L.A. Noire - Xbox 360

Nicholson Electroplating Presents The First Taste Of L.A. Noire DLC

Dan Ryckert — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 22:31:00 GMT

L.A. Noire’s first post-release DLC is upon us, and we just finished up the case of “Nicholson Electroplating.” Available for 320 Microsoft Points or $3.99 on Playstation 3 (free for those that purchased the Rockstar Pass), the mission just released today. It revolves around a deadly factory explosion, but it wouldn’t be L.A. Noire if there wasn’t more to the story beneath the surface.

My initial concern involved how the case would be accessed. I’m currently at the end of the vice missions on disc 3, so I haven’t started at the arson desk yet. When I heard “Nicholson Electroplating” was an arson case, I wondered if I’d be able to access it immediately for this story or if I’d have to work my way up to its predetermined spot in the main game (which was how I ran across “The Naked City”). Thankfully, it’s immediately accessible from the cases menu regardless of your current progress. Outside of a new partner I hadn’t met yet, nothing popped up that spoiled story elements for me.

Beginning with a chat between Cole Phelps and partner Herschel Biggs, the conversation is quickly derailed by a massive explosion in downtown L.A. They hop in the car and speed through falling ash as they approach the debris and wreckage that used to be the Nicholson Electroplating plant. After taking on some looters, it's time to investigate the scene of the accident.

I don’t want to give anything of significance away, because unraveling each case is the major draw of the game. I will say that the mission turns out to be more than a simple factory accident, as murder, hints of espionage, shootouts, deciphering hidden codes, and even Howard Hughes play a role.

Outside of the large-scale event that occurs at the beginning of “Nicholson Electroplating,” the case proceeds just how you’d expect based on the main game. You’ll visit numerous locations, interview potentially shady individuals, examine photographs (and a hairbrush or two, of course), get into a car chase, and eventually bring someone to justice. It’ll last over an hour if you’re the thorough type, and should satisfy your investigative itch if you’ve already beaten the main game.

L.A. Noire Review: A Compelling Yet Flawed Epic That Fascinates

Matt Helgeson — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:51:00 GMT

L.A. Noire is ambitious. It throws the player headlong into a complex, emotional detective saga set in 1947 Los Angeles. Team Bondi doesn’t conceal the game’s literary and film influences; allusions to classic noir abound, and the game succeeds in capturing the dark, morally ambiguous atmosphere that is the hallmark of the genre. It’s a game unlike anything else I’ve played, one that uses Rockstar’s familiar open-world template as a jumping off point to deliver a deliberately paced adventure game that stresses conversation over gunplay.

Much has been made of Team Bondi’s groundbreaking facial motion capture technology, which allowed the developers to effectively “film” real actors as 3D models and put their expression and dialogue straight into the game. The results of this experiment are striking; never before have digital characters conveyed so much real emotion in a video game. In comparison to L.A. Noire, the characters in Heavy Rain and the Mass Effect series appear wooden. In addition, the casting of real-life actors like Aaron Staton (Ken Cosgrove from Mad Men) and John Noble (Walter Bishop from Fringe) pays off; this game hasn’t conquered the uncanny valley, but at times I began to accept these characters as real, breathing human beings.

As in any good film noir, appearances can be deceiving. Players take the role of detective Cole Phelps, a decorated war hero and new LAPD detective who must navigate the tense underworld of Los Angeles, negotiating the often-blurry line between cop and criminal. Cole Phelps is an honest man, but he’s often impetuous, selfish, and haunted by the events he experienced in WWII. While feted as a war hero, the truth of what happened to him in the war is tragic and complicated, and the echoes of those deeds reverberate throughout L.A. Noire. Investigating a series of murders that tie into the real-life Black Dahlia killings, Cole begins to understand that the appearance of justice is all that’s desired by his superiors. While working vice, he also learns that the difference between gangster and police officer is sometimes little more than a uniform. Eventually, the web of deceit and corruption widens, implicating those at the highest levels of society and government. I don’t want to spoil any revelations, but the events of the last third come to an explosive head, culminating in a sad, conflicted final scene that will stick with you long after the credits roll.

