Corruption, Deceit and Murder

L.A. Noire

World War Two has ended; the allies have won. However, there is a new war brewing, not one that will take place in the fields, beaches or around the small towns of Europe that no one has heard of.  No, this war will happen in Los Angeles, USA. 


Cole Phelps is the protagonist in this tale of murder and deceit on the streets of LA, he is a decorated War Hero fresh from conquering Europe and Hitler's reign on terror. After coming back to his home city of L.A, Phelps decides to don another type of uniform, that of the LAPD and he is soon, thanks to his exemplary military background, promoted to Detective and the 'Homicide Division' (fancy eh).


Set in the 1940's the visuals oozes the look, feel and I imagine, the smell of 1940's era Los Angeles. With this, you can't help but compare this to other games, more recently, Mafia II.


However, unlike Mafia II and with the developers being the notable Rockstar, this game offers a sand box world where everything is discoverable. You only have to look at the long list or Grand Theft Auto games and the very recent Red Dead Redemption to understand the levels of depth Rockstar developers go to immerse the gamer into the world they are playing.

"Eat your heart out Tommy Vercetti"

Another note worthy feature that Rockstar have added for atmosphere and to immerse the gamer into the era are the colour tones and lighting effects you would find in most 1940's and 50's films. It also goes without saying that the soundtrack will play a significant part in making the 'gamer' believe they really are in 40's LA.

"My, what a big gun"

From the all the preview trailers, artwork and press release notes, I can conclude that L.A. Noire is a cross between Playstations 3 flagship title 'Heavy Rain' and Rockstars own GTA platform. This in itself is a winning combination and I for one hope this lives up to all expectations.

Onto the story...

Our leading man Cole Phelps is on the case of a serial killer who is on a rampage 1940's style through the streets of LA. We will need to put our detective hats on in order to successfully apprehend this criminal. What really sets this heads and shoulders above anything we have ever seen, even in Heavy Rain, is the ability for the gamer to read the expressions of the detainees we are interrogating - Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen, no more can you just select key questions until the game moves on - you will really have to use your head on this...It is brand new technology called MotionScan that enables Rockstar to capture and scan every nuance of a real actor’s facial performances and put them right into the game itself. It provides a level of realism, detail, performance and emotion never seen before in a videogame, and brings them to life in a totally new way.  This goes beyond the limited grid of data points delivered by traditional motion capture – these are the actual performances themselves, scanned and placed onto our digital characters. This marriage of gameplay and technology allows players for the first time ever to truly feel like a detective, reading the emotional behavior of every character. Furthermore, MotionScan lends itself perfectly to this type of game: one that focuses on characters and performances where everyone has something to hide. - Sounds cool right?

"I feel you may not have to read this shmucks face to understand the message"

As with most of the games I have written about, I really have high hopes for this game and hope this does not fall short of the mark, especially as this is really a unknown territory for the guys over at Rockstar.


I'll leave you with a teaser video of L.A Noire - I Hope you enjoy and see you back in May for my review of the actual game.


L.A. Noire will be released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 May 20th 2011 worldwide