Yakuza: Proof That PS2 Is Not Dead.

Even with the launch of the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii, it seems as if the Xbox, Playstation 2, and Gamecube are going the way of getting skipped over when it comes to a new title. Sony did announce that they are still going to make some new, exclusive titles for the PS2, and Yakuza seems to be one of those.

You play as a man named Kiryu Kazuma, who was climbing the ranks in the Yakuza corporate ladder, then did ten years in prison for murder. He is trying to get his life back when he is caught up in this plot that involves a young girl and a missing $100 million. This action title goes into the seedy underworld of the Yakuza organization which I would love to see more about. I haven't really heard much from this game, and the only pictures I saw in Playstation magazine were a bunch of dudes facing the main character, baseball bat in hand. One quote I couldn't have said better by Metacritic.com: "Kazuma can also "educate" delinquent debtors through visceral shakedowns by grabbing and smashing them against walls and tables, then delivering final skull-shattering blows when the Heat Gauge is maximized." Lovely thought.

I went online and found some screen shots and more than forty reviews on one site from companies and magazines from everywhere. The reviews ranged from Play Station magazine exclaiming "A long and riveting story, plenty of freedom and a fantastic battle system have earned it a spot on my all-time Playstation 2 top 10 list." [Sept 2006, p.52] They gave the game a 95 out of a possible 100. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Times Online (what are they doing reviewing video games?) said, "Roam around Tokyo, find some bad guys, see some load screens, a couple of cut-scenes, some more load screens, press some buttons in fight mode and so on." They gave it a 42 out of 100 Wow. Could they be more generic and bland about this game? That guy either wanted to bash that game because he is over 50 and thinks it is, "too violent," or he just didn't get into the game enough and was looking for something totally different.

Either way, it dropped on September 5th, and this game is definitely worth checking out of you like intense action, a deep plot, and know anything about Japanese mafia to understand how crazy they really are. I'll be picking this game up as soon as I finish Shadow of the Colossus and Drakengard 2, which may be days or months from now. I'll make sure to mention it again when it is in my hands.

P.s. I ordered my 360 on Xmas, as of today, it's in Ohio, I'll keep you updated.