As masterful as the storytelling is, games are meant to be played. In this regard, I’m conflicted. Phelp’s career is divided into a series of cases that spread across the beat patrol, traffic, homicide, vice, and arson desks (the fact that arson is the last is not a misprint; it ties closely to some surprising story events). The formula for most cases is uniform: You and your partner roll up to the crime scene, gather clues, and interview witnesses and people of interest. It’s best to gather as much physical evidence as possible, as each clue you log in your notebook opens up new lines of inquiry. At first, I relished the investigations. Anything in the environment could give you a big break in the case, from a ring to a prop shrunken head in a Hollywood production studio. However, over the course of the game’s 20 hours the repetitive search mechanic wears thin. Walking around waiting for a controller rumble to alert you to an item of interest feels more like an Easter egg hunt than an actual investigation. In a nod to old-school adventure games, many items you are prompted to pick up are meaningless as well; I’m pretty sure I examined every hairbrush in the greater L.A. area. The cases occasionally challenge your deductive skills, but it’s mostly just a case of walking around until you find all the relevant items.

L.A. Noire could have used more action sequences to break up the monotonous investigating, but aside from a couple of frantic moments toward the end of the Black Dahlia plotline, most of the action vignettes are simple foot or car chases. That would be fine if they weren’t so predictable and repetitive. Honestly, if one more suspect bolted right as I was about to start my questioning, I was going to shoot him or her. The few shootouts the game does have play out well enough, but suffer from occasional problems coming in and out of cover.

The interrogations, which showcase the amazing facial animations, are the most compelling aspect of L.A. Noire. As you read your suspect’s face for signs of subterfuge you can react by either believing their statement, expressing doubt, or accusing them of lying. If you throw out an accusation, be prepared to back it up with some hard evidence. If you don’t have something convincing or incriminating you’ll likely cause them to shut down entirely, which prevents you from extracting further information. Thanks to the animations and superb acting, these scenes are fraught with tension, especially when you’re juggling two suspects at once, each accusing the other. In these moments, L.A. Noire shines, providing a real sense of human drama. However, unlike in Heavy Rain or the Mass Effect series, the outcome of the case has no bearing on the larger plot. Sure, you might miss out on some dialogue or facts, but you still proceed from point A to point B. In a game that supposedly tests your decision-making, your determinations ultimately play no role in the story outcome.

The open city itself is drop-dead gorgeous – L.A. never looked so beautiful. Rockstar’s attention to detail is evident everywhere; even shop windows are filled with fully rendered product displays. However, there’s not much to do other than some unremarkable street crime side missions. So much effort went into recreating this historical Los Angeles, and I wish the city felt as alive and interactive as GTA IV’s Liberty City. Mostly, it just serves as scenery as you drive to the next cutscene.

At times, L.A. Noire is one of the most vivid, gripping game experiences I’ve had. Other times, it can be plain boring. As in much noir fiction, the truth lies in the gray area between those two extremes. It’s an adventure I won’t soon forget, filled with characters as fascinating as they are flawed – a bit like the game itself.

Everything You Need To Know About L.A. Noire

Matt Helgeson — Thu, 12 May 2011 17:30:00 GMT

Rockstar and Team Bondi’s L.A. Noire is one of the most anticipated games of the year. Blending Rockstar’s signature open-world gameplay with a breathtakingly original system of investigation and interrogation, this dark detective saga stares into the seedy black heart of 1940s Los Angeles.

We gave the world its first in-depth look at the game in issue 203 of Game Informer. You can read the full story online here. However, for those of you looking for a more condensed overview of the game, we’ve culled all the important intel on the game into this feature. This is everything you need to know about L.A. Noire.

After you finish, get more depth by reading our cover story on the game.

The Developers

L.A. Noire is a relative rarity for Rockstar – it’s not developed by one of the company’s talented in-house studios. The game is being crafted by a partnership between Rockstar and Team Bondi, an Australian company founded by Brendan McNamara. McNamara is most famous for being the head of Sony’s Team Soho, which made the gritty, Guy Ritchie-influenced open-world crime game The Getaway on PlayStation 2. In fact, L.A. Noire was originally an SCEA project, but later found a home with Rockstar and its parent company Take Two Interactive. Another key aspect of the game’s development is the groundbreaking facial capture animation technology (more on that later) which was created by a subsidiary of Team Bondi called Depth Analysis.

Though it’s not technically an in-house project, Rockstar has been intimately involved in helping guide the game. Rockstar’s super producer Jeronimo Barrera (who has helped ship nearly every Rockstar game in recent memory) has been working closely with Team Bondi to ensure that it has all the authentic attention to detail and gameplay depth the company’s other franchises are known for.

L.A. Noire's Launch Trailer Sets The Stage

Jeff Cork — Wed, 11 May 2011 16:01:00 GMT

It's hard to believe that L.A. Noire is almost here. It's been over a year since we brought you the first details on the game in our cover story, and the hype has been steadily building ever since.

