Strinova is a free-to-play online shooter, which doesn’t sound particularly interesting at first blush. One of its big features, however, is its anime art style – and the fact that it features a gameplay mechanic where you can toggle between 2D and 3D character models.

So, let’s just explain that last bit a little more. The big gameplay innovation here is that you can “stringify”, effectively flattening your character like paper. This enables you to dodge bullets, float in the air, or even scale vertical surfaces. It looks extremely goofy, but it’s a system that sets the release apart from its copious competitors.

Outside of that, this is a pretty bog-standard online multiplayer experience. There are 14 maps and 15 characters day one, with the promise of more coming in a seasonal format. The game’s not due out on PS5 until next year, but can be played on PC from today. Presumably there’ll be a lot more content in the game come console launch.

We suppose the question is: does this have enough of an identity to succeed where others have failed? It’s early days of course, but at the time of writing, around 30k people are logged in on Steam. Reviews are a little mixed so far, but games like this only improve over time. It’ll be interesting to see if this can carve out a niche for itself.

[source youtube.com, via youtube.com]