‘Yakuza – Dead Souls’ launches March 2012 in US and Europe! Screens and Trailer

While my initial glance at the title lead me to believe that this was some crazy cross over with ‘Dark Souls’, the real announcement is more in line with what Yakuza fans have been waiting for.

SEGA have officially announced that the Yakuza Of The End (released earlier this year in Japan) is heading to our shores under the name Yakuza – Dead Souls. Aiming for a March 2012 release in both North America and Europe, the newest entry in the series takes a completely different approach to the previous games, offering a unique twist on the usual gameplay.

Taking a break from the classic Yakuza conventions, Yakuza Dead Souls looks to up the ante with a focus on gunplay and cinematic sequences, this spin off in the Playstation exclusive series will let you play as many characters including both Ryuji Goda and Goro Majima (he’s the crazy one!). While we wait for the studios other project ‘Binary Domain’, I’m sure theres some space left for some more zombies in your gaming time.

From the press release -

Yakuza: Dead Souls brings the Yakuza back to Kamurocho, the famous red light district of Tokyo, which is under attack from hordes of zombies. Players will not only face armies of the undead and incredibly powerful mutants; the treacherous Japanese underworld is just as merciless. Playing through the eyes of four of the most revered members of the series, witness allegiances shift quickly and the line between friend and foe lost. If you thought zombies were bad…meet the Yakuza!

“We know how much people love Yakuza in the West and with Dead Souls being the latest and greatest in the franchise its only right we bring it to them closer to the Japanese release than ever.”– said Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing at SEGA.

Even though I’ve just recently gotten in the Yakuza series (playing 1,2 and 3 in the last couple of months), I look forward to seeing how this slightly different take on the series is received in the west.

SEGA also released a whole host of media including screenshots and a trailer! See below for some Zombie slaying action.

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Yakuza Dead Souls will be released in North America and Europe in March 2012.