Brendan McNamara's most recent game had players exploring the seamy underbelly of an impressive, gleaming recreation of 1940s Los Angeles with L.A. Noire. The first glimpse at his next game—being produced with director George Miller's film production firm KMM Interactive—the grime is all out in the open.
Despite the fact that McNamara's Team Bondi was supposedly absorbed into KMM, the dev studio's website shows off what appears to be the first image from Whore of the Orient. The title is being described as being developed for next-generation consoles and PC. The page also has the Warner Brothers logo on it, likely due to the fact that they've distributed KMM projects like the Happy Feet 2 movies and video games.
Last year, Kotaku's own Luke Plunkett speculated that the game would be set in an early 20th Century Shanghai, since the project's title came from that city's infamous nickname. The description on the Team Bondi site follows:
Shanghai, 1936. Whore of the Orient. Paris of the East. The most corrupt and decadent city on the planet, where anything can be had or done for the right price. Plaything of Western powers who greedily exploit the Chinese masses. Boiling pot of Chinese nationalism, with the Kuomintang ruthlessly trying to suppress Communism and the labour movement. Home to the International Police Force, a group of Western cops hopelessly trying to keep the lid on and keep the peace.
From the development team who brought you L.A. Noire and The Getaway, along with the Academy Award winning film production team of Kennedy Miller Mitchell comes a completely new and original IP being developed for next generation games consoles and PC.
The Getaway, famous for its photo-realistic look, strong narrative and uncompromising gameplay style, sold over 4 million units on the PlayStation 2. The release of L.A. Noire set the quality bar even higher selling over 5 million units. L.A. Noire was critically heralded as a breakthrough for interactive storytelling and was the first game ever to be invited to be shown at New York's world renowned Tribeca Film Festival. L.A. Noire has gone on to become the UK's fastest selling original IP - a title previously held by The Getaway - and a worldwide number one hit. Using award winning animation technology to capture every actor's facial performance in astonishing detail, L.A. Noire combined breathtaking action with true detective work to deliver an unprecedented interactive experience.