The folks behind 'Grand Theft Auto' are re-releasing a classic detective game this holiday season
When Rockstar Games isn't meticulously crafting a new entry in the "Grand Theft Auto" or "Red Dead Redemption" video game series, the studio rarely makes other games. There are the occasional exceptions, like "Bully" and "Table Tennis" (really!), but Rockstar tends to focus on its heaviest hitters: "Grand Theft Auto" and "Red Dead Redemption."
2011's "LA Noire" - a gritty detective story set in 1940s Los Angeles, which focused more on detective work than shooting bad guys - is another such exception. Rather than hijacking cars and shooting at anyone in your way, "LA Noire" was about working police cases. Much of the game was spent determining whether or not people were lying based on speech patterns and facial recognition, or engaging in verbal swordfighting with your colleagues. There's shooting, and chases, and you can drive around a gorgeously detailed 1940s Los Angeles, but the game is really about doing "CSI"-style detective work.
And this November, it's getting re-born on slightly more modern hardware: the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. (The game originally launched on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.)
There's even a virtual reality version of the game in the works, dubbed, "LA Noire: The VR Case Files." It's got seven of the cases from the original game, all re-created in VR so you can experience them far more personally.
Since there's a horsepower gap between the Xbox One/PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch, there are some minor differences between the game for the former and the latter. First and foremost, all console re-releases of "LA Noire" come with the entire original game plus all additional content that was sold separately.
The differences are specific - here's how Rockstar describes the Switch version:
"'LA Noire' for the Nintendo Switch features the complete original game and all additional downloadable content, with specific enhancements including a Joy-Con mode with gyroscopic, gesture-based controls, HD rumble and new wide and over-the-shoulder camera angles, plus contextual touch screen controls for portable detective work."
And here's how the version for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is described by Rockstar:
"'LA Noire' for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One delivers the complete original game and all additional downloadable content with a range of technical enhancements for greater visual fidelity and authenticity, including enhanced lighting and clouds, new cinematic camera angles, high resolution textures and more. Plays natively in 1080p for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, and stunning 4K for PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X, these versions capture the grit and grime of the City of Angels like never before."
The game is planned for launch across Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and HTC Vive on November 14.