L.A. Noire -- Rockstar Games

L.A. Noire is a video game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 developed by Team Bondi in conjunction with Rockstar Games and published by Rockstar Games. L.A. Noire is set in Los Angeles in 1947, with players being challenged to solve a range of crimes.

As the title suggests, the game draws heavily from both plot and aesthetic elements of film noir – stylistic films from the 1940s and 1950s that shared similar visual styles and themes including crime, sex and moral ambiguity and were often shot in black and white with harsh, low-key lighting. The game uses a distinctive colouring-style in homage to the visual style of film noir. The post-war setting is the backdrop for plot elements that reference the detective films of the '40s (as well as James Ellroy's novel L.A. Confidential and the Curtis Hanson film based on it), such as corruption and drugs, with a jazz soundtrack.

L.A. Noire is also notable for using Lightsprint's real-time global illumination technology, as well as Depth Analysis's newly developed technology for the film and video game industries called MotionScan, where actors are recorded by 32 surrounding cameras to capture facial expressions from every angle.
L.A. Noire is the first video game to be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Gameplay

The game takes place in 1947 Los Angeles, a city of glamour, fame, and wealth, but also where crime, vice, and corruption are rife. The player assumes the role of LAPD Officer Cole Phelps. The game starts with Phelps as a uniformed patrolman, and follows his career as he advances through the police departments of traffic, homicide, vice, and finally arson. Whilst the game's Traffic and Homicide desks are located at Central police station in Downtown Los Angeles, the Vice and Arson desks are situated at Hollywood and Wilshire police stations respectively. Each new desk gives the player a new partner who will help Phelps in his investigations.

The game blends investigative elements such as mystery and crime solving, with fast-paced action sequences, including on-foot and car chases, hand-to-hand combat, and gunfights. In addition to the storyline missions, the player can work on optional side-investigations following a call from dispatch. The player can travel on foot, as well as in various cars that are unlocked as Phelps progresses through the police departments.

Unlike Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series, the player cannot freely create chaos and kill civilians with weapons and cars, as the character is a police detective. Weapons are only allowed in appropriate circumstances.