Every week I look at potential upcoming Indie Games, I have decided to start writing about them and give my review. Creating more press for those amazing groups of people that need our support, the Indie Game Developers. Enter Backbone, from EggNut a Dystopian Noir adventure featuring a raccoon in a trench coat.
Backbone is a detective noir with roleplaying elements in a dystopian world of anthropomorphic animals where you play as Howard Lotor, a raccoon, private investigator. Explore this world with fantastic detail, using every pixel and background ambiance to set the tone. Use your skills to sneak through dangerous places and try to get others to give you leads on your case. Solve puzzles and sniff out the bigger plot behind your initial mission. A game that gives you that gritty noir experience that doesn’t hold back on exploring themes of all kinds.
About The Game
Developer: EggNut
Publisher: Raw Fury
Planned Release Date: 2021
Genre: Mystery Puzzle Role Playing Game, 2D Pixel
Theme: Dystopian Noir
Built with the Unreal Game Engine
You are a raccoon in a dystopian Vancouver and by the looks of things, you will take any case that pays. Maybe you can find a case to finally fix that broken television. Not that there is any time to relax when you are hiding behind couches and vents to get past those who would do you harm and at the very least throw you out of their building if they don’t take more drastic and deadly measures first.
Uncover secret plots and locate details to your case, determine what really is going on in your city. Starting small and find the little details and sneak your way into the belly of the beast. Be prepared to charm your way through. With the potential for side quests, achievements and lore that can have you trying to take in this world and figure out how after all that you have learned how to solve it, and if you are lucky, get paid.
The creators mention it in their press info page, on how they were inspired by the role-playing game puzzles of the past, but playing the demo for Backbone had me thinking of the nostalgic games, especially the Indiana Jones series, like Fate of Atlantis (pictured below). I can see how the game was inspired by these types of games but given the more modern experience, the gamer expects these days. I am pretty sure we would be hard-pressed to get some kids of this era to play those classic games. Happy to be proven wrong.
Backbone was able to come into existence thanks to the fantastic support from their Kickstarter backers on May 27th, 2018, with 2,362 backers raising CA$ 95,280 blasting through their original goal of CA$ 63,000. I am not going to bother turning that into USD, especially with the current value of dollar changing. The delivery was excellent by the developers by already proving they had a great game and just wanted it to come to life and give it the polish it needs. The Kickstarter was so successful that the backers unlocked some great stretch goals.
The stretch goals that were unlocked were ports to the Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, and Xbox. It’s unclear if this will also go to the Playstation 5 or the new Xbox Series X that will come out at the end of this year. And lastly, they unlocked voice over, which should make this game more immersive to the players.
What Backbone Got Right
This game has so many great things going for it I think we should take some time to go over what makes it stand out.
The User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX)
The opening and menu’s feel very much what you would expect from even a AAA game studio. The UI itself does not get in the way and looks to be thought out instead of a last-minute addition. The game also includes controller support, making the ports to the console versions planned and thought out before it is released which all points to excellent developers and artists leading the way.
Multiple Ways To Play
There is some linear play but there are choices and I assume it will only be larger when the game comes out that allows you to choose your own way of getting the information you need. Whether that is trying to sneak in through the delivery door or climbing on rooftops, you can play the way you want. The mechanics of hiding and timing just fit and can not wait to see how new mechanics in the game lead to more solution paths that can be chosen.
The Ambiance
The moment the screen shows up the music starts up and you can already start to feel yourself get drawn into this world. It only solidifies itself when you start playing. The music and sound effects work well together. Everything just seems to fit. Audio can make or break your game, so it was a great feeling to just let it keep me engaged.
What needs a little more polish
The following is just my personal constructive criticism. I believe there are just a few things that would help the game’s minor annoyances. Also, considering that this was just a demo playthrough I am sure there is plenty of things missing, such as abilities that were talked about on the Kickstarter page.
Interrogation Tone
I tried to play the conversations as if I was a gruff detective looking for answers but trying to hide who I was, which seemed like the right thing to do. But it wasn’t always. I think what is needed is some indication that the path of conversation you are using leaves to a positive (or negative) track. I would even be okay with this being an ability you learn. I just felt confused about what some conversations wanted to succeed. Or perhaps I did it correctly, but I didn’t know that was the best outcome.
Figure Out The Puzzle
I only found one puzzle that had me confused. The other problems I was able to figure out and felt great figuring it out. There is a puzzle near the end of the demo that had me pulling my hair out due to what I felt was false leads. There are hints on the right path, but they didn’t line up with what I was interpreting. After seeing others also had an issue with this and figuring it out, I was still left unsatisfied as it didn’t make sense. I think maybe some blind tests for people not involved with the game or that part might help create puzzles that do not give that false lead feeling.
Recommendation
This game gave me the nostalgia of the classic detective mystery games and is not just another battle royal game. I truly enjoyed the demo and followed it through and wanting more when it ended.
Rating
- Download and play the Demo
- Support the Developers by giving them positive feedback, and bugs that you find.
- Don’t judge a game by its cover, there is a lot of depth.
Learn more and follow development news
To find out updates and how the ongoing development is going, check out their site https://eggnut.net and sign up for their newsletter for the latest news. and their blog that links to the updates on the Kickstarter page. If that isn’t enough and you need even more go ahead and check out their twitter and the discord server and get all the noir info you need.
Twitter: @Backbonegame
Discord: Backbone Discord
Blog: Kickstarter Updates
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