Remember this game from a while back? It still exists and sounds incredibly promising. After a recent news that the game will be pushed for a multiplatform release for both the PS3 and the 360, Team Bondi had a closed doors showing of some elements of the game.
For those of you who don't frequent the dark crevices of the Internet, L.A. Noire was a much anticipated Playstation 3 title that was hinted by the people from Rockstar, featuring a Los Angeles police officer in the 1940s. Well, details are revealed that L.A. Noire will be set in 1949 with a perfect recreation of the post-WWII Los Angeles, starring Cole Phelps who's sole intention is to clean up the streets, while struggling with his own internal onslaught of guilt from the acts of war.
Cole Phelps will start from the lower rank in the police department and will work his way up to the top, meanwhile the player will be able to play as a cop in the field of traffic, vice, and eventually, homicide. While directing traffic jams may sound exciting to some, Cole Phelps will not only have to clean up the streets, but also meander through the thickets of political yins and yangs.
As a homicide officer, the player will be able to investigate a crime scene, interrogate people, and obviously, do all the action stuff. Investigate will feature a Heavy Rain style walk-around-the-scene game mechanic, but unlike Heavy Rain, clues will not be obvious. There will be no context sensitive clues or any giant x in the middle of the screen to show you something to interact with. If you see a pair of glasses laying on the ground, simply pick it up, and the game will automatically note the brand. It sounds intuitive, but it could lead to a messy version of Where's Waldo.
Investigations will feature a new voice acting technique where actors are set in an interrogatory style room to be captured for every subtle detail from an over-exaggerated tone to a slight twitch in the eyes. This means that the player will have to determine if the suspect is actually telling the truth or is lying, adding a whole new dynamic to Mass Effect's dialog choices.
L.A. Noire will be exactly what it sounds like, a noire game set in 1949 LA. No more mowing down civilians in the comforts of your latest stolen sports car, this is some serious work. Sounds like a departure from Rockstar's usual tank-in-city-street style game mechanics? Hell yes.
