L.A. Noire gets retailer-exclusive missions

L.A. Noire is the latest game to dole out in-game content as retailer-exclusive preorder bonuses, as Rockstar Games today laid out five separate incentive packages designed to draw players to pick up the game from specific stores.

GameStop and Wal-Mart landed the marquee bonuses, as customers purchasing the game from either store before or at the May 17 launch will get an additional downloadable case. Those who go to GameStop will receive "The Naked City" case--in which protagonist Cole Phelps investigates the death of a beautiful woman--as well as a Badge Pursuit Challenge, which rewards gamers who find 20 hidden shields with a new suit that holds extra ammo. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart customers will get access to the "A Slip of the Tongue" case, which has Phelps bringing down a citywide racket on a trail of clues that starts with a single stolen car.

Best Buy and Amazon.com are also getting exclusive incentives in the form of new outfits that confer enhanced in-game abilities. Best Buy customers will get "The Sharpshooter" detective suit, allowing for more precise aiming with rifles and pistols. Those who go to Amazon for a copy of the game will instead receive "The Broderick" detective suit, which boosts melee attacks and makes players more resistant to damage.

Finally, Rockstar Games is offering its own exclusive preorder incentive for those who order from the company's store, though it is not of the in-game variety. Instead, the Rockstar Warehouse will be shipping out its copies of L.A. Noire with an official T-shirt, available in multiple sizes, as well as men's and women's styles.

L.A. Noire is in development at Australian studio Team Bondi and follows Detective Phelps as he becomes entangled in a violent web of vice, corruption, and crime in 1940's Los Angeles. Players jump into the seedy underworld of the metropolis and are tasked with solving a series of murders in what Rockstar describes as an "open-ended challenge."

For more on L.A. Noire, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

UPDATE: Rockstar has confirmed the same bonuses will be available in other territories too. In the UK, The Naked City and Badge Pursuit Challenge will come with GAME pre-orders, A Slip of the Tongue will accompany Play's pre-orders, "The Broderick" suit will come with Amazon UK pre-orders, and "The Sharpshooter" will ship with pre-orders from Zavvi. Rockstar also confirmed that gamers in Canada would get the same deals through the same retailers as their American counterparts.