BackSlash

BackSlash is a beat'em up game developed by one person – a member of the independent Skeleton Crew Studio. Among other platforms, the game is available on XONE, PC and SWITCH.

Mechanics

In BackSlash, players observe the action from the side perspective. The gameplay builds on battles taking place in 2D arenas. A player assumes the role of a warrior who represents one of the ten available combat styles that differ from one another in terms of special abilities and wielded weapons. When in battle, one can use cold steel (e.g. swords and katanas), ranged weapons (e.g. shuriken stars and throwing knives), as well as a wide range of both offensive and defensive spells, but there is nothing standing on one's way to use his bare fists.

The key to success lies in swift dodging and blocking enemy blows, as well as mounting counterattacks. Additionally, the battlefields can be demolished, which opens new strategic opportunities to the players. The gameplay gradually becomes more dynamic – the longer one plays the game, the faster his character moves.

Game modes

The XONE, PC and SWITCH release of BackSlash offers two game modes – the first one is the survival mode, in which a player has to fight off consecutive enemy waves controlled by the AI. The latter one is a classic versus mode allowing one to fight another player in the local multiplayer mode.

Technical aspects

The 2D pixel-art visuals featured by BackSlash are not very impressive, but they might remind one of the classic 8-bit games. This, however, allowed the developers to maintain relatively low system requirements for the PC / Windows release of the game.

Last updated on 26 May 2017