The developers behind Sega’s successful Yakuza series are taking up the other side of law and order in a surprise new game announced ahead of Tokyo Game Show. In Project JUDGE (tentative title), players will take the role of a former lawyer trying to solve crimes instead of cause them.
Mixing the familiar combat and urban exploration of Yakuza with solving a murder mystery, Sega is presenting Project JUDGE as a “courtroom thriller” that just happens to have as many explosions as a Lethal Weapon movie.
Obviously, players will have to do more than just mop up Japanese alleyways with mob goons to clear a man’s name. Working as a detective, you will investigate, interrogate, and even use drones to spy on suspects and gather evidence. Much like the Yakuza series, the game will star Japanese superstars, this time actor and former boy band singer Takuya Kimura. The gameplay trailer also sees Yakuza 6‘s dome-noggin’d Ono Michio make an appearance, suggesting Project JUDGE and Yakuza share a universe.
Sega confirms that Project JUDGE will be coming to the west. The game will release on Dec. 13 in Japan, shockingly soon. Fans in the west are still anticipating another spin-off, the Yakuza-styled Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, based on the post-apocalyptic anime. If Project JUDGE picks up, it would be utterly sick to see the same treatment for Judge Dredd.
Just sayin’.
