[PAX East '11] Deduction Is More Than Child’s Play – L.A. Noire Preview

Remember “It’s Not Easy Being Green”, the famous Sesame Street song performed by Kermit the Frog?  What I always took from that song was that Kermit had challenges to stand up to and adversity to overcome because he couldn’t just blend into the foreground like everyone else.  Kermit, being different than others, needed to work to carve a spot for himself in our hearts, to earn our respect.  Ultimately though, Kermit knew he’d shine ten times brighter, and that extra effort to be unique was fine as long as the end result was what he was striving for.

“It’s Not Easy Being Green” is L.A. Noire in a nutshell.  L.A. Noire is a title that yearns to be more than its “pump ‘em full o’ lead” comrades that  saturate the market.  It’s a title that feels like it has will-power, ambition, and innovation in spades.  It’s a title that makes players pay the utmost attention to the most minute subtleties in gameplay.  And honestly, it’s a title that may be too progressive to resonate with the current mainstream audience.

L.A. Noire, Rockstar Game’s upcoming effort slated for a May 17, 2011 release, isn’t going to feature the traditional Rockstar shenanigans that the masses are used to.  In fact, as debaucherous as the Grand Theft Auto franchise is, L.A. Noire seems as though it’ll be on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, falling squarely into “straight as an arrow” territory.  The fact that the game wasn’t developed entirely by Rockstar may have something to do with this new direction.  L.A. Noire is actually being developed by Team Bondi in conjunction with Rockstar.

L.A. Noire follows the story of Cole Phelps, a up-and-coming gumshoe detective in the Los Angeles Police Department circa 1947.  Cole is the new, eager face in the force, and he’s appropriately partnered with Rusty Galloway, a seasoned-veteran that isn’t particularly thrilled to be paired with a rookie.  As the two leave the station to investigate their first crime scene, we’re given our first look at the developers’ take on 1947 Los Angeles.  Bluntly put, the beautifully rendered city looks nearly perfect.  From the incredibly crafted environment to the actions of the other drivers on the road, everything about the town feels authentic.

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Upon arriving at the crime scene (which happens to be at a park), we’re met with our first unlucky point of interest — a completely naked dead body.  As any good detective would’ve done in 1947, Phelps immediately moves every part of the body in an attempt to glean any information that might point us in the right direction.  After a semi-thorough one-over of the entire area, we’re prompted to pay a visit to a bar that it appears the victim was at the night of her untimely demise.

At the Bamba Club, we’re directed the way of the owner, a gent by the name “McCall”.  He knows a thing or two about the woman in question who we learn is “Celina Henry”.  After deducing that McCall is a “person of interest”, we get to experience an interrogation, one of the core mechanics of L.A. Noire. Interrogations are formulated so that the player asks probing questions, and must gauge the respondent’s answer as the truth, a lie, or doubtful if there’s no concrete evidence to support a lie.

The thing that really ties the interrogation system together is the implementation of the MotionScan technology, which enabled the developers to use motion capture technology on real actors and transplant it directly into the game.  MotionScan resulted in some of the most realistic character facial expressions that I’ve ever seen in a video game which is immensely helpful in picking up the tiniest of non-verbal cues while performing an interrogation.

The rest of the demo played out much the same as what we’d already experienced.  While following the rabbit hole of clues, we pick up more and more information via various sources, every tidbit needing to be analyzed and judgment needing to be passed.  To keep track of everything, Phelps is equipped with a sleuth’s notebook which is the lifeline of the game.  It seems as though the player is going to spend quite a bit of time in the notebook simply processing the wealth of information before daring to take another step.

Given the dark, gritty,and gruesome nature of L.A. Noire, it looks like the May release will be the most mature release in Rockstar Game’s history.  There’s no doubt about it — if the finalized product exerts the same quality that the demo did, L.A. Noire is shaping up to be a classic and a game-changer.  L.A. Noire is going to shine because of it’s meticulously tantalizing pacing and attention to detail.  However, it’s the pacing and attention to detail that will most likely turn off the A.D.D.-inclined.  For the rest, there’s a special game waiting on May 17, and our demo at PAX East did nothing but make the wait that much more unbearable.