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Overview

L.A. Noire is an action-adventure game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. It was released for PS3 and Xbox 360 in May, 2011 after being in development for over 6 years.

The game centers on the character of Cole Phelps as he rises through the ranks of the LAPD, solving cases and arresting criminals. The game is set in an open world 1950s Los Angeles and features motion scan technology that allows for advanced facial expressions.

Development

Announcement and Release

L.A. Noire was officially announced on September 25, 2006 by a short teaser trailer and an announcement that Rockstar would be teaming up with Team Bondi to release it. The game was originally announced as a PS3 exclusive and a second trailer for the game was released on October 5, 2006.

Early Teaser Image

The game then proceeded to disappear, existing only during shareholder announcements by Take-Two, who continued to state that the game was still in development despite the fact that barely anything about the game had been revealed in nearly 4 years. The silence was finally broken by the March 2010 issue of Game Informer, which revealed that the game still existed and that it would be coming to both Xbox 360 and PS3 late 2010. The game was delayed and on November 11, 2010, a new trailer revealed cinematics, but no actual gameplay. A second trailer revealed that the game would be released on May 17, 2011 in the United States, while Rockstar Games' official website, announced Europe's release date to be May 20, 2011.

Attention to Detail

Team Bondi set out to develop a fully realized 1950s Los Angeles. Team Bondi used over 140 000 photos from the era to recreate certain streets and most of the important landmarks from the Chinese Theater to the Hollywood Land sign. The clothes are all era specific as well as the slang used by certain characters. In order to correctly model the clothes, clothing from the sets of King Kong and Saving Private Ryan were loaned to Team Bondi. Furthermore, the radio that plays during the game features songs from the era as well as ads that were played in the 50s. Furthermore, the cars in the game are all from the era and were modelled in game thanks to Jay Leno, who let Team Bondi into his private car collection.

The cases that Cole solves throughout the game are all based on real cases that happened during the 1950s around Los Angeles. The game even provides resolutions to previously unsolved cases such as the Deliah murders.

Motion Scan

Motion Scan

Team Bondi began to conduct research on motion scan technology 5 years before the game's release (which may explain why L.A. Noire was constantly delayed). The technology is said to let players see animations that traditional animation is unable to render. Motion scan focuses on rendering an extremely realistic face where cheekbones move as a character speak and eyes focus on points in the environment. Scenes were shot in two parts: first with motion capture, in order to render the body movements, and then with motion scan to render the dialogues (which was handled by sister company Depth Analysis). Shooting of the motion scan scenes was done in the "depth analysis room" where actors would where actors would wear make up in order to look like their 1940s character and recite their lines in front of cameras that were filming the front, the back and the top of their heads.

L.A. Noire uses motion scan during the game's lengthy interrogation sequences where players must determine if a suspect is lying or not.

The interrogation scenes as well as the detective scenes were handled by Team Bondi while Rockstar developed the shooting sequences.

Working Conditions at Team Bondi

In June 2011, several employees began speaking out about the allegedly horrible working conditions at Team Bondi, largely due to Brendan McNamara's poor management skills. According to the employees, they were forced to work overtime with no additional pay, and they were lied to about release dates in order to keep them working overtime. In addition, one source described McNamara as "the angriest person" he's ever met.

Furthermore, one source explained that management made excuses for creating new positions for the purpose of hiring new employees for less money. On paper the new positions were of less importance, but in reality they were essentially identical to the ones they supposedly fell under. The result was new hires doing the same job as those in higher positions but for less pay.

One source even offered an explanation as to why some critics described the game environment as "boring". According to this source, only one animator worked on gameplay during large parts of production, and Team Bondi literally had no one in their Lead Animator position from January 2008 all the way through until the final release date.

Gameplay

The gameplay is more or less described as an adventure game, rather than the usual Rockstar experience of go-kill-stuff in an open world. In this sense, it's more like Bully- still free roaming but with a stronger set of rules over the player. While searching for clues and interrogating, the occasional gunplay is thrown in. Unlike most games, the player's health is not displayed by an HUD. Instead, when the player takes damage, the game screen fades into a black and white tone. The player recovers health by taking cover.

