History VideoGame / LANoire

*** Roger Rabbit's plot was based on the proposed script for the second Chinatown sequel, which would have been called Cloverleaf.

*** The Sharpshooter suit is based on the suit Creator/JackNicholson's character Jake Gittes wears in the movie ''Film/Chinatown''.

* UsefulNotes/LosAngeles

* GuideDangIt:

* AssholeVictim: Several Examples throughout the game. They might have been on the receiving end of the crimes you investigate, but you aren't likely to feel sorry for them
** Everett Gage was a MeanBoss and an anti-Semite. He tried at every oppurtunity to screw over Edgar Kalou's business, and received 5 rounds to his back for his troubles

** Eli Rooney: A Local Child Molester. He has been in jail before, but not for murdering anyone. You can make him the scapegoat of a murder you investigate, and he gets punched for his troubles, but you would wish he would stay in jail permanently
** Grovsner McCaffery: A (possible self styled) Labor rights activist and novelist... who quickly proves himself to be nothing more than a phony, including lying about a military record, which couldn't have been performed anyways, because he is proud of the fact that he beat a woman to near death, just because she stole from her. It's not a stretch to imagine Evelynn Summers could have shared a similar fate from him.

*** Partially averted when Phelps stares down and rips into Earle when they discover Sheldon's body. There, he calls Sheldon a corpsman. (He did refer to Death Valley as "the Valley of Death," though, which is a weird phrase.)

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: Many gamers when they first saw the "HOLLYWOODLAND" sign immediately believed it to be a case of BlandNameProduct. However, consistent with the [[ShownTheirWork work they've shown]] in making the world as historically correct as possible, the sign did read "HOLLYWOODLAND" up until 1949 when the sign was refurbished and the word "LAND" was removed.
** Also, the reference to "the gas chamber" with Edgar Kalou. Given that Cole was purposely using antisemitism at other points in the interrogation to cause the Jewish Kalou to slip up and confess, you'd think he's referencing the Holocaust. The reality though is that gas chambers were a fairly common form of capital punishment at the time in some US states, including California where the game takes place.

* EmptyCopThreat: What the doubt prompt lets you do basically.

* AccidentalMisnaming: In "The Driver's Seat," the first Traffic case, when introduced to Stefan Bekowski the watch commander pronounces it '''Ber'''kowski. Probably an actor oversight; the in-game subtitles provide the correct name.

* AmbiguousSituation: In the first case, "Upon Reflection", it seems very likely that Detective Rose framed bookmaker Eroll Schroeder for murder to get out of paying his gambling debts. However, we have no proof of this and it is left ambiguous whether or not Eroll did it.

* DirtyCop: Seemingly the entire LAPD, aside from Cole who sometimes play ball. One of the Vice criminal says that his illegal gambling is fine since he pays his cut to the LAPD.

* RareVehicles:
** The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucker_48 Tucker 48]], known ingame by its nickname of the Tucker Torpedo, can be unlocked. Only fifty were ever made and the car was infamous for its TroubledProduction.
** Another car that can be found is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_Corsair Phantom Corsair]], which in real life was a one-off prototype.

* BerserkButton:
** Cole apparently has one that likely relates to, naturally, withholding evidence, or corruption. Although most of the time his tough stance during interrogations seems to be controlled, at one point he threatens to break a suspect's jaw in what sounds far from his typical controlled hard-nosed spiel. Said case involved an underage girl being drugged and taken advantage of. It was made fairly clear throughout the case that he was disgusted by the events.
** Cole seems to have one for people bad-mouthing his war buddies, as demonstrated when Roy [[spoiler:makes fun of Courtney's death and Cole goes on a rant and says he'll blow Roy's [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] head off if he says anything else about Courtney]].
** Biggs finally snaps with the second incinerated family. He dealt with similar issues in World War I. [[spoiler:So did Phelps in World War II, and it was ''all his fault''.]]
** Captain Donnelly is the only one who can [[DoNotCallMePaul call Rusty by his real name]] without rebuke.
** Earle really doesn't like Elsa speaking "German gibberish" in his presence.
** Rusty would have shot Eli Rooney on the spot after the man openly admits to being a paedophile if not for Cole stopping him.
** When a witness admits that he didn't call in a murder of a woman because he was [[spoiler:kissing/fondling her corpse]] Rusty's ''immediate'' reaction was to punch him in the face.

