L.A. Noire Review
Publisher Rockstar
Developer Bondai Studio’s
Platform PS3, Xbox360
Release Date 20th May 2011
Despite being published by and having all the hallmarks of a Rockstar title, LA Noire is very much its own game, although you are very aware that you are in the Rockstar world with many similarities it becomes apparent quite early on this game is quite different and it’s not just because you are on the right side on the law for a change.
L.A. Noire is set in post war America, in one of the most violent era’s in LA’s history, but also one of the most stylish era’s as well. The 1940’s are brilliantly brought to life through the style, the music, the cars, the architecture and especially the acting. As the marines arrive back from the war they are faced with readjusting to normal life. One of these returning hero’s is Cole Phelps, Phelps has swapped his green army uniform for a blue police uniform and now works the beat walking the streets day in day out.
It isn’t long before his excellent arrest record starts to draw attention from the higher powers and is moved up the ranks thus beginning your career in law enforcement taking Phelps from being an uniformed cop through the different plain clothes detective departments including traffic, Homicide Vice and Arson whilst pitting you against the vile and seedy underbelly of the city streets.
Fans of previous Rockstar games will be right at home, the button layouts are the same and in general the gameplay is also very similar to GTA. But this is not just a GTA add on, LA noire goes on to add a host of improvements to the already impressive gameplay engine. Entering vehicles, buildings, climbing ladders or stairs have all been streamlined and flow together much better than in the GTA world.
The boring side missions are gone, no more collecting a package and driving from one side of the town to the other, each mission follows the story line and keeps you interested. That is not to say there are not side missions because there are, but even these missions are exciting. While out on patrol the APB will go out for any cars in the area you can then decide to respond to this call which can be anything from a domestic dispute to a bank robbery.
Everything you do right earns you XP as you rank up you unlock an intuition point these can be used within the game to help out in the investigation by removing a wrong answer or some irrelevant evidence.
As you play the role of a detective, the majority of your gameplay is spent visiting crime scenes and interrogating suspects and witnesses. You must sift through the crime scenes looking for clues. Some items are little more than litter but other items are important to the case, a good clue could give you a new lead, following up these leads and using good old fashioned police work is the only way to break the case. Players must crack 21 different case’s each one is even more disturbing than the last especially when you consider many are real life crimes, but also playing out through out the game is another over arcing storyline that will keep you guessing through out.
The interrogation system is probably the biggest gameplay addition, and while not perfect and initially frustrating, once you get to understand how it works it does work quite well. The player is given three options you either believe what the suspect is telling you in which case you pick “truth”. If you think they are not being totally honest with you but you don’t have the evidence to back it up clicking “Doubt” will try to tease the truth out of them, if you have gathered the evidence and you know for a fact they are lying then the player chooses the “lie” option and when they are given the chance you must divulge the correct piece of evidence. Getting this right is how you break the witnesses and crack the case.
I say it works for the most part but you will notice some problems such as over the top reactions from Phelps that are really out of place, when you click doubt he can either be subtle and say something like “ come on sir we know you know more” or just go straight for the throat accusing them of the murder!. Having only three options also does limit your approach to the interrogation. It is different and despite the few over reactions I fully enjoyed how it was implemented within the game.
A lot has been made prior to release about the facial expressions, you will notice a lot of TV actors in the game too and it can be a little odd that they look so real but are still very much in the video game world. The acting in the game for the vast majority of it is very good. Not quite Hollywood standard but due to the vast amount of time you spend in the game as a player you are far more emotionally involved in the game than you would be watching a film, this does give the acting greater impact.
Overall: The presentation is faultless, everything about the game from the art design to the music, to even the way each case is titled is perfectly in tune with the era. I was initially worried that this may have gone the same route the Godfather did but nothing could be further from the truth. From the very first minute to the very last I was enthralled by the game. My only criticism is that I want more and if that’s the only fault is speaks volume about the game’s quality.
SCORE “A” Outstanding.
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