How Rockstar Chases Bigger, Better, More Immersive Worlds
It has been 23 years since Rockstar Games pioneered the 3D open world with Grand Theft Auto 3 and ever since that industry-shifting release the studio has remained at the very forefront of the genre. Despite there being more contenders to the throne than ever these days, Rockstar’s worlds have consistently proven themselves to be generational leaders largely thanks to the pursuit of immersive realism. The network of overlapping systems and handcrafted elements that make up places like Los Santos and Saint Denis are designed to offer such a sense of authenticity that these simulated cities truly feel alive.
The craft behind such digital realities is something that Ben Hinchliffe knows well. A former Rockstar designer now working in the immersive field of virtual reality, he helped put together the worlds of L.A. Noire, Grand Theft Auto 5, and Red Dead Redemption 2 – games that each pushed the bar higher and higher.
For 2011’s L.A. Noire, much of that immersion came via its groundbreaking facial capture technology that was able to recreate an actor’s every sneering lip and twitching eye. It’s the feature that liquidated developer Team Bondi will be best remembered for. But Rockstar, who acted as both publisher and co-developer on the project, offered contributions that were informed by its proven strengths in open world design.
That’s something that will no doubt raise a few eyebrows, as L.A. Noire is widely considered a poor open world game due to its lack of side activities and map-populating content. “Because the focus was on Phelps and the police, you were kind of boxed in a little bit,” says Hinchliffe. “How far would Phelps go and what could he do? He couldn't do anything too outrageous. He's law enforcement. It did shape a lot of the content as to where we could take it. Let's say you were a criminal or an outlaw, you probably could have gotten away with a lot more in terms of content and what you could have done.”
Despite this, L.A. Noire’s approach to a
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