The first mission revealed to the press was called "The Driver's Seat". It involved the police finding an abandoned car that had its interior covered in blood. In order to carry out the investigation, the player must find clues. Unlike other games, clues don't just pop up, but it is up to the player to search for them. Different people can find different clues, a detail that changes the way the investigation plays out. This will also affect the length of certain investigations.

Discovering clues is an important gameplay element in L.A. Noire

Like your cellphone in GTA 4, the player always carries around a little notebook. Each clue, testimony and anything related to the investigation is added to the detective's little book. It will also serve as a way to display the current objectives and, like in Uncharted 2, players are able to flip through it in order to pull out viable information during testimonies, for example.

During cases the player will always start off at a crime scene. There, the player must find clues and interview victims. Most clues usually lead up to the next event in the case. Some clues can further progress the case's finish. One major clue can change the outcome of the case.

As the player progresses through the ranks, they earn "intuition points". With this they have the option to, remove an answer, show all clues, and "ask the community" (online connection required). The "show all clues" option usually can help by highlighting evidence at a crime scene. The "remove an answer" option removes wrong answers to give more chances at succeeding in interviewing a person.

Crime Desks

As the character progresses through the game, Phelps will be assigned to new desks and partners.

• Patrol: The Patrol desk is a department of the LAPD concerned with monitoring assigned areas in Los Angeles. Phelps starts off as a police officer in this department as a "beat cop". Phelps is partnered with Ralph Dunn at the Patrol Desk.
• Traffic: The Traffic desk is a department of the LAPD concerned with hit-and-run, felony driving, car burglaries, and car thefts. "The Fallen Idol" is one case that hits the traffic desk. This is also where Phelps is partnered with Stefan Bekowsky.
• Homicide: The homicide desk is one of the most brutal and harrowing desks within the game, dealing with homicide. "The Silk Stocking Murder" is one of the cases at the homicide desk. Rusty Galloway is Phelps' homicide partner.
• Vice: The Vice desk is a department of the LAPD concerned with offenses involving prostitution, drugs, lewdness, lasciviousness, and other related obscenities. Phelps is partnered with Roy Earle at the vice desk.
• Arson: The Arson desk is a department of the LAPD concerned with maliciously, voluntarily, and willfully setting fire to another's property, or of the act of burning one's own property for an improper purpose, such as to collect the insurance. Phelps is partnered with Herschell Biggs at the arson desk.

Story

Overview

In a departure from previous Rockstar games, the main protagonist of L.A. Noire is morally good. Cole Phelps is a good detective, out to solve crimes and let the law do what it does best -- prosecute the offenders. He's a complex character and a shady past haunts him through the events of the game, including but not limited to some unsavory business during World War II during the battle of Okinawa.

Cole doesn't start the game as a successful detective. His beginnings lie in the role of a street cop working the beat, interrogating everyday citizens and getting down in the nitty-gritty to solve crimes. The more he works, though, the better the desk is that he has back at Police HQ. With each promotion comes new responsibilities in new areas, such as traffic and homicide, working all the way up to arson. Each change in desks also introduces a new partner, some who are more trustworthy than others.

Setting

L.A. Noire is set in 1947 Los Angeles, with players facing an open-ended challenge to solve a series of murder mysteries based on actual crimes from that era.

As the title suggest, the game draws heavily from both plot and aesthetic elements of film noir - stylistic films from the 1940s and 1950s that shared similar visual styles and themes including crime, sex, and moral ambiguity, and were often shot in black and white with harsh, low-key lighting. The game uses a distinctive coloring-style that pays homage to the visual style of film noir. A post-war setting is the backdrop for plot elements that reference the detective films of the '40s, such as political corruption and drugs, with a classic jazz soundtrack.

