L.A. Noire

L.A. Noire is a neo-noir detective action-adventure game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. It launched on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 17 May 2011, with a Microsoft Windows version released on 8 November 2011. Set in Los Angeles in 1947, the game puts you in the role of a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer solving cases across five divisions. You investigate crime scenes for clues, follow leads, and interrogate suspects, and your performance affects how much of each case’s story is revealed. L.A. Noire draws heavily from the plot and visual style of film noir—stylized films popular in the 1940s and 1950s known for themes like crime and moral ambiguity—and also takes inspiration from real-life crimes reported by Los Angeles media in 1947. It uses a distinctive color palette, with an optional black-and-white mode as a homage to classic noir. Its story and themes reference detective and mobster works such as The Naked City, Chinatown, The Untouchables, The Black Dahlia, and L.A. Confidential.

Set during the post-war boom of Hollywood’s Golden Age, L.A. Noire casts you as Cole Phelps, an LAPD detective thrust into a city collapsing under its own success. Corruption runs deep, the drug trade is surging, and murders are at an all-time high. Determined to rise through the ranks and do the right thing, Phelps investigates a connected web of arson attacks, racketeering conspiracies, and brutal killings. To uncover the truth, he must confront the L.A. underworld—and even elements within his own department—while closing in on a secret that could shake the city to its rotten core.