Whore of the Orient Gameplay Brings Back L.A. Noire Memories

[Karloff]

Whore of the Orient Gameplay Brings Back L.A. Noire Memories


Cole? Is that you?

Courtesy of VideoGamer, a slice of former Team Bondi developers' L.A. Noire [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123373-L-A-Noire-Team-Laid-Off-Next-Project-On-Hold] is no bad thing; Team Bondi's homage to classic noir iconography had a lot going for it, even if it was flawed. Whether or not something quite so similar to Cole Phelps' odyssey, set in a completely different location, will appeal to gamers is an open question.

Team Bondi didn't bail-out [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112761-Team-Bondi-Black-Rock-Studios-Close-Their-Doors] from the Australian government things might have gone very badly for the fledgling title.

Aside from this snippet of gameplay, little is known about Whore of the Orient. It's set in 1936 Shanghai, and it looks as though you're playing a cop again, but there's no hint as to whether the elaborately motion-captured interrogations that formed a core mechanic in L.A. Noire will also be part of this title. There's no release date, and the only thing we know about platforms is that it's supposed to be released for PC and next generation machines.

Source: VideoGamer [http://www.videogamer.com/news/whore_of_the_orient_leaked_gameplay_footage_revealed.html]


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[RJ 17]

I always liked LA Noire...at least the first 2/3rds of it. Towards the end of the Vice missions the writers apparently started smoking crack and went absolutely nuts. Straight-laced, by the book, moral juggernaut Cole Phelps suddenly, inexplicably cheating on his wife with a strung out whore of a lounge singer? Phelps running around in a sewer chasing thugs with a frickin' flame thrower? Seriously...

As long as they can keep the story on track (and smooth out the rough edges, that gameplay looked VERY stiff, but I'm guessing that's just because the game is still in development) I'll be willing to give this game a shot.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I know it's early footage, but this looks not that great.

The sticky cover isn't helping much. If you're gonna forced cover-based shooting on us, at least make it soft like Tomb Raider and The Last of Us did.

 

[Revolutionary]

Looks very how you say...pre-alpha.
I don't think there's much to see here and it's to early to say anyway.

 

[1337mokro]

That looks horrible! I hope this is REALLY early footage because the one thing I would tell them to do is immediately lower their graphical expectations and focus on fluidity. You don't have the same budget as last time and no company is going to bail you out twice this time either.

Lower your ambitions a bit this time and you will get a good game. After all I don't think many people buy story based games for the pretty graphics.

 

[hazabaza1]

That looks horrible! I hope this is REALLY early footage because the one thing I would tell them to do is immediately lower their graphical expectations and focus on fluidity. You don't have the same budget as last time and no company is going to bail you out twice this time either.

Lower your ambitions a bit this time and you will get a good game. After all I don't think many people buy story based games for the pretty graphics.

It's being released in 2015. They have time.
But even so, other than the jankiness of the animations and the such, it's waaaay to early to say anything about this. Could be interesting I guess.

 

[Falterfire]

"Whore of the Orient"? That's what I call a great title. There's no way this will backfire and be used to fuel cheap 'controversies' from now 'til judgement day.

 

[Zhukov]

Yay?

I love the idea for the setting, but that video didn't exactly light my world on fire, even ignoring the crummy early-stage animation.

 

[Blarg Blargson]

I always liked LA Noire...at least the first 2/3rds of it. Towards the end of the Vice missions the writers apparently started smoking crack and went absolutely nuts. Straight-laced, by the book, moral juggernaut Cole Phelps suddenly, inexplicably cheating on his wife with a strung out whore of a lounge singer? Phelps running around in a sewer chasing thugs with a frickin' flame thrower? Seriously...

I thought what Phelps did was in-character enough for a Noir movie, although it could have been explained better. The real problem was the sudden change to Jack Kelso as protagonist - it was like I was experiencing an episodic mystery miniseries, and then suddenly it all turned out to just be a prelude to some other character's noir thriller movie.

(BTW, it was Kelso in the sewers with the Flamethrower, if that matters at all)

"Whore of the Orient"? That's what I call a great title. There's no way this will backfire and be used to fuel cheap 'controversies' from now 'til judgement day.

It's probably because "Whore of the Orient" is a nickname occasionally applied to Shanghai, which might be a play on the more favorable nickname: "Pearl of the Orient."

Still an unfortunate choice. Hopefully they'll come up with something better in development.

So, this doesn't look polished at all (Weird mix of AC3 fighting and L.A. Noir shooting?), but I didn't think the gameplay of L.A. Noire was particularly well-done, either. I played for the story, not the mechanics. We'll see how it looks in two years.

 

[Grimh]

Man I loved LA Noire, a very good game, it was terrible and I hated it.

I like the setting, we'll see how it goes I guess.

 

[Lord Garnaat]

I really enjoyed LA Noire, even if it did go a little bit bonkers in the last part (why did Cole cheat on his wife? Why!), so I'm fairly intrigued by this. Hopefully it's as good as that game was at its best moments, and avoids all of the mistakes it made in the bad ones.

 

[duchaked]

the setting has me interested. definitely enjoyed Sleeping Dogs because of the setting in Hong Kong. must be into the Asian settings lately (Army of Two 40th Day not included grr)

 

[Sparrow]

Kinda looks like what would happen if LA Noire and Sleeping Dogs had a baby.

Man I loved LA Noire, a very good game, it was terrible and I hated it.

Uh, what?

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

How the hell does this look like LA Noire? That was a detective game and this is a guy running through the streets shooting and beating up peop...oh wait.