Loading ...L.A. Noire Review
Cinematic adventure at its finest.
“A city on the verge of greatness, a new type of city” - L.A. Noire’s opening words and more importantly, a statement that will resonate on a second play through. From the onset, L.A. Noire deftly blends its narrative, dialogue and mechanics into a seamless interactive cinematic experience. Every word and action in this game contributes to a sensual yet sinister mood, set perfectly even from as early on as the opening sequence.
Rockstar and developer Team Bondi have come together to create something very special. From L.A. Noire’s beautifully realistic setting to it’s provocative tale, it raises the bar in many areas. Sure, the MotionScan technology is beyond impressive, adding to the depth of the story; for once being able to see emotion rather than just hear it - but this tech can only be as good as the real performances that it captures, and this is yet another area where Noire really excels in.
The voice acting is superb in most cases, but its physical emotion is what really steals the show. During interviews and interrogations it’s very easy to see how true facial expression can contribute to a character's depth without the need for unnecessary dialogue. For instance, if you were interviewing a little girl who's voice quivered a bit upon answering your questions, you might think she is lying just on voice alone, but take into account her facial expression or body language and you begin to realize her nervousness is a product of being scared not necessarily withholding information.
Beyond performance and the technology that brings it all to life, L.A. Noire has so much more to offer. The narrative is one thing that really stands out above all else. The story is rooted in classic film noir style, and stays true to several of the elements that made many of those films great; including, but not limited to corruption, murder, betrayal and tragedy. The story follows Cole Phelps, a decorated World War II vet-turned cop. Phelps is full of ambition and wants to make a name for himself in the LAPD. Starting out as just a patrolman he is assigned a crime scene evidence detail, essentially, the first part of a multi-case tutorial on the basics of gameplay. Don’t be scared off by the simplicity of the first few cases, again these are tutorial-esque cases, the good cases have yet to be assigned to you.
The crime scene mechanics are also worth mentioning, as they add a strong sense of realism to the experience. This isn’t a Dirty Harry-esque mow ‘em down with your .44 Magnum type of game. To the contrary, in many cases cold hard evidence will be your form of ammunition. In some ways L.A. Noire is kind of like a detective simulator. It’s really important that each crime scene is combed over thoroughly - missing key pieces of information in a case is akin to bringing an unloaded gun to a gun fight. As Phelps walks about the crime scene a piano key will note or the controller will vibrate signaling there is a clue to examine. However, not everything at a given crime scene is important. Phelps will often give the player a friendly nudge as to the relevancy of a certain potential clue. Items that are relevant will automatically be added to your notebook; the be-all-end-all source of all information gathered during a case, consisting of persons of interest that Phelps has encountered, clues that have been found, and locations that have been visited. Note that if aimlessly combing a crime scene waiting for the controller to buzz or the piano key to sound is not your thing, you can opt to turn it off to make finding clues more realistic and difficult. Music also plays while at a crime scene. Upon finding all relevant clues, the music will turn off notifying you that all clues have been acquired, but this too can be turned off to increase the difficulty of evidence discovery.
Finding clues and shoving the evidence down suspects throats isn’t the only way to fight crime in L.A. Noire, of course. Sometimes the situation calls for a more forceful approach. Phelps will find himself exchanging blows with suspects, speeding after them in high speed car chases, pursuing them on foot - which in some cases ends up scaling up walls and jumping across rooftops, and also the ever famous shootouts. There are even times when Phelps needs to be more inconspicuous and has to tail someone either by car or foot without being noticed.
The seamless blend of all of this action is what makes L.A. Noire so well balanced. While the patrol desk cases are relatively simplistic and short, it’s the following four desks - traffic, homicide, vice, and arson where the story really starts to heat up. Also during your time at each desk a series of street crimes will be called out over the radio at which point you can swoop in and save the day. There are 40 street crimes in all spread throughout the five desks, but if you miss some during one desk they will appear during another.
Regarding story missions, there are 21 mission spread across the five desks. At each desk Phelps is assigned to a new partner. While driving, Phelps and his partner will usually share quite a bit of dialogue which really builds these characters and makes the experience that much more indulgent. Phelps’ character is the one in which has the most depth and complexity. Over the course of the game there will be a series of flashbacks to Phelps’ days in the military that also add even more depth and complexity to his character. Granted, not all characters have much depth to them, in fact, quite a few characters come off a bit as one-dimensional and lack personality and emotion.
While L.A. Noire can come off as a perfect game, it does have its flaws. That being said, these flaws are nothing substantial, and in all honesty, borderline on nit-picking. For instance, the overarching story of L.A. Noire seems to always take precedence over variable decisions made in a case. Lets say you did a less than stellar job in a case but somehow got lucky and still got through it, in the next case the captain will tell you how amazing and brilliant you are, despite offending all of the people of interest and obtaining the absolute minimum amount of clues to successfully complete the case. In some situations it just seems a little unorthodox and annoying. Graphically there were some glitches, but nothing that made a playing session not worth playing.
Although L.A. Noire initially gives the implication that it would be play similar to a 1940’s themed Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption, it does not. True, the game is free roam, but unlike other titles that utilize Rockstar's RAGE engine, it is very limited in terms of what the player is allowed to do. The largely authentic map is explorable, for instance, but there is little to do outside of the various cases and street crimes. L.A. Noire has a “directed” narrative, not a linear one. Sure, the cases are linear in fashion but it’s designed that way to contribute to the mood and tone that the game sets. For Cole Phelps to randomly whip out his gun and mow down a handful of pedestrians and jack an occupied vehicle would be unnecessary and doesn’t fit in the story that L.A. Noire is depicting. It would be an unnatural transition for Phelps to commit crimes and then walk into the police department where he works as if nothing happened. It just wouldn’t work.
Rockstar and Team Bondi have crafted a near perfect game. From beginning to end L.A. Noire never loses sight of the mood and tone it sets right from the beginning. The game is balanced very well and it’s overarching story is well told. Despite a few nit-picking flaws, there is absolutely no reason not to play L.A. Noire.
| L.A. Noire | |
|---|---|
| Gameplay |   |
| L.A. Noire blends many elements to create its brilliant and engaging gameplay. From combing crime scenes to chasing suspects across rooftops to thrilling shootouts, it’s all here. | |
| Sound | |
| Superb voice acting, along with an amazing score and radio station that really help set the tone of the late 1940s. | |
| Graphics |  |
| This game was made to impress when it comes to graphics. More importantly is how the MotionScan technology was used to bring more depth to the characters and bring physical emotion to a gaming experience. | |
| Controls | |
| The controls are simplistic and make sense. Driving and shooting mechanics are up to par with the rest of Rockstar’s third-person action titles. | |
| Overall | |
| L.A. Noire lives up to the hype that was once bestowed upon it. Its stylish cinematic feel and MotionScan technology along with brilliant voice acting bring not only the characters to life but the city and the story as well. | |
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