Sifu

Sifu is a third-person martial arts action game (beat 'em up) from Sloclap, the studio behind the fighting game Absolver from 2017. It was released on 8 February 2022 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows, with Switch and Xbox versions following later. Kepler Interactive was the co-publisher. The player controls the child of a martial arts master who avenges the father's death. After every defeat a talisman revives the character, but they age: they gain stronger attacks but lose health. The name of the game is the Cantonese word sifu (師父), meaning master. The combat system is based on the Chinese style Bak Mei, written Pak Mei in gaming media and by the master himself. The game offers over 150 unique attacks. The studio worked with Benjamin Colussi, a master of this style and founder of the Lao Wei San – Pak Mei school, when creating them. The fast fights against superior numbers are, according to English Wikipedia, inspired by kung-fu films of the 1970s and 1980s with Jackie Chan.

Martial arts in this work

Fight choreography

Benjamin Colussi, a master of the Pak Mei style, took part in the choreography of the fights and in the movements of the main character. According to the GameAnim website, the collaboration included workshops on fight design, motion capture sessions and checks of cultural authenticity; we have not been able to document who exactly was captured. The website TheGamer, which quotes Colussi, states that the game uses his own movements in unarmed combat and with weapons such as a baseball bat, a machete or a staff, and that some were adjusted for the game. The same source describes the Pak Mei style as focused on powerful hand strikes at short range. The game's animation director said that the team added real impacts to the motion capture data because the actors were not allowed to hit each other.

People and martial arts

• Benjamin ColussiFight choreographer· Bak Mei Kung Fu (real practitioner)
• Benjamin ColussiTechnical advisor· Bak Mei Kung Fu (real practitioner)

Details

Developer

Sloclap

Publisher

Sloclap; Kepler Interactive

Platforms at release

PlayStation, PC

Motion capture

yes