Exploring the cars of LA Noire 05/24/2011
Video games can accomplish some amazing things nowadays, and car fans have experienced this firsthand, with titles like Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport approximating what it's like to drive hundreds of real-life cars. Yet while these games do a pretty good job of simulating modern vehicles, there isn't much chance to drive some of the true classics.
Enter L.A. Noire, a recent detective game made by Rockstar Games. Rockstar is somewhat infamous for publishing the Grand Theft Auto series, which typically features hundreds of cars that are designed to impersonate their real-life counterparts. That's not the case in L.A. Noire. Rather than create fake versions of real cars, the developers took the time to painstakingly recreate the cars that you would have actually seen on the streets in 1940's Los Angeles.
That means the fleet of vehicles - all of which can be driven by the main character - represent some of the coolest vintage cars around. All of the major American brands are represented faithfully here. After all, what's a gritty hard-boiled detective story without a few Cadillacs? You'll also see old versions of Lincoln Continentals, Ford Hot Rods, and Buick Centurys, along with many, many more. There are even some European models, like the Delage D8-120 S, along with defunct brands like the Hudson Super Six and Nash 600.
In total, there are nearly 100 different cars to drive in the game, and they all feel different. If you get inside an old Chevrolet 3100 pickup truck, for example, you're in for a much slower ride than if you manage to find a sleek Ford Coupe.
So how did the developers figure out how to model all these cars in the game? Simple. They asked Jay Leno. The late night talk show host is known for having one of the most extensive car collections in the world, and when it comes to cars from the 1930s and 1940s, there's really not too many other places to find all the cars in one place. Leno gave the producers of the game access to his massive garage so that they could take pictures and study the various vehicles in the game.