A new video game due out in the fall promises gamers a look back at the gritty streets of post-war Los Angeles.
L.A. Noire, by Rockstar Games, is a new release being touted by its creators as the next big thing for gaming, both in its storytelling and by introducing new technological advances, including a facial animation system described by creators as ‘groundbreaking.’
Details of the game itself are sketchy, but its premise is a crime thriller set in the classic noire period of 1947 LA. Its lead character is Aaron Staton (Ken Cosgrove from Mad Men), who leads players through a complex story in an open-ended challenge to solve a series of gruesome murders.
Part of the ‘wow’ factor of the game is a sprawling and highly researched recreation of 1940’s Los Angeles, described as the biggest in-game environment ever created. More than 180,000 period newspaper photos were studied to create a nearly block-for-block recreation of the city, with detail extending right down to prices on diner menus.
Designed as a blending of cinema and gaming, L.A. Noire draws heavily from plot and aesthetic elements of 40’s film noir with a background that takes gamers to a Los Angeles before freeways, offering a world of jazz, corruption, drugs and crime with a stylized film noir look.
The game is expected to be released to the public in September. See a trailer for the game here.
