Oct 9, 2007

We know what you're going to say. "I've not forgotten about Rockstar's Team Bondi-developed film noire detective adventure that was revealed in confusingly vague terms as long ago as October 2006, no doubt promising to surprise us with an unpredictable gameplay dynamic," before you frown and wonder, actually, what that unpredictable gameplay dynamic might be. Well, it turns out it might not be so unpredictable after all.

Because, in fact, LA Noire will be a free-roaming action game set in Los Angeles circa 1947. Sort of like, you might ask, a Grand Theft Auto game set in 1947? This isn't at all unlikely, while obviously involving the clear departure from GTA's criminal instincts by casting you on the other side of the thin blue line. Though your fedora-toting private dick probably isn't adverse to bending the law into the required shape.

But enough waffle, what about the facts? Here's a few titdbits revealed on an inexplicably in-the-loop blog called Surfer Girl Reviews Star Wars:

• It's a free-roaming, 1947-set, historically accurate game set in Los Angeles
• Developer Team Bondi has employed a costume designer for that accurate 40's look
• Side missions will follow actual cases pulled from the pages of 1947 newspapers
• One main character will be a US Marine
• and... Xbox 360 can't handle the sheer size of the game

We can't begin to credit the background or reliability of the SGRSW blog, but the info all seems right. However, with LA Noire delayed until 2009, we're guessing Rockstar won't be in a hurry to confirm the details any time soon.