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Backbone

EggNut, Raw Fury
Jun 8, 2021 - PC
Fair

OpenCritic Rating

71

Top Critic Average

44%

Critics Recommend

Eurogamer
No Recommendation
Destructoid
7 / 10
TheSixthAxis
4 / 10
Shacknews
6 / 10
Attack of the Fanboy
4 / 5
God is a Geek
9 / 10
GamingTrend
65 / 100
Guardian
3 / 5
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Backbone Trailers

Backbone Launches on June 8 | Announcement Trailer thumbnail

Backbone Launches on June 8 | Announcement Trailer

Backbone - Reveal Trailer -  Beautiful dystopian noir adventure coming 2021! thumbnail

Backbone - Reveal Trailer - Beautiful dystopian noir adventure coming 2021!


Backbone Screenshots



Critic Reviews for Backbone

Eurogamer

No Recommendation / Blank
Eurogamer

Backbone's sumptuous pixel art and promising narrative threads are undermined by flat gameplay and a non sequitur of a final act.

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As a whole, Backbone is stylish but not exceptional. It’s a good time with an enjoyable story, but otherwise it’s just kind of routine. The visual style is great, but it’s offset by uneven audio design. There’s definitely a lot to love about Backbone, I just don’t feel it sticks the landing quite well. It will be worthwhile playing for most, but I’m more interested in what comes next from EggNut.

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Backbone had the potential to fill a bit of a void for a noir style game, but it comes up short. It opens with a strong prologue, but the story that follows tries to hit too many different themes meaning there's a lack of focus by the time it comes to a conclusion.

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I am disappointed by the mixed feelings I get from Backbone. It is absolutely worth a look solely on the merits of its audiovisual presentation, but its attempt to offer commentary or insight into the topics its narrative broaches repeatedly fall flat, particularly in the latter half. EggNut clearly has the goods in the art and music departments, so I would love to see what they can do with a stronger narrative in the future. If you do choose to give Backbone a shot, make sure to get the Artifact Edition, as it includes the wonderful soundtrack.

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Backbone does both, striking a balance between nostalgic and new, breathing another breath of life into the genre with its gritty, sad grin. This 2D, sidescrolling, pixel-art noir is a short but solid adventure mystery with stunning visuals and meaningful characters.

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Backbone features a compelling story and a well-realised post-noir dystopia, with engaging characters and some smart gameplay.

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Backbone bites off far more than it can chew, with a completely out of nowhere twist in the third act, disregard of your choices, and a lack of resolution to any of its plot threads. While the promising story and gorgeous visuals had me hooked initially, the game tries to juggle too many things and ends up dropping all the balls.

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Uncover a grim conspiracy and sweet-talk snooty bears in this genre-hopping indie game

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OpenCritic Coverage

New Xbox Game Pass Titles Coming: Age of Empires IV, Everspace 2, And More

New Xbox Game Pass Titles Coming: Age of Empires IV, Everspace 2, And More

The next back of Xbox Game Pass games have been announced, including some big names.

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