Lynnelle blog

Rockstar Previews L.A. Noire 'Fallen Idol' Case

It was a dark, rainy afternoon in the Big Apple and I was set to meet with one of the big-wigs of the video game industry—Rockstar. About a week ago some of their press reps wanted to give me a preview of its latest game, "L.A. Noire." How could I take a pass on one of the most anticipated games of 2011?

After taking the 6 train to Rockstar's downtown headquarters, I walked into what, in my mind, was a professional wonderland of magic. "Red Dead Redemption" was being projected on the wall behind the receptionist's desk and one of "GTA IV's" raunchy radio stations was playing in the background. Old arcade systems, Wiis, and Xboxes lined the hallway sporting some of Rockstar's titles—I was just giddy.

After shaking hands with two of Rockstar's PR reps, I was led to a den space with a few couches facing a 50-inch Samsung flat screen. Sadly, I wasn't allowed a hands on, but I was more than happy to ride shottie as I was guided through the case dubbed "The Fallen Idol." We followed Cole Phelps, a veteran of WWII who was involved in the Pacific theatre. He has been recently promoted to detective, so you'll most likely be tutorialing in the early stages as an officer and climb the ranks.

The Case of "The Fallen Idol"During the start of the case, I got a quick snippet of the crime in action. It's dark and a car drives over the side of a cliff. This all takes place across the way from the precinct. Cole gets his orders the following morning to check out the scene; I'm partnered with Stephan. You will always be assigned someone to go with you, they act to help guide you through the game, whether it be in the form of directions to a particular location or helping you find clues to further the investigation.

The world is open, but Rockstar is trying to deter and prevent users from shooting up the random NPCs by keeping a more linear storyline. Fans may notice that Rockstar has been tightening its scripts, starting with "GTA IV" and continuing on with its latest game, "Red Dead Redemption," creating a compelling story that will deter players from just going "balls to the wall" crazy. Granted, if you do decide to whip out your gun, you won't have an Apache helicopter chase ensue after going on a killing spree, but I was told there will be other "reprecussions."

Arriving at the crime scene, we have options: Cole can investigate the crime scene or interrogate one of the victims. We investigate the crime scene and find everything from ripped panties to a letter from a mother to a daughter, asking her to come home—a story begins to unfold. We go to interview one of the two women in the car crash—I'm told she's an old washed up B-movie actress named June Ballard. She's been drugged, along with her young passenger, Jessica Hamilton, who is currently hospitalized.

Approaching her, I'm able to take in her face and how she's composing herself. I go to a notebook that keeps all my evidence and clues surrounding the case. The rep points out that had I gone to her directly, rather than going to the crime scene first, certain questions would not have been available to me since new evidence allows for new questions to arise. As I ask questions I'm able to see if she's fidgeting or not meeting my eyes—tells of a liar. After she's done answering a question I can choose to Believe/ Coax, Doubt/ Force (If I think they are lying but don't have evidence), or Disbelieve/ Accuse (If I know they are lying and have evidence to prove it). We also had the option to go into the Notebook, which acts as your central hub for information on clues, people, and locations.

We manage to get a name of a possible suspect, Mark Bishop, a movie producer who auditioned Jessica for a role in his upcoming film. We decide to go to the hospital to talk to her. Music starts playing after I hop into the car, it sounds like something out of a Dick Tracey movie. I ask the rep if you can tune into various radio stations, and apparently the raunchy terrestrial radio as heard in GTA, is now gone. All you have is your partner, some classy film noire music, and your police radio to keep your ears busy.

The police radio isn't just for chatter, though, as you can opt to take open calls like "a robbery in progress" as a side quest to break up the main story line. If you're in the middle of an investigation, you can take on one of these 15-minute sub missions and not worry about messing around with your progress—provided you aren't in a car chase. The "L.A. Noire" world is made up of eight square miles, and a good chunk of it has been recreated from real 1947 Los Angeles. For instance, during a parcore chase scene, Cole runs onto an exotic movie set built in the middle of L.A. that, today, has been transformed into a mall. The world is detailed and looks very well-polished.

Team Bondi, the developers of "L.A. Noire" and thehave also worked tirelessly on the character details. Over 400 actors faces have been captured, not one person you meet in this world has been created from scratch. When you are a few feet away, it's hard to see the details, but during the interviewing process the mouth syncing and little ticks are all there. Bottom line: This technology is the future of gaming, and what better way to showcase it than in a detective/thriller game.

The Big PictureIn a recent trailer (below), Rockstar gave us a glimpse of the overarching story surrounding the game—a serial killer. I've been told that some of the cases will intertwine with the main one.

L.A. Noire will be available on May 17 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.