Backbone is not outright terrible. But it is extremely frustrating. There are solid noir trappings in place, particularly the story premise, visuals and music. Then the game just gradually shifts into a self-pleasing social commentary that thinks it cuts deep while in fact saying nothing meaningful about the human condition or the failures of our social constructs. From a gameplay standpoint, it is a 100% linear experience, with the illusion of choice sprinkled throughout (I'm sure the devs will pretend this is simply a meta-commentary on our lack of agency) and simplistic tasks presented as puzzles. It's essentially a visual novel kind of experience, with the exception of the misleading first Chapter. Like I said, however, it's not all bad. The visual and audio design are wonderful (no voice-overs, though), some of the characterization and dialogue is actually good, and the plot keeps you intrigued until THAT moment when it all falls apart. And then there's this thing with the "open letter" issued by the devs in order to address all the fans and KS backers' frustrations. Good lord does it read like a condescending load of pretentious swagger. Makes them look like they kind of "political activists" who would refuse to hold up an "End Sexual Abuse" sign unless they were first reassured it was made of driftwood. Doesn't make me very optimistic about a potential sequel or indeed any follow-up project.
