L.A. Noire Preview

With under a week to go before the game releases on the X-Box 360 and PS3 platforms I thought it would be nice to do a little preview of the title. Considering it's probably the number one game I'm anticipating this year I've been giving it a lot of play on the blog. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Rockstar Games because they continue to put out quality products that appeal to the mature gaming audience. Rockstar is mainly known for their huge, open world sandbox games which became popular with Grand Theft Auto 3 on the PS2. Their unique blend of freedom, story, and game play created a juggernaut of a franchise with the follow ups to GTA3. They would also branch out this generation with Red Dead Redemption, which some people thought would simple be Grand Theft Auto with horses but it proved itself to be much more than that.

With L.A. Noire they seem to have an entirely different beast on their hands. Gone are the fictional towns of the old west and Liberty City. Instead Team Bondi has taken on the task of recreating Los Angeles of the 1940s while researching the various real life crimes and unsolved murders of the era. This is where L.A. Noire seems to take a bit of a turn from what Rockstar is known for. In Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption the player takes control of some fairly rugged individuals. John Marston was a reformed outlaw while Niko Bellic was more a former soldier trying to make a new start. In both cases the characters were trying to leave their old ways behind and live upstanding lives, however over the course of the story they were led into situations which required them to set their morals aside. L.A. Noire's Cole Phelps is vastly different from the start though. Phelps is a World War II veteran who returns home to Los Angeles where joins the police department. From the get go you're going to be upholding the law instead of breaking it. 

This is an area I think Rockstar tends to shine as they manage to create some very compelling characters so it will be interesting to see how Phelps' personality progresses throughout the game based not only on the story but the player's actions. Speaking of progression, much like Rockstar's other games there is a interesting story that unfolds over the course of the missions you take on. The spin on L.A. Noire though is that as a police officer, Cole will advance through the ranks of the precinct. This means that you'll start off with a low level position such as a traffic cop but once certain objectives within that branch have been completed you will be promoted and you slowly make your way up to being a detective. From all intents and purposes it seems like a more organized version of Grand Theft Auto's mission trees which branch off with you doing different jobs for mobsters and their associates; just this time you're on the other side of the law.

Of course the meat of this game will be the work involved in solving the cases that come across your desk. The game being set in the 1940s gives it some rather interesting game play aesthetics that have been marketed very well by Rockstar and Team Bondi. Unlike modern times, there was no DNA testing or sure fire ways of knowing who committed a crime. Instead your crime scene investigation will consist of what you find on the scene, interviewing witnesses and then interrogating suspects. Part of this is achieved with the brand new motion capture process Team Bondi has used in creating L.A Noire. At this point I don't think I need to go in depth regarding their MotionScan technology considering I have covered it before in the blog which can be found here. To break it down simply, the tech allows for an actor's full facial performance to be translated on screen to create a very lifelike simulation. Because of this a big part of the investigation will be reading a person's face during an interrogation in order to tell if they are lying or not. If you believe they are, you can press them for more information. Of course you can never be too sure so it will take some intuition, not to mention some solid detective work as the clues you gather prior to an interrogation will help you close in on the perpetrator. 

This isn't the only part of L.A. Noire though. Much like Rockstar's other games people will simply want to cruise around in cars or do some side missions that don't particularly relate to the story itself. If that's the case, Team Bondi has you covered. Much like the stranger system in Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto, there will be side quests that you can pick up just by listening to the police dispatch and heading to the scene of a crime or while patrolling the streets. In this regard there's no shortage of missions to take part in across the vast world Team Bondi has created. And if some of this sounds just a tad bit slow paced for you allow me to set your mind at ease. There is definitely enough action to go around. While the detective work is a big part of the game, that doesn't mean suspects will come quietly or willingly. If you're closing in on someone who clearly doesn't want to be caught you can definitely expect a struggle against you and your partner. And don't worry, you'll be well equipped to take down those criminals who resist arrest. The game uses some of the same technology for animation and physics as the rest of Rockstar's games and there are some techniques that can subdue an enemy without killing them; such as shooting them in the leg or disarming them. Lethal force is available to use but also remember, you're a cop and cuffing your suspect and bringing them in is your main priority. Though it will be interesting to see just what happens if worse comes to worse and you have to actually eliminate a difficult suspect. 

Needless to say there will be enough content packed into this game to appeal to a wide variety of players. And if you don't believe that look no further than the 3-disc version for the X-Box 360. Yes, the game is that massive. Players will get enough bang for their buck though and there is a promise of downloadable content on the horizon with some of the pre-order bonuses that are currently being offered. Recent interviews have also revealed two other mission lines that were left out of the game that could eventually make their way in as DLC. It may have taken seven years to get this project from conception to finished project but it may have been well worth the wait. L.A. Noire releases on May 17th. Check back with us here at the blog for a full set of impressions on the finished game as well as a review. Until then you can check out the launch trailer below.

[Credit to IGN for the launch trailer video.]