Chambara | |
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Developer(s) | Team OK |
Publisher(s) | USC Games Publishing |
Director(s) | Kevin Wong |
Designer(s) | Esteban Fajardo Alec Faulkner |
Artist(s) | Catherine Fox |
Engine | Unity |
Platform(s) | |
Release | PlayStation 4 July 26, 2016 Mac, Windows December 12, 2017 |
Genre(s) | Stealth |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Chambara is a stealth game developed by Team OK and published by USC Games Publishing. [1] It was released on July 26, 2016, for PlayStation 4, and on December 12, 2017, for Windows and macOS. [2]
It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the art style and gameplay, but criticized its lack of features. The game was nominated for an IGF Award and won a BAFTA Ones to Watch Award in 2015. [3] It was also an official selection at Indiecade. [3]
The game is entirely local multiplayer and each player controls their own anthropomorphic bird samurai character. [4] The world is purely made of black-and-white parts, allowing characters to hide in plain sight due to their solid black and white colors. [4] Players can also throw a single throwing star (which colors the enemy and makes them visible), and also air dash. [4] [1] One hit by the player's kendo stick results in the enemy character's death, similar to Bushido Blade . [4] By pressing L2, the character's eyes can be squinted or closed to prevent screen-watching. [4]
The game was developed by students at USC Interactive Media & Games Division. [1] It was created to be played in a college dorm, leading to its couch-based multiplayer focus. [1] The game's art style was inspired by Samurai Jack , Akira Kurosawa films, [3] 20th-century Japanese art, and Mono-Ha and Metabolism architecture. [1]
The game's characters were changed from humans to birds and blood to feathers because of fears that it would be too violent to be shown in festivals with young children. [3] Having the player easily navigate the world and see the UI was a challenge due to the black-and-white nature of the art style. [3]
Chambara received the 2015 BAFTA Ones to Watch Award, which celebrates new talent and innovation in the video games industry, [5] and was chosen by IndieCade as a festival selected in fall of 2015. [6] In 2016, it received the IGF nomination for Best Student Game at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. [7]
The game received mixed reviews from critics, with an aggregate score of 71/100 on Metacritic . [2]
Chris Carter of Destructoid rated the game 75/100, saying that "it does one thing, and it does it pretty well". [4] He said that "there's enough here to keep most people interested, so long as they have a steady stream of friends (or a roommate/significant other) to play with". [4]
Chad Sapieha of the Financial Post rated the game 70/100, saying that while the idea of the game was "fantastic", the idea was "underdeveloped" and would only deliver a "few hours" of fun before "growing stale". [8]