L.A. Noire Countdown: Investigating The Road To L.A. Noire: Week 6

Posted on 9 May, 2011 by exterminat

L.A. Noire Countdown

Investigating The Road to L.A. Noire: Week #6

by exterminat

©2011 Nicholas Laborde

L.A. Noire is less than two weeks away and anticipations are running high.

While the game doesn’t have the vast hype it most certainly deserves, it has shown evidence that it may be one of the most innovative current generation titles.

Alas, release is so close, but yet feels so far. So for now, let’s delve into yet another week of interesting noir/crime-related finds!

This time… an actual game series.

The name? Payne, Max Payne.

[Ed: Make sure you check The Collected Stories from L.A. Noire at the end of article. There's a FULL downloadable PDF version of the e-book, What's In A Name, down there for all our readers to enjoy. No spoilers are in the e-books]

Max Payne

(The game; let’s just forget about the movie…)

Max Payne is one of those series that you always hear about, but probably didn’t play. (Ed: Well then they really missed out! Loved them!)

This is most likely due to the fact that it was never really mainstream despite its publisher being Rockstar, and at the time it came out, it didn’t appeal much to those non-linear GTA fans.

Now, that’s not to say the game wasn’t a success. The flavor of the month amongst Louisiana gamers (such as myself) isn’t exactly reflective of the entire world’s demographic.

Max Payne is an exaggerated crime drama that uses typical characterizations and plot lines combined with a man’s tragic past (his family being murdered) to drive its main character, Max Payne, to a state of desperation, with his ultimate goal being revenge.

Payne is framed for a crime he has not committed and loses his badge as a result. Now, Payne is going above the law, killing people and actually solving things.

The story is told in a monologue fashion, primarily through comic book-esque cinematics. Writing is absolutely top-notch, and has some of the most memorable, quotable dialogue you’ll ever run across in a game.

Much of the story is told at night and during the worst, coldest blizzard you could ever imagine. Nearly all of the locations are run down, and are almost from a completely different time period.

The first title is hailed as a masterpiece of noir proportions, and the second game was almost as good. Max Payne 2 is a tragic love story between Max and an attractive femme fatale with a bone to grind from her past.

It was a classic case of the original being good with one flaw, and the sequel making up for said flaw but not continuing what made the first so great. Regardless, both titles are respective masterpieces and we all anticipate Max Payne 3 (if Rockstar actually starts talking more about it…).

• Max Payne & L.A. Noire Screenshots slideshow

100+ new LA Noire shots

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So – what’s in a name?

Something that always struck me as insanely creative is the title itself, L.A. Noire.

It can be analyzed many different ways. Simply as the title is, it could be “la noire”, the French feminine form of saying “the night”, “the darkness” or even quite literally, “the black.”

But if we look at the title in its entirety, Los Angeles Noire, it could be “Los Angeles night” or even so far as to mean “the angels night” or “the black angels.” The former is what I would like to hope to be true, but it mixes two different languages and doesn’t make sense in a grammatical way.

We have just under two weeks until the game releases and blows the world away.

If I’m enjoying the literal title, the full title should be awesome. (Bah dum tish!)

• L.A. Noire: The Storyline

The Angels’ Night

[Ed.: Fun quote in-keep with this section, from the first Max Payne. "I don't know about angels, but fear is what gives men wings."]

Team Bondi truly are crafting an epic that will go down in history as a breath of fresh air.

With one final week of anticipation to go, we will end on a note of epic proportions in the next and last installment.

You may want to brush up on your Frank Miller. Hint hint!

L.A. Noire The Collected Stories beginning to be released -

Click image to download your FULL copy NOW!

• Download your FULL copy now

What’s In A Name

by Jonathan Santlofer:

On the heels of this past Tuesday’s announcement about L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories, a series of original short fiction inspired by the game itself, today we present for your reading pleasure the first full story release from that collection – as we introduce you to John… or is it Jon… or maybe it’s James…

A story of a sociopath with high hopes, and a curious knowledge of the Los Angeles underworld. And of a young LAPD detective working to crack the latest murder case to terrify the city.

Written by award-winning writer, Jonathan Santlofer‘s “What’s in a Name” is available now by clicking the book-cover on your right just here, or by heading to www.rockstargames.com/lanoire/stories

Make sure you stay well and truly tuned for more releases from the series over the coming weeks to and through the launch of L.A. Noire. And look for the full set of stories to be made available for download as an e-book on June 6th.

Click to download 'excert' from The Girl

The Girl

by Meagan Abbott:-

by Megan Abbott, whose work has often dealt with real-life noir stories, lures the reader — and L.A. Noire character erstwhile actress June Ballard — into the depraved goings-on at an infamous Hollywood party.

To grab an excert from the e-book now, do so by simply clicking the book cover to your right. or this link.