BITE THE BULLET

L.A. Noire is an open world action-adventure game that takes place in 1947, after World War II. You play Cole Phelps, a cop, who has to serve and protect in the midst of the seedy underbelly of a glamorous yet dangerous Los Angeles.

In a preview level/episode called The Fallen Idol, Phelps has to investigate the mysterious circumstances that lead to a car crash. Two women are found drugged at the scene, one is hospitalized, the other held for questioning. Upon arrival, Phelps suspects foul play from the evidence found on site: torn panties, a mother’s letter to the hospitalized victim and a small statue used to depress the gas pedal.

We got a preview of the game courtesy of Take-Two Asia.

In order to solve cases, you must be able to suss out lies from truths. One of the game developers, Team Bondi, lets you do this with a revolutionary new performance capture technology called MotionScan. 32 HD cameras are trained on an actor; each camera catching every nuance of the actor’s facial movements at 20-frames-per-second. These images are stitched together and the emotions are played out on a game characters face, exactly as the performer intended.

For example, during the game you get to interrogate June Ballard, a surviving victim and movie star past her prime. One can make out the quiver of her lips, the flutter of an eyelid; a range of emotions dancing across her face. But most importantly her eyes don’t make contact – a telltale sign of someone who has something to hide. At various points during the interview, you’re given various options like whether you think the person is lying or not or if you want to pursue a certain line of questioning.

Without spoiling anything, the interrogation with Ballard yields another link in the case, where you eventually end up in a firefight with gangsters.

Your performance on a case will determine if the perpetrators will get their just deserts or make a clean getaway but this doesn’t affect the overall storyline.

Fans of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series might be startled when they first play the game but the engaging storyline and mechanics will win them over. L.A. Noire is expected to come with a free Downloaded Content called The Naked City where Phelps investigates the apparent suicide of a fashion model.

L.A. Noire is developed by Rockstar Games and Team Bondi, and it will be distributed through Take-Two Asia. The game will be released May 20 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.

Text by Wayne Cheong