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| | Title:
Yakuza
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System:
Playstation 2
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Genre:
Beat e'm up
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Publisher:
Sega Corporation
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Developer:
Amusement Vision
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Release:
September 5, 2006
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Online:
No
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ESRB:
M (Mature)
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Battles without Honor or Humanity spanned the likes of four movies back in the 70s, and opened a floodgate of information into the crime-society of the Yakuza. Like the violent movies, Yakuza for the PS2 carries a heavy story that focuses on the violent side of Tokyo, Japan. With players taking control of main character Kiryu Kazuma, the game sets up a stage for rich story-telling, cruel backstabbing and violent ends. This open-ended beat ‘em up by Sega is something story-hungry fight-fans may have eagerly been awaiting since the last installment of Shenmue.
With the script written by an award-winning Japanese novelist, Hase Seishu, the game embarks players on an intriguing adventure as former Yakuza enforcer, Kiryu Kazama, from the Dojima Clan. After honorably serving a ten-year sentence in prison for a murder his friend committed, Kazama is released back into society. Unbeknownst to Kazama, though, he inadvertently gets involved with gang murders, a $100 million scandal, and a young girl named Haruka. How does it all tie-in together? You’ll have to play the game to find out. The developers, though, have done an excellent job on the visual aspects of the game, and tying the graphical nuances in with the story. Many of the important story features have been laced together through seamlessly animated CG, and terrific voice-acting. Speaking of which, this game will feature the likes of Sin City and Reservoir Dogs, star Michael Madsen, from Buffy and Tru Calling's Elisha Dushku, Smallville’s Michael Rosenbaum, Josie and the Pussycat’s Rachel Lee Cook, and Star War’s own Mark Hamill, to name a few.
Players, otherwise, will start the game fresh out of the joint, ready to engage themselves in the plot-heavy happenings of the Yakuza. The game, like GTA, allows players to engage in the freedom of exploration. While out-and-about, players can either do story-related missions or venture about Tokyo and engage in more than 70 different side-missions and a multitude of mini-games. The inclusion of these mini-games might be a warm well-welcomed feature. Some of the mini-games include playing an arcade classic, getting a massage, chatting it up with different girls at a hostess club, taking swings in a batting cage and much more.
More accurately, though, I should mention that Yakuza is a game that mirrors Rockstar’s The Warriors more than GTA. Gamers need not get confused or worried that this is another GTA clone without vehicles. Yakuza is not a GTA-clone, at all. More than anything, Yakuza is more like a stylish, Japanese version of Capcom’s Crime Life or The Warriors, with a story like Shenmue. But like Rockstar’s gang fight-fest, players will not rely on projectile weapons, or guns of any sort. Yakuza is a modern day beat ‘em up that takes on grown-up attributes of the SNES’s River City Ransom games. Yakuza’s action focus is also on the hardened fisticuffs that players will trade with other gang members and the like. Brutal back-fists, smashing heads into walls, head-butts, ground stomps, and more than 300 different objects for players to use around and within the environment will all be available for players to crack skulls with.
Weapons will also come in the form of baseball bats, knives, bricks, sticks, bikes (yes bikes), bottles, and too many other items to simply list here. When players aren’t trading hits with weapons, they’ll be using a wide range of punches, kicks, grappling and other martial-arts and non-martial arts moves, as well. The game has a very smooth fighting system that extends the likes of simple fight encounters. As a matter of fact, the entire fighting system for Yakuza was built specifically from the ground up for the game. The mechanics also allow players to trade the standard punches and kicks, but also allow for blocking and countering. But don’t expect fancy fight moves in this game; the fighting in Yakuza is aimed to convey the brutality of gang encounters. Throwing opponents into objects (or each other,) stomping foes while they’re on the ground or beating them senseless with a golf stick while they wither and scream in pain is not off limits in this game. Survival of the fittest seems to suit the lifestyle of the Yakuza quite well, and Sega has captured a good part of that in this game’s fighting mechanics.
Another obvious plus to this game is the skill-up system it houses. Successful battles may result in players receiving bonuses to their body, skill, or moves. Players can receive new and more powerful attacks, plus special moves as they battle across Tokyo, raking up a body count in street fights. The ability to grow stronger and increase one’s stats will definitely add an extra element of replay to the open-ended areas of the game.
However, if there was an apparent drawback to the fighting, it would have to be in the game’s non-seamless transition of going from open-ended exploration to the actual fight(s). While walking down the streets, players cannot simply beat anyone into the concrete (completely opposite of The Warriors or Crime Life.) Instead, players must engage non-hostile NPCs in a dialogue to provoke them into a fight. If the fight ensues, then the screen will load the fight, and players will be doing battle with the selected NPC(s). The fact that fights have to load could be somewhat disparaging if there is too much of it, but the final product will be the verdict of this.
On a final note, the game has an amazing visual style that PS2 owners might definitely find appealing. Tokyo has never really been captured in the way that Amusement Vision studios has captured it in this game. The city lights, the crowded streets, and the busy walkways give gamers a peak into Japan’s nightlife in a cinematic, and gripping fashion that no gamer can ignore. Sega’s aim to bring gamers dramatic story-telling and hard-nosed action just might pay off on these north shores known as America. Whether you’re a Shenmue fan, or looking for continued gang-violence from a host of beat ‘em titles last year, you can be sure to check out Yakuza when it hits store shelves in the US on September 5, and Europe on September 29, for the Playstation 2.
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