L.A. Noire
Dublin Core
Title
L.A. Noire
Subject
1940s, America, American Cities, Urban Landscapes, Noir, Los Angeles, California
Description
From Wikipedia: "L.A. Noire is a neo-noir detective action-adventure video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. It was released in May 2011 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, in November 2011 for Microsoft Windows, and in November 2017 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The story is set in Los Angeles in 1947 and follows a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer, who solves a range of cases across five divisions. Players must investigate crime scenes for clues, follow up leads, and interrogate suspects; the player's success at these activities will impact how much of each case's story is revealed.
The open-world design lets players freely roam Los Angeles' open landscape, and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. The story is centered on the case sequences, and many missions involve shooting and driving gameplay. It is played through a third-person perspective. L.A. Noire also contains elements found in action-adventure games, such as side missions and a branching storyline. The game uses licensed music provided by an in-game radio and features an original score.
The development of L.A. Noire began in 2004, shortly after the founding of Team Bondi, and was shared between the multiple Rockstar studios around the world. The game was delayed numerous times through its seven-year development, which included a change of publisher and platforms. The working hours and managerial style of the studio was met with public complaints from staff members, and Team Bondi closed shortly after the game's initial release. The development team found influence from the plot and aesthetic elements of film noir—stylistic films made popular in the 1940s and 1950s that share similar visual styles and themes, including crime and moral ambiguity—along with drawing inspiration from real-life crimes of the time for its in-game cases.
The game is notable for being the first to use the newly developed MotionScan technology developed by Depth Analysis. MotionScan uses 32 surrounding cameras to capture actors' facial expressions from every angle. The technology is central to the game's interrogation mechanic, as the player is required to use the suspects' reactions to questioning to judge whether or not they are lying. Over twenty hours of voice work was recorded for the game.
Extensively marketed, L.A. Noire was the first video game to be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival and received widespread critical acclaim for its advances in storytelling, presentation, and facial animation technology. It had been reported to ship over five million copies worldwide. L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files, a subset of the game's cases for virtual reality supported through the HTC Vive, was released on 15 December 2017."
The open-world design lets players freely roam Los Angeles' open landscape, and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. The story is centered on the case sequences, and many missions involve shooting and driving gameplay. It is played through a third-person perspective. L.A. Noire also contains elements found in action-adventure games, such as side missions and a branching storyline. The game uses licensed music provided by an in-game radio and features an original score.
The development of L.A. Noire began in 2004, shortly after the founding of Team Bondi, and was shared between the multiple Rockstar studios around the world. The game was delayed numerous times through its seven-year development, which included a change of publisher and platforms. The working hours and managerial style of the studio was met with public complaints from staff members, and Team Bondi closed shortly after the game's initial release. The development team found influence from the plot and aesthetic elements of film noir—stylistic films made popular in the 1940s and 1950s that share similar visual styles and themes, including crime and moral ambiguity—along with drawing inspiration from real-life crimes of the time for its in-game cases.
The game is notable for being the first to use the newly developed MotionScan technology developed by Depth Analysis. MotionScan uses 32 surrounding cameras to capture actors' facial expressions from every angle. The technology is central to the game's interrogation mechanic, as the player is required to use the suspects' reactions to questioning to judge whether or not they are lying. Over twenty hours of voice work was recorded for the game.
Extensively marketed, L.A. Noire was the first video game to be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival and received widespread critical acclaim for its advances in storytelling, presentation, and facial animation technology. It had been reported to ship over five million copies worldwide. L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files, a subset of the game's cases for virtual reality supported through the HTC Vive, was released on 15 December 2017."
Creator
Team Bondi
Publisher
Rockstar Games
Date
Released: May 17, 2011 (North America)
Contributor
Director(s)
Brendan McNamara
Producer(s)
Naresh Hirani
Designer(s)
Alex Carlyle
Programmer(s)
Franta Fulin
Artist(s)
Chee Kin Chan
Ben Brudenell
Writer(s)
Brendan McNamara
Composer(s)
Andrew Hale
Simon Hale
Brendan McNamara
Producer(s)
Naresh Hirani
Designer(s)
Alex Carlyle
Programmer(s)
Franta Fulin
Artist(s)
Chee Kin Chan
Ben Brudenell
Writer(s)
Brendan McNamara
Composer(s)
Andrew Hale
Simon Hale
Format
PS3
Language
English
Type
Action-adventure, video game
Files
Collection
Citation
Team Bondi, “L.A. Noire,” CSULB Center for the History of Video Games and Critical Play Archive, accessed April 24, 2024, https://criticalplay.net/items/show/32.