Yakuza 3 Game Review

Yakuza 3 Game Review

GAME developer Sega is still making quality games for the PS2 at a time when other companies are focusing on next-generation consoles. Two years ago, gamers were introduced to Kiryu Kazuma. A former rising star in the Yakuza who is rebuilding his Yakuza 3 Game Review

life after serving a 10-year prison term for murder, Kazuma suddenly finds himself entangled with the underworld, a mysterious girl known as Haruka and US$100 million (RM345 million) that has gone missing. Kazuma must use his fists and his wits to stay alive as he takes on the notorious Yakuza.

The original game begins in the 1980s with a detective witnessing the murder of a Korean mob boss whose dying words were "even if you kill me, our organisation will live on". The victim also mentions that his child is in danger. The murderer happens to be Kazuma's foster father, Fuma Shintaro, who runs off after the deed is done.

The detective chases after him, only to stumble upon a woman and her baby trapped in a building on fire. The woman is actually trying to commit suicide but the detective manages to talk her out of it. Then this sequel returns to the present with the detective still wondering about what had happened a year earlier.

Also, the Tojo-guchi underworld family is falling apart and on the brink of war against the Omi-rengo, an Osaka-based gang backing Nishiki in the first game. With their backs to the wall, the Tojo-guchi gang requests Kazuma, their former leader, for help. Kazuma is now living a peaceful life and while visiting the graves of Yumi, Nishiki and Shintaro, the appointed Kumi-chou, Terada Yukio, a former member of the Omi-rengo, asks for Kazuma's help. However, the Omi-rengo assassinates their former family member Yukio in front of Kazuma, and this prompts our hero to go to Osaka to prevent an all-out Japanese gang war from erupting.

While in Osaka, he meets his Kansai equivalent and new rival, Koda Ryuuji, the son of the head of the Omi-rengou, Koda Jin. Ryuuji has a nickname that he hates — "The Kansai Dragon" — because he doesn't want to be the "Dragon of all of Japan" (which is what the term means). And yet Ryuuji is convinced that he'll be the "true dragon" once he eliminates Kazuma!

While in Osaka, Kazuma meets a new love interest, a Yakuza-hunting female detective and fellow orphan, Sayama Kaoru. She may have lost her parents to the Tojo-guchi like Kazuma and Yumi. Kaoru is ordered to place Kazuma in her custody to prevent him from being killed by the Omi-rengou. Besides the engrossing story, this game has realistic combats, the sub-plots are entertaining and Kazuma is one interesting character — a former Yakuza gang member with a soft heart.

Yakuza 2 has a lot of similarities with Grand Theft Auto (GTA), although they have left out the carjacking bit, which means you'll move around on foot. But with all the stores, arcades, clubs, bars or restaurants around, strolling along is the best way to go. There are so many things to do in the city that you could lose yourself tasting the different drinks at various bars and wooing the numerous hostesses there. Now that's interactive gaming!

Combat is where the game really differentiates itself from other sandbox-style games. GTA had always preferred weapons for combat, so your hand-to-hand experience was limited to punch-punch-kick and that's it. Kazuma initially is limited to punching, kicking, throwing and blocking, but as the game progresses, you are able to level up abilities, incorporating special throws, better attacks and the all important Heat finisher.

By fighting or completing tasks around the city, you earn experience which you can use to level up in three categories: Mind, Body and Skill. Upgrading these early and often is an important strategy. You'll find some of the defensive tactics you learn by levelling up Body can make boss battles much more manageable. Finishers, or Heat moves, are really cool attacks you earn by building up a meter in combat.

Pretty much everything in your environment is interactive (think hot spots in The Punisher game), so when you have enough "heat" built up, you're able to grab a guy and smash his face into pretty much anything you want.

If you happen to have a baseball bat, kendo stick, or some other type of weapon, there's a different finisher for all of these as well. It's really up to you how to finish a guy off. The moves are all pretty brutal, and help remind you of just how brutal Kazuma can be. The lengthy cut-scenes might turn some people off but the story is so well-written, you might be looking forward to them. Even though the game takes place exactly one year after the first, those who missed out on the first game will be brought up to speed. Aside from a wonderful soundtrack, the ambience of every corner of every street is given much realism. Yakuza 2 is captivating enough to keep me occupied until Yakuza 3 comes out on the PS3.