POSTED 27/3/12


YAKUZA: DEAD SOULS

SEGA

Damn, poor Japan can’t take a trick – earthquakes, tsunamis, nucular disasters and now a zombie outbreak!

At least that last one’s fictional, as shambling hordes invade the city of Kamurocho. Yep, another zombie shooter, and we’ve done some maths with a disturbing conclusion...

Every zombie movie ever + every zombie TV show ever + every zombie game ever
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Undead made dead / Earth population – those under 13 = ~–3,000,000,000

So, we’ve collectively destroyed several billion more zombies than could possibly exist, considering the Earth’s population of an estimated 7 billion. Of course, again it’s all fictional, so our stab at mathematical genius was a complete waste of everybody’s time.

Unlike this fun spinoff from Japanese gangster soapie series Yakuza... Like the last incarnation, Yakuza 4, you play with four protagonists, this roster being Shun Akiyama, Goro Majima, Ryuji Goda and Kazuma Kiryu. If you’re blanking then you’re obviously not a fan, but it doesn’t matter. Pre-knowledge is no prerequisite for zombie slaughteration.

Usually the series relies upon more hands-on avenues of persuasion, but calluses are out and serious firepower is in. A hard turned zombie deserves a big cold bullet, and the best cold bullets are, umm, whatever you have lying about. Weaponry uncovered is moddable, and – joy - basic ammo’s unlimited, so fire/reload to your trigger finger’s content.

It isn’t without frustrations, however. Frequent loading infuriates. Aiming can be painful until you realise you can just wander around spamming R1 and it’ll pretty much autokill, whilst the camera regularly seems zombified too. Perseverance helps adjustment though.

Meanwhile, classic Yakuza goodies like games, karaoke and other extracurricular activities abound, as do side missions and some full-on boss fights.

It isn’t the best zombie shooter ever, but click with the melodrama and Dead Souls is a fab way of fucking up our shitty maths even more.

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