Absolver devs announce kung fu beat 'em up Sifu
The beatings resume in autumn
After the stylish multiplayer sandbox fighting of Absolver, developers Sloclap have announced a return to fisticuffs. Their next game is Sifu, a beat 'em up inspired by "kung fu film classics", starring a young student seeking revenge for the murder of his family. He'll be stylishly punching and kicking his way through a city, as you can see in the announcement trailer below.
Hard not to think of Old Boy with that corridor rumble. This revenge tale is set in a fictional Chinese city, duffing up in baddies in places from dingy streets to corporate towers. And yep, I'm game for more fisticuffs from Sloclap.
Our boy Brendy called Absolver one of the best fighting games and it is, it's good. Part of the joy of Absolver was building your own moveset, flowing between stances and dropping in a cheeky slap as you learned new moves. Sifu's announcement does say players will "unlock unique skills" though I suspect they'd make a bigger deal of it if Sifu had Abosolver-esque complexity. That's fine, mind, it's not like Sifu's a sequel.
Also unclear is what's up with that magic amulet which revives and ages you. "The cost of magic is dear, however, and you will age significantly every time you come back to life: time is the price you will pay for your revenge," the announcement says. Though whether that affect anything beyond your look, I couldn't tell you. Game only just got announced, y'know. I can only hope that if you reach the age of Pai Mei, you too will be able to suck your genitals up inside with such force that not only are assailants unable to kick you in the dick, their foot gets stuck if they try.
Sifu is due to launch this autumn on the Epic Games Store. It'll also be on PS5 and PS4.
I'm not a kung fu film buff but have enjoyed a load of ye olde Shaw Brothers films. I still think Return To The 36th Chamber has the best conceit for a sequel ever. The first film's a serious affair about a legendary monk, then Return is more comic as the same actor plays a conman pretending to be that monk. Lots of fun with using trickery to fake kung fu, until it backfires and he must head to the Shaolin temple to learn the real deal from the big man. Delightful.