Remember when Sega games ruled the world and the only place the Sony logo got a look in was on your TV? Oh how the mighty have fallen.
One of the most loved and loathed Sega titles of recent times was an adventure game called Shenmue. For those who don’t remember, you could wander about to your heart's content. Though most people got bored and gave up.
Now that free form games are all the rage again - Grand Theft Auto anyone? - Sega's thrown its nunchuks into the ring with a Shenmue update.
Yakuza brings the formula right up to date with a thoughtful storyline, a modern day Tokyo backdrop and brutal hand to hand combat. Can it compete with the very best?
They say:
EDGE: “It’s a story driven game that pays attention to both story and game, a classic Sega flavoured synergy.”
PSW: “As an original gangster game, Yakuza has done well for itself. If you pine for a seedy, sedate yet violent trip to Tokyo, this is it.”
1UP: “The one time giant has managed to underwhelm us time and again over the last decade. But in the case of Yakuza, Sega has not only managed to conquer the tricky task of getting a 'gangster game' right, it's also succeeded in creating a game that owes nothing to any of its contemporaries.”
We say:
First of all, let’s get those GTA and Shenmue likenesses out of the way from the off. Yes, it’s free form, but there's nowhere near the kind of freedom that Rockstar’s sublime GTA series offers. Nor is it anywhere near as sedate (or tedious and boring as some might say) as Shenmue.
As Kizuma Kiryu, you begin the game standing over the dead body of your Yakuza boss. No sooner than you can say cliche, you're flicked back 24 hours and have to play your way through to the final scene.
What could have been a taut little mystery is completely blown by the copy on the back of the box. It turns out that your close pal murders said boss in a crime of passion. Yep, thanks a bunch Sega.
The game proper begins with your release from prison some ten years after this initial introduction. And, oddly, you don’t seem to have aged a single minute.
After that, it’s all wildly confusing. New non playable characters are seemingly introduced every fifteen minutes, each with a convoluted description of their standing in a particular ‘family’. If you can keep up with all that’s going on then you’re a better man than me.
Once the first few hours are out of the way – which introduce this murky Tokyo world pretty well – the game finally begins to open up. Thugs confront you on the street spoiling for a fight and you’ll find yourself stumbling over situations where you can help those in need, earning yourself extra experience points and cash to splash out on expensive sake.
The fight sequences are regular and brutal. Standard punches will knock a pixel or two of your opponent’s health at best, so you’ll need to shape up. If you happen to grab your opponent and find your own ‘heat bar’ full, you can perform context sensitive actions like slamming your opponent's face into a wall. Nice eh?
But the brutally of the fights are offset by the feeling of being lead by the hand a little. For a game that promised so much freedom, you’ll be running on rails most of the time.
It’s a bit of a missed opportunity. Good, but not quite good enough.
Like this? Try these:
Shenmue – Xbox, DC
GTA: Vice City – PS2, Xbox, PC
Saints Row – Xbox 360
FORMAT REVIEWED
PS2
OTHER FORMATS
None
POSTED...
Tue 19 Sep 2006 at 9:07pm
