Yakuza 4 for Western shores

Mike Bantick
Wednesday, 09 June 2010 11:22

Your IT - Entertainment

Yakuza has been a franchise struggling for support outside of Japan.  Not through lack of great game design but rather the struggle of promotion and localisation costs has held back Yakuza from making it big in the West.  On the eve of E3 however, SEGA has made it known it will be pushing Yakuza 4 right from the get-go.

The original PS2 exclusive version of the game was fantastic, but the opportunity to play the intervening sequels has slipped by.

Publisher SEGA however has renewed its push to get the Yakuza brand on the radar, today announcing that Yakuza 4 will be shown at E3 later in the month, and that the game will be released on PlayStation3 exclusively in a little under a year ([southern] Autumn 2011)

Yakuza 4 picks up the story of Yakuza 3 one year later and takes the player back to Tokyo. The story starts when a man is shot to death in the ruling territory of the Tojo Clan, the organisation that has featured in all games in the series to date. A small gang which belongs to the Tojo Clan try to establish what happened and their leader is soon found stabbed to death. These events cause a heated battle between four men over money, power, status and honour. The truth becomes apparent as the lies, betrayals and entwined stories are revealed and when these 4 unflinching men get together, the new legend of Kamurocho is born.

Key Features

Experience the Japanese underworld under the guise of 4 characters - it would not be a Yakuza game if you couldn't still play as Kazuma, but now play as three of the other key characters from the franchise. Each character has different missions and allows the player to explore the city from different viewpoints and engage in the Japanese underworld more than has ever been seen before.

Authentic replication of Tokyo - In addition to the bright lights of downtown Tokyo, players can now go into the depths of the intricate underground, explore the backstreets of the city and take in the views from the rooftops of buildings.

Become the ultimate fighter - enhanced battle mechanics and a new fighter training system allow players to work on their skills and become the ultimate fighter.

Deep Japanese story - an intricate storyline that incorporates all aspects of Japanese culture including hostess bars, karaoke and city exploration.