ChainStaff Preview – The Bony Grappling Hook We Deserve

Everyone knows that grappling hooks improve every video game out there (even Civilization, obviously). ChainStaff, an upcoming action-platforming indie game, is pushing that idea to the limit by taking grapple hooks to the next level. 

This psychedelic sidescroller feels like Contra, Bionic Commando, and Ridley Scott’s Alien walked into the machine from The Fly while The Grateful Dead played on vinyl in the background. 

You play as a soldier who’s been taken over by an alien parasite, giving you weird control over a bony, spindly staff-spear thing—the titular ChainStaff. And it makes for fast-paced gameplay that’s a little erratic but very exciting. 

ChainStaff gives you a pretty basic rifle that shoots in any direction, and it feels very arcade-like since you don’t have to reload. You can get upgrades for the weapon, and the only one I saw forked and split the bullets. 

The real star here, though, is the eponymous weapon. You can throw it forward, and it’ll arc unless you fully charge it, in which case it zooms forward in a straight, deadly line. Any enemy caught in its path gets split, with gooey, colorful viscera flying everywhere. 

It’s satisfying to use, and I found it to be a powerful offensive tool. It could knock out enemies in one hit when it’s fully charged. However, I found it so useful that the rifle became an afterthought. It would take a bit of sustained fire to take down enemies, which didn’t feel as great.

To make the ChainStaff even cooler, while in the air, it will automatically attach to a nearby ceiling and act as a grapple hook. In the build I played, swinging around felt almost comically fast, but Nathan Fouts, founder of Mommy’s Best Games, assured me that the team is tweaking that. After all, the game is still early in development. 

Nonetheless, it felt pretty cool to zip around, and while you’re in the air, aiming the rifle or spear-like version of the ChainStaff activates bullet time. Because why wouldn’t it? It was pretty gratifying leaping off a swing and sending a bony staff flying straight through an enemy before landing. 

The staff also acts as a sort of moveable platform, too. When it’s out, pressing a button turns it from a ropelike texture into a stiffer bone texture. It moves and stays in place, and you can climb it like a ladder as well. 

Generally, the staff takes a bit to get used to, but moving with it as a platform felt pretty intuitive. More often than not, if I wanted to go somewhere, the ChainStaff provided. And as a bonus, it gives cover and prevents overhead hazards from crushing me. 

Visually and aesthetically, it’s pulling a lot from ‘70s pschedelic album covers and cheesy sci-fi (in an endearing way). The art, especially in motion, feels like the HD-2D version of Flash games. 

The glimpse of the story I saw also leans into that cheese. The protagonist’s sister is also the doctor trying to save him from the parasite, which is also the only thing keeping him alive. Meanwhile, the military wants him to keep the parasite because now he’s the ultimate weapon. Whatever will our protagonist do? 

Across the 10 levels, you’ll come across friendly soldiers who have been attacked by aliens. According to a press release, saving them will lead to weapon improvements down the line, but your alien parasite can also eat them to make the ChainStaff stronger. However, in my experience with the game, it’ll definitely make soldiers see you as an enemy. 

While it’s still too early to say just how great ChainStaff will be, it has a very promising start so far. There are some kinks to work out, and I hope the rifle feels more fun to use, especially with more upgrades down the line. But so far, nothing beats throwing that bony spear through aliens. 

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TechRaptor previewed ChainStaff at PAX West 2024.