Prepare to Yakuza in 2012 With Dead Souls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjPruh6OE2o

You’ve survived the perils of Demon’s Souls. You’re fighting your way through Dark Souls hell. And next year? Next year you’ll likely breeze through Yakuza: Dead Souls, the newly-renamed North American version of Yakuza of the End, as it is a completely unrelated product.

Sega picked an oddly appropriate time to announce a North American PlayStation 3 release for its new zombie-filled Yakuza game, along with an oddly familiar name. If I were the head of Dark and Demon’s Souls developer From Software I’d definitely be sitting at my desk right now, stroking my beard (I’d have a beard) thoughtfully and pondering calling in someone from legal.

Then I’d probably chuckle to myself and dismiss the notion, as Yakuza: Dead Souls has absolutely nothing in common with either of those games, aside from a host of undead creatures that need killing. The undead have invaded the streets of Japan’s famous red light district, and the well-dressed street gangs don’t take kindly to the intrusion. It’s the first Yakuza game to employ firearms (sometimes literally, as you can see in the screenshots), because kicking a zombie in the face is like asking for your foot to get bitten off.

Zombies and guns aside, Dead Souls still features that good old Yakuza gameplay, complete with mini-games and all of the downloadable content from the Japanese version.

I just wish they had come up with a name that didn’t sound so similar to an existing series, like Yakuza: The Elder Souls (thanks, Totilo).

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