Chambara (Video Game)

Chambara
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)	PlayStation 4 macOS Microsoft Windows
Release	PlayStation 4 July 26, 2016 macOS, Windows December 12, 2017
Genre(s)	Stealth
Mode(s)	Multiplayer (local only)

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 PC 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]

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