PS Plus March 2024 leak – my favourite tough as nails brawler Sifu to drop

27 February 2024 , 16:48

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Martial arts brawler Sifu arrives on PS Plus this month if rumours are to be believed (Image: Sloclap)

The hard-as-nails brawler Sifu could be one of this month's PS Plus Essential offerings if rumours from a credible leaker are to be believed.

Ahead of the PS Plus Essential reveal later this week, rumours are claiming that one of the included titles this month will be Sloclap's martial arts brawler Sifu, which launched on PS4 and PS5 back in February 2022. The game sold well at launch but was a bit overshadowed by Elden Ring releasing in the same window, so there's a chance that many of you missed out on this underappreciated banger, and you could soon be able to check it out on PS Plus. What's even better is that it's been updated regularly since launch, with new modes and options available.

This rumour comes from Billbil-kun who has been leaking PS Plus announcements for well over a year at this point and has yet to be wrong. They posted an article on French outlet Dealabs revealing that Sifu will be one of the three games announced for PS Plus on Wednesday, February 28.

Kung fu chaos

Sifu is an absolute banger. It was my third favourite game of 2022, only losing out to Neon White and Elden Ring – both of which are harder to beat than John Cena in his prime. The core gameplay is some of the most satisfying combat found in any action game and does a better job of evoking the grittiness and chaos of martial arts films than any game I've ever played.

The core fighting is tough but fair, Sifu is a game you're going to have to master to beat. Each attack is hard-hitting, and thanks to a mixture of great sound design and effects, every hit feels impactful and makes even 1v1 encounters intense. However, it also is a game where you can kick a stool across a room to trip someone over, fling a bottle at their head, or even run up to an unassuming goon and kick them down a stairwell.

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And I haven't even mentioned the genius ageing mechanic. For every run of Sifu, you start as a 20-year-old, and with every death, you age up a year – however subsequent deaths will stack, so if you die twice in a row it goes up two years, and so on. You get stronger as you get older, but have less health, and once you reach a certain age, you lose the ability to unlock specific skills. It's a phenomenal spin on the brawler formula that requires you to think tactically about what moves to unlock in a given run. As I said before – Sifu is an absolute banger.

Scott McCrae