So I’ve been getting my teeth firmly sunk into Rockstar’s latest epic L.A Noire and frankly I’ve been pretty much blown away with what I’ve seen, there are some criticisms only minor ones mind you and all things that would be fixed via downloadable content or further releases in the franchise ala Grand Theft Auto.
Just another day for the L.A.P.D
I’m not really here to review the game as such today just want to make some observations, comparisons and comments because this game is great and puts many others to shame not to mention it’s more entertaining than a whole lot of films out there and this game is one of those that’s really trying to blur the lines between the two mediums.
L.A Noire or L.A Black as a few people at my current place of employment refer to it as, is a hardboiled detective thriller very akin to films like L.A Confidential and The Untouchables. The events take place in 1947 and the character you are put in the shoes of is one Officer Cole Phelps.
Phelps starts as a rookie beat cop on the bad streets of post war L.A he was a decorated soldier during the war and husband and father of 2. Straight from the off Rockstar and Team Bondi (Noire’s developer) are obviously striving for something more than GTA in a mobster setting. The focus is on police work not hustling honest people and shooting guys for having no respect; it’s about building a case then slapping the perp with that piece of crucial evidence your partner told you was a waste of time to put the guy away for good. The interesting thing is just how engrossing the experience is for the player or players in my case as my brother sat with me for at least the first few hours of the game helping me separate the honest victims from the scumbag liars. and how much attention you have to pay to what’s said and who said it and where things were found relative to the case is almost overwhelming.
I can honestly say it’s been a very long time since I’ve been engrossed the way I have with Noire; I actually feel like a brilliant detective when I get everything right and feel truly awful when questioning turns sour or in one case I honestly felt terrible when I realised I sent the wrong man down for murder but by then was too late to correct my mistake; I just have to hope to redeem myself on the next case.
For those not in to games so much there is something here for you too, whilst you may be unfamiliar with the typiical drive here, shoot that guy, duck behind cover there they are merely the connecting dots to keep the core of the game or interactive film as some call it moving along the narrative but all the dots as I put it can be skipped if found difficult or turned off completely and you can be left with the meat of the L.A Noire experience which is just fookin’ brilliant.
The tech behind the game (promise not to nerd out here) is the sweet sweet icing on this delectable cake. Team Bondi have been working on their face capture tech probably longer than the game itself. you are effectively watching real actors play the parts and it’s real refreshing especially when you can start picking people out of the game straight from films and shows you’ve seen. (My favourite so far has been Matt Parkman from Heroes) The faces whilst still not as real as real life are still dam good and it brings along everything from the actor’s facial impressions, ranging from honest fear, shady grimaces and flat out bollocks. This pure attention to detail is obviously used to full effect to add depth to the interrogations and whilst on occasion (mainly early on) it is a real fine line between truth/doubt/lie and is a bit frustrating when you pick the wrong option so whilst great the faces don’t give away guaranteed tells.
An example of one of L.A Noire’s many actor’s in a capture session and their virtual counterpart
As you play though you’ll realise you can only accuse a suspect of a lie if you can prove it so just check your handy police hand book before throwing wild accusations around and if you still struggle you can use intuition points earned as you rank up to remove a wrong answer or get the percentages for what the online community chose; very Who Wants To Be A Millionaire I know. The great thing is all cases once finished can be replayed and frankly you are going to replay them especially the ones you messed up as you get a star rating out of 5 so those 1 star cases are going to bug you if your anything like me. The one criticism I’ve seen in a few places and I do tend to agree with is that because of the case structure the overarching story of Detective Phelps does feel a tad disjointed at times and I feel that just adding some extra sort of prologue/epilogue to each case may of helped with keeping cases separate but with opportunity to link them to the bigger picture that is L.A Noire’s story. I do enjoy the flashbacks of Phelps’ army experiences between cases though as they add some dimension to his character but they do also add to the jarring effect at times. Other than that I really do love what Bondi have done here and hope they continue to push the good parts of this game (maybe GTA 5 anyone???)
By now if your still reading it’s clear I like this game I’m yet to finish it so I don’t know how Phelps’ commitment to cleaning up the filthy streets of L.A turn out just yet but I look forward to finding out; but I’m left with a pretty big nagging feeling…………… How does this game succeed were so many films fail?? L.A Noire does take many cues from films, great films at that especially the likes of L.A Confidential, Godfather and even Blade Runner to some extent but this game tells a gritty dramatic some times even heart pounding crime thriller and it’s a GAME!!! L.A Noire isn’t perfect by any means but it is the first film… sorry game that is blurring “THAT” line, in my opinion at least. It does so much that lots of films I’ve seen flat out fail at, everything from deep character development to coherent narrative. L.A Noire truly is a ground breaking experience not perfect but still an absolute must play game even if your not that into games you have to give this one a try at the very least. Now to finish up cleaning those filthy streets and taking care of those scumbag criminals.
See You SpaceCowboys……………………..
BTW
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