The Yakuza series is heading back to what many consider it’s roots, as the series fourth instalment, Yakuza 3, nears it’s Playstation 3 release date next month.

You did read correctly – Yakuza 3 is in fact the fourth title in the series, with Yakuza and Yakuza 2 being prompted followed by a third game titled Ryu Ga Gotoku: Kenzan – which, despite promises of a standalone title, did end up being what many expected it would which is little more than a sidewards step from the original games. Yakuza 3 brings you right back in line with what fans of the series would expect.

YAKUZA 3 TRAILER

Once again you take the shoes of the lovable, if rough around the edges, protagonist named Kiryu Kazuma. The events in Yakuza 3 are split into two highly contrasting locations – the first is a wretched tropical island called Okinawa, and the second is the more familiar environment of the Kamurocho red-light district which fans of the series will know.

The storyline this time round has more twists than those in previous titles, and needless to say we don’t want to spoil everything for you. We can tell you it involves a new life, an orphanage and as always politics-gone-wrong – and that is just the beginning! Things eventually escalate into large scale events which you will have come to associate with the Yakuza titles, and Yakuza 3 promises to be more action packed than any before it.

Yakuza 3 hits stores for the Playstation 3 on March 9th 2010.