Looked upon as one of the great blunders/surprises of 2011, the closure of Team Bondi was something no one could really foresee. A success at retail, L.A. Noire may have taken an ungodly long amount of time to complete but it seemed like all the time and bundles of cash sunk into it was worth it. Well as we know the video game industry can be a strange beast as Team Bondi was shuttered and subsequently sold mere months after L.A. Noire reached retail.
In the wake of the Team Bondi closure interesting details came to light such as how founder/studio head Brendan McNamara was a supposed bully and how the studio basically burned the bridge they had with Rockstar Games. Despite the chatter that surrounded Team Bondi and McNamara in particular, the remnants of the studio found a home in the Aussie based KMM and Team Bondi has now been subsequently restructured.
A few months ago McNamara announced Whore of the Orient, a period piece set in 1930s Shanghai. Details on the game weren’t revealed, presumably because it hadn’t begun full development, but we now have our first update on the game and there’s a surprise of sorts.
Having sold their assets to KMM and either letting their staff go or join the now small dev team at KMM, Team Bondi has bounced back as per this new update. This new project may soon become L.A. Noire 2.0 in spirit, but Team Bondi has returned, in name at least, to develop Whore of the Orient. A recent update on the Team Bondi website confirms as such and even gives us the added bonus of our first details on the studio’s new project.
Destined for next-gen platforms Whore of the Orient appears to be striving for many of the same things McNamara always attempts to do – completely realistic visuals and cinematic gameplay. A small teaser of sorts for the plot of Whore of the Orient was given which includes “Western powers who greedily exploit the Chinese masses” and mentions of Chinese nationalism. So yeah, it seems like Whore of the Orient is going deep on the narrative front but I just hope it isn’t lazily handled as certain elements of L.A. Noire were.
No mention was made of game details or the technology that will power the game, but the Team Bondi website does feature a piece of concept art. Far from anything groundbreaking in the reveal department, the image shows a rather detailed heavy Chinese shanty house which no doubt could only be achieved via the next-gen platforms.
Team Bondi may have suddenly returned from the dead, but it should be noted that this isn’t the same team that did L.A. Noire. After the alleged allegations of McNamara’s crazed antics many of the original staffers either left the studio or were subsequently fired. So as of now Team Bondi is simply Brendan McNamara + any unfortunate souls that opted to stay with the company merely because they needed the gig.
Having enjoyed L.A. Noire for what it was I’m interested to see what Whore of the Orient provides, but if McNamara has the same mindset he had previously then I fear for the outcome of the project. L.A. Noire took around five years to complete, despite Sony and then Rockstar funding the project, and while McNamara’s desire to push the limits of things is admirable it’s ultimately no way how a triple-A game should be managed.
When we can expect another perhaps more major update on Whore of the Orient is unknown, but since the game may be on the McNamara time-table I would suggest we not hold our breath waiting for a reveal trailer anytime soon.
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