Even though the game is from Rockstar, don't expect L.A. Noire to play like a 1940's era Grand Theft Auto. Instead, players will be participating in methodical police work, interviewing suspects and scouring crime scenes for clues. Interrogations are made much easier thanks to the game's impressive facial-capture technology. As you can see in the trailer below, actors' performances were captured in stunning detail, allowing players to intuitively tell when the people they're talking to in the game aren't being completely honest.

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The game is being released May 17 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

New L.A. Noire Trailer Details Departments Of The LAPD

Jeff Marchiafava — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:01:00 GMT

With L.A. Noire, Rockstar is forgoing the outlandish action of the GTA series, presenting gamers with criminal cases to investigate and solve. The latest gameplay trailer explains how protagonist Cole Phelps will rise through the ranks of the LAPD.

In addition to showing glimpses of Phelps' time in the traffic, vise, arson, and homicide divisions of the LAPD, the video also explains how partners function, aiding in fight sequences and pointing out clues players may have otherwise missed. It's another tantalizing glimpse at what Rockstar has planned for its next game, so take a look. Then check out a more in-depth look at the vice department, an explanation of how interrogations work, and our latest hands-on impressions.

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L.A. Noire Trailer Three Teases Life In Vice

Meagan Marie — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:00:00 GMT

Not everything goes by the books in L.A. Noire. This new trailer provides an insider’s look at the vice crime desk, detailing the internal corruption that plagues the LAPD.

We are also introduced to protagonist Cole Phelps’ vice partner, Roy Earle. Check out the footage below.

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L.A. Noire launches for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on May 17. Check out our most recent preview here.

L.A. Noire Details One of the LAPD's People of Interest

Matthew Kato — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:15:00 GMT

When boxer Albert Hammond goes missing after he wins a match he was supposed to lose, the LAPD and Cole Phelps investigate the fixed fight. The trail leads Phelps to Hammond's girlfriend Candy Evans, who is just about to leave town herself.

Phelps' interrogation of Evans highlights one of the game's principle gameplay mechanics, and tasks the player with reading Evans' body language to try uncover what she may have to hide and what info she may have on Hammond, the fight, and his disappearance.

Checking out Evans and the boxing match is one of the game's vice desk cases. Each mission you investigate in the game is based around a police desk, whether that's homicide, traffic, vice, etc. As you progress through the game you'll be promoted to more glamorous desks with new cases, partners, and police supervisors.

Check out some our previous coverage on the game, including:

L.A. Noire comes out for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on May 17.

L.A. Noire Finds Inspiration In “Red Lipstick Murder”

Meagan Marie — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 14:25:00 GMT

Rockstar revealed early in the development of L.A. Noire that the title isn’t striving for realism only in terms of impressive visuals and animations, but that cases in the game have striking similarities to real-world crimes.

Research by Team Bondi included sifting through Los Angeles newspapers from the 1940s, attempting to find inspiration in the grisly subject matter. While not translated directly to the game, some of the more unique aspects of high-profile crimes were borrowed before the rest of the case was fictionalized for a slightly more fantastical story.

Detailing one such case on its blog, Rockstar revealed that this weekend Pax East attendees will have a chance to check out a demo inspired by the very real “Red Lipstick Murder.” You can find Rockstar’s notes on the crime below.

“’The Red Lipstick Murder’ is based on the real life homicide investigation into the murder of Jeanne French. French was a 45 year old veteran Army nurse who was discovered stripped and stomped to death in an isolated lover’s lane type area of LA known as ‘The Moors’ early one morning in February ’47.

“Occurring just weeks after the notorious ‘Black Dahlia’ murder of Elizabeth Short, the killer in this case infamously created a stir when it was discovered that the letters “B.D.” (along with some obscenities) were scrawled in red lipstick on Mrs. French’s nude body. Was this the work of a serial killer, responsible for both killings, and possibly others? Or was it a sick copycat inspired by the Black Dahlia crime? As one would imagine, a sensational media frenzy ensued and the case of Jeanne French spurred a wide LAPD dragnet.

“The investigation yielded an intriguing list of possible suspects who were investigated by the police. French’s husband, who proclaimed his innocence as the tabloids reported he was abusive to Mrs. French and even had an argument with her the very evening of her murder. The mysterious “other man” who shared a private post office box with her? The unidentified ‘dark-haired’ male companion who reportedly shared a last meal with her at a Chinese restaurant hours before her death?

“In the end, the case remained unsolved. French’s husband famously passed a lie detector test in effort to prove his innocence. The other men were proven to be false leads or never identified. Jeanne French was just another cold case from the year of 1947.”

