Yakuza 2 - PS2

There's just no escaping it. Once you join the Yakuza, you're in for life. Such, it would seem, is the lesson to be had from the UK release of Yakuza 2, the follow-up to the noir brawler.

The game comes from noted producer Toshihiro Nagoshi and novelist Seishu Hase, responsible for the first game in the series. It immerses players in the seedy underworld of Japanese organised crime as they must fight for the very survival of their clan.

Kazuma, the star of the first game, is on the verge of leaving the mob behind and starting the family life he wanted, but the underworld just won't let him go. After a truce with another clan goes sour, the head of a rival clan is kidnapped and an influx of Korean ruffians turns up, and things start to heat up. Kazuma must get back to doing what he does best - busting heads. While the plot of most brawlers is often overlooked, the story behind Yakuza 2 is crucial to immersing the player in Tokyo's seedy underbelly.

Adding to that is a rich environment, teeming with people, convenience stores, arcades, bars and, of course, the all-important cabaret clubs which give Yakuza 2 a rich backdrop.

The core of the game, however, is kicking gangster bottom and taking games. The fighting engine from the first game has been improved to enable more brutal hand-to-hand combat with smoother camera angles and fewer loading sequences.

If you won't do it for your clan, do it for honour. more