This game is really fun with 3 other mates and a lot of beer.
If you've ever seen and loved Samurai Jack : Episode XL: Samurai versus Ninja, then you'll love this game.

Black & White Bushido in a nutshell~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmkxsQnNujI

Fun, Intense Game when playing against other players (not to mention the Challenge Mode aswell) and with the Online Multi-Player coming out this year it's definitely worth giving it a go 🎧♪♫.

Shinobi; warrior of the night.

Trained to use the darkness of the shadow.

I know your arts as well.

But I, have been trained to use the light.

Black and White Bushido is a multiplayer arena fighting game that sees you fight in teams of black or white samurai in arenas where the background is either black or white. The general idea is when standing against your colour background you are invisible allowing for all sorts of sneaky stealth kills. Controlling your character feels fairly fluid and it won’t be long before you are bouncing around the level painting the fields red.

There are 4 different characters to choose from although I must admit they did not feel radically different from each other when being played. Scattered throughout the arena is also a number of power-ups ranging from throwing stars to bombs. While these are fun to use they are generally a single use item and I felt more could have been done with them.
The stealth mechanic works well especially with 4 players as it is impossible to keep track of where everyone is. The only real problem is that after dying and re-spawning it often took me a few moments to work out where the hell I was.

The main part of the game is deathmatch split into either straight deathmatch or capture the flag game types. With only 5 arenas to choose from you do pretty quickly yearn for some more selection. Equally the challenge mode which is the games only real single player element outside deathmatch with bots feature you completing a bunch of single player objectives without dying such as kill 3 people from behind or kill 3 people using wall jumps. While a nice little distraction this equally ends up as nothing more than a side mode due to the one hit kill and inability to continue.

I love the idea of the game and with 4 friends it’s an absolute blast. I first played the game at EGX2015 and came away thinking this was definitely a highlight of the day. But in reality without having 3 other people to play against it does not quite hold the same shine. So yes for an evening of multiplayer it’s great but it burns bright and fast and will grow old quickly.

Hopefully some more maps and modes down the line can help spice it up.

Please check out our video review below for gameplay footage.

http://www.thegametutor.co.uk/videos/game-tutor-grades/151006_game-tutor-grades-black-white-bushido

A review copy of the game was obtained from the developers free of charge. My thoughts and opinions are however totally my own.

I'm a fan of Towerfall (also have the 8 player build of Towerfall as well) and we always break games like that out when friends come over. They have REALLY taken a liking to this game (even more so than me.) It is a lot of fun and the constanst shifting of the black / white areas in the map gives you a little strategy in making your moves. Nothing is more satisfying than sitting completely still, hidden, for a long time, only to kill an unsuspecting enemy as they casually trot by you, unaware that you are there. :)

Online multiplayer is broken, I bought this for myself and a few friends and when we try to host a server they don't show up. Multiplayer is broken and this shouldnt be advertised as having online multiplayer. The devs refuse to even respond to my problem in the discussions.

Short version:

Worth buying at 75% off, if you have friends to play it with. Not worth full price. Don't expect to find people to play with online.

Long:

Black & White Bushido is a game heavily based on stealth. You can play either Light (white ninjas) or Shadow (black ninja). There are four character models, though (ironically for a game so heavily based on the popular idea of ninjas), none of them are in stereotypical ninja garb. You then choose to play online or offline.

Offline, you can play either against bots or (presumably, since I've never tried it) couch two player. The stage is small, so there's no need for split screen. Online, you can try to find a match, but the matchmaking is extremely barebones. I play with my fiancee, and the only way we can find each other's matches is by coordinating over the phone. There is no indication of who else is playing, even once you're in the match. You don't see screen names, just "Player 1." Also, as many other reviews have noted, there is virtually no community for this game. If you want to play against a human, bring a friend.

You will want to play against humans, too, because the bots are particularly idiotic. Gameplay is heavily dependent on stealth. If you break stealth, every bot will simultaneously converge on you. I'm not a particularly good gamer, but my kill-death ratio against the bots is usually 20-1, even outnumbered 3 to 1. If you go into stealth, the bots just beginning patrolling their platform with no attempt to locate you or use stealth themselves. This makes them easy pickings even for a new player. Really, the bots are just good for learning the controls.

So what about the gameplay? That's where this game shines. Primarily, you'll attack using your melee weapon, a very simple one-button attack. The twist comes with the stealth mechanic. The levels continually shift between light and shadow (white or black backgrounds, in other words). The ninjas can, when standing still, blend into the background, making them impossible to see. They can also move in this stealth mode, though at a greatly reduced speed. Jumping will give away their position, as will fast movement.

The stealth is the key part. Trying to sneak up on an opponent while your character is invisible to both you and your opponent is a lot of fun. The game throws in a few twists for you, too. Tired of waiting? There's a taunt mechanic to reveal your position and lure adversary out of cover. Smoke bombs, a special item, allow you to mark a location, and then basically teleport back to it later. Drop a smoke bomb, move somewhere else, and attack from hiding. Go back into stealth after the attack and teleport back to your old spot. Your opponent now has no idea where you are. On the defensive side, there are caltrops, effectively three-pointed tacks that cause your opponent to bleed when he walks over them, giving away his position. You also can pick up shurikens or spears to give yourself a ranged attack against a melee-based opponent.

Because of all this, there's a lot of flexibility against a skilled human. Do you want to silently stalk your opponent and strike from hiding? Do you want to depend on fast movement and aggressive attacks to get you through? Both of those are options.

There are at least three game modes that I've tried: deathmatch, capture the flag, and challenge mode, where you try to score kills based on challenges. If I run across others, I'll add them here. Up to four players can play in a match, and each player can choose if they'll be light or shadow.

The art style is stark, but appealling. It's heavily influenced by traditional Japanese art, contributing to the feel of the overall game. It's simple, but it's a key part of this game, and it works.

The overall result is good, but feels like a high quality flash game. There is literally no story, no campaign, and no way to "beat the game." There are no ranks. It's just pick up and play. If you have friends who will play this with you, then the 75% off price is worth it. I've played it for an hour so far with my fiancee, and it's worth $3.24. It is not worth $12.99, however. There's just not enough here to justify that price.

So, to reiterate: Buy on sale, play with friends.

Unfortunately I have to write a negative recommentation review for this game. Although the game itself is well made with interesting artstyle and unique feeling, reading the reviews one does not get warned that the game is actually, quite seriously dead. There's no point trying to find a game online since even the discord server of the game is dead. If you want to play it with a friend then go for it but don't expect to find a community online.

Game is dead. No servers. Cant tell if when creating a game if that creates a "server". Would only get this on sale (got it $2 on GMG) and if you have friends to play with as it looks like itd be a fun party game. Bots are way too easy so single player is basically useless.

I selected the offline option to play, but it says internet connection required to play online. Well, I know that but Im not trying to play online.
Could the developers correct this bug? Maybe then I can come back and write about how great the game is.