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L.A. Noire Review
Publisher: Rockstar Games / Developer: Team Bondi / ESRB: Mature (Blood and Gore, Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence) / Played on: PlayStation 3/Xbox 360
Remember all those people that referred to Red Dead Redemption as Grand Theft Auto: Horse? They won’t be able to refer to L.A. Noire as Grand Theft Auto: Noir — at least not without sounding like an idiot. It’s simply not that kind of game. (And really, it’s stupid to think that Rockstar only publishes one type of game. Midnight Club, Manhunt, Tablet Tennis, and Bully are all Rockstar games.) If anything, L.A. Noire is like a more active version of Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain. Like that game, there’s a big emphasis on story, atmosphere, and production values. Unlike that game, there’s more traditional gameplay mixed into the overall experience. Put it all together and you get a unique and well-made game that stands out from the crowd.
Story
As you probably gathered from the title, L.A. Noire is Rockstar’s interactive take on the “film noir” movie genre. The game is a crime caper that takes place in Los Angeles in the 1940s. For most of the narrative, you play the role of a rookie cop that was a war hero in the United States Marine Corps. There’s also a brief portion of the game that has you controlling another character.
The game tasks you with solving cases at various LAPD beat desks. They start off as relatively simple crimes at the traffic desk and advance to intricate mysteries as you work your way through arson, vice, and homicide. Some of the cases, like the Black Dahlia murders, were inspired by actual crimes that occurred in Los Angeles, while others are fictitious.
The character development in L.A. Noire is stellar. You start off believing that the main character, patrolman-turned-detective Cole Phelps, is a clean-cut hero, but in true film-noir fashion discover that he’s more complex and flawed than a typical videogame protagonist. As the game progresses, you reveal his dirty laundry. You discover that his moral code isn’t cut and dry. You find out that he’s haunted by a military tragedy that’s far worse than flying too low over Macho Grande. He’s just a well-written character, with lots of shades of gray.
The game’s overall narrative is written similarly. Characters and events are more complex than they seem. The highs and lows of the game aren’t as ham-fisted and obvious as most videogame plot points; they’re more layered and interesting. If you’re a fan of quality writing you’ll appreciate the story and characters in L.A. Noire.
Gameplay
As I mentioned earlier, the game reminded me of Heavy Rain. It’s heavy on storytelling and character development–more like an interactive movie than a traditional game. That said, there’s more traditional gameplay in L.A. Noire than in Heavy Rain. It’s not the heavy action and open-world excitement found in Red Dead Redemption or the Grand Theft Auto series. Instead, it’s kind of like a combination of traditional adventure elements with a bit of Phoenix Wright and Trauma Center thrown in.
L.A. Noire is broken up into a series of cases. The gameplay is a mix of light action, investigation, and interrogation. Again, the action isn’t terribly involved or complex, nor is it meant to be. You engage in simple shootouts and chase sequences. Driving portions have you tailing suspects. If you’re looking for thrilling action this isn’t the game for you. Instead of being the core of the gameplay, the action segments add variety and break up the cases.
Investigating crime scenes reminded me a bit of adventure games from the ‘80s and ‘90s. You explore different locations and examine possible clues. Diligent examination leads to evidence; the more evidence you have, the easier it is to crack a case.
Questioning suspects is similar to interrogations in the Phoenix Wright series. As you question witnesses and suspects, you can react with three options: believe them, doubt their response, or accuse them of lying. The appropriate response is based off of evidence and the suspect’s body language. A suspect’s facial expressions and body movement will tip you off to the right line of questioning.
You’re graded after each case in L.A. Noire. You receive a report card that shows how many interrogation questions you got right, the amount of clues you found, how much collateral damage you caused, and more. The crew at Machinima is divided over this feature. Some think that it interrupts the flow of the narrative and dislike it because it makes them want to replay a case to perfection. Others, including me, enjoy this feature. For my part, I am not a completionist gamer at all, but this game made me want to be. It also reminded me of exploring all the branches in those old Choose Your Own Adventure books. (I’m curious and scared to see how many of you are too young to know what those are. Leave a comment please!)
