I’ve Waited 16 Years for a Sequel to This Underrated Crime Game

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Many fantastic games could benefit from sequels or even updated versions. Unfortunately, various factors often prevent those follow-ups from happening. Sometimes a game doesn’t sell well enough, and other times, even decent sales aren’t enough to satisfy publishers. These situations are often complex and disappointing, something gamers have come to expect. Despite this, I’m still hoping we’ll eventually see a continuation of LA Noire in some form.

You’ve probably heard of LA Noire, even if you haven’t played it. Developed by Team Bondi and released by Rockstar Games in 2011, it took almost ten years to create – a lengthy process that wasn’t common at the time. The game puts you in the shoes of Cole Phelps, a police officer climbing the ranks in 1940s Los Angeles, starting as a patrolman and eventually becoming a homicide detective. It was a unique experience, striving to fully immerse players in a detailed and realistic, yet surprisingly dark, depiction of old Hollywood through intricate police work.

Despite positive reviews and respectable sales, LA Noire never received a sequel, even though Take-Two and Rockstar initially suggested they were open to continuing the series – even after the original development team, Team Bondi, closed. Six years later, Rockstar did release remastered versions of LA Noire for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PS4, and also a separate VR version. This seemed like a way to gauge interest in more LA Noire games, but ultimately, nothing came of it. I believe the lack of a sequel is a prime example of wasted potential in the gaming world.

Why LA Noire Would Work Better Now Than It Did in 2011

LA Noire was a remarkably innovative game for its time. Released as the gaming industry began experimenting with performance capture, it pushed the boundaries of what was possible. A core part of the gameplay involved interrogating people, where players had to carefully observe their facial expressions to detect lies. This level of detail was made possible by MotionScan, a unique technology created by Brendan McNamara, the founder of the development studio Team Bondi.

The actor would perform scenes with just their facial expressions while sitting perfectly still, facing numerous cameras. These details were then transferred onto the character in the game. For full-body movements, the actor would wear a motion capture suit and perform on a stage. Finally, the developers would combine the facial performance with the motion capture data to bring the character to life.

Rockstar wasn’t initially convinced Team Bondi’s new approach would succeed, preferring to stick with their usual methods. However, Team Bondi pushed forward, and the outcome was remarkably realistic. While actors occasionally overacted to ensure their expressions were visible in the game—leading to some funny and widely shared clips—it was a groundbreaking use of facial capture technology with a lot of promise.

Today, most video games routinely use facial capture technology. Actors wear small, GoPro-style cameras and have tracking markers on their faces to record their performances with incredible accuracy. This method is much more comfortable than older techniques, and the results are stunning—games like Death Stranding 2 showcase almost lifelike detail. Actors can fully focus on their performance and emotions without the extensive setup required when games like LA Noire were first made.

As a gamer, I keep thinking how perfect modern performance capture technology would be for a new LA Noire game. It’s wild that nobody’s really jumped on that yet! It would seriously take the already awesome storytelling to another level, and imagine how much better the interrogation gameplay could be – it’d be incredible.

What an LA Noire Sequel Could Look Like

What could a sequel to L.A. Noire actually be like? While Cole Phelps’s character can’t return – he dies at the end of the first game – the game’s appeal wasn’t solely about him. L.A. Noire is special because it lets you live out the detective fantasy in a detailed, immersive world. Rockstar, the game’s creator, would likely be smart to follow the Grand Theft Auto model: new characters, a new city, and a fresh story. Keeping the core gameplay style the same while changing the setting would allow a sequel to explore different historical crimes, police procedures, and much more by jumping between various time periods and locations.

Picture a game similar to San Francisco Noire, taking place in the 1960s with multiple cases to solve, but centered around the infamous Zodiac Killer. Rockstar Games often draws inspiration from movies, and a game based on David Fincher’s Zodiac could be fantastic. Alternatively, imagine NY Noire, a detective game set in New York City during the high-crime era of the 1970s and 80s.

Imagine a detective game set way back in the Prohibition era, perhaps in a city like Chicago. There’s a lot of potential for games similar to LA Noire, but I think the most important thing would be to keep the setting historical. While a modern setting isn’t bad, recreating a specific time period adds a lot more personality and realism – it feels like traveling back in time. Plus, modern technology like cell phones and surveillance systems would actually make a historical detective game more engaging.

It’s possible we’ll see something similar to this after GTA 6, but it doesn’t seem very probable. Rockstar’s future plans are hard to guess, but after so many years of making sequels, they’ll probably want to create a completely new game from the ground up.

It’s unlikely that the team behind the original L.A. Noire will make a sequel. Any new game in that style would probably need to be developed by a different studio, but it’s a big risk because these games are expensive to create. There was a cancelled Blade Runner game that might have been a good fit, but that project is over. While another high-budget detective game could happen someday, don’t expect to see one anytime soon.

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2025-11-11 20:20