Lifted elements from the murder used in L.A. Noire include red lipstick on a female corpse and a protesting husband. The primary difference between Rockstar’s fictionalized story and the real crime is that players have a chance to lay the case to rest.

L.A. Noire hits retail May 17.

Have some catching up to do? Check out our most recent hands-on preview here.

New L.A. Noire Trailer Highlights The Art Of Interrogation

Matt Bertz — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 22:15:00 GMT

The latest Rockstar video focuses on two biggest keys to the L.A. Noire's murder mystery intrigue – interrogation and investigation.

The video walks you through the typical case progression, from crime scene to the questioning of witnesses and suspects. The more clues you find during your investigations, the more avenues of inquiry will be available in your line of inquiry. Not everyone you question is cooperative, so knowing when to pour on the flattery, go aggressive with a bad cop routine, or blindside them with a critical piece of evidence could catch them off guard and get them to start singing.

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For more L.A. Noire coverage, be sure to check out our cover story, second look, and recent hands-on impressions.

L.A. Noire Still Looks Awesome In New Trailer

Joe Juba — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:39:00 GMT

Rockstar Games has released a trailer for a DLC-exclusive mission called The Naked City.

L.A. Noire tells the story of LAPD detective Cole Phelps as he investigates homicides in the era of the Black Dahlia murders. The Naked City is one such case, and gamers can obtain it as an exclusive pre-order bonus through GameStop. Watch the trailer below to get an idea of what to expect from the mission.

If the trailer makes you want to hunt down more clues about LA Noire, be sure to read our hands-on impressions, look at a batch of exclusive screens, and check out what the box art will look like when the game hits shelves on May 17.

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(Full disclosure: GameStop is the parent company of Game Informer)

Hands-On With Rockstar's Detective Epic

Matt Helgeson — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:00:00 GMT

Since we gave the world its first look into the dark world of L.A. Noire with our March 2010 cover story, Rockstar has incrementally lifted the veil, each time revealing a bit more about this intriguing title. Recently, I got my first opportunity to play L.A. Noire.

Rockstar ran me through a brief interlude that showed protagonist Cole Phelps arriving at his new job at the detective desk of the LAPD (and a small sampling of a case entitled “The Red Lipstick Killer”). Phelps is introduced as the replacement to retiring detective Floyd Rose (who seems to be “retiring” under shady circumstances), and placed with Rose’s old partner, Rusty Galloway. Throughout our session, it’s clear that Galloway is not pleased to be paired with this holier-than-thou rookie.

After this introduction, I took the controller and began a new case, “The Silk Stocking Murder.” Like many of the recent trailers for the game, this case is tied to Los Angeles’ real-life Black Dahlia murders. We’re called into action by Captain Donnelly. A Hispanic woman has been found dead near city hall. The M.O. appears to be that of the Black Dahlia killer – or a copycat. As we arrive, we’re met by some sleazy reporters. “Another tramp, another message,” says one. “Is the Werewolf back in business?” (“The Werewolf” is another period nickname for the Black Dahlia killer.) Phelps is not amused, rebuffing the wags by asking them if they have a mother or sister.

The crime scene is gruesome. The woman is naked and mutilated. Inspecting her body, I see that a ring has been removed from her finger, and cryptic messages – “B.D.” and “Kiss the Blood” – have been scrawled on her torso. I begin investigating the crime scene, which is one of the game’s main play mechanics. Generally, you proceed just as you would in real life – something catches your eye, you bend down and pick it up. You can rotate items in your hand with the thumbstick, searching for a “sweet spot” that will initiate rumble and reveal a further clue in the item. For example, you might pick up an envelope and read the address on it, then open it up and check the contents inside. It works well, and if you get off track, your partner is there to spot things you miss. It’s important to scour the location for every clue, as missing things limits your options in subsequent interrogations. This particular crime scene is strange; we’re clearly being led on a path of blood stains to find objects like a library card, a ring, and other personal effects. This path takes us to a roof of a nearby building where we finally discern the identity and address of the victim: Ms. Antonia Maldonado.

From here, we head into investigation and interrogation. From Ms. Maldonaldo’s landlord to her estranged husband, we track down each person of interest in the case, asking questions based on the evidence we acquired in our searches of her residence and the crime scene. I’ve always felt that L.A. Noire’s success will ride on its ability to make these interrogations feel real and compelling. You must pay attention to each character’s facial reactions – you can’t afford to be gullible, but pressing a witness too hard makes them shut down entirely.

