Kamurocho city is now a war zone infested with biological experiments and the flesh-eating undead. Survivors have either made it to safety outside the quarantine zone or they continue to survive in small groups throughout the city. Things weren’t always this way for the city of Kamurocho.
A prelude to the events are seen through the eyes of Akiyama, owner of Sky Finance. As he takes his daily walk through the city, he is approached by his secretary, Hana. After a brief conversation about collecting overdue debts, Akiyama heads for an office building to visit some clients. While on his way to collect the debt, he stumbles into a citizen who begins to vomit violently. It’s pretty clear that something is happening.
The story continues to unfold as a mysterious man wearing a baseball cap and jacket enters a heavily guarded Tojo office building. Without hesitation, the mystery man bites the first guard he encounters. The other guards open fire, but their weapons have no effect.
The scene changes to show a yakuza being thrown from the office building’s window to the street below. A crowd gathers around the injured yakuza, not realizing that his complexion is unnatural and extremely pale. Kamurocho police arrive to assist the injured man, but as they approach him, he lunges forward and bites one of the officers. Chaos ensues and the game begins.
Like in Yakuza 4, the game is experienced from the perspective of four main characters: Akiyama, Goro Mojima, Ryuji Goda, and Kazuma Kiryu. These four characters eventually converge to deal with the zombie menace.
Yakuza Dead Souls is a drastic departure from the franchise. While previous sequels focused on exploring the city, helping citizens, battling random street punks and entertaining yourself in Karaoke bars, Dead Souls is more action oriented. And in some ways it is very reminiscent of Resident Evil.
All of Kamurocho has been quarantined. This means the convenience of Yakuza’s open sandbox world has been traded for a linear environment cluttered with debris and collapsed walkways. Alternate routes like alleys, sewers, and hidden underground access ways are used to reach other locations inside the city.
Combat is more of the run-and-gun variety due to the sheer number of zombies infesting the city. It’s still possible to pick up objects in the environment like signs, bike racks, and other heavy objects and use them as weapons, but these inflict very little damage.
Hand-to-hand combat is useful when dealing with a few stragglers, but when a zombie horde is present, you’re better off using a firearm. There are two targeting systems when using a firearm: auto and free-roam. The free-roam targeting system offers more flexibility, but it feels sluggish. The auto targeting system is much easier to use and it hardly misses its target.
Since the environment is cramped, alleys and underground locations can be difficult to navigate. It’s during these moments that zombie hordes are likely to attack from both directions. Objects strewn throughout the environment can be used as weapons to kill zombies, but only when your Snipe Gauge is full.
The Snipe Gauge is located in the upper-left corner of the screen. The more enemies you kill, the faster it fills. Once the gauge is at capacity, you can execute Heat Snipe Attacks on objects marked with an ‘!’.
The in-game perspective changes from the character to behind the bullet as it rushes toward the targeted object. This segment is a QTE (Quick Time Event) that requires fast reflexes by pressing the corresponding button that is shown on-screen. Pressing the wrong button will cause the bullet to ricochet off the object. The Heat Snipe gauge depletes and must be replenished whether the attack fails or not.
Yakuza Dead Souls also includes a Partnering System. Partners will join you at certain points in the story to help complete certain objectives. This system allows you to issue orders to your partner by using the directional pad while holding the R2 button. It’s also important to keep track of your partner’s health during combat. You can also perform a co-op Heat Snipe attack with your partner. While devastating, this attack tends to generate tremendous amounts of slowdown.
Abandoned military vehicles are located throughout the city. Called emplaced weapons, these vehicles – which range from jeeps with gun turrets to tanks – can be used to knock down barriers or destroy large groups of zombies. In some cases, they can be used during boss battles.
As mentioned earlier, Yakuza Dead Souls shares some similarities with the Resident Evil series. In fact, It borrows elements from other zombie games like Left4Dead. The Arahabaki Prototype, a boss creature that walks on ceilings and uses its tongue to attack, resembles the Licker from Resident Evil.
The Fattie is a creature that resembles another well-known zombie that gamers are familiar with. Like the Boomer from Left4Dead, the Fattie expels gases from its belly that causes nearby zombies to go berserk.
There is more to Yakuza Dead Souls than killing the undead. Key characters in the story will lead you outside the quarantine zone where the game feels more familiar. The uninfected sections of the city are interactive like in previous sequels.
You can interact with citizens, purchase and modify weapons, bowl, gamble, and also accept side quests that lead back into the quarantine zone. There is also a Free Battle mode that sends you into the sewers to eliminate the undead. Plus, there are plenty of familiar sites to visit.
As a game, Yakuza Dead Souls is still worth checking out. Its premise may not be original, but what it lacks in originality it makes up for in both gameplay and story. Fans of the series may feel alienated by the sudden change in story, but once you give the game a chance, you’ll realize that it has just as much appeal as previous sequels in the series.
Mike Pittaro
Platform: Playstation 3
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
ESRB: M (Mature)
Price: $59.99
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| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| The graphics still manage to impress even though the engine hasn't changed since Yakuza 3. | |
| Sound | |
| Fantastic sound effects and voice acting throughout. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Even though this was not the Yakuza gamers were expecting, the solid story, the non-stop zombie infestation, and intense boss battles make up for it. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| While not original by any means, Yakuza Dead Souls is full of unexpected moments and bloody run-and-gun gameplay. | |
