Are you playing L.A. Noire in black and white?

by Justin McElroy on May 19th 2011 11:55AM

You might miss it if you don't know to look for it, but right there in the options for L.A. Noire you can activate a "black and white mode." The resulting look is reminiscent of the classic films the game attempts to emulate.

"We always knew we would create a proper noir mode with the black & white setting for L.A. Noire considering how much inspiration for the game came from classic noir films like The Naked City and The Asphalt Jungle," art director Rob Nelson told us. "Playing in black & white adds a somewhat nostalgic, cinematic feel to the game, and we'd definitely recommend that players experiment with this setting and see what they prefer best."

That got us wondering: Which mode are you using? For our part, we liked the monochrome look, but kept feeling like we were missing something by not playing in color. Fill us in on your preference after the break.

How are you playing L.A. Noire?
In black and white mode	682 (10.1%)
In color	2579 (38.1%)
Switching between the two	969 (14.3%)
I'm a dog and therefore unable to see color, so it's all gravy to me, baby	2532 (37.4%)

Tags: LA-Noire, microsoft, playstation, ps3, rockstar, take-two, team-bondi, xbox

Reader Comments (140)

interesting. I haven't gotten around to this yet but I definitely will

I'm wondering though...if it's in black and white will that make it more difficult to spot certain clues or evidence?

@eat it

That is why I'm playing in color, you can still see clues and such, but in black and white it's easier to miss them.

@DericLee
WOOF WOOF *BARK* WOOF !!!

@DericLee It would be cool if your clue detection ability shows things in color as you get better at it.

@eat it
"Admit it scum, you murdered the victim! How can you deny it, you're covered in blood!"
"That's motor oil, detective, I'm a mechanic. Are you colorblind?"
"I suppose I am... hold on... ok, now I'm not. Well hot damn, you're right."
"Uh..."

CASE FAILED

:(

@onan

LOL

I felt like I was missing something as well... The game changes to black and white as you lose health, so I get to see it every now and then.

@(Unverified)

If you play in black and white, does the screen get colored?

@bigwhiteyeti

RACIST BIGOTS!!!

@Captain Planet Planeteer Power

I loled...

@Captain Planet Planeteer Power

You blues are already getting your own game.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/18/the-smurfs-dance-party-getting-down-this-july/

What more do you want from us?

@TheOtherJames

DAMN YOU

@Juelz345

Me to, I was drinking and almost spit on my screen.

Have yet to get the game (hopefully this friday) so i voted the only option that deemed fair (wanted to see the results)

I haven't tried the black and white out yet. I like color to much. I might give it a try but I can't imagine wanting to play it for any amount of time in black and white.

@maxxgold

I agree that I prefer color, well most of the time. There are some exceptions. A great example is Frank Darabont's take on The Mist, the b&w version just sells the mood and everything better than the color version did.

That said, I haven't tried this in b&w yet, but it seems like something that could be really cool.

@maxxgold
Speaking of somewhat recent films, it would be kinda cool to see a SIN CITY style monochromatic with technicoloured visual clues/enhancements here and there.

BTW, I was very upset that the Blockbuster *used* version of THE MIST on bluray did NOT have the b/w version of the movie. What a rip off and waste of a disc.

FYI The Naked City is referenced in Jay-z's New York song.

@Einlander

They only thing worse than linking to a fox news article is to link to a yahoo answers article.

@Dirty

Reply fail, hard to tell because they were so whited out.... oh no I cant see color!

@Einlander

oh thanks. i really wanted to know that. jay-z is just so....deeep. yeah....

@Einlander

You fail so hard. Just like how Jay-z got a choir of girls to sing "Hard Knock Life" and wrote those lyrics himself, right?

The Naked City is a 1948 black-and-white film noir directed by Jules Dassin.

C'MON!

@Marco le Polo

He said "referenced", not "is a reference to". This means that Jay-Z references the movie, not that the interview is a reference to a Jay-Z song.

C'MON!

@Marco le Polo
So much hate from you and others not bothering to even read what I said. I said that Jay-Z REFERENCED the show in his song. No where did I say that the show was named after his song. And yes I know that he sampled Annie for his hard knock life chorus. I even know which Annie he sampled (the 1999 Disney version not the 1982 one).

I'm just suprised by the amount of people who know of this particular show. I only discovered it a few years ago while i was flipping channels at midnight and saw it on tv.

