The detective genre is one that hasn't been completely over-utilized in video games the way some others have, and there's still plenty of room for experimentation and exploration within its confines. While there are some great detective games, like Disco Elysium, The Wolf Among Us, and Return of the Obra Dinn, it's an expansive genre that still has a lot to offer. One game that really took advantage of its genre trappings and forged the way for subsequent titles was L.A. Noire.
Team Bondi and Rockstar Games' investigative action-adventure title pushed the boundaries for motion capture and made full use of its pitch-perfect open-world rendition of Los Angeles in the 1940s. L.A. Noire had a successful release both critically and commercially and was showered with award nominations. Despite the positive reception, rumors of a sequel quickly dried up after L.A. Noire's launch, and over a decade after it came out a follow-up game still isn't in sight.
A Strong Release
L.A. Noire introduced some impressive advancements to the space of motion capture. The developer used proprietary motion capture technology called MotionScan to take note of every expression and facial quirk from the actors. This really added to the realism of the game when such a large portion of the investigations relied on players being able to read a suspect's emotions on their faces to measure their guilt. Playing as a detective felt like it had more layers than just finding clues and chasing down suspects, although of course that was an aspect of it as well.
Team Bondi also managed to capture the vibe of post-war Los Angeles to perfection, from the atmosphere and architecture to the evocative soundtrack. Gamers were able to roam around the city and interact with parts of the world, although the driving controls did face some criticism for their clumsiness. Overall, L.A. Noire was seen as an engaging, sprawling, and original title that explored a setting and genre not seen too often in video games. And yet, despite its popularity and positive reception, things behind the scenes have come to taint the title.
Soured Relationships
L.A. Noire was first announced in 2005, but it faced a number of delays and wasn't actually released until 2011. During that time, the game switched publishers and experienced a number of issues on its way to release, and reportedly burnt through an incredibly large amount of money by video game development standards. After the game was launched, rumors and accusations around unsustainable and toxic working environments, high staff turnovers, and even verbal abuse began to surface, painting a pretty damning picture.
Things became so troubled that despite the success of the game and talks of a sequel soon after it was released, Team Bondi was placed into administration in 2011, and by the end of the year the developer had entered liquidation. This may have cast a shadow over L.A. Noire, but that didn't mean dreams of a sequel were dead. DLC was still released, and members of the original development team even worked on L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files which launched in 2017. But despite these efforts to continue the game's post-launch life, a sequel is nowhere to be seen.
Rockstar has its hands full with its massive franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, which could explain its lack of attention for older games in its stable. L.A. Noire also had a notoriously tricky and drawn-out development, and Rockstar may be hesitant to jump back into that, especially when it seems it's missed the boat on really capitalizing on the game's success at this point. There is still an audience for an L.A. Noire sequel, but as the years pass, it seems increasingly unlikely that they'll get to play one.
L.A. Noire is currently available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and legacy consoles.
