L.A. Noire

L.A. Noire is a neo-noir detective action-adventure video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. It was initially released on May 17, 2011 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms; a port for Microsoft Windows was later released on November 8, 2011. Set in 1947 Los Angeles, L.A. Noire challenges the player, who controls an officer of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), to solve a series of cases across five divisions. Players must investigate crime scenes for clues, follow up on leads, and interrogate suspects. The player's success in these activities affects how much of the story of each case is revealed. The game borrows heavily from the plot and aesthetic elements of film noir - stylistic films popular in the 1940s and 1950s that featured similar visual styles and themes of crime and moral ambiguity - and draws inspiration for the in-game cases from real-life crimes published in the Los Angeles media in 1947. The game uses a distinctive color palette, but also offers the option to play the game in black and white as an homage to film noir. Various plot elements refer to the main themes of detective and gangster stories such as The Naked City, Chinatown, The Untouchables, The Black Dahlia and L.A. Confidential.