Out This Week - 20/05/11

Open-world gaming royalty Rockstar this week decrees you turn your attention from Westerns to the film noir genre.

Meanwhile, CD Projekt prepares an assault as Polish pretender to the role-playing throne.

L.A. Noire is the crowning achievement of Aussie developers Team Bondi. Will its imagining of a crime-addled Los Angeles, 1947 rule the charts next week?

Or will the aptly subtitled Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings reign supreme? Should the monarchs of Medieval magic and maces BioWare and Bethesda be worried?

Also this week comes a PS3 port of Suda 51's No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise. It has more blood, bosses and PlayStation Move support.

There's even a game for the 3DS - a new installment of jiggling fighter franchise Dead or Alive.

This Week in Shops!

L.A. Noire

• Developer: Team Bondi
• Publisher: Rockstar Games
• Formats: PS3, Xbox 360

What is it? Film noir-inspired sleuthing set in a trademark Rockstar open world. Top draw motion-capture tech enables you to interrogate your suspects and literally watch them squirm. What does Eurogamer think? Oli investigated an 8/10 in Eurogamer's just-published L.A. Noire review: "Its mechanics are suspect, but you can't fault the ambition, attention to detail and commitment that went into its making."

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

• Developer: CD Projekt
• Publisher: Atari/CD Projekt
• Formats: PC

What is it? Polish role-playing sequel to the sex-stuffed original. Hero Geralt is back in a semi-linear story with multiple endings and more sidequests than you can shake a Polaroid of Triss at. What does Eurogamer think? Eurogamer's review was due tomorrow, but has unfortunately been delayed by the very late arrival of our review copy. We hope to bring it to you by the end of the week.

What Else?

• Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie (DS)
• Dead or Alive Dimensions (3DS)
• No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise (PS3)
• Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus (PSP, Wii)
• Fable III (PC)
• Sega Rally Online Arcade (XBLA)

Chart Predictions!

Each week one of the team steps up to predict the UK all-formats chart. The following predicts the outcome for the week beginning Friday 20th May (to be reported on Monday 23rd May).

Tom Champion, Community Manager, Eurogamer.net

"Only an idiot would bet against L.A. Noire going straight in at number one this week and, despite appearances, I am not that idiot. The Witcher 2 will put up a strong fight as this week's other big release, but I reckon as it's a PC exclusive it won't quite be able to topple Lego Pirates. BLOPS is hanging around like Bryan Adams in 1991."

1. L.A. Noire
2. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
3. The Witcher 2
4. Brink
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops

Eurogamer's News Editor Wesley Yin-Poole attempted to predict the future last week. We've put together a fancy table to show how well he performed.