Taken For A Quickie | Black And White Bushido

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Join us in taking Good Catch Games’ stealth-focused multiplayer beat ‘em up, Black & White Bushido, into the shadows for a covert quickie.

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​by Rob
Holt

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​@acousticmagic

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Developer: Good Catch
Publisher: Good Catch
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Steam
Players: 1 - 4

So, how do matches play out?

Black & White Bushido’s battles take place in 2D arenas that pit the forces of light (in white - shocker!) and shadow (in black - unexpected!) against each other. The monochromatic presentation allows team members to vanish against their respective colour to move unseen, ready to spring out on unsuspecting victims or hide like cowards! Fight for control over an array of maps, collecting power-ups and achieving objectives such as most kills or flag captures along the way.

Is the gameplay satisfying?

We had a boisterous afternoon when we sampled the game back at Rezzed 2016, and we’re pleased to announce that the game has carried its local multiplayer fun over to this full fat version. Double-jumping up onto ledges, slide-slicing folks into bits, and disappearing into cover are all endlessly satisfying. Capture the flag adds some objective-based meat to the regular frag-focused modes, which are all available over a decent enough array of maps.

How’s the presentation?

The stark black and white visuals do a great job of delivering the game’s main concept, but the zoomed out view might sometimes cause you to lose track of where you are.

Audio wise, the game has a beautifully fitting sound, with crashing gongs and traditional Japanese melodies to slice your associates in half to.

Sounds good, but are there any lingering concerns?

Our concern really lies in the game’s lasting appeal. You’ll definitely have a blast if you have a bunch of friends over, but when they leave - and you’re left all alone - the game just doesn’t hold up to the same standard. Beating the largely dim witted AI gets dull rather quickly, and although the online components do a decent job of upholding the values of local multiplayer, it really does suffer from the lack of in-the-room gloating and goading.

With that in mind, does it come recommended?

B&WB is built for Friday nights with a bunch of chums, pizza and fizzy drinks aplenty - if this sounds like you and your friends, then we can recommend it. For the soloist, however, we’d struggle to endorse it - the AI doesn’t inspire, and the online multiplayer just doesn’t carry the same joy as its local counterpart, which is a shame, but not entirely unexpected.

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Black & White Bushido is available now on Xbox One, PS4 and Steam.