If you accuse someone of lying, you better have a clue to back up your claim. This is made easy by your in-game notebook, which takes automatic notes of every relevant clue, address, person of interest, and fact. If the witness rebuffs your accusation, you simply have to select the clue that proves them wrong and call them on it. Usually, they’ll give up the crucial information that takes you to your next destination. The conversation mechanics are simple and effective. Three simple button presses (indicating whether you believe them, are skeptical of their answer, or think they are outright lying to you) dictate your response. Overall, it’s similar to the system seen in Mass Effect, giving you a good sense of your reply without resorting to verbatim dialogue options.

The trail of the case takes many twists and turns – recently filed divorce papers seem to finger her husband, who has a flimsy alibi for the night she was murdered. However, further interrogation reveals that he’s not the culprit. A lead that first appeared to go nowhere – her late night visit to a green grocer to call for a cab following a night of drinking – suddenly takes a turn when I uncover a bloody scalpel in the grocer’s back room. After a quick car chase (which felt similar to the driving in GTA, making adjustments for the boaty physics of the period cars), we apprehend the grocer.

However, I got the sense that this was not the full story. Our captain seemed eager to wrap up the case, deliver the suspect to the district attorney, and write it off as a copycat murder. If it was that simple, why the elaborate trail of clues at the crime scene and the messages scrawled on her body? Is the Black Dahlia killer still stalking the women of L.A.? Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to allay these suspicions in my brief hands-on session. I have a hunch that the answers to these questions will play heavily into the larger story being told in L.A. Noire – one that is likely tied to the apparent corruption at the LAPD’s highest levels. However, there is one thing I’m increasingly sure of – L.A. Noire is going to give gamers an experience unlike anything we’ve ever played before. Conversation trumps gunplay, and the real truth is buried under layers of subterfuge. I can’t wait.

New Video Shows Off L.A. Noire's Groundbreaking Animation Tech

Matt Helgeson — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 19:55:00 GMT

L.A. Noire is one of the most anticipated games of 2011, thanks in no small part to the amazing facial animation capture technology that was created for the the by developer Team Bondi and its sister company Depth Analysis. Now, Rockstar has released this new video, which goes into greater detail on how the process works. It's pretty cool, and is helping L.A. Noire create some of the most believable video game characters to date. For more on the process, read our cover story on L.A. Noire.

Another Look Into The Seedy World of L.A. Noire

Matt Helgeson — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:00:00 GMT

Our cover story on L.A. Noire gave the world its first real look into Rockstar and Team Bondi’s L.A. Noire. As the writer, I got to see both the game (in demo form) and the groundbreaking facial capture technology that Team Bondi created to make it. I came back from my trip excited about the game, and I hope that the finished product can live up to the very high bar that Rockstar and Team Bondi have set. Recently, we were able to get another look at the game; Rockstar brought by a brand-new live gameplay demo that showed off another mission in the career of LAPD detective Cole Phelps.

This case occurs during Phelp’s stint on the traffic desk – but it’s a more sordid tale than a mere speeding ticket. It starts with Phelps and his partner Stephen Bukowski getting a call to investigate a car crash. Two women, actresses June Ballard and Jessica Hamilton, have apparently driven their car off an embankment and into a soda-pop billboard. Things get a little more interesting when Phelps arrives at the scene to interview Ballard, who claims they were drugged and put in the car as a set-up.

From here, this seemingly open and shut case drags Ballard into the seedy underbelly of 1940s Hollywood. Ballard, a veteran b-movie actress and moll to mobster Guy McAfee, appears unreliable. She’s intent on fingering producer Mark Bishop for the crime, but then warns Phelps to let her and her husband “settle the score.” She’s clearly shifty, but Phelps knows there’s definitely more to this story when he finds an unsettling piece of evidence on the scene: a torn pair of women’s underwear. A fellow detective also shows him a fake shrunken head, presumably stolen from a movie set, that was used to wedge down the car’s gas pedal.

From there, Phelps goes to interview the other passenger, Jessica Hamilton, at the hospital. Her doctor informs him that there is evidence that Hamilton was drugged and possibly sexually assaulted. Speaking with Hamilton, it’s clear that she’s a naïve girl who wants a break into acting so badly that she’s easy prey for the predators that populate the movie industry. While she has little memory of what happened and is scared to talk, Cole cajoles some information out of her. It’s interesting to see how the player has to judge the character of each witness. Here, Phelps takes a much softer approach than he did with June Ballard, perhaps sensing Hamilton’s fragile makeup.

Throughout the case, Phelps makes constant notes of clues – bits of interviews, objects in the environment, photographs, letters, and more. Each clue will open up more lines of questioning during your interviews, so it’s wise to gather as much information as possible. You’ll frequently have to use documented clues and facts to contradict a witness who is lying.

