After what could be percieved as highly successful sales of both Yakuza 3 and Yakuza 4 on the Playstation 3, it was never a question on “IF” SEGA would be releasing Yakuza: Of the End, but a question of “WHEN”. I am happy to report that SEGA America and SEGA Europe have announced their intentions to do a Western release of the game in March 2012 under the new title Yakuza: Dead Souls.
This is not your ordinary Yakuza game. Sure there is the Yakuza storyline, minigames ranging from a batting range to Karaoke and yes… host and strip clubs, but they have added one element which sets it apart from every other game in the series….. Zombies! Whilst just aimlessly punching these zombies is still an option, you will also be granded the ability to use a brand new collection of gun weapons (Pistols, Machine Guns, Rocket Launchers etc) that can be used to defeat said zombies using a more first person shooter mode (only when using said weapon) then prior games where you just shot in the direction you were facing.
Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing at SEGA had this to say on the game: “We know how much people love Yakuza in the West and with Dead Souls being the latest and greatest in the franchise its only right we bring it to them closer to the Japanese release than ever.”
With two new playable characters: Ryuji Goda and Goro Majima (Finally!) and both Kazuma and Akiyama returning from the previous installments in the series. Time to see what happens when you mix the Yakuza with Zombies! As with the other installments, this will be limited to the Playstation 3 console and should contain no additional removals in comparison to previous games (But will have the new Pachislot minigame!)