Rockstar Team Bondi’s upcoming gritty, film noire inspired crime drama is no longer exclusive to the PS3, it seems. When they spoke of the project, all the way back in 2004, Team Bondi president Brendan McNamara said the game would be a PS3 exclusive, saying “The project is wholly funded by Sony Computer Entertainment America. We have a long-term exclusive arrangement with SCEA.”

Fast forward to 2010, and the latest issue of GameInformer says different.  Matthew Kato of GameInformer has confirmed the game’s multiplatform status, saying “It’s not a PS3-exclusive. It was at one point, but it’s coming out for the PS3 and 360.”

Now that we know it’ll be available regardless of your system of choice, let’s see what the game – which has been in developent limbo for ages – will have to offer.

Playing as Cole Phelps, a homicide detective in a corrupt LAPD in 1947 :

• Phelps has his own issues to deal with, including some very bad things he did in World War II.
• As a detective, you have to solve cases through a mixture of investigations, interviews and interrogations. According to the article in GI, when you come across a scene, you won’t find highlighted items sitting in obvious places.
• Crime scenes are said to look natural and require a deft eye to spot important clues. See a pair of glasses on the ground of a supposed murder scene and you can pick them up, noting details such as the brand etched on the inside of the frame. These little bits of information are jotted down on your notepad, which can be brought up at any time.
• Team Bondi is using revolutionary technology that could change the way games are made. The new facial motion capturing system sets actors alone in a giant room with cameras all around. In full make-up, the actor delivers their dialogue. Every facial moment is recorded, from the most exaggerate of motions to the slightest twitch of an eye.The dialogue is recorded at this time as well, creating a seamless scene. All of this is then translated into a 3D game landscape with no animators needed. The result? According to GI, it’s a picture-perfect rendering of the actor’s scene.
• Like Mass Effect, your dialogue choices come from a handful of general options: coax, accuse or force. The way you handle an interview or interrogation is greatly determined by the reactions you get from the suspect. You can also refute testimony by selecting clues from your notebook.

Rumours say the game will be releasing in September, and I’m quite excited for it – but I’m a little upset to see that the game’s going to be in colour, with it’s film noire roots.

Source : AllGamesBeta