Rockstar is touting as a game like no other.

Some of the minds behind the film noir opus have been talking about the game to Edge Online.

Rockstar's VP of product development, Jeronimo Barrera begins: "For us it's always good when you are crafting something and you don't have a point of reference from other games. Even though you could say it's like because you have this open city you can run around in, it's paced completely differently. To us that's what we have to sell: 'Look, it's not super-high like GTA, though there is action, but it is as compelling because of the interactions the characters are having'."

The game's developer was co-founded by Brendan McNamara, one of the men behind the hit The Getaway.

McNamara continues: "You don't have to find an anchor and combine it with a grapefruit. Everyone knows cop shows - I think that keeps it reasonably approachable. Players know if you turn up at a crime scene you usually have to go and talk to someone and look at the clues around a dead body. Even if the game isn't that familiar to them, that format is."

Aaron Staton, the voice of the game's hero Cole Phelps, adds: "The difference between this and GTA is that you play a guy who's out there trying to do good. Everyone will initially want to punch old ladies - I probably would - but people are then going to be interested in the story and solving the cases. And seeing what other old ladies they can punch."

LA Noire is currently due out in the autumn on and 360.

By Ewan Aiton