a few years ahead of its time – or perhaps
it’s more accurate to say it was slightly at
odds with its medium. The facial
performances were exaggerated to signpost
the way, and where movies intentionally play
on the subjectivity of emotions, LA Noire’s
interrogation mechanic was too subtle (not
to mention inaccurate) for players more used
to glowing objectives and directional arrows.
As increasing graphic fidelity begins to
offer more photorealism, LA Noire’s
interrogations could present a different
proposition. Imagine what it might look like
on next-gen consoles, or if the idea of using
MotionScan and hundreds of actors had
caught on. What if every NPC you meet was
given that expressiveness, motivation and
level of performance capture, stunningly
rendered with next-gen visuals? We’d
probably never even think about pointing
a weapon at anyone again. And that’s exactlythe point: games and movies are never
meant to be sympatico. Games need that
separation from reality because they are
intended to present an interactive fantasy.
Still, for the briefest moment only, the
MotionScan performance capture provided
a glimpse of a future in which videogames
could be afforded the same level of artistic
credibility as movies. One in which the two
industries would tap-dance down
Hollywood Boulevard together as games
provided credible and lucrative work for
actors of any stature, whose performances
would be believably and realistically
rendered. The game even premiered at New
York’s Tribeca Film Festival to sold-out
audiences, where writer and director
Brendan McNamara said he hoped the game
would be a “watershed moment”, not least in
terms of attracting a bigger audience to
gaming. Indeed, the game’s success
suggested audiences’ tastes could be
sophisticated enough for a thoughtful,
period-set detective game that might usher
in a new age of gaming chic. Yet it spawned
neither imitators nor a craze for detective
games; nor did it lead to Robert De Niro
lending his shrugs to a Godfather game or
John Leguizamo getting motion-scanned for
the next Luigi’s Mansion. Instead LA Noire
remains a one-off curiosity, a lavish
experiential experiment, and its star seems
destined to fade like Norma Desmond’s in
classic Hollywood noir movie Sunset
Boulevard; fondly remembered but from
a bygone, almost golden age. Q+++++++^+++++++^+++++++^+++++++^SEVEN
YEAR ITCH
LA Noire’s troubled
development saw a
change of publisher after
Sony dropped the project
in 2005, citing costs far
exceeding budget.
Rockstar picked up the
publishing rights, and the
lengthy, ever more costly
development process
resumed. The relationship
between Team Bondi and
Rockstar was strained,
supposedly due to the
latter’s frustration with
the Sydney studio’s
direction. It’s hard to
imagine what LA Noire
would have looked like
solely in the hands of the
devs behind 2002 London
gangster caper The
Getaway, but undoubtedly
Rockstar’s huge influence,
not to mention its cash,
saved the project. By the
end of its seven-year
development, reports had
surfaced regarding toxic
working conditions at
Team Bondi, and Rockstar
was unequivocal about
never again working with
the team that could, in
a different reality, have
become Rockstar Sydney.
Suspects are often hostile
when questioned, such as
this murder victim’s
husband, who doesn’t take
kindly to your partner’s
assertion that “90 per cent
of murders are domestic”LA Noire’s brawling is similar
to that in other Rockstar
games, including Red Dead
Redemption 2, but without
the option to hit enemies
when they’re down