'Yakuza: Dead Souls' trailer introduces our zombie-killing gangsters

Imagine Grand Theft Auto in Japan. Now imagine it invaded by zombies. Imagine that four gangsters are up against the hordes. Now imagine that one of them has a gatling gun for an arm.

Imagine Grand Theft Auto in Japan. Now imagine it invaded by zombies. Imagine that four gangsters are up against the hordes. Now imagine that one of them has a gatling gun for an arm.

That's Yakuza: Dead Souls -- an unlikely mix that's at once both straight-faced portrayal of modern metropolitan Japan and farcical humor.

The Yakuza series has a proud history, sharing DNA with the 1999 cult classic Shenmue, itself a go anywhere, do anything adventure that predated Grand Theft Auto's own transition to 3D in 2001.

With four core games, Yakuza has also spawned a number of spin-offs, and Dead Souls is one of those.

Yakuza: Dead Souls was released on PlayStation 3 in Japan in June 2011, after a slight delay owing to the Tohoku earthquake. The North American and European localizations are due to appear in March 2012.