Summary [8.5 out of 10]

Taking place in 1947 Los Angeles, L.A. Noire puts in you the role of Cole Phelps, a war hero recently back from World War II who becomes a police officer and works his way up from beat cop to detective. While featuring action and driving sequences, the game eschews typical open world convention for a linear story with gameplay which places the emphasis on evidence collection and interrogation to solve cases. The tone and feeling of the game is pitch perfect to the time period and really nails the genre. If you are plugged into the style of gameplay the game is very good but it may turn gamers off who are looking for action and mayhem. L.A. Noire isn’t perfect and runs into some issues in terms of repetition and the drive of the story to progress regardless of your success or failure on the investigations but if you like the gameplay mechanics it is still a very satisfying experience.

What’s It Like?

• Mafia II: The look and feel of the game are very reminiscent of Mafia II. Additionally, the driving and combat follows suit with the linear and cinematic similarities between the two games.

• Indigo Prophecy/ Heavy Rain: With heavy emphasis placed on details and evidence collection, L.A. Noire shares a lot of similarities between these two detail oriented titles.

• L.A. Confidential: Okay this isn’t a game but obviously Team Bondi are fans of the James Elroy book series and movie. Several characters are pretty direct takes on characters found in L.A. Confidential and some scenes are cribbed pretty directly from the book/movie.

What’s It Not Like?

• Grand Theft Auto: There are some people out there who may have ignored the marketing on this game and who seem to assume that despite being an L.A. Detective you can go out and create chaos and get up to all sorts of debauchery. These people are really wrong and if they get into this game and find themselves bored because it isn’t what they wanted then they only have themselves to blame. L.A. Noire is not meant to be anything like GTA regardless of who the publisher is.

The Great:

• Graphics: The graphics in L.A. Noire are completely gorgeous and it makes for a perfect representation of L.A. in the 40s. Locations are beautiful and accurate while the character models and animation are life-like and realistic. The details in the graphics are equally up to par here and make for a complete visual package that is really something to see.

• Facial Recognition: In order to provide realistic interrogations, Team Bondi has developed a revolutionary facial mapping system that makes reading people’s faces to tell if they are lying a real, viable option. It you pay attention you can absolutely read the faces of the people you are trying to question. This can be a little creepy at times but for the most part this tech bridges the uncanny valley and ratchets up the feelings of authenticity to 11.

• Story: The story is the absolute driving for behind this game. Told through conversations and cut scenes Phelps unravels cases while a larger story is revealed. The story is deep and layered and makes the progression through the game much more impactful and rewarding. While it goes off the rails somewhat in the third act, it is nevertheless compelling and engaging.

• Acting: I can’t really site the voice acting here as with the animation and facial technology the performances extend beyond just the voices. The performances in this game are top notch and go beyond anything we have really ever seen in games before. This does a lot to bridge the gap between games and movies and bolsters the story quite a lot.

The Good:

• Evidence Collection: This mechanic is not for everyone but as someone who has always been interested in crime scene investigation, this is right up my alley. If you like Law and Order or CSI then there is a decent chance that you will dig this too. It may strike some gamers as tedious but the evidence collection makes you feel like you are really sifting through the crime scene. If this is up your alley then there is a lot to love in this mechanic.

• Interrogations: Interrogations are much like the evidence collection. It may annoy players who aren’t as interested in this sort of thing but with the facial recognition system and the top notch acting, interrogations are very fun and can be exciting when you do it correctly. Some of Phelps’s reactions in the ‘doubt’ option are a little over the top but in general this is  a pretty cool addition that triggers a bit of a gambling response in me when I come close to getting it but choose the wrong option. This can also be a bit frustrating but on the whole it is a cool part of the game.

• Combat: Fist and gun fighting are pretty spot on here. There aren’t as many instances as many gamers would like but when it comes time to fight with guns or fists, the mechanics work really well. I never felt like I was struggling with the controls and each mechanic provides fun challenge as well tight control.

• Skipping action/ convenience: If you come up against a car chase or foot chase or gun fight that is too tough for you or you just don’t feel much like dealing with it right then you can skip past them without penalty. This allows a player who just wants to see the story or gets stuck on one particular spot to continue with the game and everyone can get what they want out of the game. You don’t have to skip, but it is an option and that is always nice.

The Bad

• Repetition: The nature of the game is such that you end up doing the same things over and over and you sort of get into a routine from case to case. I am not sure how this can be fixed with the point of the game being to solve cases and you solve cases doing the same things. If the homicide cases had more variety that would have gone a long way toward shaking it up but that wouldn’t have served the story as well so we are left with a lot of cases that are basically just collect evidence, interrogate, charge, repeat.

• Uneven: Depending on the desk you are working and your interest level in the cases provided, the game can be a bit uneven in terms of interest and enjoyment. That coupled with a disparate distribution of action to interrogations and evidence collection and you have some stretches of the game that don’t mesh well with the rest of the whole.

• Lack of Consequence: When you are doing the investigations you can mess up pretty much everything and still pass the case and move on. Sure, your response from NPCs might be a little different but by and large the story dictates that you have to progress so you do regardless of how well you actually perform. If there was some kind of mechanic to allow you to fail or have to change tactics then this wouldn’t be much of a problem but as it stands, victories seem a little hollow when you can accomplish the same basic thing by failing at every turn.

• Everyone runs: I am not sure what they are putting in the water in 1947 L.A. but it must make perps think it is a good idea to run away from the cops whether they are armed or not. It gets really irritating to show up to talk to a guy and have him immediately bolt when you have had to put up with this happening over and over again already. It also compromises the feelings of realism that everyone runs all the time without question.

Conclusion [8.5 out of 10]

L.A. Noire is a grand experiment in technology and storytelling that succeeds for the most part. It is not going to satisfy everyone’s taste but it is a godsend for people interested in playing detective and for people into the history of the LAPD. I am pretty excited to see what can be done with a sequel now that the framework exists. As for this installment it is well worth a look for the right taste.