1. Interloper

   8

   There is a lot wrong and a lot right about L.A. Noire. First, the good. The newly introduced motion capture on the people that you meet throughout the game is pretty incredible, and is certainly a revolutionary step in gaming. The dialogue is well done, and well acted, some of it even made me chuckle from time to time. The city is beautiful and feels immersive, it's fun to simply drive in one of the many incredible cars that are available to be driven around LA. The graphics are very good, which only strengthens the new face motion capture for a truly wonderful experience when walking around, searching for clues and talking to people. Unfortunately, this game gets tedious quite fast though. You will feel like you are doing the same thing over and over after every case, and there is a particular desk which has way too many similar cases. After about 2/3 of the game, it will feel more like a drag because the story is also rather forgettable and tedious. Your view of the main protagonist changes significantly and personally, I do not think that he should've been cast in such a bad light closer to 3/4 of the game. The last desk was especially boring, which also took a very strange turn rather abruptly and was also hindered by an attrocious ending. Regarding the actual gameplay, there are certainly some issues with the questioning. Because some actors overact, and some underact, you are sometimes left with quite an unfair judgement of deciding whether someone is lying or telling the truth. Also when presenting evidence to support your accusation, there are many times when picking something would've actually made sense in the context of the case, but did not hold true because there was no flexibility in presenting your evidence and the structure was rather linear, as is most of the game. Nevertheless, it is a decent game, and definitely one that needs to be tried out by everybody - though it is by no means FOR everybody to enjoy. Those who are expecting a GTA style game - look elsewhere. It is a mostly enjoyable, although quite linear experience, and feels more like a movie than a game. I would give the first half of the game a 9 and the second a 7, so overall I feel it deserves an 8.… Expand

   • Helpful?

     4 of 4 users said yes
2. RPGaddict

   6

   If you are looking for a best facial animations in gaming history then you'll love LA Noire. However, if you're looking for a varied and involving experience you may be slightly let down like me. Heavy Rain is a much better game in terms of 'an interactive movie experience' as after the first half of LA Noire you'll be starting to wonder if there is more to the game than driving slowly from A to B and deciding whether people are being A - Truthful, B - Withholding or C - Lying judging by their over emphasised facial expressions. To begin with the gameplay is fascinating and the graphics will blow you away, but ultimately this is a shallow gaming experience which tries to be deeper than it is with overly long investigations and an insight into the character you play as. Cole Phelps is not your typical Rockstar-esque protagonist; he dreams of a perfect world and plays by the rules, so much so that you'll wish he could just pistol whip some suspects for a change as they surely did back in those days. Forced plot lines spoil what has gone before later in the game, but I won't give anything away. In terms of gun action, it's a shame that there isn't more of this in LA Noire as the cover-shoot dynamic is as good as in the GTA games. These encounters become very similar / predictable the more the game goes on and things aren't varied by weapons as Cole generally only carries a pistol. Car chases add another side mission task, but I found these to be pre-determined so that the car you were chasing couldn't be caught until it inevitably ran off the road itself allowing you to make the arrest. Seriously, you can smash / shoot the crap out of the cars but it aint stopping until the game engine dictates it. Overall, I found the game to be far too linear and stiff with the over-arching story a little weak which is surprising considering Rockstar's strength in story telling. After the first half you'll desperately want something exciting to happen, but it just doesn't come and you'll still drive from A to B and repeat the same structure until the end. For a piece of graphical achievement I'd recommend this, but if you're looking for an interactive adventure that you keep you on the edge of your seat take a serious look at Heavy Rain.… Expand

   • Helpful?

     6 of 7 users said yes
3. Andy8472

   3

   if you thought gta 4 was repetitive, you're about to get blown out of the water. so, you either drive chase someone, on foot chase someone, have a shootout and do an iterview... now, imagine these are always exactly the same, and now imagine every mission is just these 4 things, over and over and over and over again... well, thats la noire… Expand

   • Helpful?

     9 of 15 users said yes

See all 209 User Reviews