After interrogating Hamilton, the case takes a turn into dark territory. First, Phelps does a tail mission on June Ballard, who makes a call at a diner telling her husband to “take care” of Bishop. After Ballard gives up Bishop’s address, Phelps arrives at the producer’s apartment just in time to get in a fight with some Mafia thugs who are presumably there to rub out the producer. After dispatching the goons and interviewing Bishop’s wife, Gloria, a sinister picture appears to take shape: Bishop is somehow involved in a ring that takes aspiring young actresses and makes them sexual prey for depraved Hollywood types.

While we won’t spoil the solution to the case, suffice it to say that this game might feature some of Rockstar’s grittiest content ever. However, before you accuse them of being shock merchants, consider the fact that every case in the game is actually pulled from the newspapers of 1940s Los Angeles. This stuff really happened; it’s just been adapted and slightly altered for the game (most of the time this involved writing endings for unsolved cases). In addition, we got a few hints of the game’s larger, overarching plots, which seem to center around Phelps’ struggles to combat the internal corruption that plagued the LAPD during this time in history. At one point, Phelps has an interaction with a vice cop that suggests the lines between cop and criminal in L.A. are very blurry indeed.

This case also gave us a better window into the game’s pacing. While it’s important to note that this is not GTA in period drag – expect to spend a lot more time in tense conversation than in gunfights – Team Bondi does seem to do a good job of injecting action sequences at logical points in the story. During the mission we witnessed the brawl in Bishop’s apartment, the tail mission, and a car chase – plus a fairly elaborate gun battle.

However, the real meat of the L.A. Noire experience comes from the investigations. Once again, the character animation (accomplished through Team Bondi’s groundbreaking camera-based facial capture system) looks as good as anything we’ve seen in a game. It needs to be; with so much emphasis placed on the interrogations, it’s the true-to-life expressions that allow you to really feel invested in the experience.

L.A. Noire is a risky proposition for Rockstar. While the painstaking recreation of 1947 Los Angeles is as richly detailed as any of the open world environments the company has envisioned, this game has a distinct, deliberate pace that’s quite different from anything else it’s done in the past. Based on what we’ve seen so far, L.A. Noire has the potential to be something very special. Will Rockstar’s audience be ready to embrace it?

For more on L.A. Noire, check out our cover story for the game, and watch the latest trailer.

[All screens from the PS3 version of the game]

Rockstar Resets The Bar With Its Upcoming Crime Thriller

Matt Helgeson — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:20:00 GMT

Rockstar just released the first trailer for its upcoming title L.A. Noire, which we revealed back in our March cover story. If you missed seeing it before, we're running the feature here in its entirety. Check it out to learn more about the setting, characters, and the mind-boggling technology that developer Team Bondi is putting to use.

Ambition.

No word better describes Rockstar Games. In the nine years since the release of its open-world crime epic Grand Theft Auto III, which stands among the most influential and successful games ever released, the company has used its GTA war chest in pursuit of games that few other companies in the industry would even attempt. From the brutal, violent stealth of the controversial Manhunt to the charming comic mischief of Bully, Rockstar continually digs deep into the history of pop culture and film for inspirations beyond the usual fantasy, military, and sci-fi clichés that fuel much of the industry’s output.

Despite courting controversy both outside the industry and within, it’s hard to argue with the results. The company’s games have exhibited enormous scope and unparalleled production values. When Rockstar offers you a chance to get a behind-the-scenes look into what they call their most ambitious title to date, you say yes.

Though L.A. Noire’s existence has been known for several years, facts about this title have been as hard to find as clues to the seedy murders that L.A. Noire’s protagonist, Cole Phelps, unravels throughout the course of the game. After seeing the game and the development process in action, it’s clear why the publisher has been so secretive. Team Bondi, the studio behind L.A. Noire, has set the bar almost impossibly high with this game. It’s not only creating the largest, most detailed open-world game to date, it’s attempting to resurrect the long-lost Los Angeles of the 1940s while adding an engaging new adventure-style investigation system to the familiar drive-and-shoot gameplay model. Oh, and along the way the company is pioneering some groundbreaking new technology that it hopes will forever change the way video games are made.

Filming Noir

Walking into a nondescript building in Los Angeles, I’m introduced to Team Bondi’s game director Brendan McNamara, who is wearing a headset microphone and quietly overseeing a buzzing scene that more resembles a Hollywood film production than a game studio. The soft-spoken Australian seems fairly relaxed considering his team is entering crunch time on his first major project since he shipped the PS2 gangster hit The Getaway in 2002. Numerous Rockstar and Team Bondi staffers are scuttling around, shuffling between the various rooms in the spartan warehouse facility.

