I've always enjoyed fighting games and over the years we have certainly seen some excellent examples. I spent way too much time playing Yie Ar Kung-Fu and International Karate when I was growing up. Games like Virtua Fighter, Killer Instinct and Street Fighter tournaments were also part of my college days.

All of these games delivered a fighting experience within the confines of some type of arena and that is where the game stayed. Yet I often thought it would be cool to explore the surrounding game world and take the fighting beyond those digital boundaries: think Wreck-it-Ralph meets Bruce Lee. Well in Sifu this is exactly what it feels like I’m doing.

The game opens with a short sequence where you play as a well-trained assailant, where you are introduced to some of the games basic moves. In no time at all you have killed the Sifu (which means master or skilled person in the context of martial arts) in his temple and left his child for dead: it turns out that child is you. After choosing the sex of your character you are then treated to a very cool credits section that is also playable. The twenty-year-old version of that character has clearly been training hard in order to exact revenge for the killing of his/her father. 

Enter the Sifu

From the window in your temple, your now twenty-year-old self can gaze across the distant cityscape and chose your next mission. Each mission area will take you through a themed level in a fairly linear path. One thing that I immediately loved about these areas is how you move from section to section, like in the opening zone where you clamber over the wire fence or later when you must leap across the gap between buildings. These are little stylish touches that make the whole sequence feel more connected. 

Your ultimate aim is to defeat the many packs of enemies in your path before facing one of the main bosses that were present for your execution. Along the way, you will pick up experience that in turn will allow you to purchase new moves and abilities. There is also a combat multiplier which incentivises you to keep a good flow between each fight. Unlocked abilities can either be temporary or you can spend a larger chunk to make this a permanent unlock for that save. In addition, there are also small statues along the way which offer bonuses; such as giving you more health when you take an enemy down. Once you have defeated one area; you will return to your temple with various pieces of information and your progress will be saved. Some of these clues and items can open up shortcuts on later runs, so it pays to keep your eyes open.

Age is Just a Number Baby

So the magical bracelet that revives you from death as a child is still in your possession with its magic intact. Once you perish you will be brought back to life and the death counter will add that number of years to your life. At first, these are small numbers but if you are not careful you’ll be drawing your free bus pass within a few minutes. Eventually, your age and bracelet will reach their limit and it will break along with you. As you take on enemies your death counter can be reduced, which in turn reduces the number of years taken off your life. 

Once death does finally come that is it for that run and I think this will be a big sticking point for many players. Games with perma-death are starting to become more popular and not the niche torture devices they once were. In Sifu, you can start the area you last played again as the age you were when you started it will be saved. In this way, you are always trying to get as far as possible while keeping your age down for those last few stages that are cripplingly tough. 

Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting!

Of course, the meat of this game is martial arts and beating each set of adversaries in your path. I am very happy to say this essential element is great, with a few wrinkles here and there. You start off with a light and heavy attack. These can be combined with directional presses to trigger a whole range of moves. Pressing back, forward and strong attack for example will perform a handy sweep kick. You can dodge to avoid some attacks and even more importantly block. If you do block as an attack is about to land you will perform a parry which will be an essential element of your strategy. This will stun your opponent and allow you to either attack or throw them in any direction. 

Thankfully the developers at Slowclap decided to keep the action firmly on close combat, so there are no guns here to speak of. You can pitch bottles and other weapons in the direction of your enemy to stun them or finish them off. Once you have broken an enemies defence (or structure) they will become vulnerable to a finishing move. These are both fast and brutal; often using the environment to add painful routes to unconsciousness. I do think it is a shame there are no multi-person takedowns except for the unlockable staff attack. Maybe given the complex room furniture this was too hard to pull it off.

The difficulty of Sifu starts off pretty tame and allows you to pummel the first few rooms to a pulp. However, once you start to make your way through the club things start to change rather rapidly. If you hold block and press either up or down you can avoid low or high attacks. This would be a great idea except in Sifu you can’t know which is coming until it is too late. There is no indication of what the enemy will do and I’ve found it impossible to block these attacks with any degree of consistency. As you get to the end boss in the second area attacks come predominantly from a bow staff using high and low attacks. I think this is where I started to feel a little frustrated with the blocking system.

Break it Up!

One of my favourite things about Sifu is how your surroundings react to your shenanigans. In the heat of a fight, you can roll over tables or hop over a sofa in order to avoid getting boxed in. When you do this smaller items go flying all over the place leaving a satisfying mess in your wake. In addition tables, chairs and many other items will break apart as bodies get tossed in all directions. It is very cool that you can throw an enemy into a table, then pick up a table leg and use it as a weapon. You can even kick small items like stools and crates at the unsuspecting shins of an enemy in order to make them eat dirt.

Is it PC?

Sifu definitely has a stylish look that I loved right from the start. Many of the assets and characters are low in polygons, but the game gets away with this with a range of excellent graphical techniques. For a start the textures while often simple are placed perfectly, giving the world a painterly look. In the opening zone, the camera pans down from what I initially assumed was a 2D picture, only to reveal this is the game world. I also appreciate that while many items are simple shapes, there are tonnes of small details like individual pieces on a board game that scatter when kicked. Another area where the game shines is in the lighting department. I love how warm lights from inside the temple at the start, almost invite you in from the rain. Later we see Neon signs illuminating back alleys that also reflect in the puddles on the street. So while the characters in this game don't possess a great deal of detail; the way they move and interact with the environments more than make up for this.

I did find that sound to be a mixed bag in Sifu, but mostly on the good side. Voice acting is woefully bad, to the point I think the developers intentionally did this as a parody of bad voiceovers in old martial arts films. I’m not sure, but the various lines of dialogue you hear are delivered in a flat and lifeless way. The combat sound effects however are great, with plenty of environmental sounds and the perfect meaty padding sounds as you paste your foes. Music does a good job of feeling like it is part of the level, like the low beat of techno in the club level for instance.

Sifu ran pretty well on my system; with DLSS placed on performance, I managed to get the game running very well on the highest settings at 1440p. I did try the controller, which I assume most people will play with, but I preferred using mouse and keyboard for this one. The only issue I came across was that the focus move would not detect my mouse direction. Even when I thought I had solved the problem with a custom control setup, it would still intermittently stop working again.

Conclusion

It is clear that Slowclap knows how to make fighting games. With the storming success of their prior title, it seems they have poured all that experience into this new game with some added benefits. They really did pick a fantastic setting for a fighting game of this sort and as kung fu games go, this is up there with the best of them.

Games that don't pull their punches are becoming more popular in the wider gaming world, such as Sekiro and Dark Souls. Sifu is not for the faint of heart and you will need to pay attention to what the game teaches you early on. Many times my panic would lead to button mashing and when that happens this game will eat you for breakfast. Aside from the high and low block issue I had, the game is pretty fair and will reward those who spend the time to master their moves. So there it is, if you like fighting games and have always fancied breaking through the backdrop this is certainly for you. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone unless you just dont get on with games that require fast reactions.

Thanks to the wonderful folks over at Tinsley PR for providing an early review copy of the game which is always appreciated. Thanks so much for reading my review and I hope to see you again very soon.