[Update] L.A. Noire's First Trailer in Years Hits the Spotlight

[Tom Goldman]

[Update] L.A. Noire's First Trailer in Years Hits the Spotlight

Rockstar is still putting out a game called L.A. Noire, did you forget?

As L.A. Noire [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105124-First-L-A-Noire-Trailer-in-Four-Years-Coming-Thursday], but is really just the first trailer in four years. After all this time, the game has probably changed so much that it might as well be the "first trailer."

Rockstar's latest look at the title uses all in-game footage, and my word, L.A. Noire's cutscenes look quite spectacular. L.A. Noire is similar to Mafia II [http://www.amazon.com/Mafia-II-Xbox-360/dp/B000ZK698C/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1289505250&sr=1-2 ] in style, and rightfully so, but the character and facial animation appears to be of even higher quality. Sadly, there's no actual gameplay shown.

Details of exactly who and what we're looking at weren't given, but L.A. Noire apparently revolves around members of the LAPD involved in cases that will either make them, or break them. Whose body the player actually inhabits isn't yet clear. Chances are good that he/she will get betrayed and find him/herself in a dark alleyway under a spotlight at some point, possibly smoking, because it just wouldn't be noir if these things didn't happen.

Take-Two has been criticized for allowing games like L.A. Noire to be repeatedly delayed, but according to the trailer these delays are over and we'll now see the game in Spring 2011 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. I'm pretty excited, because if L.A. Noire is of the same quality of Rockstar's zombies [http://www.amazon.com/Red-Dead-Redemption-Xbox-360/dp/B001SH7YMG/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1289505362&sr=1-1] in fancy pinstripe suits to shoot.

The trailer can be found here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/trailers/2444-L-A-Noire].

Update: Rockstar has given a small amount of details about L.A. Noire. The company says: "L.A. Noire is a violent detective thriller set against the backdrop of Los Angeles in the post-war years of the late 1940s, the most corrupt and violent period in the city's history. Based on groundbreaking performance capture technology that goes beyond traditional methods to render every subtlety and nuance of an actor's facial expressions and emotions, L.A. Noire is the first game to truly explore what it means to be a detective, offering players the opportunity to solve crimes through a blend of classic action, clue-finding and interrogation, allowing players to analyze every subtle nuance of an actor's performance in order to get to the truth." Sounds pretty cool.


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[Woodsey]

OK, the faces are f*cking scary.

Still very 'meh' at the minute; there's nothing to be hyped about apart from some hear-say.

 

[Skuffyshootster]

I'm pretty sure the player character is the baby-faced guy in the gray suit.

Also, no PC version? Lame.

 

[Aptspire]

oh god, here come the 'Heavy Rain' faces D:
also, I got my doubts about the release date :/

 

[BreakfastMan]

Yeah gods, those faces are frightening. Good animations, but they just don't seem to fit, especially with those iffy character models. Uncanny valley, here we come!

 

[Samus Aaron]

Dammit, another R* game? The hole in my wallet is big enough as it is.

 

[josemlopes]

The facial animations are awesome. And I kind of like the main characters face, remember that in here we are just a detective and not a badass detective who kills anyone. I think it fits well with the mood of the game.

 

[TaboriHK]

Oooh, looks good. I don't care what everyone else says, the faces look good to me.

 

[SomebodyNowhere]

All I could think about was the uncanny valley quality of it all. It'll probably be a good game given Rockstar's track record, but we'll just have to wait and see just how good it might be.

 

[Sindre1]

"Do you think you migth be ready for that?"
That guy is coooool ^^

 

[endnuen]

The tone and mood set by the trailer made me somewhat excited.

 

[Sky1]

Oh, look at those faces.

 

[righthanded]

Yeah gods, those faces are frightening. Good animations, but they just don't seem to fit, especially with those iffy character models. Uncanny valley, here we come!

Yup. Could have been really cool cel-shaded and fit the motif pretty well, I assume.

The game might be interesting. I'm hoping it's more car-chases and sneaking around rather than kill kill kill.

 

[s_glasgow99]

Holy Crap! The voice acting in this trailer is awesome, straight to the tinny 1940 film noir feel. If the acting represented in this trailer is the standard for the entirety of the game it's got my money.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

I've never been uncanny valleyized before, but this trailer put me straight there. I mean, the animations and the faces don't go very well together and the character models didn't exactly impress me. So far, L.A Noire is going to do more to impress me.

 

[ImprovizoR]

Again, no PC. And some of you have the nerve to call PC gamers whiners as if we don't have a good reason to be upset.

 

[Moriarty70]

I thought it was going to be the case every PI dreams of. The kind of story that means you'll never have to pay for a drink again. Turns out all I needed to solve it was my fists, my revolver and a lead foot.

This is what I'm worried the game will end up being. Hopefully it's much more subtle and nuanced.

 

[SendMeNoodz84]

OK, the faces are f*cking scary.

Still very 'meh' at the minute; there's nothing to be hyped about apart from some hear-say.

Actually, Gameinformer committed half of an issue earlier this year to L.A. Noire, with specific details. I suggest you go read it, because if you're a fan of games like Mafia II, I think you're going to be delighted when you read some information.

 

[The Austin]

Bout time!

Been looking forward to this one!

 

[CloggedDonkey]

Two words:

Fuck. Yes.

Seriously, this looks awesome! This might actually be the first Noire game to date, and, with the new trailer, it looks like it might actually get released. Go Rockstar.