What do you want from a sequel?

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/take-two-has-extensive-pipeline-of-un announced-titles-in-development/1100-6404968/

Well there is news like this. Granted, that was in March, but it does seem like Rockstar intend on moving forward with a sequel. And apparently Rockstar retained the L.A. Noire intellectual property after Team Bondi's acquisition by KMM. So I remain hopeful.

After watching Zodiac for the umpteenth time recently, I was thinking along those same lines. I could definitely see an LA Noire type game taking place in the early to mid 60s, taking cues from sources like Dirty Harry, Bullitt, the French Connection and even more contemporary period sources like Mad Men and the aforementioned Zodiac.

Personally, if they did so, I think San Fran would be the perfect setting. Its cold, wet and gloomy, a great backdrop for a noir story. I'd have the player play the role of a Private Investigator instead of a cop however- procedure, protocol and red tape just gets in the way of good hardboiled detectiving IMO. What if instead of truth, doubt, lie you had trust, coerce and force? As a PI the player-character would be forced to rely more on his wits and toughness than the authority from his badge, meaning getting information would require a bit more 'motivation' than simply threatening the guy with an arrest. Instead, 'force' would have you slug the uncooperative hump, or give the dame a shake if she's holding out on you. 'Coerce' might be something like offering a payoff or threatening to snitch the informant to the cops on something.

I'd add more side content as well. As great as the city of Los Angeles was in LA Noire, it was pretty much devoid of anything to do except case work and the occasional street crime. My game would have 'open cases'; as a PI you'd probably have a drawer full of cases yet unresolved- missing persons, blackmails, surveillance jobs, stolen goods, insurance scams. These could be done at your leisure, and would offer cash rewards in games, enabling you to participate in social activities like dinners and dates, movies, drinking or even purchasing new clothes, autos, guns, booze, whatever. I'd also have a social aspect where you meet informants and create a kind of clandestine information network. This network would work similar to the way intuition worked in the original game, except instead of just a thing you select out of a notepad, you'd actually have to go meet an informant who'd have some special dope for you that could really make or break the case. As your network increases, the more opportunities to get these tidbits of info you'd get for each case.

Ultimately I'd want my LA Noire sequel to be less Dragnet and more Maltese Falcon. Less procedural, more hardboiled. True Noir.



--This is me now!--