SPINE Turns Every Fight Into a Balletic Gun-Fu Thrill Ride

I walked into SPINE at Summer Game Fest 2025 with high expectations. The neon-soaked streets of Tensor City seemed to offer a rich, vibrant world, and developer Nekki provided a glimpse of what it’s like to play as Redline—a graffiti artist turned revolutionary—in their upcoming cyberpunk action game. And I’m intrigued. After spending 20 minutes with this stylish gun-fu brawler, I walked away thinking Nekki has crafted something special—a game that doesn’t just pay homage to John Wick’s balletic violence but elevates it into an interactive art form.

SPINE places players in control of Redline, a red-haired artist whose life is turned upside down when she receives a sentient spinal implant. This isn’t just any cybernetic enhancement—the implant, simply called Spine, becomes her combat companion in the fight against the oppressive Tensor AI regime that controls her city. The premise immediately evokes The Matrix and Neo’s journey, but Redline’s story feels distinctly her own, rooted... Read more