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LA Noire Review
For the purposes of this review, the Playstation 3 version was used
It’s Los Angeles in the late 1940s, a city filled with dreams and ambitions. Behind these ideals are the corruptions of a capitalist nation recovering in a post-war period. Stepping into this city is Cole Phelps, a hero of war and straight-as-straight cop. You follow Cole as he makes his way up the ranks of the LAPD through solving cases.
Often billed by those viewing the game from afar as simply a GTA clone, a fair evaluation some might say as a sandbox-looking game developed by Rockstar. But in truth LA Noire is quite far detached from the crime-em-up series, and there’s an argument that it shares more with the point-and-click adventure games than it does with Grand Theft Auto.
LA Noire’s gameplay is split into a few different parts, so let’s get the Grand Theft Auto comparisons out of the way. Cole will often find himself driving around LA. The use of classic cars is a nice touch and whilst the handling seems quite oddly sensitive; it suits the game quite well. The car chase sequences are okay but can seem a little bit forced and scripted, with some of the car disabling shunts looking hilariously out of place.
Chases on foot are a little better, but again seems to be leaning on the side of the pre-decided, with very limited skill or judgement to be used the majority of the time. Throughout the game, Cole is shown to use various methods of finishing an on foot chase, but the inability to choose between them in the majority of cases seems like an oversight.
Fighting sequences appear in two major categories. Brawling makes an appearance in a few points throughout the game with a simple button layout, with block/dodge and punch. Grapple moves and finishing moves are available but only on groggy opponents where a final punch would finish it anyway. It’s competent and besides, you shouldn’t be expecting Fight Night.
More familiarly, there are also gun fighting segments. Cole is limited to the pistol and any weapons he finds on his downed enemies during the gunfight. LA Noire deals with this fairly, in a similar sort of manner to any sort of recent sandbox game, cover-based with an auto-aim feature. It’s unfortunate, however, that the game doesn’t provide the option to subdue as opposed to kill targets, as this could have added extra depth to the story and gameplay.
The bulk of LA Noire’s appeal comes from the puzzle and interviewing segments of the game. Each chapter begins with a case briefing and a starting location. Heading to locations will allow Cole to search for clues. Any one place will have a plethora of examinable objects, of which not all are immediately, or at all, relevant to the case in hand. Some objects can be even examined further for more clues. Whilst this may sound daunting, there are audio cues that allow you to tell if there is more that needs doing on a site (although for those of you wanting a challenge, those can be disabled).
Furthering the investigation is the interviewing sections, where Cole asks a person of interest a series of questions (that the player chooses). Following their answer, you can, by their reaction and the evidence you have to hand, choose to believe them, doubt them (suggest they are lying without proof) or show them that you have proof to the contrary. Playing the interviews out correctly can bag you some more evidence to help you with the case (or convinctions later on), whilst choosing incorrectly can lock you out of essential information, or annoy the interviewee into not speaking further. But it’s how you decide that sets LA Noire apart from the rest.
One of the major selling points of LA Noire is the new facial scanning technology used to create more believable faces. This addition is quite aesthetically pleasing and removes the wooden feeling that is observed with faces in other games, but does bring with it its own set of issues. During my time playing the game, there have been several graphical glitches that seemed to be down to the face scanning technology, as well as moments of disjointed changes between expressions.
The use of this throughout the game also makes the number of unique character faces that you see through the game on the low side. It’s an understandable sort of sacrifice but annoying nonetheless. Other than that, the visual cues given through faces for lying are a little on the exaggerated side, meaning that the interview sessions are generally dead giveaways, provided you have collected all the evidence.
Otherwise, graphically, LA Noire is what is expected from a sandbox: pretty good but not spectacular. The atmosphere of the game is more important, and Rockstar have done very well to make you feel part of Los Angeles in the 40s, with the styling, scenery and sounds very close to what is stereotypical of the time (the radio is a good example).
As a statistics-lover (in games that is, I always hated statistics is school), I do enjoy the post-case review, a summation of the cost of the damage caused by yourself during the case and a small footnote about your performance, alongside a grading. This allows a certain amount of replayability once the game is finished, in an attempt to get the highest grades and the lowest bills (or the highest, if you’ve got that sort of destructive nature).
Playing through the game, you get a sense of linearity, that the case is extremely important and that it is the case which should take all your attention (I haven’t quite decided whether this is a bad thing yet or not). However, very few parts of cases are time limited, and between points of interest there is plenty of time to explore and treat the game more like a sandbox.
Indeed, there are also street missions to do between parts of the game, sort of mini-cases that take the form of the more action-orientated part of the game (shooting, brawling and chasing). These are started via answering the police radio and so can only be activated using police vehicles. Whilst these are not as detailed or as interesting as the main cases, they can be a nice little distraction (although for some, distractions are the last thing they need when trying to solve a case).
