L.A. Noire (Xbox 360) Review
Posted by Justin Weinblatt on 06.02.2011
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Vitals
GenreAction Adventure
SystemXbox 360, Wii, PS3
Release Date
Q32007
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After a long a difficult development cycle, L.A. Noire has finally reached store shelves. Does this adventure live up to the hype?
Game: L.A. Noire
Developer: Team Bondi
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Genre: Open-World/Action
Number of Players: 1
Rated M for Mature
L.A. Noire is going to be a very divisive game. Some reviewers may trash it, and others may nominate it for game of the year. It’s a game with incredible strengths and glaring weaknesses. In the end, L.A. Noire is a game that manages to be much more than the sum of its somewhat underwhelming parts.
Buy two suits. Get them pressed.
L.A. Noire tells the story of Cole Phelps, a veteran returning from World War II. Phelps is eager to continue to serve his country, so he joins the LAPD. Cole is a fresh faced idealist who seems to be the perfect candidate for the police force. Cole’s character is explored in two intertwined narrative threads. One narrative thread focuses on Cole in his present day, which happens to be 1940′s LA, rising through the ranks of the LAPD. The other shows Cole as a military officer in the Japanese front of World War II. As these two distinct plot threads merge, Cole slowly becomes one of the more complex protagonists in recent gaming.
The bulk of L.A. Noire’s gameplay involves solving cases. After a lengthy tutorial, it will be up to you, as Cole Phelps, to solve some of the LAPD’s most difficult crimes. Cases follow a pretty basic pattern. First, you’ll scour the crime scene for clues. This means wandering around until your controller vibrates and hitting the A button. The clue hunting will be familiar to anybody who has played point and click adventure games in the past. It is the modern day equivalent of a pixel hunt. While these sequences can be dull, they’re generally just short enough to avoid overstaying their welcome. Once you have gathered clues, you’ll interrogate witnesses. After you’ve uncovered a solid lead, you’ll head out to the next location where the process will begin again.
Nothing to see here folks.
Interrogations are by far the most interesting aspect of L.A. Noire. These scenes play out quite similarly to trial scenes in the Ace Attorney series. After each statement by a witness you’re given three options. If you think the witness is telling the truth you can press A to gently prod them for more details. If you think they are lying, you can press X to take a more aggressive approach. If you know that they’re lying and you have the evidence to back it up, you can press Y to confront them with the smoking gun.
How exactly do you tell if a witness or suspect is lying? It’s all in the face. L.A. Noire makes incredibly use of new motion capture technology that brings the face of each character to life. The engine runs beautifully, perfectly syncing voice with facial animation. When characters lie they might shift their gaze away from you, swallow hard, or display an odd facial tick. A keen player will pick up on these tells, and break through the deception. The system isn’t perfect. The line between doubt and lie is sometimes too fine, and like many other adventure games the link between clues and testimony sometimes seems ambiguous. Oftentimes, you’ll have several clues at your disposal that could logically prove a lie, but the game will only accept one as the correct answer. Despite these quibbles, this is an impressive first attempt with very ambitious new technology. I hope that this technology will be explored further in a sequel or another franchise. It’s worth noting at this point that L.A. Noire features spectacular voicework, which works wonderfully in conjunction with the motion capture technology to create a sense of immersion.
Liar liar pants on fire.
While the interrogations are exciting, the rest of the gameplay isn’t nearly as strong. During cases you’ll engage in action sequences which include chasing perps on foot, car chases, shoot outs, and fist fights. None of these sequences are ever really bad, but they are uninspired. Combat is particularly underwhelming. Gunfights are simple cover based affairs that lack depth. Cover based shooting works great for hectic war games, but it seems out of place when confronting one or two enemies. Fist fights are especially shallow and can typically be won by mashing on the the A button.
If you ever die in a fight, you’ll be able to pick up almost exactly where you left off. If you fail enough times, the game will let you skip through the scene in question. If you try to lock up the wrong suspect, or completely blow an interrogation, there will be no major penalty. Your boss will have some harsh words for you, but the story will progress the same whether you’re an ace investigator or a total buffoon. Rockstar and Team Bondi wanted everyone to be able to experience the story regardless of their gaming skill. The only real motivation for doing well in L.A. Noire is to improve the ranking you receive at the end of the mission. I understand why Team Bondi decided not to punish weaker players, but I would have appreciated more of a tangible reward for those who excelled.
You won’t like me when I’m angry.
When you’re not involved in a case, you’re allowed to roam around a beautifully crafted rendition of 1940′s LA. Team Bondi went through great lengths to successfully recreate LA in the early days of Hollywood. You’re free to wander around, collect classic cars, see the sites, and answer distress calls from your cruiser, which activates short action sequences. However, you shouldn’t let this huge city fool you. Those expecting Grand Theft Auto from a cop’s perspective may be disappointed. Unlike the Grand Theft Auto franchise, L.A. Noire should not be considered an open world game. While LA seems like an open world at first glance, it is actually surprisingly dull. Aside from the aforementioned street crimes, there is not much to do in LA. You can scour the vast city for film reels and cars, but unless you are the kind of gamer who needs 1000 achievement points in every game, you probably won’t find much to interest you in the city. Essentially, L.A. is a pretty but very boring hub. It feels more like a Hollywood set than an actual city.