Ninety percent of Los Angeles' buildings and signage are recreated in the game, with design and typography choices hearkening back to the advertising of the time period. Additionally, even the jingles playing on the car radios are authentic to that time, advertising products and offering public service messages one would have heard while listening to the radio during the 40's.

Cases

Patrol Desk

Cole Phelps, before he becomes a detective.

Cole Phelps starts out as a beat cop, working the streets after being awarded the Silver Star during the second World War. This part of the game serves as a tutorial, teaching players about the game's different mechanics.

Buyer Beware

A shooting happens in broad daylight in front of a shoe store, and Phelps takes the Case. The victim is Everett Gage, the owner of the shoe shop. After interrogating one of the clerks, Clovis Galletta, it is revealed that a man by the name of Edgar Kalou may be behind it. After a short chase sequence, Phelps catches Kalou and proceeds to interrogate him. It is revealed that Galletta was about to buy something at Kalou's jewelry store before Gage sent her back to work. That Gage had just ruined his sale paired with Gage's reputation for being anti-jewish, Kalou murdered him in cold blood. It is implied that Kalou is sentenced to the gas chamber.

Impressed by Cole's skills, James Donnelly, captain of the homicide division, promotes Phelps to the traffic division.

Traffic Desk

Promoted to Traffic, Phelps is paired with Stefan Bekowsky.

The Driver's Seat

The case begins with an abandoned, blood-filled vehicle found in a train yard. After some research, Phelps discovers that the car is owned by one Adrian Black. His research also yields a bloody pipe and a receipt for a live hog. Phelps and Bekowsky go and visit the owner's wife, Margaret Black. There the two officers discover that the couple have a miserable marriage and that Mr. Black is having an affair. It's also made clear at this point that the bloodied pipe actually came from the house. The two detectives then go to interrogate Frank Morgan, the man who sold the hog to Black. Here players learn that Adrian Black is not dead, but instead faked his own death by covering his car in swine blood with plans to flee town. Phelps catches Black before he can leave town, and jails him for wasting police resources.

Consul's Car (PS3 Exclusive)

Phelps and Bekowsky must investigate on the disappearance of L.A.'s consul of Argentina's car.

A Marriage Made in Heaven

A hit and run is reported at Ray's Cafe. A married man, Jack Pattison, is found dead after being hit by a car. After snooping around, Phelps finds a an insurance letter inside the man's coat and a bloodied knife in a garbage can. He also learns that Jack and his wife, Lorna, were having an argument just before the accident. The detectives visit Lorna who seems unfazed with the news of her husband's death. Phelps eventually hunts down the driver who killed Jack who reveals that Jack was already dead before the car hit him. The morgue confirms that Jack's cause of death was from knife wounds. Phelps goes back to the Pattison residence and deduces that Lorna killed her husband with another man, Leroy Sabo, so the two could get the insurance and start a joint business venture. Sabo kills Lorna after she spills the beans, but is either arrested or killed by Phelps.

A Slip of the Tongue (DLC)

One of the pre-order DLC cases (also available for separate purchase)

A stolen car is spotted and Phelps and Bekowsky are sent to intercept it. After a short car chase, the detectives manage to stop the car, owned by a young man named Cliff Harrison. He assures the police that he legally bought the car at a used car dealership and produces the pink slip to prove it, but fled because of drugs stored in the glove compartment. Phelps investigates the used car dealership where he finds out that the car was sold by a woman named Jean Archer, and that the pink slips were made by the Marquee Printing Company. The car sold by Jean was also registered to an empty lot. A man named Belasco is arrested for grand theft auto and it becomes clear that he and Jean belong to the same car smuggling ring. Phelps later finds and arrests Jean who was trying to scam the smuggling ring by selling the cars. She tells the detectives where the cars are stored and after a shoot out, they find and interrogate the chief of the warehouse who reveals that Marquee Printing Company is behind the smuggling ring. Due to the fact that the company's boss, Levitol, is neck deep in gambling debts, he started to sell pink slips to the mafia for profit. He is later arrested for fraud.

