L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files

L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files features both game protagonists (Cole and Jack) throughout a group of 7 full cases (6 as Cole and 1 as Jack) from the L.A. Noire game with an introduction start case which gets the player familiar with the controls.

The cases included in the game are:

• Patrol Case: Armed and Dangerous
• Patrol Case: Upon Reflection
• Patrol Case: Buyer Beware
• Traffic Case: The Consul's Car
• Homicide Case: The Silk Stocking Murder
• Vice Case: Reefer Madness
• Arson Case: A Different Kind of War

The cases are unchanged from the original game and the only different is the perspective through which the player experiences the story. Being a VR game, the game is presented through 1st-person instead of 3rd-person perspective and motion controllers are used to simulate the player's hands. Solving a crime uses the same recipe as always... gather the clues, drive to locations of interest, talk to the witnesses, interrogate the suspect, and chase and take down the criminal. The game supports both directional movement and teleportation system while walking and walking itself is automatically switched to running during shootouts. Climbing the stairs is never done in a directional movements (unless there are only 2-3 steps) and each stair, drain pipe or ladder are highlighted and automatically teleport the character up or down.

The detective always carries his notebook in his left shirt pocket so player can reach it to check the various case info such as clues or list of suspects, or to set the next location to go to. This is a sandbox game and the player isn't locked out of anything in comparison to the original game. Full city map is available and player can warp to next location or literally drive throughout the city. Driving itself is the only new thing in this VR version, in that the player has to turn the key in the ignition, manually press on the honk, turn on/off the siren, talk to dispatch, hold on to the steering wheel and such. There is no handbrake but just throttle, break, and steering. The car will handle itself based on the speed and sudden steering, but the actual handbrake effect cannot be entirely achieved so during driving or actual car chases there are only the basics. The streets show far less NPCs and other cars than the original game so the driving at high speed is much easier and collisions are minimized.

Just as in the original game, when talking to or questioning other characters, the key elements is to observe their faces gestures and eyes and decide if they're lying, withholding something or telling the truth. In that way, the player can choose to act as a good cop, a bad cop, or to accuse someone which will require presenting an evidence to backup the accusation. Fist fighting with criminals that don't go down without a fight is very like a VR boxing game. The player uses both hands to keep his guard or swing at the enemy's head or stomach. If the fist is open, the player can also slap the criminal on the face as well.

But the player doesn't uses his hands just for fighting. Most one uses it to pick and examine various objects which adds a whole new level of detail to what the system the original game already had when examining objects. During gunfights, the player can reach to his holster and take out the pistol, or open the car trunk and take the shotgun or a machine-gun if they're available. Holding a weapon, just as holding an objects, can be done by either hand, while the other hand can be used to further do something with the object or weapon the player is holding. Holding a weapon may require entering an ammo clip for a pistol or pump the shotgun after each shot, or simply use the other hand for balance when handling two-hand weapons such as rifles. When interacting with objects, the other hand can be used to further open or examine the object such as unfolding a letter or taking something from a suspect's wallet.

Cole's office, which works as a menu of a sorts, is used to access and (re)play any of the cases, play racing challenges, or watch the credits in the movie projector room. If cases are played as a story, they will continue sequentially one after another as they get completed.