There is an open-world aspect to the game, but it’s not as vast as the options found in Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. There are perps to chase down, landmarks to discover, and cars to find. Considering the incredibly detailed version of Los Angeles the developers created, it feels a bit shallow–as if there’s not enough to do in this intricate world. I expect that several batches of DLC will take advantage of L.A. Noire’s impressive landscape, but for now the open-world options are limited. There’s definitely a large open world for you to play in, but there’s just not a lot of interesting things to do at the moment.
Overall, I was satisfied with the thoughtful gameplay. The deliberate pace and lack of heavy action will shock some of the millions that bought Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. That’s all on them though. This is a very different type of game. Its thoughtful gameplay stands on its own and succeeds in entertaining.
Graphics
Prior to the game’s release, L.A. Noire received a ton of hype over its facial animations. Using Depth Analysis’ MotionScan technology, the faces in this game are extraordinary. You can see fine details, little ticks, crows feet, and more. These are the most lifelike faces I’ve ever seen in a videogame — just really impressive and amazing.
Unfortunately, the body animations aren’t nearly as good. Arms flap around unnaturally, with unusually exaggerated movements. It’s not that the body animations are bad; they’re just typical for a high-end videogame. The outstanding facial animations combine with the relatively standard body animations for a feeling of incongruity. It’s just weird seeing a natural-looking face on top of a body that’s flopping about in the uncanny valley.
The developers did a fantastic job of portraying 1940s Los Angeles. The stores, streets, and cars look fantastic. The color palette makes the game look like moving photos from that era. You can also play in pure black and white through the options menu, a nice touch. I highly recommend trying this format; it’s just so stylish and well executed. It truly makes the game feel like an interactive noir movie–almost like a videogame version of The Maltese Falcon.
Sound
Like several other aspects of the game, L.A. Noire’s soundtrack is wonderfully subtle. The period pieces are excellent and appropriate. I really loved the background music that played during investigations–simple tracks that feature an upright bass. The music made me feel like I was Humphrey Bogart’s Sam Spade character.
If you own both a PlayStation 3 and an Xbox 360 then I recommend buying the game for the former. The PS3 version comes on one Blu-ray disc, while the Xbox 360 comes on three DVDs. I preferred the shadows in the PS3 version, but think that’s more of a personal preference. The frame rate can be an issue in both games, but much more so on the Xbox 360. The PS3 version looks a little better and plays smoother than the Xbox 360 version.
Bottom Line
Team Bondi did a wonderful job of creating an enjoyable game that takes interactive storytelling to a new level. The production values and graphics are up there with Heavy Rain, but the gameplay is more appealing to longtime gamers. Rockstar fans that were expecting another Grand Theft Auto need to understand that L.A. Noire is a very different type of game. It’s subtle, deliberate, and atmospheric. It’s also just a well-crafted game that offers an atypical type of fun.
9/10
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I’m 15 and I know the choose your adventure books. and LA Noire looks great! I’m going to check it out!
Incorrect – it’s actually a boring, horrifically linear, glorified point-and-click affair.
@Huw mad brah? im sry for you when its not a game like CoD =)
aww u mad HUW? It’s not meant to be a fast paced action thriller. Have you ever watched an old school Noire film? Probably not. This game is more or less a homage to the old detective Noire movies.
Hmmm… this game has received many positive reviews. Wasn’t interested, but I am now!
Huw has a point, most of the cases aren’t even fun even the shootouts are dull and the whole game doesn’t flow at all. I wasn’t expecting a GTA game, I was looking forward to solving crimes and becoming a cop but I am even disappointed with that. another one for the shelf
@OliverMD Nobody wanted this game to be great more than myself, trust me – and no, I’m not a CODBLOPS prepubescent waste of skin. I dunno man, it had so much potential – it certainly is impressive, a work of art almost. But as a game? I would go as far as to say it has less gripping gameplay than Heavy Rain. I am disappoint :(
Wow if you’re so disappointed,then you’ve probably never played point and click adventure games.