The Fallen Idol

The case opens with a car being driven over a cliff. The two passengers, B-movie actress June Ballard and 15 year old Jessica Hamilton, survive the crash. June tells the detectives she thinks that movie producer Mark Bishop is behind the murder attempt since he didn't want to cast her in his new movie. Jessica also points at Bishop as the culprit, but she adds an accusation of rape to June's attempted murder allegation. Phelps goes to the Hamilton residence only to find it ransacked, the wife explaining that she does not know the whereabouts of her husband. The detectives go to prop set where they discover that Bishop is running an underground pornographic network. Before they can learn more, Roy Earle from Ad Vice intervenes, saying that the owner of the prop shop is in fact an informant. Phelps isn't the only one looking for Bishop, but so is the local mafia. Bishop is finally found on the set for a movie titled "Intolerance" and after a shoot out with the mob, he's arrested for rape.

Due to Phelps' successes, he is promoted to homicide.

Homicide Desk

A grisly murder scene.

The cases on the homicide desk share the same theme, centering around a single serial killer who focuses on drunk women. In the process of murdering his victims, the killer also strips them of their clothes and leaves weird writings on their bodies. Nicknamed the "Werewolf", this killer is based on a real life serial killer who terrorized L.A. in the late 40's. He was also commonly referred to as the Dahlia killer.

Phelps investigates the murder of 4 women during the cases "The Red Lipstick Murder", "The Golden Butterfly", "The Silk Stocking Murder", "The White Shoe Slaying" and "The Studio Secretary Murder". Each time the victims are women who were having conflictual relationships with their husbands, and were murdered late at night while drunk. Because the murder weapon is always found, Phelps always convicts someone. He is pushed by Donnelly to convict communists and child molesters to grab headlines, while the evidence usually points more towards the husbands of the victims. It is worth noting that enough evidence exists for a conviction to go either way.

The murder mystery ends with the case called "The Quarter Moon Murders". The killer, to show his power and cunning, as well as test both the mental and physical skills of Detective Phelps, leads him through L.A. with poems and personal items that belong to each of his victims. He leaves these things in dangerous, difficult to reach places in famous Los Angeles landmarks, such as the Hall of records and the Westlake Tar Pits. The case ends in the Christ Crown of Thorns church, where it's revealed that a bartender, who worked at different jobs through a temp agency and had been interviewed briefly by Phelps earlier in the investigation, is in fact the murderer. He studied each of the victims before murdering them, a process that allowed him to pin the crime on someone else. The killer is shot dead by Phelps but Donnelly arrives and tells Phelps that the public can not know who the real killer was as the killer was the son of an important politician running for election.

At the personal request of vice detective Roy Earle, Phelps is moved off the homicide desk to administrative vice where he becomes Earle's partner.

Vice Cases

Another investigation.

The Black Caesar

Two junkies are found dead after taking army surplus morphine. Phelps tracks the morphine back to its supplier, a popcorn stand supplied by a talent agency. The talent agency does business with an illegal booking agency and it's revealed that the morphine is transported by Polar Bear Ice Company. The ice company in turn is just a front for the local mob, and is run by Mickey Coen's brother in law, Finkelstein. Phelps kills all the mobsters and apparently stops the morphine from being sold on the street.

The Set-Up

Boxer Albert Hammond wins a match that he was originally supposed to lose. He quickly takes flight after, and Phelps must try to find him before the mob guns him down. Phelps visits Candy Edwards, Hammond's beau, and suspecting her of some kind of illegal activity, decides to follow her. It's revealed that Candy visits all the bookies in town and cleans them up. She is the one who planned on Hammond throwing the match, and bet the other way. Her plans to turn Hammond over to the mob are thwarted when Hammond eventually murders her. Understanding why Hammond refused to lose his dignity in a fixed match, Phelps lets him go.

