Summary
- L.A. Noire left a lasting impression with its impressive motion-capture tech and engaging mysteries, despite the technical limitations of the time.
- A sequel to L.A. Noire may never happen, but Nobody Wants to Die looks like a promising spiritual successor.
- Nobody Wants to Die fuses detective noir with Sci-Fi cyberpunk elements, offering a visually stunning experience.
Releasing all the way back in May 2011, L.A. Noire was far from a perfect game, but it managed to make a lasting impression on many fans. A true graphical showcase for its time, L.A. Noire put its cutting-edge motion-capture technology front and center of the entire experience, and while it's mocked relentlessly nowadays, it was very impressive back in 2011, albeit still a little too uncanny. And then, there's L.A. Noire's gameplay. Though limited in its player-freedom, L.A. Noire presented players with a wealth of mysteries to solve and a handful of shootouts to blast their way through, pairing nicely with the game's stellar presentation.
It certainly wasn't perfect, but L.A. Noire showed a great deal of promise, promise that could have been embraced by a future sequel. Unfortunately, with the closure of Team Bondi and Rockstar seemingly expressing no interest in returning to the IP, an L.A. Noire sequel will probably never happen, so now it's up to games like Nobody Wants to Die to carry that legacy forward.
Modern Motion Capture Tech Would Be Perfect For L.A. Noire 2
With its predecessor being considered a technological marvel upon release, the modern state of motion capture would be perfect for L.A. Noire 2.
Nobody Wants to Die Looks Like a Great Spiritual Successor to L.A. Noire
Nobody Wants to Die Fuses Noir with Cyberpunk
Announced on March 12, 2024, Nobody Wants to Die is a new Sci-Fi detective game from studio Critical Hit Games and publisher Plaion. Though major details of the game are still shrouded in mystery, Nobody Wants to Die's debut trailer offered a visual feast, teasing some classic genre tropes in the process. Based on the trailer, Nobody Wants to Die embraces the detective noir genre wholeheartedly. Players take control of an archetypal hard-boiled detective who's been tasked with solving an off-the-books case, and the game's environments look as though they've been heavily inspired by 1940-50s gothic architecture.
But at the same time, Nobody Wants to Die also fully embraces the Sci-Fi cyberpunk genre. While NPCs are driving 1940s cars, those cars are flying across a neon-soaked New York skyline, set in the year 2329. Advanced Sci-Fi technology will also play a major role in both the game's story and gameplay, with Nobody Wants to Die apparently revolving around themes of transhumanism and the dangers of immortality, with humans having discovered a way to store their memories and live forever in this world.
Advanced Sci-Fi tech will also seemingly be used as Nobody Wants to Die's main source of gameplay, with the player's detective protagonist being able to wield a device on his wrist that rewinds time in a crime scene, allowing him to see the origins of a fire, where bullets have impacted a surface, and how a victim has been killed. This feature isn't particularly new, with the Batman: Arkham series having beat it to the punch a decade ago, but if Nobody Wants to Die's trailer is any indication, this could end up looking truly spectacular.
Running on Unreal Engine 5, Nobody Wants to Die appears to have some incredibly impressive presentation. Photorealistic graphics, beautifully stylized lighting, realistic fire effects, and so much more are already present in Nobody Wants to Die's trailer and pre-release images, making this a game that is definitely worth keeping an eye on for any L.A. Noire fans who long for a return to technically-impressive detective games with a lot of style.
- Released
- May 17, 2011
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Team Bondi
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Engine
- havok
WHERE TO PLAY
Using groundbreaking new animation technology, MotionScan, that captures every nuance of an actor's facial performance in astonishing detail, L.A. Noire is a violent crime thriller that blends breathtaking action with true detective work to deliver an unprecedented interactive experience. Search for clues, chase down suspects and interrogate witnesses as you struggle to find the truth in a city where everyone has something to hide.
Amid the post-war boom of Hollywood's Golden Age, Cole Phelps is an LAPD detective thrown headfirst into a city drowning in its own success. Corruption is rampant, the drug trade is exploding, and murder rates are at an all-time high. In his fight to climb the ranks and do what's right, Phelps must unravel the truth behind a string of arson attacks, racketeering conspiracies and brutal murders, battling the L.A. Underworld and even members of his own department to uncover a secret that could shake the city to its rotten core.
