L.A. Noire
PS3 (reviewed),
Xbox 360, PC
Publisher: Rockstar
Games
Developer: Team
Bondi
Release Date: 17
May 2011
Can
you read people? Can you, with only a glance, tell if someone is
lying? What hides behind furtive glances and
not-quite-meeting-your-eye looks? Great detectives and policemen do
this routine every day. They work with witnesses and interrogate
suspects to piece together what happened. Searching crime scenes for
clues and confronting someone with facts that counter their lies is
compelling stuff. It's an exciting battle of wits; where
thoroughness in your preparation wins the day. This cerebral
cat-and-mouse game is the basis for Team Bondi's and Rockstar's L.A. Noire. More
detective drama than game it
nonetheless takes players on an amazing interactive journey through
the gritty and rough streets of a faithfully recreated 1940s Los
Angeles.
This time, you are the
law
Cole
Phelps has returned from World War II a haunted man. His time in the
Marines in the Pacific Theatre has left him with personal demons that
he tries to hide and shut away. Phelps has always tried to do what's
right, even if he isn't popular for it, but war isn't so “black and
white.” Phelps joins the L.A. police after the war and he swiftly
rises through the ranks with his singled-minded sense of justice. We
get to guide Phelps as he rises up from a beat cop to glamorous jobs
at the Traffic, Homicide, Vice and Arson desks. The game's story is
told with amazing acting and writing. Every case is filled with
shifty characters, hard-talking cops and everything you would expect
from a gritty police drama. All of the cases come from real-life
crimes. Names and circumstances are changed a bit, but the
authenticity of the game comes through these true-to-life crimes.
In fact, the entire Homicide desk follows the Black Dahlia murders,
an unsolved murder from that time. The overall plot has a solid noir
feeling throughout, and each sassy dame and shadowed gunshot
resonates with the player. The game features fractured story threads
that only come together in the end. As the player closes in, the
whole picture comes into focus and everything that seemed strange now
makes perfect sense. It's a great story, and one that fans of noir
will enjoy whole-heartedly.
Phelps, our conflicted
hero, arrives at a crime scene
Rockstar
is known for giving players an open sandbox to do whatever they'd like in the Grand Theft Auto series.
The mature themes carry over, but little else. True, L.A.
Noire is an open world that you
can roam about exploring. However, instead of running over
pedestrians and shooting everything in site, L.A. Noire
takes a different approach. Since you are the police, folks dive out
of your way if you try to hit them; and your gun can only be pulled
out in specific instances. While this will undoubtedly turn some
away, it's the rest of the game that is a draw. The game plays like
the old “point-and-click adventure” games of yesteryear. Now,
instead of pixel hunting, you wander around crime scenes looking for
items of interest. Wandering near a clue will give your controller a
pulse (if it's rumble-enabled) and a chime, but you can have these
notifications turned off if you'd prefer. Checking a car's bonnet
for blood, looking in trash cans, finding notes left, and comparing
boot sizes are the types of things that Phelps and the player do.
The music and Phelps himself with indicate when every clue has been
discovered (though this too can be turned off). Once you have combed
a crime scene, you chat with witnesses. Confronting them with
evidence when they lie will lead to more opportunities to wring
information out of them. Once the process is repeated a couple of
times, Phelps is tasked with bringing in a suspect and using the
accumulated evidence to extract a confession. It's in these scenes
that L.A. Noire really
shines. The final battle to determine guilt or innocence is pulse
raising.
It's not a noir police
drama without a sassy dame
The
cases spread out across the four desks all play this way. Therein
lies one problem with the game: repetition. Each case starts with a
crime scene. Here, you wander about picking up nearly everything you
can and examining it. Once you find every item of usefulness (and
plenty of useless ones), you talk to a witness. After that, Phelps
and his partner head to another location. Here, you might engage in
a car or foot chase to arrest the suspect. These are alright, but
you begin to expect one or the other every time. After you finish
the chase, you comb another location for clues. This leads you back
to your police station and the interrogation rooms. Another
questioning session follows and you either score a slam dunk by
presenting the correct evidence at the right times, or you muddle
through and get a non-answer. While questioning anyone, you have
access to your notebook (filled with whatever clues you've uncovered)
and Intuition points. Intuition acts like 'Who Wants to be a
Millionaire' lifelines. You can remove wrong answers, or get a
percentage guess (based on all players, if you are connected to the
internet). Once spent, you have to earn more by doing well on cases
or gaining ranks by completing 'street crimes' or cases. At the end
of the case, your superior either praises your excellent detective
skills, or reams you out for incompetence. You can't really “fail”
entirely. Regardless of how you do, you end where you are supposed
to. It's great to experience the whole story and not have to do
everything perfectly. The game even allows you to skip the action
sequences if you fail them too many times. So, it's a story-driven
game, and the game wants you to see the whole story. While this is
not a big deal, it does mean that an arbitrary score is the only
motivation to do well.
Clues could be
anywhere, even on bodies
Besides
the main cases, there really isn't much to do in L.A. Noire
and therein lies the second major problem. Your partner will always
suggest that you drive, but you can “fast travel” by having them
do it. While you are in control, a 'street crime' may be called.
You have the option to ignore it or to respond. These are more
action-oriented than the story cases and are tied to each desk (for
those wanting to go back and complete them). Some are shootouts with
thugs and others are high-speed chases (both on foot and in cars).
There isn't a penalty for ignoring 'street crimes' except that you
can gain ranks and get more Intuition points. These feel slightly
out of place in the game. They really feel like a traditional video
game, while the rest of the action feels more like a novel. It's
hard to explain, but going from an in-depth story case (with a small
body count) to a generic shootout where 10 thugs get shot is jarring.
Most of the time these missions feel like artificial padding or just
thrown in to appease the more blood-thirsty gamers who may have
gotten bored with talking more than shooting. It's a shame that most
of these are “same stuff, different location” missions, and they
really do not add much to the game.
The amazing facial
technology at work on Aaron Staton
Phelps and Stephan
Bekowski grill a suspect during the Traffic desk
L.A. Noire
is a polarising game. It is story-focused (to the point of fault)
and the action is more cerebral than visceral. Fans of detective
stories and noir films will love it. Gamers in the mood for more
action and the usual Rockstar open-world romp will be disappointed.
The story told along the main cases is an amazing 15 hour ride
(increased to 20+ with DLC cases that are on the level of the main
game). Where the game stumbles is in the repetitive nature of each
investigation and the fact that the story is mostly out of your
control. No price for failure means that everyone can see it through
to the end, but that also removes the incentive to do well. The
other distractions (collecting film reels, visiting famous landmarks
and 'street crimes') take the player out of the story-driven game and
put them in a more traditional video game. This doesn't really work
for L.A. Noire in the
long run. I really enjoyed my time with the game and feel that it
should be played by nearly everyone. If you want a great detective
story, look no further.
Gritty noir thrills
Score:
8 out of 10
Bottom Line:
A great game that really showcases what the medium can do with a
great story. Shame that it sometimes falters trying to be more
game-like.
Check it out if
you like: 1940s Americana,
point-and-click adventures, noir thrillers, detective dramas
Game of the
Year Contender – 2011
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