The Naked City (DLC)

Phelps and Earle must investigate the death of Julia Randall, a beautiful model who appears to have overdosed on morphine. However, the bruises all over her body lend a suspicion of murder, and despite being single she wears a suspicious looking ring on her hand. After learning that Randall was on medication, Phelps and Earle pay a visit to her physician, a Dr. Stoneman who at first lies about her prescription, then reveals that Julia was one of the self-destructive types who tried to live life fast and make a name for herself in the City of Angels. The detectives then visit a tailor where Julia did modeling. Heather Swanson, one of the employees at the shop reveals that Julia was modeling for her fiancee, Henry Arnett. After interrogating Henry, it's revealed that Julia was both having an affair with Henry, and she was murdered. Phelps decides to tail Henry and finds out that he's trying to pawn contraband and leave for New Mexico. The contraband used to belong to Mrs Evestrom, who is also Heather Swanson's mother. Her things were robbed from her home while she was at Dr Stoneman's party. Phelps senses that something is wrong and goes to Arnett's apartment just in time to see a man who goes by "Willy" first beat up Arnett and then escape. Arnett spills the beans, explaining that he, Julia, Stoneman and Willy were all part of a robbery ring. The doctor would organize parties while the 3 others would rob the guests' homes. However, Julia wanted out, leading Arnett and Willy to murdering her, and Willy beating up Arnett in fear that he would give him up. Arnett is arrested, Stoneman commits suicide and Willy is killed by Phelps.

Trailer via Giantbomb

Manifest Destiny

A shooting occurs in the 111 Club. Here it is revealed that the morphine is still in circulation and has started a gang war. It's discovered that the morphine was in fact stolen from the army by a soldier named Courtney Sheldon. His motive was to help soldiers deserved to let loose with the help of the drugs. However, he wound up involved with crime boss Mickey Cohen and dragged his entire squad into the affair. Phelp's former squad mates begin getting killed off by mobsters. As Phelps looks for a way to stop the gang war, he cheats on his wife with German singer Elsa Lichtman. Roy is revealed to be working for seedy government officials, while Phelps is incriminated for adultery.

Phelps is kicked out of his home and demoted to the position of arson investigator as he awaits a trial.

Arson Desk

The Gas Man

Phelps and Biggs

Phelps investigates the burning of two houses. He learns that both houses were in the way of a redevelopment fund planning to build houses for GIs. Both houses also used the same gas filters that came from Instaheat factory. While investigating at the factory, Phelps learns that Instaheat is hiring criminals and that one of the employees burned the houses by reversing the gas filters and mosquito coils. Phelps arrests Walter Clemens and Matthew Ryan. Both are anarchists and both have a criminal past. The player must choose which of the two criminals that he wants to convict.

Nicholson Electroplating (DLC)

At 9:45 in the morning, a thunderous explosion rocks Los Angeles. City blocks are flattened while smoke and ash fill the air. Detectives Phelps and Biggs race to the site of the former Nicholson Electroplating plant to find a pile of unanswered questions. What caused the explosion? What was the current project being worked on by Nicholson's employees? And where are chief chemist Dr Harold McLellan and his mysterious female assistant?

A Walk in Elysian Fields

Another house fire is assigned to Phelps and looks extremely familiar to the last two arsons. Like before, the house was supposed to be bought by Elysian Fields for the redevelopment fund. Phelps decides to go and investigate Elysian Fields and meets Leland Monroe, the CEO. He denies trying to chase away the final home owners by burning their houses. Meanwhile, the police department presses Cole to stop following the Elysian lead. Cole ends up killing the arsonist after an epic tram chase. However, he is unable to link the arsonist to Elysian.

After the case, Roy visits Phelps to tell him to stay away from Elysian. Frustrated, Phelps discovers that one of Elsa's friends died while working for Elysian on the GI redevelopment fund. Because Elsa was his beneficiary, she received a large sum of money from the insurance company. Phelps decides that Elsa should go see Jack Kelso, a private investigator working for an insurance company called California Life and Fire to discover how her friend died, and why such a big sum of money was offered to her. At this point, the player plays as Kelso.

