Footage from the unfortunately titled Whore of the Orient, the next game from the creators of Rockstar’s L.A. Noire, has been leaked online.
Videogamer.com has posted the first gameplay footage of the game. (click the link to watch it — unfortunately, I can’t seem to embed the video here) Outside of the exotic Shanghai setting, the game’s chase and combat mechanics make it look very, very similar to L.A. Noire. As expected from the team that created L.A. Noire, the graphics are very impressive and detailed, but the action still looks kind of stiff and awkward.
Whore of the Orient is set in pre-World War 2 Shanghai. The city is divided between Chang Kai-Shek’s democratically focused Nationalist party and the increasingly popular Chinese Communist Party, in a conflict that would eventually lead to all out civil war. The main character in the game is a foreigner who was sent to Shanghai as part of an international peace-keeping force.
Sure, if you’ve ever read a history book before you’ll know how the conflict ends, but it’s still an interesting period of time that hasn’t been covered in games before, so Whore of the Orient (god, I know it’s a historically accurate term for Shanghai, but that’s a terrible title for a game,) has the potential to explore some topics and issues that other games have avoided.
That is, if it ever comes out — the game’s developer, Team Bondi, was forced to lay-off some of its staff last April, and the game is reportedly having trouble finding a publisher. Development of the game is now apparently being funded by Screen NSW, a government organization in Australia that funds and supports the development of the arts in the New South Wales area. Perhaps they’d have better luck securing a publisher if they changed the title — can you imagine walking into GameStop and asking the clerk to give you a “Whore of the Orient?”
Whore of the Orient is currently in development for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. A release date has yet to be announced.