L.A. Noire is a good looking game. As mentioned before, the facial animation technology is impressive. This technology is used for any character that you’ll interact with. The locations you’ll traverse are all rendered nicely, and perfectly capture the Noire vibe. Many of the game’s cutscenes are outstanding, especially those that take place during World War 2. On the other hand, there are some unsettling graphical hiccups. The framerate will slowdown now and then, and there is some pop up. Occasionally, you’ll run into a texture that looks like it was taken from a Nintendo 64 game. This doesn’t happen often, but when it does it damages your sense of immersion.
In terms of sound, L.A. Noire is a mixed bag. The music is perfectly suited to the Noir genre, but it’s not all that memorable. Voice acting is universally strong, but some NPCs will frequently spout the same line of dialogue. Every time I walked through my police station, I overheard a coworker talking about how he’d like to upgrade his weapon to a .45. After hearing this statement for the 50th time, I was ready to put a .45 round in his head.
L.A. Noire’s greatest strength is its narrative. L.A. Noire tells a rich and nuanced tale, which I will discuss in more detail later. Unfortunately, the story takes a long time to get rolling. The story is divided into four phases of Cole’s detective career. Cole starts out at the bottom rung of the detective ladder, as a traffic cop. After proving himself, he’ll progress to the homicide desk, then the vice desk, and finally to the arson desk. This path is predetermined and your successes and failures in the game will not impact Cole’s career path.
L.A is big, but empty.
The traffic and homicide desks were, frankly, a bore. After the initial novelty of the game wore off, I found myself worn out by routine. I never thought investigating murders could be quite so uninteresting. After several hours, I was considering giving up my badge once and for all. I’m thankful that I stuck with the game, because things start to pick up at the halfway point. After graduating to the vice desk, the game’s true story emerges. Suddenly the game is not just about a cliched hot shot cop tracking down a cliched murderer. It is about Cole Phelps, and his company from World War II. Cole’s personal history begins to intertwine with a scandal that involving drugs, arson, crooked real estate, old friends, old enemies, and some of the most powerful men in L.A. Aside from an out of left field plot twist involving Cole’s family life, the story continually gains momentum until it reaches a rousing conclusion.
How much you enjoy L.A. Noire will ultimately come down to how much you dig its story. The story is impressively subtle. Team Bondi does not belittle its audience by pointing out every key plot moment, every metaphor, every moral, and every nod to Film Noir. Aside from one notable “You Know, I Learned Something Today” kind of speech, L.A. Noire lets gamers digest the story in their own way. The story touches on many issues. Chief among these issues is the issue of returning veterans. These men must adjust to a different kind of war, where enemies wear suits rather than uniforms and wield pens rather than guns. Their war is now with their own countrymen, who continue to use the soldiers to their own ends. In a broader sense, the story is about Cole’s return from war, and his struggle to maintain a worldview of right and wrong in light of his damaging experience on the front lines. I read Cole’s journey as a descent from the patriotism and simplicity which seemed to define World War II America into the ambiguity that defined Noir. L.A. Noire’s story begs to be discussed and analyzed, which is more than can be said for the average game story.
The 411
Playing L.A. Noire was a very strange experience. Throughout much of the game I found myself disinterested by the underwhelming gameplay mechanics. By the end of the experience, I became so invested in the story that I was willing to overlook the game’s shortcomings. Those painfully boring early days as a traffic cop were nearly forgotten. As I said earlier, L.A. Noire is a game that is far more than the sum of its parts. It is also a game that not everyone will enjoy. Those looking for an experience like Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption will be greatly disappointed. Those who come into L.A. Noire with an open mind and a bit of patience will likely be enthralled by the end. If Team Bondi’s next effort combines L.A. Noire’s great storytelling with equally appealing gameplay, they could have a true 10 out of 10 classic on their hand. As for now they will have to settle for a compelling, yet flawed experience.
Graphics9.0L.A. Looks marvelous, and the facial animation is incredible. A few issues, such as pop up, frame rate problems, and the occasional blurry texture, mar an otherwise stunning game.
Gameplay7.0 L.A. Noire’s investigations are modern day pixel hunts, and its combat mechanics are woefully dated. Interrogations are the most engaging aspect of L.A. Noire’s gameplay. Sound9.0L.A. Noire’s music is appropriate to the setting, but never truly stands out. On the other hand, the voice acting is superb. Lasting Appeal7.5Clocking in at around 15 hours, this is a reasonably long game. Like many adventure games, a second playthrough isn’t much fun, and there isn’t much to do outside of the main quest. Fun Factor 9.0A strong conclusion and a great story help make L.A. Noire an experience that is far more than the some of its parts. Overall8.5 [ Very Good ] legend
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Article source: http://www.411mania.com/games/reviews/188363
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