House of Sticks

Jack makes an investigation into the houses built by the redevelopment fund and discovers that they are constructed from bad wood found in an abandoned movie studio. Jack also discovers that many of L.A.'s top men are involved, including the mayor, Kelso's boss Curtis Benson, the chief of police, and Dr. Harlan Fontaine. As he is investigating however, Jack is kidnapped by Benson's men but he manages to escape before they can execute him.

A Polite Invitation

Jack Kelso

Jack pays a visit to Benson and discovers the conspiracy behind the redevelopment fund. The houses are being built out of crap wood so they can then be burned down. Thanks to an extremely high insurance rate, Elysian Fields hits the jackpot each and every time. They hand the money out to their stock owners, who just happen to be the mayor, Benson and the other top men. The redevelopment fund was financed thanks to the stolen morphine given to Dr. Fontaine by Courtney, who entrusted him with it to avoid trouble with the mob. Kelso enlists the help of Phelps and together, they plan to stop the dastardly plan and save Elsa, who's been kidnapped by Elysian's arsonist. The arsonist also also kills Dr. Fontaine.

A Different Kind of War

Jack attempts to find the person who kidnapped Elsa. He goes to Westlake Pest Control to find the address of the kidnapper. The story then switches to Phelps' investigation on the kidnapping of Elsa, which is the day before Jack's investigation. During the investigation Phelps finds out that the houses are being built along the to-be-built freeway. He then figures out that it's not about insurance; it's about eminent domain. The story then switches back to Jack, where he is at the kidnapper's house in Rancho Rincon. After investigating the house, Jack finds out it was Ira Hogeboom, a former war buddy. Jack then leads Phelps to a river while being chased by the police. Once at the river Jack and Cole go into the sewers to pursue Ira while the assistant DA negotiates with the chief of police. Once caught up with Ira, Jack realizes Ira is having a flashback from the Battle of Okinawa. Cole then comes and takes Elsa to safety and Jack shoots Ira dead. As the sewer begins to flood, Cole helps everyone escape but cannot help himself due to the rising waters. He realizes that death is upon him, and looks up to Jack and Elsa for a final goodbye before being hit by the flood.

At Cole's funeral, Roy makes a speech and pretends they were friends. Elsa is disgusted and leaves the ceremony while Biggs reminds Jack that he and Phelps were never friends. Jack adds that they were never enemies either, to which Biggs says he thinks he knew that Cole also knew that. It is also revealed during this final scene that the assistant DA is now working for the Chief of police, having accepted a previous deal.

An after credits scene shows Courtney plotting to steal the army surplus morphine on the ship back from Okinawa, in order to try and make him and his fellow G.Is rich, and to "give them the future they deserve"; or rather, the future that he feels they deserve.

Street Crimes - Unassigned Cases

Along with the Crime Desks that are explained above, players have the option to respond to radio calls that allow them to go to crimes in progress throughout the open-world environment. Some may remember this mechanic from the True Crime series. This allows players to take on extra side missions that can be completed while they are also heavily involved in the story. Each case is usually resolved within about 5 minutes and vary from shoot outs to chase sequences.

Unlike the story cases, players are not graded according to performance, but just have to finish the case to gain 15 XP. All the cases can be done again in free roam and the different desk assignments have different cases. There are 40 unassigned cases in all. Cases can be replayed at any point and will remain on the map with a white street crime icon; but unplayed cases appear with a red icon. After completing all street crime cases on a desk while in Free Roam mode, a message will appear saying the desk is complete.

Collectibles

Like Grand Theft Auto's hidden packages, L.A. Noire also has collectibles. There are 4 categories of collectibles: gold film canisters, landmarks, newspapers, and police badges, which is a Gamestop pre-order bonus.

Newspapers:

Newspapers are a vital source of information in Los Angeles in the era when L.A. Noire takes place.

Newspapers give the player access to side missions, ambient events, and will report on gameplay events associated with player choices. Newspapers will also give the player a cutscene. There are 13 newspapers to collect in the game.

Police Badges:

Police badges are exclusives to the Badge Pursuit Challenge, which was pre-order bonus at Gamestop/Game, but has since become DLC as well.

