When it comes to Hong Kong action (kung fu) movies, I believe that the vast majority of people are not strangers. As a good memory of the two generations of students, in that era of open-air "cinema" prosperity, kung fu superstars such as Jackie Chan, Yuan Biao, Liu Jiahui and classic movies such as "Plan A", "Huang Feihong" and "Drunken Fist" spread throughout the streets and alleys, becoming a household name. But I have to say that times have changed, and now Hong Kong action movies have long ceased to be the grandeur of the past. Hong Kong-style kung fu movies, which once appeared frequently in open-air movies and served as entertainment talk after people's tea and dinner, have now fallen into an embarrassing position that few people mention.
However, the recent release of "Master" has gathered the attention of many players, causing players to discuss old-fashioned Hong Kong films in major platforms (forums) such as Major Tieba and Station B.
This action game developed by the independent game studio Sloclap, has not yet officially lifted the ban, with a challenging difficulty design, which has aroused widespread discussion among players, and has given birth to many interesting memes such as "20 years old into the nightclub, 70 years old out" and so on. But people's focus is more on the "authentic taste" of the game like a classic Hong Kong kung fu movie.
To borrow the words of the production team, it is a pure "Chinese style" game with Chinese style as the design theme, Chinese city as the game background, and Chinese kung fu Baimei fist as the basic fighting style. "Chinese martial arts", "national style elements" and many other BUFF, coupled with the lack of understanding of the unknown Sloclap, I believe that many players can easily be like me, will subconsciously think that "Master" is made by a domestic independent game studio.
But here's the thing: the development team for this game full of national elements is a group of authentic Frenchmen. In addition to the disbelief, I can't help but admire the efforts of this group of French people to show Chinese kung fu and culture in the way of games.
Graphically, the game's Low Poly art style is a good way to express the style of the old-fashioned Hong Kong movie that the game wants to express. This seemingly rough, with a slightly hazy modeling design, reveals a unique retro charm.
In addition, "Master" portrays a variety of very different scenes, such as narrow and crowded suburban walled cities, neon-lit nightclub alleys, and trendy avant-garde art galleries. In these scenes, from macroscopic designs such as architecture and room layouts to microscopic details such as ornaments and ornaments, national style elements can be seen everywhere. Take the initial level at the beginning of the game, the courtyard with Cantonese style, the lion's head hanging in the hall, and the wall hanging Yang Lian and other oriental elements blend in, showing the Chinese aesthetic to the fullest.
"Master" can show a unique oriental charm, and the music is undoubtedly the finishing touch. Created by Chinese musician Howie Lee (Chinese li huadi), the game soundtrack perfectly blends antique Chinese instruments such as kites, flutes and drums with modern electronic music, and creates an atmosphere that complements the game screen, bringing players an unparalleled audiovisual feast.
What impressed me the most was the teaching level at the beginning of the game, where the player defeated the bosses such as the medicine man, the martial artist, and the artist in turn with the game guide, and the general context of the plot was presented to the player in just a few scenes. And the rapid drum beat and the depressed scream, combined with the interpretation style of the opening song of the Homage to Hong Kong-style action movies, are reminiscent of the classic bridges in the old-fashioned Hong Kong films that are in the memory.
In addition, it must be mentioned that it is ridiculed by players as the resurrection setting of "twenty in the door and seventy in the door". In the game, players are revived with the power of a mysterious pendant when their health is reset to zero. After resurrection, the character's age will increase (starting from 20 years old, about 75 years old), and will have some changes as the age increases, the most intuitive of which is the decrease in the character's maximum health and increase in attack power.
In addition, players can also unlock corresponding skills at different ages, providing players with the possibility of delving into a variety of enemy-breaking ideas, which greatly improves the repetitive playability of the game. And this ingenious resurrection mechanism not only cleverly simulates the cultivation journey of a kung fu apprentice to a master, but also includes the developer's interpretation of the game's name "SIFU" - the real kung fu is not achieved overnight, but requires step by step, thousands of hammers and hammers to accumulate and refine.