** Everett Gage was a MeanBoss and an anti-Semite. He tried at every oppurtunity to screw over Edgar Kalou's business, and received 5 rounds to the chest for his troubles

* NiceHat: Considering it's a piece of Noir fiction set in the '40s, just about everyone of importance sports one. If for some reason (say, a fight) your hat should fall, you can pick it back up if it's not back on after a cutscene. There's even an achievement for winning a brawl without losing your hat.
** There's even a hilarious nod to this: If Cole should lose his hat in a fight, he'll pause to lament "That was a ''twelve-dollar'' hat!"
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:By [[WhatAnIdiot having an affair with Elsa]], Cole's career heads into a downward spiral.]]

* AssholeVictim: Everett Gage was a MeanBoss and an anti-Semite.

-->'''Kelso:''' Yes, Mr. Cohen. ({{beat}}) ...about your height.

* CreatorProvincialism: Team Bondi was based in Australia, and while they do a very good job of recreating 1947 Los Angeles, there are a few clues. For instance, the rank of Able Seaman shows up at least once, a rank that has never been used in the United States military. Also, an invoice for concrete at a construction site measures it in [[TheMetricSystemIsHereToStay tonnes]], and the directory of an office building in "The Naked City" mentions 'barristers', a term for attorneys that is used in Commonwealth countries, but never in the United States. Then there's the fact that characters generically refer to the LA City Fire Department as "the fire brigade," as is common in Australia and the UK, when "the fire department" is what Americans (and Canadians, incidentally) would actually call it. In addition, a couple characters use common Australian English terms in place of American English ones, such as "lift."

** During the case "The White Shoe Murder," the sailor mentions his ship, the USS Indiana, having plans for being scrapped. While the Indiana was decommissioned around the time of the story, it spent over a decade being mothballed while the Navy attempted multiple times to modernize it and other battleships in a post-battleship world. It was not sold for scrap until 1962.
** The Brenda Allen scandal that brought down the Ad Vice desk of the LAPD, which provides the impetus for [[spoiler: Earle's power move, including betraying Phelps]], did not break open until 1948.
** Some conversations bring up replacements for the "police commissioner," referencing William H. Parker by last name, with Earle pointing out he has a "puritannical streak." While Parker would become police chief, and his tenure was known for a conservative law-and-order mentality that became the basis for police forces across America to this day, he didn't become chief until 1950, partly as a consequence of the aforementioned scandal.

* BlandNameProduct: Cola King (Though if you look at the machine you can clearly see a Coca Cola logo). Averted with the cars, all of which go by their real life make and model. You can also spy other real products (such as Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Brooks Brothers menswear, and Nunn-Bush shoes) in various places.

* BondOneLiner: Phelps gets one in "A Different Kind of War", when holding a crystal ball in [[spoiler: Dr. Fontaine's office]].
--> So much for your foresight, [[spoiler: Doctor]].

* BookDumb - Most of the partners are undereducated, especially when compared to the [[BadassBookworm Shakespeare-quoting, Shelley-reading Phelps]].
** Even lampshaded by [[spoiler:Garrett Mason]], when he dryly points out that [[spoiler:there's no way a drunk bumpkin like Galloway could have unravelled his cerebral clues]].

** Played Straight with The Murphy suit, which allows you to fire your guns without the need for reloading.

* ShowWithinAShow: The game continues Rockstar's tradition of including in-game radio programming. Though not as extensive as what you'd find in any of the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games, the broadcasts include original vintage scripted radio shows, such as an episode of TheBickersons.

* [[YouAreNumberSix You are Number 1247:]] Cole Phelps' badge number, you'll hear it whenever he makes a phone call, which is a lot.

* Spinning Paper: You can find newspapers lying around in certain areas that reveal certain plot points. When you pick them up, you see the headline and then get the spinning newspaper effect, then it dissolves into a FlashBack (or rather a FlashSideways: most of the things you see are concurrent with the story you're playing out).

* PressXToDie: In ''The VR Case Files'', you get involved in gunfights like the original game. You can choose to point your gun at yourself. Guess what happens if you pull the trigger.

* RareVehicles: The [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucker_48 Tucker 48]], known ingame by its nickname of the Tucker Torpedo, can be unlocked. Only fifty were ever made and the car was infamous for its TroubledProduction.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The last Homicide desk mission features neither crime scene inspections nor witness or suspect interrogation, but mostly consists of [[spoiler:looking for clues hidden in the city's landmarks, with a cryptic poem as a guide. Once all clues are found, the last part of the mission is an action sequence]].
** In terms of gameplay, the whole PoliceProcedural as opposed to the CowboyCop style of gameplay is reminiscent of the ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest'' series.