Police Badges are hidden around L.A. Noire's beautiful recreation of 1947 Los Angeles. There are 20 police badges to find and collect. Finding all 20 badges will reward the player with the dapper Button Man suit which provides extra ammo for all weapons. Each badge also provides 5 additional XP, which will help further unlock intuition points.

Landmarks:

Landmarks are special types of locations in L.A. Noire. There are 30 landmarks to discover in the game. Finding landmarks grant players an intuition point per landmark. Finding all 30 landmarks earns the Star Map achievement/trophy.

Gold Film Canisters:

Gold film canisters are collectible items in L.A. Noire. There are 50 canisters scattered around Los Angeles, all of them with names of films from the 40s and 50s. Finding all of them reward with the Hollywoodland achievement/trophy.

Weapons

There are a total of nine weapons available to players. Using all nine weapons (excluding pre-order exclusive weapons) while killing bad guys, at least one guy per weapon, rewards with the Roscoe and Friends achievement/trophy.

Weapon	Description
Colt M19171	The Colt M19171 is the first weapon used by Phelps as an LAPD patrol officer. Use it on the Patrol case, Armed and Dangerous. In order to use this weapon, the player must drop the shotgun they take before entering the bank. The thugs here seem to also use M1917 revolvers, though with 'snub-nose' barrels instead of the version Cole Phelps uses.	Colt M19171
Star Model P	The Star Model P is the standard pistol Phelps uses as a detective.	Star Model P
Ithaca 37 (Shotgun)	The Ithaca 37 is the standard shotgun for LAPD officers. It is always accessed by opening the trunk, although times that players can open the trunk of the patrol car are restricted. Typically the trunk can only be opened during a hostile situation where shots have already been fired. The shotgun is the only weapon in the vehicle trunk unless the player downloads the Chicago Piano, which is free.	Ithaca 37 (Shotgun)
M1 Garand	The M1 Garand is a rifle used primarily in the army. It can be found in the street crime, "Death From Above" or in the Arson case, "A Different Kind of War". It is accurate, powerful, and probably the best choice for quick progression through the mission as it regularly kills with a single shot. Should it not, it is easy to follow up with a second shot, though a third shot is rarely, if ever, necessary. It has a clip capacity of eight rounds.	M1 Garand
M1A1 Thompson	The M1A1 Thompson is a machine gun used primarily in the army. It is the most common sub-machine gun used by criminals and is also known as the "Tommy Gun". While being known as the "Tommy Gun", the name is more commonly used to refer to the iconic M1 Thompson with a Round Drum, made famous by mafia films.	M1A1 Thompson
Colt .45	The Colt .45 is Jack Kelso's primary pistol. Use it in any case where the player gets to take control of Kelso.	Colt .45
M1 Thompson	The M1 Thompson is basically the M1A1 Thompson with a round drum. It can be found in the Vice case, Manifest Destiny.	M1 Thompson with barrel
Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR)	The Browning Automatic Rifle can be found in the Arson case, "A Different Kind of War" and in the street crime "Army Surplus". It can be found during the "Cafe Holdup" street crime, but cannot be used there. In this street crime it is depicted as being incredibly powerful, killing Cole in a second when exposed. This is to stop players simply shooting the target from the ground - in other cases, the gun is not as absurdly powerful. It boasts a 20-round magazine capacity.	Browning Automatic Rifle
Flamethrower	The flamethrower can only be found and used in the Arson case, A Different Kind of War. Used by Jack Kelso, should the player choose the weapon. It is often the final weapon players need to use in order to attain the 'Roscoe and Friends' achievement, for killing an enemy with every weapon in the game. Ira Hogeboom also makes use of the M2 Flamethrower, to deadly effect.	Flamethrower
Chicago Piano Gun	The Chicago Piano is a pre-order exclusive from HMV and Gamestop's PowerUp Rewards members. Visually, it shares a lot of similarities to the M1 Thompson, though is incorrectly depicted as having a magazine capacity of 100 rounds, despite using a 50-round drum. The Chicago Piano is available on both the PlayStation Store and the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for free, after Rockstar chose to release the weapon. It will be in the trunk of your patrol car, ready to be accessed when needed. It is generally much more useful than the Ithaca 37 due to its longer range of effectiveness.	Chicago Piano Gun
Nickel Plated Pistol	The Nickel Plated Pistol is a pre-order exclusive from Best Buy / Zavvi, and visibly appears to be a Colt M1911 or another derivative of it. It becomes Cole's standard weapon when wearing the downloadable suit 'The Broderick'.	Nickel Plated Pistol

