Game Review - L.A. Noire
Developers: Team Bondi, Rockstar Games
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3
Rating: M
Release Date: 20 May 2011
Good: Fantastic acting | Simplicity | Great story
Bad: Lack of control | Not easy to pick up and play
Prepare to get wrapped up in the world of a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detective set in 1947. In this third person crime solving game you are Cole Phelps, a balls-busting cop trying to clear the streets of L.A. I really enjoyed the variety contained in this game. Whether you are interrogating a suspect at the police station or hunting someone down in a high speed car chase, you will thoroughly enjoy yourself. The whole of Los Angeles is at your feet and there is plenty to keep you busy.
Each character in L.A. Noire clearly and precisely shows their emotion. They act their part rather than in most games where it is just a simple animation. The acting here is based on the movements of a real life human as they display courage, fear and deception. This is all done through Depth Analysis’s newly developed technology, called MotionScan, where actors are recorded by 32 surrounding cameras to capture facial expressions from every angle. The cast is full of famous actors from Greg Grunberg to John Noble.
The game boasts a free roaming open world by allowing you to find your own evidence or investigating different people but it also wants you to follow the plot strictly. This can be quite annoying especially when you want to explore different areas of the investigation but you can’t do anything other than follow the plot. For example, you may think that a suspect is not the killer in a homicide case but your character may convict him anyway. While playing, I never felt totally in control of the character’s choices in the game.
Important conversations between characters can all too easily be skipped. While talking to someone you can walk into another room which sometimes will stop the conversation abruptly. Problems like this can really detract from submerging yourself into this cinematic tale. However they do tend to repeat information during a case so sometimes you will want the option to skip these conversations.
It is not a great game for stress relief; it requires a lot of concentration and focus. I found it was very hard to pick up playing where I left off halfway through an investigation. I found that the sparse information found in my character’s notebook about the case was usually not enough to rekindle my memory. It is pretty much like watching the first half of a movie then leaving it for a few days and watching the second half. Most of the time you don’t know what's going on.
Any back seat players out there will enjoy this game. It is good fun playing with a few friends; from doing an interview and arguing on whether he is telling the truth to giving out about not finding all the evidence. The problem is that L.A. Noire makes me realise that I am a terrible judge of character when it comes to some emotions. I think I might need to sit down and watch a few more episodes of 'Lie to Me'.
I am not a huge fan of collectables and additional features in a game but the addition of street crimes and hidden vehicles really helps you enjoy this game. They add much needed breaks to help you mull over some of the evidence in an ongoing case. You can also play L.A. Noire in black and white if you want to give it that authentic Film Noir look. Overall it is a classy game that deserves your patience.
Overall: 8/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Replayability: 8/10
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3
Rating: M
Release Date: 20 May 2011
Good: Fantastic acting | Simplicity | Great story
Bad: Lack of control | Not easy to pick up and play
Prepare to get wrapped up in the world of a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detective set in 1947. In this third person crime solving game you are Cole Phelps, a balls-busting cop trying to clear the streets of L.A. I really enjoyed the variety contained in this game. Whether you are interrogating a suspect at the police station or hunting someone down in a high speed car chase, you will thoroughly enjoy yourself. The whole of Los Angeles is at your feet and there is plenty to keep you busy.
Each character in L.A. Noire clearly and precisely shows their emotion. They act their part rather than in most games where it is just a simple animation. The acting here is based on the movements of a real life human as they display courage, fear and deception. This is all done through Depth Analysis’s newly developed technology, called MotionScan, where actors are recorded by 32 surrounding cameras to capture facial expressions from every angle. The cast is full of famous actors from Greg Grunberg to John Noble.
The game boasts a free roaming open world by allowing you to find your own evidence or investigating different people but it also wants you to follow the plot strictly. This can be quite annoying especially when you want to explore different areas of the investigation but you can’t do anything other than follow the plot. For example, you may think that a suspect is not the killer in a homicide case but your character may convict him anyway. While playing, I never felt totally in control of the character’s choices in the game.
Important conversations between characters can all too easily be skipped. While talking to someone you can walk into another room which sometimes will stop the conversation abruptly. Problems like this can really detract from submerging yourself into this cinematic tale. However they do tend to repeat information during a case so sometimes you will want the option to skip these conversations.
It is not a great game for stress relief; it requires a lot of concentration and focus. I found it was very hard to pick up playing where I left off halfway through an investigation. I found that the sparse information found in my character’s notebook about the case was usually not enough to rekindle my memory. It is pretty much like watching the first half of a movie then leaving it for a few days and watching the second half. Most of the time you don’t know what's going on.
Any back seat players out there will enjoy this game. It is good fun playing with a few friends; from doing an interview and arguing on whether he is telling the truth to giving out about not finding all the evidence. The problem is that L.A. Noire makes me realise that I am a terrible judge of character when it comes to some emotions. I think I might need to sit down and watch a few more episodes of 'Lie to Me'.
I am not a huge fan of collectables and additional features in a game but the addition of street crimes and hidden vehicles really helps you enjoy this game. They add much needed breaks to help you mull over some of the evidence in an ongoing case. You can also play L.A. Noire in black and white if you want to give it that authentic Film Noir look. Overall it is a classy game that deserves your patience.
Overall: 8/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Replayability: 8/10
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