Last month, we wrote about a new Steam PC game that imparts the immortal knowledge of traditional Chinese martial arts to gamers. Today, we’re back with more exciting gaming slash martial arts news: You can practice kung fu moves in virtual fights in a new game called Sifu, which means ‘master’ in Cantonese, available for PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
The single-player combat game was developed by Sloclap, the French game studio behind the hit game Absolver, and launched on February 8 on the PlayStation Store and Epic Games Store.
Sifu was initially scheduled for release in 2021 but was postponed to avoid overworking the team and compromising the game’s quality.
We were hoping to release Sifu before the end of 2021, but this won’t be possible without compromising quality and having the team crunch for months, neither of which is acceptable. Even if it’s for the best, we’re VERY sorry for the delay. Thank you for your patience!
— SifuGame (@SifuGame) July 8, 2021
According to the game’s official website, the studio worked with Benjamin Colussi. He learned pak mei kung fu while living in the southern Chinese city of Foshan, in coastal Guangdong province. The studio credited Colussi as an inspiration for the movements used by the main character in the game.
According to the game description on the Epic Games website, players control a young kung fu student on a mission to avenge the deaths of his murdered family. The protagonist must fight five main targets while exploring hidden parts of the city, gathering clues along the way to complete the mission.
Like many of the characters in Jackie Chan’s iconic movies, players can use everything at their disposal in the environment to fight, from furniture to windows to enemies’ weapons. In other words, players can improvise and adapt to each situation.
Perhaps the most exciting twist of the game is the death and aging mechanism. As Sloclap explains in the preview video shown above: “In Sifu, we want players to experience training and self-improvement. To convey that, we made death part of the journey.”
Specifically, after a player dies in the game, they are resurrected magically by an ancient pendant. Before the player comes back to life, they have the opportunity to unlock new skills to attack their opponents.
However, there is a cost: Every time a player rises back through death, they will age. Moreover, the more they die, the faster they age. After a player reaches a certain age, they cannot be saved anymore.
Life is fleeting in Sifu. Unlock stage shortcuts and fast-track to bosses to clear stages at the youngest age possible.
Out tomorrow — more dev tips: https://t.co/28rR8k47Tx pic.twitter.com/l9RomRqlfr
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) February 7, 2022
Chinese players especially like how the game studio approaches death in the new title.
The most upvoted comment under a Sifu game review video reads, “Got into the club when I was a 20-year-old, and got out of it when I was 76.”
Similarly, on Weibo, many wrote to show their appreciation for the game.
“This is the most enjoyable game I have played this year. I didn’t expect that a French game studio could make such a wonderful kung fu game,” wrote a happy player.
Another posted, “The studio does a great job, from making the promotional materials to developing the actual game. I can feel their efforts.”
Cover photo via Sloclap
