Examiner
Rockstar Games has made a name for itself with open-world games such as the Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption. They are going in a new direction with L.A. Noire for the PS3 and Xbox 360 though with the player taking on the role of a cop in the Los Angeles of 1947. While the game is open-ended, Rockstar doesn't want to call it a sandbox game.
"Well, this isn’t really a sandbox game," Rockstar's Jeronimo Barrera tells The Telegraph. "You’re not going to go out and create your own gameplay. This is story-driven. The world is open for the player to explore and there are activities which may allow you to deviate from the straight and narrow – for example, on the way to a crime-scene you may get a call that a bank heist is in progress and you may want to head over there and stop it. You can explore the city and find LA landmarks and such.
"The city is a backdrop to the story and the crimes in the plot and the overall narrative arch, rather than a playground"
The main goal for Rockstar to achieve with L.A. Noire to connect the characters in the game with the player through the performances and get the players to do more than pull a trigger. Instead, the game is set to be paced like a TV crime drama with cases that can last up to an hour as players find clues and find out who is lying. There will be bursts of action though such as chasing down suspects.
Rockstar says they are taking a risk with L.A. Noire but it's hard to say they haven't done that before. Many questioned whether a western game would work before Red Dead Redemption went on to win many game of the year awards. In the case of their latest risk-taking adventure, Barrera says, "We’re definitely blurring the lines now. I want this game to be the flashpoint where people start to think of games and film as being on the same level as entertainment, because I’m confident they already are."
http://www.examiner.com/console-gaming-in-national/rockstar-l-a-noire-is-not-a-sandbox-game
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