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1507520cookie-checkWay Of The Passive Fist Launches March 6th For PS4, Steam, Xbox One
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2018/02

Way Of The Passive Fist Launches March 6th For PS4, Steam, Xbox One

Canadian developer Household Games announced that their post-apocalyptic, hand-animated, cartoon-inspired beat-’em-up, Way of the Passive Fist, will launch in full on Steam for PC, on the PS4, and via the ID@Xbox program for the Xbox One. You’ll be able to pick up a copy for $14.99 starting March 6th on PS4 and PC and March 7th for the Xbox One.

The game puts players in the role of a mysterious traveler named the Wanderer. The game is a completely different take on the traditional beat-’em-up, arcade brawler. Instead of being the aggressor, you’re essentially a defensive pacifist. However, this doesn’t mean that you still can’t kick butt, it just means that you use Steven Seagal-style fighting antics where you master the motion and movements of your opponents and defend and parry everything they throw at you until you can literally push them over.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at how ridiculous the whole concept was, especially given that it seems to be combined with classic cyberpunk post-apocalyptic fanfare like Hardware, Crash & Burn and The Six String Samurai. You can check out the trailer below.

So as you can see, you’ll deflect incoming attacks, you can grab and throw projectiles back at opponents, and essentially dodge your foes until you can utilize an opening to take them down in a single hit.

I couldn’t help but think about One Punch Man, because it seems like this would be the perfect way to design a game around that concept.

Jason Canam, the founder of Household Games, explained how they didn’t just want to do another retro-rehash where an indie studio takes a popular concept from the 1980s or 1990s and applies some slapdashery and sprite work to the project. They wanted to reinvent how people embraced brawlers with something unique. Canam stated in the press release…

“We hope that players, especially fans of classic 90s arcade brawlers or fighting games, are quick to notice two distinctive characteristics in Way of the Passive Fist – this isn’t your typical action arcade brawler since button mashing won’t get you far and it’s all about timing defensive moves, as well as the unique accessibility features .”

Way of the Passive Fist - Power Punch

I don’t know how well people will take to the whole “accessibility” thing. It will allow people to play the game with one hand, along with customizing the visual output to adjust it for people who suffer from epilepsy or visual impairments. Gameplay options and customization settings have also been added to appeal to different groups of gamers who play at different skill levels and prefer certain kind of play-styles, such as increasing enemy frequency and raising or lowering the combo mastery.

I don’t know how well this will play out in a full fledged game, but it’s very rare that we get a beat-’em-up or fighting game that puts a focus on defensive maneuvers. We’ll see if it turns out to be as fun as it is quirky when Way of the Passive Fist launches March 6th for PS4 and PC and March 7th for Xbox One. For more info feel free to check out the Steam store page.

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