In conclusion, LA Noire is a nice deviation from the norm in the action/sandbox genre, attempting to bring with it a case solving/puzzle aspect, albeit somewhat simplified. The game gives limited freedom on a path of nearly false linearity, and the ability to continue the story becomes more convoluted when mistakes are made in cases. The facial scanning feature is pretty good looking but brings its own problems. Whilst the game attempts to mishmash several game genres together into one package, the result is both competent and compelling. Whilst it is not a technical masterpiece or in my opinion as brilliant as some critics are saying it is, it is good and worth a try.
Final Score: 8.5/10
For the purposes of this review, the Playstation 3 version was used
It’s Los Angeles in the late 1940s, a city filled with dreams and ambitions. Behind these ideals are the corruptions of a capitalist nation recovering in a post-war period. Stepping into this city is Cole Phelps, a hero of war and straight-as-straight cop. You follow Cole as he makes his way up the ranks of the LAPD through solving cases.
Often billed by those viewing the game from afar as simply a GTA clone, a fair evaluation some might say as a sandbox-looking game developed by Rockstar. But in truth LA Noire is quite far detached from the crime-em-up series, and there’s an argument that it shares more with the point-and-click adventure games than it does with Grand Theft Auto.
LA Noire’s gameplay is split into a few different parts, so let’s get the Grand Theft Auto comparisons out of the way. Cole will often find himself driving around LA. The use of classic cars is a nice touch and whilst the handling seems quite oddly sensitive; it suits the game quite well. The car chase sequences are okay but can seem a little bit forced and scripted, with some of the car disabling shunts looking hilariously out of place.
Chases on foot are a little better, but again seems to be leaning on the side of the pre-decided, with very limited skill or judgement to be used the majority of the time. Throughout the game, Cole is shown to use various methods of finishing an on foot chase, but the inability to choose between them in the majority of cases seems like an oversight.
Fighting sequences appear in two major categories. Brawling makes an appearance in a few points throughout the game with a simple button layout, with block/dodge and punch. Grapple moves and finishing moves are available but only on groggy opponents where a final punch would finish it anyway. It’s competent and besides, you shouldn’t be expecting Fight Night.
More familiarly, there are also gun fighting segments. Cole is limited to the pistol and any weapons he finds on his downed enemies during the gunfight. LA Noire deals with this fairly, in a similar sort of manner to any sort of recent sandbox game, cover-based with an auto-aim feature. It’s unfortunate, however, that the game doesn’t provide the option to subdue as opposed to kill targets, as this could have added extra depth to the story and gameplay.
The bulk of LA Noire’s appeal comes from the puzzle and interviewing segments of the game. Each chapter begins with a case briefing and a starting location. Heading to locations will allow Cole to search for clues. Any one place will have a plethora of examinable objects, of which not all are immediately, or at all, relevant to the case in hand. Some objects can be even examined further for more clues. Whilst this may sound daunting, there are audio cues that allow you to tell if there is more that needs doing on a site (although for those of you wanting a challenge, those can be disabled).
Furthering the investigation is the interviewing sections, where Cole asks a person of interest a series of questions (that the player chooses). Following their answer, you can, by their reaction and the evidence you have to hand, choose to believe them, doubt them (suggest they are lying without proof) or show them that you have proof to the contrary. Playing the interviews out correctly can bag you some more evidence to help you with the case (or convinctions later on), whilst choosing incorrectly can lock you out of essential information, or annoy the interviewee into not speaking further. But it’s how you decide that sets LA Noire apart from the rest.
One of the major selling points of LA Noire is the new facial scanning technology used to create more believable faces. This addition is quite aesthetically pleasing and removes the wooden feeling that is observed with faces in other games, but does bring with it its own set of issues. During my time playing the game, there have been several graphical glitches that seemed to be down to the face scanning technology, as well as moments of disjointed changes between expressions.
The use of this throughout the game also makes the number of unique character faces that you see through the game on the low side. It’s an understandable sort of sacrifice but annoying nonetheless. Other than that, the visual cues given through faces for lying are a little on the exaggerated side, meaning that the interview sessions are generally dead giveaways, provided you have collected all the evidence.
Otherwise, graphically, LA Noire is what is expected from a sandbox: pretty good but not spectacular. The atmosphere of the game is more important, and Rockstar have done very well to make you feel part of Los Angeles in the 40s, with the styling, scenery and sounds very close to what is stereotypical of the time (the radio is a good example).
As a statistics-lover (in games that is, I always hated statistics is school), I do enjoy the post-case review, a summation of the cost of the damage caused by yourself during the case and a small footnote about your performance, alongside a grading. This allows a certain amount of replayability once the game is finished, in an attempt to get the highest grades and the lowest bills (or the highest, if you’ve got that sort of destructive nature).