In one room, Australian actress Erika Heynatz (famous as the original host of Australia’s Next Top Model) is sitting down for hair and makeup in a room filled with mirrors and hair dryers. Her hair is meticulously coifed into tight, elaborate buns and covered with a hairnet in the classic ‘40s style.

After some introductions, McNamara takes us to the heart of the operation: a soundproofed white room that feels like a lost set from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Heynatz sits in a chair as makeup artists make last minute adjustments to her hair and cosmetics. Surrounding her is complex scaffolding equipped with 32 stereo-matched cameras and assorted microphones that will capture her image from every possible angle.

Once up and running, the actor interacts with the director through a monitor posted directly in front of her head, getting the crucial line prompts and feedback on the performance. Once completed, every detail of the performance – dialogue, expression, eye movement, even makeup details like black eyes or burns – are directly pipelined into the game with no involvement from animators. In this way, L.A. Noire represents a total break with conventional game development and animation. Instead of recording dialogue, animating, and performing motion capture as separate steps of the process, Team Bondi (using technology developed by its sister company Depth Analysis) is capturing human performances just as a filmmaker would – except instead of generating movie footage, they come away with fully animated 3D models.

It’s a tremendously advanced process – Depth Analysis’ Oliver Bao, head of research and development, reveals that the company’s Australian facility is equipped to store 200 terabytes of capture data – but one that allows them to work more quickly than with traditional hand-animation techniques. “That’s the great thing about this system, there’s very little human interaction,” Bao observes. “Traditionally, one minute of facial animation could take a couple of animators a month. The idea is that we can mass-produce. We can produce about 20 minutes of final footage a day, and it’s seamless – I don’t even have character artists or animators working with me.”

For McNamara, it’s perhaps the most crucial aspect of L.A. Noire, because the game features an unprecedented volume of spoken lines, encompassing a script of around 2,000 pages. To put it in perspective, the average hour-long television show has about 50 pages, and a longer feature film’s script would be 200 (approximately one page per minute of running time). With these new tools, Team Bondi can produce results that are both faster and vastly improved over games of the past.
“We hadn’t had really good results with motion capture, using facial markers and all that,” McNamara recalls. “I’d been doing some research in the U.K. for a number of years on how you could do capture without markers. What we wanted to do was capture the exterior of people instead of the bones. What we have here is the final end of that process, where you put an actor in the chair and as we record it’s instantly turned into 3D. We think it’s pretty significant. The great thing about that is we think that the whole uncanny valley thing is out the window, because you can see people in the game and literally lip-read what they say.”

Seeing side-by-side comparisons of the actors with their in-game likenesses, it’s clear McNamara’s technical team (staffed mostly by Team Bondi’s sister company Depth Analysis) is treading new ground in terms of facial animation in games. At first, it’s almost eerie. From hair to the slightest raise of an eyebrow, the facial models are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. “The actors are weirded out at first – everyone’s used to seeing themselves in 2D,” McNamara reveals.
Since the physical performance and dialogue reading are done at the same time, lip synching problems are non-existent, allowing the player to finally react to the characters as real actors in a way that even games like Uncharted 2 or Mass Effect haven’t achieved.

“Even the [games] I look at now that are great, there’s something about [the characters] that makes me think of a goldfish,” McNamara comments. “You have a million years of evolution that tells you how to read faces, so you just have to see one thing and it throws you off. With this game, it’s a line in the sand – before and after. That’s what it feels like to me. We used to do that; now we do this. In the end, we want you to interact with this and you don’t even ask the question ‘Is this real or not?’”[PageBreak]

A Cast of Hundreds

This new way of working allows Team Bondi to work much faster, but it also brought about a host of new challenges. For one, since every character – from the protagonist to the last random pedestrian – had to be fully voiced and animated, the casting and capture process has grown to epic proportion. Right now, there are well over 300 actors and actresses being used in L.A. Noire.

The most notable of these is Aaron Staton, who plays lead character Cole Phelps. Best known as Ken Cosgrove in the acclaimed AMC series Mad Men, Staton is tasked with embodying the emotional core of Team Bondi’s epic noir saga. Speaking with him as he prepared for some test takes, the actor, a lifelong gamer, seemed enthusiastic about the project.

