14 DAY TRIAL // L.A. Noire is nearing its release date next week, and, in order to really get the hype going, Rockstar Games, its publisher, and the LA Times newspaper have partnered up to bring a virtual map of the most important and outlandish crimes committed in the city of Angels during 1947.
L.A. Noire is set to depict the story of LAPD detective Cole Phelps, who ascends through the ranks of the police department by solving all sorts of cases set in Los Angeles.
The game, developed by Team Bondi and set to be published by Rockstar, has already detailed some of its cases, including the ones that are being offered as pre-order bonuses and downloadable content.
Now, in order to really give future players a taste of what crime in 1947's Los Angeles was actually like, the two aforementioned companies have partnered with the LA Times newspaper, in order to detail on the map of the city where some of the most important crimes took place.
"In the creation of L.A. Noire, Team Bondi exhaustively researched Los Angeles newspapers of the day, including archives of every single daily L.A. Times from January 1st through December 31st 1947. The team pored over countless true crime reports in those papers, finding kernels of inspiration along the way that led to all the fictionalized cases you’ll work in the game as Detective Cole Phelps."
In the interactive crime map, you'll get to check out a variety of outlandish crimes committed in the city, including:
- 72-year-old oil man, E.J. Miley, who picked up three hitchhiking youths as he left on a drive from LA up to Fresno. The trio were petty thugs who thought they had an easy mark on their hands… - A pair of weightlifting rivals in Pacific Palisades who agreed to head to the gym to “settle the question of superiority”, but it winds up being far from a fair lift-off… - A horrible account of a young, disturbed returning veteran who, with no warning or apparent cause, murdered his bride and himself at his in-laws house one evening… - Acrobat burglars who broke into a market by ripping off a skylight, chopped a hole in the ceiling, and slid down a pole to make off with $2500 in cash (yes, that was a LOT back then) along with several hundred pounds of meat – but not before stopping to apparently chug several quarts of milk.
You can check out the interactive crime map at this address.