Rockstar Games, with open-world games such as the Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption have made a name for themselves producing open ended games. But with L.A. Noire
for the PS3 and Xbox 360, Rockstar Games are going on a different direction with the player taking on the role of a
cop in the Los Angeles of 1947. While the game is open-ended,
Rockstar Games doesn’t want to call it a sandbox game.
"Well, this isn’t really a sandbox game,” Rockstar’s Jeronimo Barrera tells The Telegraph. "You’re not going to go out and create your own gameplay. This is
story-driven. The world is open for the player to explore and there are
activities which may allow you to deviate from the straight and narrow –
for example, on the way to a crime-scene you may get a call that a
bank heist is in progress and you may want to head over there and stop
it. You can explore the city and find LA landmarks and such."
"The city is a backdrop to the story and the crimes in the plot and the overall narrative arch, rather than a playground”
The main goal for Rockstar to achieve with L.A. Noire to
connect the characters in the game with the player through the
performances and get the players to do more than just pull a trigger. The game is set to be paced like a TV crime drama with cases
that can last up to an hour as players find clues and find out who is
lying. There will be bursts of action though, for example; chasing down subjects.
Rockstar say that they "are taking a risk with L.A. Noire" but
it’s hard to say that they haven’t done that before. Many questioned whether
a western game would work before Red Dead Redemption went on to win
many "game of the year awards" among other commendations. In the case of their latest risk-taking
adventure, Barrera says, "We’re definitely blurring the lines now. I
want this game to be the flashpoint where people start to think of games
and film as being on the same level as entertainment, because I’m
confident they already are.”
L.A. Noire is scheduled to released sometime in the second quarter of 2011.
Source: The Examiner