“Yeah, I’ve played most of [Rockstar’s games]. I played all the Grand Theft Autos. My favorite was Vice City. As far as open-world games, or anything with a story, in the past, I’ve usually skipped the cutscenes to go into the gameplay. Which is a funny thing, but I’m just being honest,” Staton observes. “[This game] is about trying to enhance the experience and bring those two together into a singular experience, rather than two separate things, where you’re playing, then you put the controller down and watch.”

The sterile confines of the recording unit present a challenge to even the most experienced actor. “I was in there for about an hour and a half, and this is my second day,” Staton says, “but my initial impression was that I’d never been in a completely soundproof room. That I realized once the door closed. It was just ‘whooooosh’ when it shut…The acting part of it is a strange thing. I have to rely on [the directors], because you’re sort of limited. You can only move side to side to 45 degrees. Within that, there is a lot of freedom, but it’s finding what the boundaries are and defining them so I can relax and feel comfortable within it.”

To help get natural performances from the actors in this unnatural environment, Team Bondi has hired veteran director Michael Uppendahl, who had previously worked with Staton on Mad Men.

“I try to stage people in a way that I think is lively and helpful to the story,” says Uppendahl. “I try to monitor the performances to make sure we’re getting the human element that’s going to make it compelling and interesting.”
For McNamara, who wrote a majority of the game’s script, Uppendahl’s assistance has proved invaluable, allowing them to quickly move through the reams of dialogue that must be recorded each day.

“We don’t cut until we have something that feels real. That’s the benefit of having Mike,” says McNamara. “If I try to explain something, I always explain the whole bloody 5,000 page story. Mike can cut through that because he works with these guys a lot. He knows what two words will get them to the right place. I’ll go ‘Well it’s blah, blah, blah, blah, blah” and then he’ll say, ‘Louder!’ and it works. [Laughs] The convergence of media is a big thing for me. People have talked about it for a long time, but my skills are converging with Mike’s skills and Aaron’s skills and vice versa. We are somehow getting what we want out of that.”

Reading Faces, Solving Cases

Technology for technology’s sake is one thing, but in L.A. Noire Team Bondi’s impressive new techniques aren’t just there for window dressing. It’s a core building block of the game itself.

L.A. Noire is not GTA in 1940s drag. The game revolves around real police work: interviewing suspects, collecting data, and piecing together the facts to reveal the truth. To do that, you have to be able to read faces and decide whether or not you’re being lied to – something only possible through the stunningly realistic facial capture Team Bondi has worked so hard to accomplish.

“It’s obviously cool technology, but the key thing for us is that when you’re interrogating someone, you can read their face and tell if they are lying,” McNamara claims. “That’s a key component of the gameplay.”
Producer Jeronimo Barrera considers L.A. Noire “an adventure game that plays like a GTA.”

At the beginning of our demo, Phelps and his partner Stephan Bekowsky pull up at a freight yard to check out a report on an abandoned car. Something fishy is going on. Phelps inspects the scene, noting that the car’s interior is drenched with blood. Nearby is a bloody pipe, which seems to suggest foul play. A street cop on the scene tells us the car is registered to a Mr. Eugene White, who has been reported missing.

Walking around, Phelps gathers more clues from the scene, showing off another of L.A. Noire’s important features. Instead of finding simple items that sit on top of tables with an otherworldly glow around them, this game forces you to use your powers of observation to gather information. Thousands of period items have been fully modeled, and can be manipulated by the player. Near the car, Phelps sees a pair of broken glasses and a wallet. Opening the wallet, he pulls out the various cards and photos, jotting down White’s address while noting a picture of White and his wife in happier times and the name brand of the glasses. Phelps picks up the bloody pipe, rotating it around to view the inscription “Instaheat.” Elsewhere, he sees a receipt for one live pig purchased by an A. Hogan.

All this data is recorded in the player’s notepad, which serves as an information hub for all your investigations. All locations, people, and facts related to a case are stored there, allowing you to access it instantly during an interrogation. The more facts and evidence you gather, the greater your options will be during an interview.

After a conversation with a worker who reported the missing vehicle, Phelps leaves the scene to go to the address found in the wallet, Eugene White’s residence. Elizabeth White meets us at the door. The sequence that follows gives us our first glimpse of how L.A. Noire’s animations, writing, design, and attention to detail combine to form a gripping gameplay experience.

After inviting him in, a clearly concerned Mrs. White shows Phelps to the living room. Phelps informs her that her husband appears to be missing, and that foul play is suspected. In her reaction, we see the real power of Team Bondi’s digital filming process. “I knew something was wrong when he didn’t come home!” she exclaims, furrowing her brow and darting her eyes in panic. It’s real fear we see in her face – a truly human performance by a human actress. Compared to this, even the best game animation seems plastic and stilted.