At the 2023 Game Awards, British actor Abubakar Salim, best known for his role in Raised by Wolves and as the voice of Bayek in Assassin’s Creed: Origins, appeared on stage to introduce the world to his passion project, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU. It is an upcoming original Metroidvania-style game and the very first title developed by Surgent Studio, which was founded by Abubakar and is being published by Electronic Arts. The story of Tales of Kenzera: ZAU will be ready to unfold on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC on April 23rd 2024.

A grieving boy begins to read a Bantu tale written by his late father. Adventure into the beautiful and treacherous lands of Kenzera as Zau, a young shaman who bargains with the God of death to bring his Baba (father) back from darkness. With his cosmic powers and untried courage, Zau heads into unknown mystical lands. Once bursting with life, Kenzera is now rife with lost ancestral spirits. As Zau advances toward his goal, three mighty beings lie in wait, fearsome in their strength yet somehow strangely familiar. Zau must embrace the dance of the shaman and embark on a journey of spiritual healing, where the hardest moments unmask who he can truly become

At first glance, it looks and plays quite similar to the recently released Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. However, not long into the game, it truly stands out on its own with unique characters and creative gameplay mechanics. Players take control of Zau, traversing beautiful but treacherous lands, battling monsters and taking on the three mighty beings.

The controls are simple and the game is easy to pick and play. Zau will have a few abilities at the beginning and throughout the game, players will be able to add new abilities via the skill tree and through story progression, which come in real handy to take on the bigger challenges ahead. Being a 2.5D side-scrolling Metroidvania-style game, Zau has the usual skills of running, jumping, double-jumping and dashing, but his unique abilities come in two forms with the Sun Mask and Moon Mask.

The two masks can be switched at the press of a button. The Sun Mask is more melee-focused, equipping Zau with two flaming spears and must get up close to the enemy using light attacks for combos and heavy attacks for bigger damage. The Moon Mask is best suited for long-range attacks, shooting projectiles and can even freeze enemies, especially ones flying around or in hard-to-reach areas, but also has a short-range heavy attack if an enemy gets too close.

As players progress through the game, they’ll gain new abilities for both masks which are essential for not only the enemies they’ll be facing but also the puzzles they’ll be solving. The puzzles can be challenging and give a real sense of accomplishment after solving them. Platforming, timing and coordination also come into play when solving these puzzles.

Some puzzles won’t be able to be solved and certain areas can’t be accessed until certain abilities are unlocked, but fast travel is available to instantly transport Zau to certain points on the map and get the puzzles done. The map also helps keep track of collectibles found and what has yet to be discovered. There is plenty to collect and the map comes in really handy for the serious collectors and Trophy/Achievement hunters.

Zau will encounter various enemies in different shapes and sizes, some with different conditions to take them down. Some enemies will have an armour meter over their health bar known as Spiritual Shields, which require Zau to be wearing either the Sun Mask or Moon Mask depending on the colour of the armour meter to break them and finish them off. The boss battles are truly sights to behold, with Zau attempting to slay the large beasts, each with a wide array of different attacks for players to memorise and anticipate, that will really keep them on their toes. The boss battles are incredibly challenging and are not to be taken lightly. There are three difficulty settings, Relaxed, Balanced and Challenging depending on players’ preferences.

Abubakar Salim founded Surgent Studio (formerly known as Silver Rain Games) in 2019 just to make this game a reality. Despite being born and raised in England, he embraces his African heritage and expresses it proudly through Tales of Kenzera: ZAU. The game’s story is based on Bantu mythology and was inspired by Abubakar’s own experience of grief over the loss of his father. Being an avid gamer himself, Abubakar chose to tell some of these stories in the form of a video game and it is shaping up to be an epic story. There aren’t as many games, movies, TV shows and other media focusing on Africa’s diverse culture, history and mythology, so it’s fantastic to see a game sharing a piece of that with the rest of the world.

Abubakar and the team at Surgent Studio have been going all out with the game’s promotion and people have been feeling that passion since the day he walked up onto the stage at the Game Awards while trying to hold back his tears in December. On top of his other roles behind the game’s development, he also only voices the main protagonist, Zau. Abubakar’s first voice role in a game was as Bayek of Siwa, the main character of 2017’s Assassin’s Creed: Origins which earned him a nomination at the BAFTA Games Awards, and has also voiced characters in World of Warcraft, Diablo, Xenoblade Chronicles and more.

His performance as Zau is looking to be another big highlight of his career. Other talented voice actors Tristan D. Lalla, Dominique Moore, Simona Brown and Steve Toussaint, who are all of African descent with impressive acting credentials and portray important characters Zau will meet along the way. The chemistry between all the characters really draws you into the story.

The art style incorporates a lot of African themes from the character’s appearances, locations and Bantu mythology. The visuals are colourful, vibrant and full of life, even using colours to convey different emotions such as anxiety, fear and acceptance. The game’s soundtrack was put together by award-winning composer, Nainita Desai, mixing traditional African music with modern synths and beats. It has something for every occasion whether things are calm, building tension or getting intense, especially during the boss fights where intensity and excitement really builds up. Hearing the rhythms of African drums with chanting never sounded so good in a game.

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is truly a passion project of Abubakar Salim. Opening his own game development studio was the best idea to help make his dream a reality and make the game in his vision. African culture, history and mythology are being represented in a big way through this game and it is only the beginning for Surgent Studio. With less than two weeks before the game’s official release, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is shaping up to be one of the most highly anticipated games of 2024. “Every story begins at the end of another.”

Written by: Sammy Hanson