonafide Gun Fu master myself.
12DOVE was in Cologne playing the most anticipated new games of 2024, and speaking to the developers bringing them to life. For more of our hands-on previews and exclusive interviews, visit the Gamescom 2024 coverage hub.
