Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut preview

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Many years ago, Lorenzo Veloria was a Senior Editor here at GamesRadar+ helping to shape content strategy. Since then, Lorenzo has shifted his attention to Future Plc's broader video game portfolio, working as a Senior Brand Marketing Manager to oversee the development of advertising pitches and marketing strategies for the department. He might not have all that much time to write about games anymore, but he's still focused on making sure the latest and greatest end up in front of your eyes one way or another.

Access Games' horror mystery title had a polarizing reception when it was originally released on the Xbox 360 in 2010. However, the cult following that pushed through the technical shortcomings were met with an intriguing murder mystery story, quirky characters, and a fascinating open-world to explore. The developers are now bringing Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut to the PlayStation 3. Along with some additional content, the updated version is getting enhanced visuals, tweaked controls, and exclusive PS3 functionality.

Deadly Premonition follows the murder investigation of a young girl, Anna Graham, in the isolated, rural, and creepy town of Greenvale. As FBI Special Agent York, you are completely free to explore the open-world town full of locals going about their day to day. Though, this is hardly your typical FBI investigation, or investigator for that matter. Between Agent York's creepy grin, psychic attachment to cups of coffee, and the fact that he talks to an invisible person he calls Zach, York is a mystery all himself.

The gameplay revolves around the real-time day/night cycle in which the townsfolk eat, sleep, and move about the town on their own individual schedules. Agent York also takes on real world characteristics and is required to find food, change his clothes, and go to sleep regularly between points in his investigation. These mundane tasks help create an environment in which players can really immerse themselves in the life of the character.

Much of the core experience has been left unchanged in the Director's Cut. Players will still have to interview people around town, discover clues, and engage in combat with mysterious shadow creatures in order to uncover the person behind a series of murders. But some improvements have been made. The developers have put effort into giving the visuals a boost since the 360 release. Textures are more detailed and the lighting has been improved, but character models and overall geometry of the world generally looks the same, so don't go in expecting a total graphics makeover.

The other major change is that the PS3 Director's Cut has received a few adjustments in terms of the combat difficulty. The developers reduced the challenge of the the overbearing enemy encounters from the original so not to overshadow the storytelling elements of the game. Also, control improvements like lock-on targeting gives players more precise control and accuracy when battling enemies.

The default controls have been completely redesigned to accommodate players that would be more accustomed to the standard control scheme of other third-person games. For instance, the original Xbox version forced players to aim their gun with the left thumbstick, and now the PS3 version uses the right stick. Even more, players will be able to map every action to any input on the controller. So, however you want to adjust the button layout is entirely up to you.

The Director's cut is also getting an additional plot scenario. When you play through the PS3 version, never-before-seen prologue and epilogue cutscenes now bookend the main plot. Before the game begins a cutscene plays, showing a young girl and an unidentified old man (presumably her grandfather). The man offers to tell her a story, and after a few moments of dialogue, the game's original introduction starts up. A second cutscene will show at the end of the story and is said to reveal more about the plot and unravel some of the mysteries behind the characters.

The Directors Cut also adds PS3 exclusive features, like Move compatibility, stereoscopic 3D support, Trophies, and exclusive DLC in the form of costumes and special items. You'll be able to pick it up in stores for the PlayStation 3 on April 30.