Playing through the game, you get a sense of linearity, that the case is extremely important and that it is the case which should take all your attention (I haven’t quite decided whether this is a bad thing yet or not). However, very few parts of cases are time limited, and between points of interest there is plenty of time to explore and treat the game more like a sandbox.
Indeed, there are also street missions to do between parts of the game, sort of mini-cases that take the form of the more action-orientated part of the game (shooting, brawling and chasing). These are started via answering the police radio and so can only be activated using police vehicles. Whilst these are not as detailed or as interesting as the main cases, they can be a nice little distraction (although for some, distractions are the last thing they need when trying to solve a case).
In conclusion, LA Noire is a nice deviation from the norm in the action/sandbox genre, attempting to bring with it a case solving/puzzle aspect, albeit somewhat simplified. The game gives limited freedom on a path of nearly false linearity, and the ability to continue the story becomes more convoluted when mistakes are made in cases. The facial scanning feature is pretty good looking but brings its own problems. Whilst the game attempts to mishmash several game genres together into one package, the result is both competent and compelling. Whilst it is not a technical masterpiece or in my opinion as brilliant as some critics are saying it is, it is good and worth a try.
Final Score: 8.5/10
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LA Noire Review
For the purposes of this review, the Playstation 3 version was used
It’s Los Angeles in the late 1940s, a city filled with dreams and ambitions. Behind these ideals are the corruptions of a capitalist nation recovering in a post-war period. Stepping into this city is Cole Phelps, a hero of war and straight-as-straight cop. You follow Cole as he makes his way up the ranks of the LAPD through solving cases.
Often billed by those viewing the game from afar as simply a GTA clone, a fair evaluation some might say as a sandbox-looking game developed by Rockstar. But in truth LA Noire is quite far detached from the crime-em-up series, and there’s an argument that it shares more with the point-and-click adventure games than it does with Grand Theft Auto.
LA Noire’s gameplay is split into a few different parts, so let’s get the Grand Theft Auto comparisons out of the way. Cole will often find himself driving around LA. The use of classic cars is a nice touch and whilst the handling seems quite oddly sensitive; it suits the game quite well. The car chase sequences are okay but can seem a little bit forced and scripted, with some of the car disabling shunts looking hilariously out of place.
Chases on foot are a little better, but again seems to be leaning on the side of the pre-decided, with very limited skill or judgement to be used the majority of the time. Throughout the game, Cole is shown to use various methods of finishing an on foot chase, but the inability to choose between them in the majority of cases seems like an oversight.
Fighting sequences appear in two major categories. Brawling makes an appearance in a few points throughout the game with a simple button layout, with block/dodge and punch. Grapple moves and finishing moves are available but only on groggy opponents where a final punch would finish it anyway. It’s competent and besides, you shouldn’t be expecting Fight Night.
More familiarly, there are also gun fighting segments. Cole is limited to the pistol and any weapons he finds on his downed enemies during the gunfight. LA Noire deals with this fairly, in a similar sort of manner to any sort of recent sandbox game, cover-based with an auto-aim feature. It’s unfortunate, however, that the game doesn’t provide the option to subdue as opposed to kill targets, as this could have added extra depth to the story and gameplay.
The bulk of LA Noire’s appeal comes from the puzzle and interviewing segments of the game. Each chapter begins with a case briefing and a starting location. Heading to locations will allow Cole to search for clues. Any one place will have a plethora of examinable objects, of which not all are immediately, or at all, relevant to the case in hand. Some objects can be even examined further for more clues. Whilst this may sound daunting, there are audio cues that allow you to tell if there is more that needs doing on a site (although for those of you wanting a challenge, those can be disabled).
Furthering the investigation is the interviewing sections, where Cole asks a person of interest a series of questions (that the player chooses). Following their answer, you can, by their reaction and the evidence you have to hand, choose to believe them, doubt them (suggest they are lying without proof) or show them that you have proof to the contrary. Playing the interviews out correctly can bag you some more evidence to help you with the case (or convinctions later on), whilst choosing incorrectly can lock you out of essential information, or annoy the interviewee into not speaking further. But it’s how you decide that sets LA Noire apart from the rest.
One of the major selling points of LA Noire is the new facial scanning technology used to create more believable faces. This addition is quite aesthetically pleasing and removes the wooden feeling that is observed with faces in other games, but does bring with it its own set of issues. During my time playing the game, there have been several graphical glitches that seemed to be down to the face scanning technology, as well as moments of disjointed changes between expressions.
The use of this throughout the game also makes the number of unique character faces that you see through the game on the low side. It’s an understandable sort of sacrifice but annoying nonetheless. Other than that, the visual cues given through faces for lying are a little on the exaggerated side, meaning that the interview sessions are generally dead giveaways, provided you have collected all the evidence.
