SPINE Brings John Wick-Style Combat to a Cyberpunk World With Its 2027 Release

If you’ve ever wanted to combine the brutal action of John Wick, the fluid combat of Batman: Arkham, and the futuristic setting of Cyberpunk 2077, then SPINE might be worth keeping an eye on. Nekki, the studio behind the Shadow Fight series, is developing and publishing a new action game.

It aims to bring cinematic fight scenes to life in an interactive experience. The game is all about close combat, shooting, and fluid animations that make you feel like you are the main character in an action movie. SPINE is slated for a summer 2027 release, and it’s looking to be one of the more exciting action games on the way.

The game is set in Tensor City, a futuristic city built by artificial intelligence after an ecological disaster made the outside world dangerous.

At first glance the city looks like a technological utopia, but its inhabitants are subjected to a social rating system that dictates almost every aspect of their lives. Your rating controls where you can live, if you can work, and even if you can get food. This system has created a giant divide between the rich citizens of the upper city districts and those attempting to survive the crumbling streets below.

You play as Redline, a rebellious street artist whose life goes off the rails when a mafia heist goes horribly wrong and her brother is captured. In a desperate bid to save him, she receives a mysterious combat implant called SPINE. But the implant is more than just a piece of technology to enhance her fighting ability; it is sentient and has a mind of its own. Together they fight criminal groups, heavily armed foes, and the artificial intelligence regime that rules Tensor City.

The game's central attraction is its free-flow gunfu combat system, which combines martial arts with gunplay. Rather than spending most of your time behind cover, you are encouraged to get close to enemies and chain different attacks together. You can punch opponents, disarm them, grab their weapons, dodge bullets at point-blank range, and transition between moves during a fight. 

SPINE also employs dynamic camera movements to give its combat a more cinematic feel. In fights, the camera changes its point of view to provide dramatic angles, but it does so without taking control away from the player. Nekki is building the game with Unreal Engine 5 and its animation technology, Cascador, and working with action-movie stunt specialists on combat choreography and camera movements. 

During the Future Games Show in August 2026, a gameplay trailer was shown, revealing several important characters, including Judge, the supreme leader of Tensor City. The video also showed Etekop and Malady, members of a powerful group called Tensor's Children. These enemies have their SPINE implants, making them more dangerous than normal soldiers and able to challenge Redline's enhanced abilities. 

The environments seem quite varied, with footage showing underground labs, huge greenhouse areas nestled among cliffs, and a fight atop a high-speed train.

These places help keep the action from becoming repetitive by introducing different situations throughout the campaign. Instead of creating a huge open world RPG, Nekki has opted for a linear, mission-based approach. The main story is currently estimated to take around eight to twelve hours, leaving the developers to focus on combat encounters, boss fights, and storytelling.

Additional modes are also being considered, including an arena mode and a New Game Plus option, while a hardcore mode has already been shown. However, not every planned feature has been confirmed for launch. Nekki has also revealed several alternate outfits for Redline, including the red-and-white masked Demon in the Shell outfit, the red leather Ultraviolent costume, and the elegant Dress to Kill ensemble. 

A photo mode is also coming, offering another way to capture the game’s environments, character designs, and cinematic fights. Considering how much work Nekki is putting into its animation and visual presentation, this feature could be especially useful. The developers have shared many customization options and other features, but it will be clearer as development continues as to their availability and final implementation. Right now the priority is just getting the core combat experience out there.

SPINE is scheduled to launch in summer 2027 for PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X and S, and PC through Steam.

A Nintendo Switch 2 version is also planned, although it will arrive later and does not yet have a confirmed release window. Nekki previously acknowledged that it had announced the project earlier than it should have, but the studio now says development is in its final stages, with the remaining work focused on polishing and refining the game.

The price also remains unknown, although Nekki has suggested that it does not intend to charge the typical price associated with AAA releases. A Steam demo is planned as well, but its release date has yet to be confirmed. Outside the game itself, the developers have already introduced a web comic called SPINE: Bullet Dancers and discussed expanding the franchise into other forms of entertainment, including potential film and television adaptations.

There is a lot that SPINE has to prove before release, despite a promising presentation. Its combat is cinematic but needs to be responsive, its elaborate animations should not interfere with player control, and its story needs to offer more than impressive action sequences. If Nekki can put these elements together, the game has a chance of becoming a hit among the action games that are scheduled to be released in 2027.