As the core of an action game, The Master's combat system is based on the Foshan Baimei Fist Technique, combining posture, execution, blocking bounce, and focusing skills similar to "bullet time" to create a unique combat system.
In addition, the game also added a large number of scene interaction elements to the combat system. Inspired by Jackie Chan movies such as "Plan A" and "Fast Food Truck", the developers set up many "Jackie Chan Happy House" style scenes in the battle. In the fight, many props on the ground, on the tabletop, and around can be used at will, and the inconspicuous square stools under the feet, the beer bottles everywhere, and the bricks hidden in the corners of the walls can become "sharp weapons" to defeat the enemy.
In order to better show the essence of Baimeiquan in the game, the production team's dynamic capture and creative team went to the martial arts hall to learn the Baimei fist and hired a Foshan Baimeiquan master as a martial arts instructor.
Prior to its release, Jordan Layani, the creative director of The Master, had confessed in an interview that he studied under Benjamin Culossi (Benjamin Güros, Chinese Liu Ben) and had been learning the style of White Brow Boxing for the past five years. However, this Baimei boxer named Liu Ben was not a foreigner who opened a martial arts hall in a foreign country, but a native Of France. As the curator of the LWS Pak Mei Boxing Gym in Paris, he, like most foreign martial artists with a reputation and love of kung fu, has an indissoluble relationship with Chinese kung fu.
Perhaps some elder brothers have a slight impression of this person, and have heard about the deeds of this French white-browed fist from the reports of mainstream media such as Xinhua Net and Global Network.
When Benjamin was 14 years old, he first set foot on Chinese soil and listened to the legend of "the world's martial arts out of Shaolin" and visited the Shaolin Temple. The trip to Shaolin planted the seeds of kung fu in the heart of the French teenager, and after returning to France, Benjamin has been looking for Chinese martial artists throughout France to learn kung fu.
In order to understand Chinese kung fu and culture in greater depth, Benjamin, who went to college, chose a major related to Chinese culture. But for him, the research on paper is like scratching the itch of a shoe, always almost meaningless. So in 2006, he made up his mind to cross the Eurasian continent and come to Shanghai from France to pursue his martial arts path.
By chance, Benjamin came into contact with Baimeiquan in Foshan, Guangdong Province, only to be conquered by its fierce momentum and unpredictable skills at first sight, and determined to learn Baimeiquan. From 2006 to 2010, Benjamin studied with Chen Youwen, Liu Weiji and Liu Weixin. During the period of studying with Liu Weixin, his sentence "One day as a teacher, lifelong as a father" completely impressed Liu Weixin, allowing him to break the ancestral rule of "passing on the inside and not passing on the outside" and officially accepting Benjamin as a successor (apprentice)
In 2011, after completing his studies, Benjamin returned to France and opened a martial arts hall in Paris, teaching and promoting Foshan Baimeiquan. In 2017, in an interview with Xinhua News Agency, he said that "Foshan Baimei Fist gave me the meaning of life", from the amazing performance at the Paris International Kung Fu Festival, to the current interpretation of BaimeiQuan in a new way in "Master", in the past few years, Benjamin has been contributing to the development of Foshan Baimeiquan in different ways.
In the answer to the official account of Zhihu "Master", there is also a similar sentence: "This is a game work that we create with respect and love for Chinese kung fu and Chinese culture."
If you've actually experienced the game, or if you've followed the operation of Sloclap and Master, you'll see that it's not an exaggeration.
After several years of steady development, it is Benjamin, Jordan Layani and other developers who are walking in and out of the play, "Master" brings thousands of players a truly immersive Chinese kung fu journey, but also allows many people to reproduce the good memories of old Hong Kong kung fu movies in the game.
"Master" live-action movie promo
It is worth mentioning that the official recently said that it is cooperating with the professional dubbing team in Shanghai, promising to update the Chinese dubbing in the game in the future, you may wish to look forward to it.