Actually I agree with Huw… it looks great and has many pluses, but I was dissapointed with the finished product and thinking of what it could have been. :(
I’d give it a solid 7/10, but was so hoping it actually would be a 9/10.
i loved it, exspecialy the story, that i thought was the highlight of the game along whith the facial animations
I think it is a brilliant game, totally flawless…
Or almost flawless…
It does not exist for the PC!!!!
WOA WOA WOA WOA…woa
i thought it was a really GOOD game
^just my 2 cents.
It was a decent game. The story played out quite well, so did as the smaller sub plots that moved it along. The immersion was quite good (when I wasn’t driving like a maniac that is) and the characters were worth remembering. It is easily a 9/10.
The game was not meant to be like GTA or RDR. I think some of you are getting the wrong idea because Rockstars iconic name has been stapled to the box. All they did was publish it. That would be like saying EA made Half Life 2.
The game all in all was impressive too. It had an interesting story that showed truly how dark and corrupt L.A. can be. The city that you play in is indeed very well recreated and playing this game almost feels like you’re stepping back in time. Also one thing they did extremely well on that I doubt they would do well on was capturing the Noire genre. Being a long time watcher of movie flicks in the same genre they really did a fantastic job making it seem like a interactive 1940′s movie.
There is one thing that I wish there was in the game (and this is 100% my own opinion). There needed to be customization. There are three major components to make a decade feel like said decade. The three things are architecture, cars, and clothes. Now you can’t make your own house or tower but that doesn’t mean you can’t own and customize a car or go out and buy a suit in the game.
If there was some kind of customization feature in the game then it would get a straight up 10/10 from me, until then it’s going with a steady 9/10
@Huw The game is supposed to be linear. Are books horrifically linear too?
I really enjoyed L.A. Noire (100% completion). By comparison, I really disliked Heavy Rain. I think Ray’s spot on that the gameplay (while like most Rockstar games is far from perfect) is significantly more appealing than Heavy Rain’s (so was the writing, frankly).
@Huw: The word “linear” seems to be a dirty word to some gamers. However I find that completely open games tend to have a much weaker narrative. If you’re going for a game wit ha heavy narrative, linear is generally the best way to do it.
That being said, I’d have liked to have seen more consequences for screwing up a case than just a cut scene saying, “off to the beat with you.” I think it might have been interesting to have a few lower profile cases hidden in the background in case you screwed up too much, rather than being rewarded with the next high profile case by default. But I still think the game was fantastic.
I loved it but i only have on problem, not that it was to short. i just want MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I tried reading this review, but it was way too linear. I mean, it had a beginning, a middle, AND an end… Who wants that?
Why can’t William Burroughs write everything?
The consensus seems to be that it is a good story-driven game. Even though I do love me some good writing in games, I find that I am more attracted to games that strike a balance between good story-telling and good gameplay. I was also curious to know which version of the game was better (if at all), so thanks for taking some time to address that.
And, yes, I know all about those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. They were my some of my favorite books when I was a kid. I would usually have my pinky, and index fingers on the pages where I made my previous two choices just in case. I actually still have three of those books somewhere on my shelf.
-M
I can not wait to play this damn game some more.
Whats all this fuss about the game being slow and linear? Obviously this isn’t the game for you so stop your whining and play something else.
@ huw i dont see how someone is incorrect in a review for stating what he thought was the strong parts of a story driven dective game that isnt just a clone of gta which is what you where probly expecting, if this was ment to be like gta, it would be terrible, but its not.
Like the review Ray!
9/10 really??? So in your opinion the game was nearly perfect…. Your an idiot!!!!
I also thought it was just like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, as in, if you go to the “wrong page”, you just pretend you didn’t and try again; besides, whether or not you botch a case has no effect on the linear game play. Graphics and sound are amazing, and the story is well-done, but what is the point of a painstakingly-crafted world if YOU CAN’T DO JACK SH*T in it??
4/10 at best