Downloadable Content

L.A. Noire has a variety of DLC for purchase, from new cases, to alternate weapons & outfits.

Released May 31, 2011

• The Naked City (Vice case)
• Slip of The Tongue (Traffic case)
• Broderick Detective Suit
• Sharpshooter Detective Suit & Gun
• Chicago Piano Machine Gun
• The Badge Pursuit Challenge

Released June 21, 2011

• Nicholson Electroplating Disaster (Arson case)

Released July 12, 2011

• Reefer Madness (Vice case)

"L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass"

Rockstar is offering the "L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass," which allows players to buy all the DLC at once for a discounted price. If players purchased the pass by June 21st, the price was $10. After that, the Pass went up to $12, which is still less expensive than buying all the DLC individually.

Pre-Order Bonuses

Certain major retailers offered different preorder bonuses. All of these items later became available to purchase as DLC:

Retailers	Pre-Order Bonuses
Walmart (US)/Play.com (UK)	The Traffic desk case "A Slip of the Tongue" Downloadable Soundtrack	A Slip Of The Tongue Case
Amazon	The Broderick suit, which boosts your resistance to damage and the damage you cause during fist fights.	The Broderick Detective Suit
GameStop/EB Games/Game (UK)	The Vice case "The Naked City" The "Badge Pursuit Challenge": the player must find 20 police badges around town. Each badge awards XP, finding all badges unlocks the "Button Man" suit, which provides extra ammo for weapons.	The Naked City Case
Best Buy/Zavvi (UK)	Pre-ordering from Zavvi or Best Buy results in receiving the Sharpshooter Detective Suit. The pack also includes the nickel-plated pistol, which will temporarily replace Cole's pistol until you select a different suit.	The Sharpshooter Detective Suit
Rockstar Warehouse	L.A. Noire T-Shirt	L.A. Noire t-shirt

L.A. Noire Official Soundtracks

The L.A. Noire soundtrack is full of 40's jazz and blues music. The official soundtrack was released on May 17, 2011.

Recorded at Abbey Road by composer Andrew Hale, the soundtrack includes "modern takes on the classic torch songs of the period," as said by Rockstar's announcement of the soundtrack. Throughout the game itself, music helps notify players that clues are around; as they explore, players will hear more than 32 classic jazz tracks from musicians such as Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Thelonious Monk.

L.A. Noire: Remixed

L.A. Noire: Remixed is a remixed EP of six jazz standards reinterpreted by modern DJs, producers and remixers.

PC Version

L.A. Noire's PC version, titled L.A. Noire The Complete Edition, was released on November 8th and contains all the DLC released for the console version up to that point.

System Requirements

• OS: Windows 7 / Windows Vista Service Pack 1 / Windows XP Service Pack 3
• Intel CPUs: Core 2.2 GHz to Quad Core 3.2GHz
• AMD CPUs: Dual Core 2.4Ghz to Quad Core 3.2Ghz
• RAM: 2GB to 8GB
• Hard Disk Space: 16GB
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 512MB to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1536MB or Radeon HD3000 512MB to Radeon HD 6850 1024MB
• Sound: 100% DirectX 9 Compatible

Addition Requirements

• Initial activation requires internet connection and Rockstar Social Club (13+ to register); software installation required including GameShield IronWrap & Patcher; DirectX, and Microsoft's Windows .NET Framework, and Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86).