The game L.A. Noire was created through Team Bondi in conjunction Rockstar Games.
It was released with PS3 and Xbox 360 on the 20th May 2011 (EU) and eventually Microsoft Windows 11th November 2011 (EU). It was also sold in North America (NA), Japan (JP) and Australia (AU).
The game engine used to create L.A. Noire was Havok who is in partnership with Microsoft Games Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., THQ, Ubisoft, Rockstar, EA, Bethesda, Insomniac, Relic, Bungie and Naughty Dog, Guerrilla. Support Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Android, IOS, Apple Mac OS and Linux
Rating – M (Mature) due to blood and gore, nudity, sexual themes, strong language, use of drugs and violence, among other themes that are included in the game meaning the Rockstar game was mainly aimed a the older generation of gamers.
Platforms – Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
Development – Used Lightprint’s global illumination technology and Depth Analysis’s newly developed technology called Motion Scan (actors recorded by 32 cameras surrounding them to capture facial expressions from every angle). The technology is central to the game’s interrogation mechanic, as players must use the suspect’s reactions to questioning to judge whether they are lying or not.
The Actual Game
The game is set in a perfectly re-created Los Angeles of 1947, with players being given an open-ended challenge to solve a series of murder mysteries. Amid the post-war boom of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Cole Phelps, an LA PD Detective is thrown headfirst into a city drowning in its own success. Corruption is rampant, the drug trade is exploding and murder rates are at an all-time high. In his fight to climb the ranks and do what’s right, Phelps must unravel the truth behind a string of arson attacks, racketeering conspiracies and brutal murders, battling the L.A. underworld and even members of his own department to uncover a secret that could shake the city to its rotten core. Using groundbreaking new animation technology that captures every nuance of an actor’s facial performance in astonishing detail, L.A. Noire is a violent crime thriller that blends breath-taking actions with true detective work to deliver an unprecedented interactive experience. Searching for clues, chasing down suspects and interrogating witnesses while struggling to find the truth in a city where everyone has something to hide is basically what the gamer experiences. Throughout the game you have to gather evidence within a notebook, which the character jots things down to keep a note of people, places, times and dates. This is managed through the use of Motion Scan to take note of the occurrences of the game. This makes the audience more interactive as it gives the gamer an option of what questions they would like to ask and what information they need.
L.A. Noire uses media convergence to promote the game through posting video’s and trailers on YouTube and other websites such as the official Rockstar website and the official L.A. Noire website for fans.
Possible future developments for L.A. Noire are for a second one to come out in the near future. However, as the first one took seven years to create and it took its toll on the creators, a second one is only a dream at the minute. Also there has been a well-publicised rumour that Rockstar Games has fallen out with the developer Team Bondi who, along with Take-Two Interactive, has expressed a great interest n the possible development of a second L.A. Noire.
This trailer introduces the technology used behind the creation of the life-like facial expressions and body language. Shows the camera's used and how the characters look so real so the gamer can make a judgement of whether a character is lying or not.
