Backbone: a dystopic adventure/investigation by EggNut and Raw Fury (or should we say Raw Furry? We see human-like animals in this game…).

„Backbone is a noir-inspired detective adventure. Step into the shoes of anthropomorphic raccoon and private eye, Howard Lotor, and explore the beautifully rendered 2.5D pixel art environments of dystopian Vancouver. Howard Lotor is smart, self-assured and set in his ways. Caught in the tedium of day-to-day life, he’s resigned to the abuses of the authoritative regime in power and compliant with the systemic inequality that permeates society. But a string of cases that grow progressively more outlandish will put his worldview to the test.

Backbone‘s gameplay is a new take on point-and-click adventure, featuring stealth, exploration, and extensive branching dialogues inspired by classic CRPGs. As Howard, you must traverse the diverse districts of a now walled-off Vancouver, sniff out clues, collect evidence, interrogate witnesses, and choose which leads to follow. Inspired by film noir, Backbone will submerge you into its dark dystopian atmosphere. Every animation in the game is handcrafted frame by frame, and environments are modelled after real streets of Vancouver, BC. The breathtaking combination of high-resolution pixel art and 3D effects like dynamic lighting, pouring rain, volumetric fog and neon lights bring the sprawling city to life. Original doom jazz soundtrack will keep you on the edge with the enveloping veil of bebop and cinematic soundscapes, where every sound tells a story.

Backbone is a dark story set in dystopian anthropomorphic animal society, where social class is dictated by species. As a detective, sniff out clues and evidence, interrogate witnesses, solve stealth puzzles, and choose which leads to follow,” Raw Fury’s overview says.

Backbone, whose main themes will be power, systemic discrimination, and mortality, will use Unreal Engine 4, and this 6-8 hour game will launch in 2021 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Mac, Linux, and PC. And on PC, it’s likely going to be Steam, as we can already play the first chapter of the game, called Backbone: Prologue.

Source: Gematsu