Who's Who in L.A. Noire

"Team Bondi takes us into new territory with its use of extraordinary facial performance capture," said Oli as he worked his way towards an 8/10 verdict, "This results in spooky facial animation which really does make it possible for actors to communicate more of their performances, using eyes, tics and expressions."

L.A. Noire represents an incredible step forward in performance capture, finally allowing the subtle facial movements and mannerisms of an actors' performance to make it through the development process intact.

While it's easy to marvel at what the technique can do, the realism of the characters means it's also easy to be distracted by the nagging tip-of-the-tongue feeling that you recognise some of them already. And you probably have.

Here's our guide to the stars of L.A. Noire and where you might have seen them before.

The actor: Aaron Staton

In the game: Our priggish boy scout hero, Cole Phelps - a decorated war hero whose rise from beat cop to the LAPD's star detective forms the background of L.A. Noire's seedy yarn.

Previously: Hotshot advertising executive Ken Cosgrove on HBO hit Mad Men. One of the main characters on the cult show, it's Staton's biggest role to date; whether the high mainstream profile of L.A. Noire will lead to bigger parts remains to be seen.

The actor: Michael McGrady

In the game: Finbar "Rusty" Galloway, Cole's gruff no-nonsense partner on the homicide desk. Fond of booze, not so found of dames, he and college boy Phelps eventually reach a grudging mutual respect.

Previously: Still patrolling the streets of LA, this time in the modern day, as Detective Salinger on the slow-burning US cop show Southland which enters its fourth season this year. McGrady is also a regular face on lots of other shows, putting in appearances on Lie to Me, Bones, Prison Break and CSI: Miami among others. He can also be seen in Terence Malick's star-studded arty war movie, The Thin Red Line.

The actor: Adam Harrington

In the game: Roy Earle, Cole's smarmy and sleazy partner when working the vice detail. Described as the movie star cop, he's clearly more in love with the perks of the job than seeing justice served.

Previously: Agent Walker in season five of serial killer thriller Dexter, who abandons his investigation into Dexter's crimes to work as a bodyguard for the family of another serial killer and this show doesn't make any sense any more.

The actor: Keith Szarabajka

In the game: Slovenly and cynical Detective Herschel Biggs, who reluctantly partners with Phelps on the arson desk.

Previously: This gravel-voiced Polish-American actor has been a common sight on US TV going back to the 1980s. Today, he's probably best known as Daniel Holtz, the Bruno Brookes lookalike vampire hunter in Buffy spin-off Angel. He stole Angel's baby son and returned him as an irritating teenager after some dimension-hopping nonsense. Szarabajka can be seen in law enforcement mode as one of Jim Gordon's loyal cops in The Dark Knight.

The actor: Andy Umberger

In the game: County coroner Dr Malcolm Carruthers, the man who prods corpses and waits patiently for Cole to ask "So...what have we got?"

Previously: Another medical role, though one involving far fewer naked dead women, Umberger features as Mad Men's resident psychiatrist Dr Malcolm Wayne. He's the guy who gets to listen to Don Draper's wife, Betty, as she catalogues the mental anguish of being married to an arrogant womanising ad man.

"Team Bondi takes us into new territory with its use of extraordinary facial performance capture," said Oli as he worked his way towards an 8/10 verdict, "This results in spooky facial animation which really does make it possible for actors to communicate more of their performances, using eyes, tics and expressions."

L.A. Noire represents an incredible step forward in performance capture, finally allowing the subtle facial movements and mannerisms of an actors' performance to make it through the development process intact.

While it's easy to marvel at what the technique can do, the realism of the characters means it's also easy to be distracted by the nagging tip-of-the-tongue feeling that you recognise some of them already. And you probably have.

Here's our guide to the stars of L.A. Noire and where you might have seen them before.

The actor: Erika Heynatz

In the game: Elsa Lichtmann, a seductive German nightclub singer. Sexy and teutonic, she's trouble waiting to happen...

Previously: An Australian model, singer and TV presenter, Heynatz is best known in her native land as the host of Australia's Next Top Model. If her accent impresses, that's probably because her family is Danish.

The actor: Greg Grunberg

In the game: Hugo Moller, husband of the murder victim in the Golden Butterfly homicide case.

Previously: Lengthy TV stints as mind-reading lawman Matt Parkman in the increasingly ludicrous Heroes and CIA agent Eric Weiss in sexy femme-spy caper Alias. Most gamers will surely be more impressed by the fact that Grunberg also provided the voice of "Trooper 2" in Halo Reach.

The actor: Daniel Roebuck

In the game: Mark Bishop, a grubby B-movie producer who crosses your path while working as a traffic detective.

Previously: Another veteran character actor, Roebuck first came to prominence opposite a pre-fame Keanu Reeves as a mentally disturbed teen who kills his girlfriend in the bleak 1986 drama, River's Edge. More recently he appeared on Glee, and also played Lost's hapless Leslie Arzt, a school teacher whose dynamite-assisted demise provided the show with one of its most memorable surprise exits.