@Liquid Fingers
Never said he was deep, just said he referenced it. How many people do you personaly know that can make a distinct connection between that line in his song and the intro to the Naked City show? It just suprised me seeing it on Joystiq of all places, not saying that gamers cant be privy to things that arent related to games.

@superchamois
Thank You.

@superchamois grammar police here lol: the period always goes inside the quote.

dogs can see color.

@mywhitenoise
haha, people are downvoting me? It's an urban myth. Dogs can see color (not as well as us, though)
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100109124820AA21S89

@mywhitenoise

oh give the guy a break guys, he's only trying to be a smartass. At least he was actually right, unlike most of em :P

I could go with option D considering my color blindness but nah... I have tried B&W but wasn't a huge fan just because the colors are so well done in the game. I may go 100% B&W for the second go at the game.

Color for me.

@A Sandwich

Don't be so Mayo.

@Dirty

Is that a "white" joke? Or is it squarely based around the fact that his avatar is a sandwhich?

@A Sandwich

That's what she said

@whylekat

Avatar?

@whylekat

I like to think that my humor has layers of flavor.

Any video of it being run in this color pallet?

@Mortegro

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-la-noire/17-4133/

Towards the end of that video.

Doesn't matter to me, I'm a dog. I only care about gravy, baby.

@The Cole Train
the marple kind?

@Yisrael

The Maple Kind?

Black and white for me.

@Korbie

Me too! I feel like I'm missing a little without color and the clues are harder to find, but I love the look!

@evilkoala

Ah, but that "missing something" feeling makes for a good excuse to replay it with colour.

How does Joystiq know I'm a dog?

@Special Agent Steve How does Bear Grylls know that sweat is like tasty gravy to hungry wolves?

Bear Grylls is my hero

When I replay cases I am doing them in B&W

I've tried it on occasion... it looks a lot more authentic, and I think it does a better job of utilizing the game's lighting than the regular color, which feels a bit too loud with its tones.

I'm playing in color for my first playthrough. When I decide to replay the game I'll try out the black and white.

I've tried all of 10 minutes. I'm playing in color to get of feel for what things must've looked like back then.

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L.A. Noire

Are you playing L.A. Noire in black and white?

Reader Comments (140)

Posted: May 19th 2011 11:58AM eat it said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:21PM DericLee said

Posted: May 19th 2011 7:40PM Xsingular said

Posted: May 19th 2011 7:48PM bamb0ostick said

Posted: May 20th 2011 3:53AM onan said

Posted: May 20th 2011 3:09PM Cyro117 said

Posted: May 19th 2011 11:59AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:31PM bigwhiteyeti said

Posted: May 19th 2011 1:57PM Captain Planet Planeteer Power said

Posted: May 19th 2011 2:30PM Juelz345 said

Posted: May 19th 2011 5:14PM TheOtherJames said

Posted: May 19th 2011 11:34PM Captain Planet Planeteer Power said

Posted: May 19th 2011 11:48PM Miranda Lawson said

Posted: May 19th 2011 11:59AM Kolma said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:00PM maxxgold said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:08PM VXXXJesterXXXV said

Posted: May 19th 2011 3:28PM foxhound said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:01PM Einlander said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:57PM Dirty said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:58PM Dirty said

Posted: May 19th 2011 5:57PM Liquidfingers said

Posted: May 19th 2011 9:46PM Marco le Polo said

Posted: May 19th 2011 10:46PM superchamois said

Posted: May 20th 2011 1:04AM Einlander said

Posted: May 22nd 2011 7:36AM Platinum Playstation said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:02PM mywhitenoise said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:28PM mywhitenoise said

Posted: May 19th 2011 7:12PM danijami23 said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:02PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:03PM A Sandwich said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:53PM Dirty said

Posted: May 19th 2011 2:44PM whylekat said

Posted: May 19th 2011 2:50PM CommanderCool said

Posted: May 19th 2011 2:54PM A Sandwich said

Posted: May 19th 2011 3:37PM Dirty said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:03PM Mortegro said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:15PM Haikiba said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:04PM The Cole Train said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:10PM Yisrael said

Posted: May 19th 2011 1:39PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:07PM Korbie said

Posted: May 20th 2011 10:34AM evilkoala said

Posted: May 20th 2011 10:36PM Korbie said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:08PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: May 19th 2011 2:10PM Mike Sylvester said

Posted: May 19th 2011 3:17PM whylekat said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:09PM sammo21 said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:10PM Gaddes said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:10PM kaskade said

Posted: May 19th 2011 12:12PM kentuckyfried said

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