Dinga Bakaba is the game director of Deathloop, Arkane’s brilliant, breakthrough FPS. He’s a veteran of the Dishonored series, going back 11 years. But most importantly for our purposes, he’s a martial arts teacher on the side. Specifically, Bakaba teaches capoeira.
“People sometimes wonder, is it a dance, is it a fight,” he says. “But we say, ‘a game of capoeira,’ and the act is playing.” The boundaries of capoeira are intentionally blurred – it was first invented by African slaves in Brazil, as a way to practice fight moves under the cover of dancing and music. You might know it by the distinctive moveset of Tekken’s Eddy Gordo, the human rotor whose unpredictable leg spins end with a foot to the face.
It’s often less combative than that, though: in the courses Bakaba runs, capoeira partners tend to look more like lovers than fighters. Moves are mirrored, legs soar over heads, and despite the proximity, the hits never quite connect. It’s mesmerising.
“When I arrived at my first capoeira class, they said it’s a game,” Bakaba says. “I asked them, ‘What are the rules?’ And they looked at me like, ‘That’s for you to figure out.’”
Capoeira can be combat; it can be strategy; it can be exhibition. But brilliantly, the nature of the game isn’t determined beforehand. Instead it’s communicated wordlessly between the players.
This story is from the Christmas 2021 edition of PC Gamer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Christmas 2021 edition of PC Gamer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
JET SET RADIO
A vibrant Tokyo-like city with an anti-establishment attitude.
BLUE DAWN
INTEL graphics cards have become a genuine contender. How, and why?
WIRELESS GAMING MICE
I challenge you to spot the difference between these wireless rodents and their wired counterparts.
FOILED AGAIN
EN GARDE! is a brief yet riotous piece of swashbuckling nostalgia
PURE MAGIC
BALDUR'S GATE III is a dream RPG that was worth the 23-year wait
THE BEST MECH GAMES ON PC
From anime mecha to rusty 100-ton war machines, the best mech games for giant robot lovers
MECH MY DAY
MECHWARRIOR 5: CLANS is bringing a narrative focus and intricate, handcrafted missions back to the storied series.
HOMEWORLD 3
The space RTS aims to please with its War Games mode
LORDS OF THE FALLEN
World-hopping glow-up
WARHAMMER 40K: SPACE MARINE 2
Chaos is winning right now, I fear