The actor: Carla Gallo

In the game: Gloria Bishop, starlet wife of Mark Bishop, who finds herself mixed up in his shady dealings.

Previously: Lengthy stints on shows like Bones, Californication and Carnivale. Comedy super-producer Judd Apatow clearly enjoys debasing her, as her big screen roles include such unforgettable nameless cameos as "Period Blood Girl" from Superbad, "Gag Me Girl" from Forgetting Sarah Marshall and "Toe-Sucking Girl" from The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

The actor: Courtney Gains

In the game: Eli Rooney, a mucky little paedophile found lurking around a high school during the Golden Butterfly case.

Previously: Gains was one of the crew of the titular bomber in the plucky 1990 war film, Memphis Belle. His "oh, it's that guy" credentials come from a role even earlier than that – he's the obnoxious guy who almost wipes Marty McFly from existence by cutting in when George is dancing with Lorraine at the end of Back to the Future.

The actor: Brian Krause

In the game: Clem Feeney, proprietor of the Just Picked late night fruit market.

Previously: The longest surviving male cast member of US witchy drama Charmed, clocking up 145 episodes as the guardian and mentor of the magical Halliwell sisters. You'll have to rewind all the back to 1991 for his other memorable role, when he appeared as the buff young buck shipwrecked with a barely clothed Milla Jovovich in schoolboy favourite Return to the Blue Lagoon.

The actor: John Noble

In the game: Leland Monroe, a smug and wealthy property magnate who crosses swords with Phelps during his arson investigations.

Previously: A popular Australian actor, Noble is currently best known for his starring role on "don't mention The X-Files" paranormal TV show Fringe. Before that, he slobbered tomato juice down his chin and demanded sad hobbit songs as Denethor, the barking mad Steward of Gondor in Return of the King, Peter Jackson's final entry in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

"Team Bondi takes us into new territory with its use of extraordinary facial performance capture," said Oli as he worked his way towards an 8/10 verdict, "This results in spooky facial animation which really does make it possible for actors to communicate more of their performances, using eyes, tics and expressions."

L.A. Noire represents an incredible step forward in performance capture, finally allowing the subtle facial movements and mannerisms of an actors' performance to make it through the development process intact.

While it's easy to marvel at what the technique can do, the realism of the characters means it's also easy to be distracted by the nagging tip-of-the-tongue feeling that you recognise some of them already. And you probably have.

Here's our guide to the stars of L.A. Noire and where you might have seen them before.

The actor: Kurt Fuller

In the game: Richard Coombs, a shady used car salesman from the DLC traffic case, A Slip of the Tongue.

Previously: Another veteran supporting player, Fuller has specialised in oily yes-men, appearing as Rob Lowe's toadying henchman in Wayne's World and the mayor's chief butt-kisser in Ghostbusters II. More recently, he had a seven episode run on Supernatural as angelic bossy boots Zachariah.

The actor: Matt Corboy

In the game: Lars Taraldsen, another bereaved husband on the homicide beat, this time from The White Shoe Slaying.

Previously: Corboy is most familiar as Ray Carlson, the unpleasantly thuggish homophobic cop from gritty cop show The Shield. He'll next be seen with George Clooney and Beau Bridges in The Descendants, the latest film from Alexander "Sideways" Payne.

The actor: Myra Turley

In the game: Barbara Lapenti, owner of the boarding house where homicide victim Antonia Maldonado stays in The Silk Stocking Murder.

Previously: Team Bondi dipped into the Mad Men cast yet again, as Turley is best known for playing Peggy's mother in the 1960s advertising drama. She can also be found playing Paul Walker's mum in Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwood's film about the war in the Pacific.

The actor: Michael Gladis

In the game: Dudley Lynch, a bartender who Cole meets early on, during his first traffic assignment. You may meet up with Lynch later, if you respond to the right street crime...

Previously: Another Mad Men alumni, Gladis plays far-out beatnik copywriter and sci-fi fan Paul Kinsey on the hit show.

The actor: Joseph Culp

In the game: Walter Robbins, the slightly sad liquor store owner from The Studio Secretary Murder.

Previously: The son of Robert Culp, the legendary American actor. Joe Culp had a short but important recurring turn in Mad Men as Don Draper's father, Archie Whitman, until a hoof to the face finished him off. Culp earned his cult credentials, and guaranteed a lifetime of convention autograph income, by hiding behind a metal mask as the evil Doctor Doom in the never-released 1994 Fantastic Four movie.

The actor: Steve Rankin

In the game: Lieutenant Archibald Colmyer, the rather cavalier head of the vice department.

Previously: Not a particularly famous face, but he does have the distinction of appearing in the award-winning movie L.A. Confidential, where he played the cop who puts the cuffs on Mickey Cohen, the real life Jewish gangster who also plays a pivotal role in L.A. Noire. How's that for full circle?