Game Review: L.A. Noire

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gaming·@deadspace·8 years ago

0.000 HBD

Game Review: L.A. Noire

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The game that I'm reviewing is a bit of an older one, but was one of my favorite Rockstar games to be released for the last gen consoles, it's called L.A. Noire. L.A. Noire is a neo-noir detective/action/adventure game, something which you don't see all that often in modern gaming. I can actually only thing of a small handful of games that deal in the noir detective/action genre. The game was developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games back in May of 2011. It was released for the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360, the version which I'm reviewing is the Xbox 360 version.&nbsp;
Now, it's certainly been quite a long time since the games original release considering we're coming up on 8 years this next May. The game has been ported over to the next gen consoles (PS4, Xbox One), and also recently saw a port to the Nintendo Switch console which I was also a bit surprised by. Now, I'm sure most of anyone who has heard about this game has probably played it at this point in time. However, back upon it's original release I believe this game certainly surprised quite a few people, myself included. We all expected something akin to Grand Theft Auto, except this time you're on the side of the law. What we got was a much, much different beast.&nbsp;
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/UXNTe8m.jpg" width="1920" height="1200"/>
Now, as I just mentioned, this was a far, far different game than Rockstar's GTA series. This game has more in common with the mystery point and click games from the 90's than it does with the Grand Theft Auto series. While having an open world settings, it's still fairly restricted unlike Grand Theft Auto's worlds, and it has very arcade like driving controls. The vehicles really remind me of what you'd see in the crazy taxi game, just with far better graphics and slightly better handling. So, in short, don't go into this expecting to play as police officers from GTA. You're going to get much, much more out of it though.&nbsp;
The story of the game stretched out over several years, but starts out shortly after the end of WWII, with us being introduced to our protagonist Cole Phelps. Cole is a heavily decorated USMC veteran returning home to Los Angeles from the campaign which took place in the Pacific. After arriving back to his family, he takes up a job working as a patrol officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. In 1947 Cole along with his partner Ralph Dunn end up solving a major murder case which was under investigation, which leads to him getting promoted to detective after impressing his superior officers.&nbsp;
As time goes on, Cole continues getting promotions within the LAPD while working with several different partners and develops an impressive reputation for solving overly difficult cases. After working his way up for a few years, he lands a position within the Vice department. He gets partnered with a man named Roy Earle, who turns out to be a corrupt police officer. While working vice, Cole winds up falling in love with a lounge singer, though he is already married. He begins having an affair with her, which ends with Roy gaining knowledge of this and using it to make Cole into a scapegoat for a scandel happening between prominent people in power within the town. From there, Cole has to try and move forward with his life which leads into the bigger, more mysterious sections of the game.&nbsp;
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/ZtvqYZj.jpg" width="1280" height="720"/>
So, as you can probably gist from the description of what I wrote from the story, this game isn't just a game where you drive around busting drug dealers and shooting any criminals that give you a crooked look. Now, that isn't to say there aren't any action fueled sequences within the game, because there are plenty of shoot outs and car chases scattered around the game. However, the majority of your gameplay comes from playing as an actual detective, having to solve cases.&nbsp;
There are 4 different departments that you'll be working in to solve cases, which are Traffic, Homicide, Arson and Vice. Each case will start out with Cole either going to or already at a crime scene which you'll need to investigate for clues. Some clues require you to manipulate your environment to locate them, which can involve moving objects around or even just simple things like turning around a photo or piece of paper. Other clues can be out in the open for you to find easily, while others are hidden away within items just waiting for you to open them up and find them.&nbsp;
Clues are the most important factor in solving your cases, not only because you have to find them yourself and figure them out, but because during interrogations and other parts of the game you'll have to decide when to use them to your advantage. The game does help you out a bit with making sure you've found all the clues or are close to finding one, using vibrations on the controller as well as a musical bit to give you a heads up. This option can be turned off, however, for those who want more of a challenge out of the game without any type of assistance.&nbsp;
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/2wdWIt4.jpg" width="1920" height="1080"/>
Another big part of the gameplay within L.A. Noire is the interrogations, which will happen quite a bit throughout your investigations between hunting for clues. The game really uses its facial animations to a good extent with these parts of the game, and makes the player really have to read the characters body language to determine if they're telling the truth, lying, or keeping something hidden from Cole. Some people you investigate are better at lying than others, giving away easy tell tale signs of lies such as fake smiles or dodging eye contact with Cole.&nbsp;
While interviewing suspects, you're given three ways to reply to their statements. You can take what they say as the truth, call them out on specific facts that don't match up within their statement, or just tell them directly that you believe they're lying to you. However, if you're going to accuse them of anything you'll need to have your facts right with evidence to back you up using the previously found evidence from the crime scenes. These interactions can lead to one of two things. One giving you a new lead if you're correct in your assumptions of the suspect, and the other barring your path forward to an extent making you miss out on key evidence that could have helped you out.&nbsp;
I think these interrogations work fairly well within the game, though the logic doesn't always quite make perfect sense. Most of the game in these parts will fall solely on your shoulders based on your ability to read the suspects emotions and attitude. So, your performance will really be on how good your perception is of the characters in the game. There were a few times where I got things wrong which led to my case not ending up the way I wanted it too, but overall I really enjoyed this part of the game.&nbsp;
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/df1kYzV.jpg" width="1600" height="900"/>
While the story if fairly interesting and the investigations keep you engaged, another big part of the game are the action sequences sprinkled between everything else. These range from fistfights on foot, to car chases and of course shootouts. The car chases really are the more fun part of these actions bits, as they tend to be a bit more unpredictable and entertaining than just shooting or fist fighting your suspect. The game definitely shows some influence from the GTA series with the fist fighting and gun-play elements, however, which was a nice little element to see.&nbsp;
Most of the action of the game can be found in little side missions which you can play, referred to as Street Crime cases. There are 40 of these cases available for you to play, with each desk having their own set amount available. They're totally optional for you to complete, and you can just skip these and run through the main story if you so wish. Besides doing these for the entertainment, there's also some achievements which you can unlock by beating each of them.&nbsp;
While the action of the game is fairly well done, there are some issues with it which can be annoying. This is due to some clunky controls of the game, such as having the sprint button and take cover button being one in the same, as well as just controlling Cole overall since his movements can be a bit bizarre and sticky at times. Combine that with the somewhat strange car controls while driving, and I could see how this kinda stuff can get on peoples nerves. While I think it holds the game back just a small bit, it's nothing game breaking that will keep you away from finishing the story. At least in my opinion.&nbsp;
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Y0jqQ3T.jpg" width="1600" height="900"/>
The voice acting and motion capture for this game is also quite superb, with some outstanding performances done by the cast and some creepily well done motion capping of said actors (Though, at times the facial animations can get a bit wonky, I won't lie). I can honestly say as far as game voice acting goes, this game still holds up extremely well to this day. Everything flows quite naturally, and part of that is thanks to the excellent story and dialogue writing of the game.&nbsp;
The dark, gritty story and themes going on in this game work extremely well with the time period it is set in, as well as the backdrop of being a cop in all of this. I really enjoy this game, and would definitely recommend this to anyone who finds it interesting and hasn't tried it yet. The voice acting and writing is top notch, with engaging investigations and interrogations which will make you really question if you're right or wrong on calling a suspect out. The action isn't as good as it could be, but it holds up well and doesn't take you out of the game. So, if you haven't tried this out, get on it. It's well worth your time!&nbsp;
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