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If you were looking for a minimalist Mirror's Edge where you fight robots with a chainsaw, I do have to wonder just how long you've been looking for that, but boy do I have good news for you. Parkour action game Motorslice is exactly that, and its Steam Next Fest demo is extremely promising – so much so that a sudden, severe, and throbbing headache couldn't pull me away from it. "Fun enough to offset a migraine for a little bit" is pretty auspicious in my book.
On Steam, developer Regular Studio says it was "inspired by Prince of Persia, Mirror's Edge and Shadow of the Colossus" as it set about assembling a third-person parkour adventure where a girl named P tears up a machine-inhabited "megastructure." It's a contemplative romp through liminal spaces broken up by heart-pumping shots of vertigo and unflinching one-hit deaths. Meat Boy, but less blood and more vibes.
According to an update from the developer, which might be the first time I've seen a developer include an "Embarrassing" section in patch notes, the Steam demo has already been considerably polished based on player feedback regarding movement and combat, and it felt pretty darn good when I played through it. The camera can be a little jittery, and some climbing bits have that Super Mario 64 tree problem where your perspective and inputs get misaligned so you accidentally push yourself in the wrong direction – in this case, right into a pit or perhaps a giant woodchipper – but it feels good to move around as P and chase that flow state. P is also weirdly endearing for such a quiet, low-poly character.
This is more Prince of Persia than Mirror's Edge, I'd say, with puzzle-lite traversal slightly outweighing pure, full-on runner's high. You'll time a roll to soften a fall or slide under a pipe to keep your momentum, sure, but you'll also regularly pause to drink in your surroundings and eyeball a path onward and upward. That may involve switching on a sonar-like scanner that reveals some bits and bobs, including collectible drones that you lose from a single death. Combat is light and quick so far – a test of your ability to budget distance and press the attack button rather than dodge-roll with perfect timing.
The verbs are solid, and that counts for a lot with a game like this. Swinging between poles, sliding down ramps, slashing at oddly cute miniature backhoes that turn you into mincemeat with a single hit. I love the way black bars encroach from the top and bottom of the screen on a hard fall, as if P's wincing right along with you.
With the demo climax, we start to see Shadow of the Colossus bleed in: a climb-to-kill boss fight against one of those enormous mining trucks with tires bigger than some of Pluto's moons. It's easy on the eyes and ears, and with a little bit more polish the parkour could be something truly special, so Motorslice is going straight on my Steam wishlist.
