L.A. Noire

L.A. Noire for PC, PS4 and etc. is a third-person game created by a debuting studio Team Bondi in cooperation with Rockstar Games. The development was overseen by Brendan McNamara, the script writer to console game The Getaway. L.A. Noire is a combination of a classic detective game and a TPP action game.

Story

The work of the Sydney-based team takes us back in time to Los Angeles of 1974. The city is filled with corruption and drug dealing gangs. The game’s protagonist is a Second World War veteran named Cole Phelps, who, after returning to the United States, becomes a police officer. Interestingly, the game lets you witness the key moments of Cole’s career. He starts working in traffic police, where he solves relatively minor cases. In time, Phelps’s good work is noticed by his superiors, which gets him ranked up and assigned to other departments, like homicide, and vice. It is noteworthy that some of the main cases are interrelated, e.g. by a character of a serial killer whom you are trying to hunt down. At the same time the events from the wartime and Phelps’s former squad members sporadically appear in the background.

Gameplay

Gameplay proper is twofold. First, you get to examine the crime scenes – carefully explore an area in search of important objects and pieces of evidence. Besides, Cole has to skillfully interrogate witnesses and suspects. Interrogations are based on a separate mechanics letting you decide whether you choose to believe the person, express your doubts or even accuse them of lying, provided you can back that with evidence. It is noteworthy that each case may unfold differently, depending on how much material evidence you find, and conduct the interrogations properly.

There are also multiple action sequences. The protagonist often chases suspects (either on foot or by car), engages in fist fights, and spectacular shootouts (there are different models of pistols, shotguns, and machine rifles in the game). For thrill-seekers there are several dozen side missions, in which you have to e.g. take care of bandits that barricaded themselves in a bank.

Technical aspects

L.A. Noire’s most prominent feature, though, is the use of advanced motion capture technology for very realistic face animations. It is noteworthy that this can be used in actual gameplay – you can watch how the people you interrogate react to your questions, in order to determine whether they are lying or telling the truth. The game’s cast includes hundreds of professional actors, among them such stars as Greg Grunberg, or John Noble. Also a vast city of Los Angeles was recreated for the player to roam about freely. Here we should also mention numerous surprises waiting for the biggest explorers, such as hidden cars, film reels or the most famous landmarks of the City of Angels.

In order to saturate L.A. Noire for PC, PS4 and etc. with specific feel, the authors prepared a fitting soundtrack consisting of a variety of songs, especially jazz. This and other solutions made the Team Bondi’s game resemble crime noir movies from 1940’s and 50’s in terms of atmosphere.

Last updated on 07 September 2017