It seems that Rockstar Games is going to have its hands full for the foreseeable future as it constantly dodges questions about a hugely anticipatedGrand Theft Auto 6and the future forRed Dead Redemption 3,which leaves a long-overdue sequel inL.A. Noire 2still stuck in the cold. For a series that performed admirably alongside its sibling franchises, it’s astonishing thatL.A. Noirehasn’t yet received a follow-up despite being ported to several platforms following its release, with sideline adaptations to VR.
Traditionally, talks of a sequel or successor toL.A. Noireoften get shot down in a less-than-hopeful manner, but it’s surprising that developers would disregard clear fan demand for a new entry in an iconic series. Though there could be a few hurdles to getting a second entry into the series, at a time whenGrand Theft Auto 6andRed Dead Redemption 3are both so far off on the horizon, it would be an exceptional opportunity forRockstar to revive the seriesand take advantage of the hole in the market.
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Behind The Scenes Of L.A. Noire
Unusually enough, thoughL.A. Noirecarries the Rockstar pedigree, it was actually developed originally by a studio called Team Bondi utilizing the game engine Rockstar had for its hitGrand Theft Autoseries. With Rockstar’s backing and the capacity to capitalize on proprietary motion capture technology MotionScan, the studio was able to lay the groundwork for a detective game where the player could feasiblyinterrogateL.A. Noire’s witnesses and suspects by reading facial expressionsand corroborating evidence. Even in spite of some hiccups this had along the way, such as infamous moments where protagonist Cole Phelps lurched into a sudden rage or some facial cues that aren’t as subtle as Team Bondi might have liked them to be, the game was very well-received with a host of award nominations following its release.
While it seemed likely initially that Team Bondi would again work with Rockstar to develop a sequel, hopes were dashed when Team Bondi declared bankruptcy and went into liquidation after accusations of a hostile workplace soiled its reputation. It was bought by Kennedy Miller Mitchell, which seemingly kept the flame alive forL.A. Noirein the form of a spiritual successor under the problematic nameWhore of the Orient. This too wound up getting canned by 2016. A studio of formerL.A. Noiredevelopers called Videogames Deluxe later worked onL.A. Noire: The VR Case Files. Ultimately, though many people involved inL.A. Noire’sfuture seem keen for the series to see a return, it still remains in a bizarre limbo where nobody’s yet ready to give up, but nobody’s prepared to be the first to pick up the torch and take the lead.
How To Bring Back L.A. Noire
A huge reason whyL.A. Noire’slegacy continues to live on despite not having any form of follow-up beyond 2017 is the self-contained narrative that is book-ended by its main character Phelps; the game follows his career from patrol officer to detective, finally resulting in his death by the game’s closing.L.A. Noireitself was very much focused on the time period it sought to emulate, taking inspiration from real-life cases for Phelps to solve, meaning a new game would need to find itself a new lead and a new set of historical cases to explore. Fortunately, America has a wealth of locations to choose from,shouldL.A. Noiredecide to venture further afieldand drop the L.A. from its name.
For instance, locations such as New York offer the right hotbed of urban populations and a significant amount of historic crime. Given that several years have since passed following the first game’s release, a direct sequel is probably out of the question, but if the developers had always planned for a spiritual successor regardless, then simply switching upthe game’s setting from Los Angelos to New Yorkor elsewhere could be just enough of a fresh start it needs.N.Y. Noirehas a promising ring to it, specially since New York has a wealth of strange and interesting crimes, ranging from the French Connection drug busts, the Wall Street Bombing in 1920, or the operations of the Mafia. Any of these could be easy beginnings of different story arcs and case files.
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L.A. Noire’s Future Is In Doubt
Though there is still sufficient fan following to drive momentum behind a newL.A. Noiregame or a spiritual successor, with Rockstar Games rightly focused on its biggest franchises at the moment,L.A. Noirehas fallen by the wayside. It sadly isn’t the only casualty of Rockstar’s lack of attention, as the likes ofMax PayneandBullyhave similarly been forgotten, and even though the former has been confirmed to have upcoming remakes in the works, new entries in its series are still nowhere to be seen. In light of this,L.A. Noireis less the exception and more just one part of the collateral damage as bothGrand Theft AutoandRed Dead Redemptioncontinue to soar.
There isa strong case forL.A. Noireto make a comebackhowever, so fans are still hopeful that Rockstar Games will remain true to its word that it has interest in the series, if not right now. However, as other games are seemingly meeting to fill the market gap, such as theMafiaseries going strong with rumors of a fourth entry in development, Rockstar will need to decide whether it will continue to hold water inL.A. Noire’spotential or if it will confirm the game’s official end soon in order to dedicate more time to its other ongoing series. Frankly, the ideal time to announce the development and release of a new sequel to this beloved detective noir thriller would be now while its other projects are all uncomfortably quiet.
L.A. Noireis available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
