Sloclap has released a short film as a teaser for its highly-anticipated game, Sifu, showing a glimpse at what the soon-to-be-released game's story will be and capturing the essence of old martial arts movies. This is the latest source of hype for what is already a considerably eye-catching indie title, which sees the protagonist setting out on a revenge mission and aging several years every time they fall in battle.
Sifu has continued to generate excitement since it was first revealed in early 2021. After being delayed in July 2021, Sloclap's latest game will release on February 8th, 2022. The game aims to let players experience the intense combat of martial art movies firsthand, and its impressive combat has made it one of the most anticipated games of 2022, which is no small feat considering the AAA titles also releasing this year.
The short film Sifu: At The Cost of Time, released on the Sloclap YouTube channel, follows the game's protagonist as he hunts down one of his father's killers, an assassin named Fajar. After practicing some moves, the main character, played by Alvin Hsing and voice acted by Zhe Qin, confronts two unfortunate henchmen guarding the way to Fajar. This encounter marks the first of the short-films action scenes as the protagonist quickly dispatches the guards. Following a brief confrontation with Fajar, the action picks up once more as the main character fights off a wave of henchmen before dueling with a stronger machete-wielding foe. Sifu: At The Cost of Time's action is impressive and also highlights key aspects of the game, namely Sifu's unique aging mechanic.
See the full video on YouTube here.
The short film was shot in LA and directed by Christopher Clark Cowan, who recently worked as an action designer and stunt coordinator on Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The action is intense and well-choreographed, for which Stunt and Fight Coordinator, Junchang Lu deserves recognition. Sifu: At The Cost of Time stays true to the genre of films it takes inspiration from by having the spoken language be Mandarin and subtitled in English. Despite this live-action adaptation mainly serving to promote the game's upcoming release, it is without a doubt impressive and well worth a watch from fans of martial arts films.
Based on hands-on gameplay previews, Sifu is looking to be a strong addition as a console exclusive to PlayStation and the Epic Games Store for PC. While Sony's PlayStation is not struggling by any means, some have criticized the lack of exclusives released in the last year, though 2022 is already looking much stronger. On the other hand, the Epic Store is disliked by many PC gamers and still missing some basic features, with a shopping cart only being added in September 2021. So, for both companies, Sifu is definitely an exciting exclusive to have as it may well be one of the first contenders for 2022's Game Of The Year.
Sifu will be released for PS4, PS5, and PC on February 8th, 2022.
Source: Sloclap/YouTube