Sifu's longevity has been spread out due to a creative slew of mods. These mods have reskinned Sifu's protagonist with characters from other properties that share the same propensity for stylish hand-to-hand action, such as John Wick, Netflix's Daredevil, and Matt Reeves' The Batman. Indeed, Sifu encapsulates the combat players would like to see adapted from many modern films into a game, with The Matrix Reloaded being the latest film to enter Sifu as an immersive mod.
The Matrix franchise set the tone for action films back in the early-to-mid 2000s. While The Matrix concentrated on elaborate bouts of martial arts between two opponents, The Matrix Reloaded stepped its action up a notch so that its super-powered Neo could still meet his match with multiple adversaries at the same time, and often hundreds at a time when Smith is involved. Now, players can see the action from one of the franchise's most iconic and special effects-heavy fights between Neo and Smith's clones in Sifu.
Twitter user @Naxshe22 has shared a look at the Sifu mod, which recreates The Matrix Reloaded's iconic Burly Brawl in the lobby of Kuroki's museum. The player-character becomes Neo and fends off a swarm of Smith enemies while the Burly Brawl's theme plays overtop. Sifu has perhaps revolutionized modern combat mechanics with immersive input-driven techniques for strikes, dodges, and parries, and the mod's Burly Brawl recreation bears remarkable resemblances to strikes and finishers administered in the film.
The Burly Brawl was last represented in The Matrix: Path of Neo. Sifu lacks finisher animations that let the player strike multiple assailants at once, but the AI for both encounters looks similar as well. How Sifu plays and looks with this mod is how players probably felt it looked like back in 2003, but instead portrays what a modern remaster or remake of The Matrix: Path of Neo could look like. Sifu even features pipes and other weapons players can attack with, so the mod would look even more identical to the film if a quarterstaff was placed in Neo's hands.
The Matrix's IP does not currently have another game announced. But if it is to see a renewal on current platforms, this mod showcases what many fans would find agreeable in terms of gameplay. Sifu's Sloclap could be the developer for the job if this is any inclination of what the result would be; however, fans would likely expect it to feature slow-motion gunplay and other adventure elements, and not only hand-to-hand combat. Either way, Sifu's combat may inspire other franchises to assess how combat should be designed in their own games.
Sifu is available now on PC, PS4, and PS5.