Otherwise, graphically, LA Noire is what is expected from a sandbox: pretty good but not spectacular. The atmosphere of the game is more important, and Rockstar have done very well to make you feel part of Los Angeles in the 40s, with the styling, scenery and sounds very close to what is stereotypical of the time (the radio is a good example).
As a statistics-lover (in games that is, I always hated statistics is school), I do enjoy the post-case review, a summation of the cost of the damage caused by yourself during the case and a small footnote about your performance, alongside a grading. This allows a certain amount of replayability once the game is finished, in an attempt to get the highest grades and the lowest bills (or the highest, if you’ve got that sort of destructive nature).
Playing through the game, you get a sense of linearity, that the case is extremely important and that it is the case which should take all your attention (I haven’t quite decided whether this is a bad thing yet or not). However, very few parts of cases are time limited, and between points of interest there is plenty of time to explore and treat the game more like a sandbox.
Indeed, there are also street missions to do between parts of the game, sort of mini-cases that take the form of the more action-orientated part of the game (shooting, brawling and chasing). These are started via answering the police radio and so can only be activated using police vehicles. Whilst these are not as detailed or as interesting as the main cases, they can be a nice little distraction (although for some, distractions are the last thing they need when trying to solve a case).
In conclusion, LA Noire is a nice deviation from the norm in the action/sandbox genre, attempting to bring with it a case solving/puzzle aspect, albeit somewhat simplified. The game gives limited freedom on a path of nearly false linearity, and the ability to continue the story becomes more convoluted when mistakes are made in cases. The facial scanning feature is pretty good looking but brings its own problems. Whilst the game attempts to mishmash several game genres together into one package, the result is both competent and compelling. Whilst it is not a technical masterpiece or in my opinion as brilliant as some critics are saying it is, it is good and worth a try.
Final Score: 8.5/10
For the purposes of this review, the Playstation 3 version was used
It’s Los Angeles in the late 1940s, a city filled with dreams and ambitions. Behind these ideals are the corruptions of a capitalist nation recovering in a post-war period. Stepping into this city is Cole Phelps, a hero of war and straight-as-straight cop. You follow Cole as he makes his way up the ranks of the LAPD through solving cases.
Often billed by those viewing the game from afar as simply a GTA clone, a fair evaluation some might say as a sandbox-looking game developed by Rockstar. But in truth LA Noire is quite far detached from the crime-em-up series, and there’s an argument that it shares more with the point-and-click adventure games than it does with Grand Theft Auto.
LA Noire’s gameplay is split into a few different parts, so let’s get the Grand Theft Auto comparisons out of the way. Cole will often find himself driving around LA. The use of classic cars is a nice touch and whilst the handling seems quite oddly sensitive; it suits the game quite well. The car chase sequences are okay but can seem a little bit forced and scripted, with some of the car disabling shunts looking hilariously out of place.
Chases on foot are a little better, but again seems to be leaning on the side of the pre-decided, with very limited skill or judgement to be used the majority of the time. Throughout the game, Cole is shown to use various methods of finishing an on foot chase, but the inability to choose between them in the majority of cases seems like an oversight.
Fighting sequences appear in two major categories. Brawling makes an appearance in a few points throughout the game with a simple button layout, with block/dodge and punch. Grapple moves and finishing moves are available but only on groggy opponents where a final punch would finish it anyway. It’s competent and besides, you shouldn’t be expecting Fight Night.
More familiarly, there are also gun fighting segments. Cole is limited to the pistol and any weapons he finds on his downed enemies during the gunfight. LA Noire deals with this fairly, in a similar sort of manner to any sort of recent sandbox game, cover-based with an auto-aim feature. It’s unfortunate, however, that the game doesn’t provide the option to subdue as opposed to kill targets, as this could have added extra depth to the story and gameplay.
The bulk of LA Noire’s appeal comes from the puzzle and interviewing segments of the game. Each chapter begins with a case briefing and a starting location. Heading to locations will allow Cole to search for clues. Any one place will have a plethora of examinable objects, of which not all are immediately, or at all, relevant to the case in hand. Some objects can be even examined further for more clues. Whilst this may sound daunting, there are audio cues that allow you to tell if there is more that needs doing on a site (although for those of you wanting a challenge, those can be disabled).
Furthering the investigation is the interviewing sections, where Cole asks a person of interest a series of questions (that the player chooses). Following their answer, you can, by their reaction and the evidence you have to hand, choose to believe them, doubt them (suggest they are lying without proof) or show them that you have proof to the contrary. Playing the interviews out correctly can bag you some more evidence to help you with the case (or convinctions later on), whilst choosing incorrectly can lock you out of essential information, or annoy the interviewee into not speaking further. But it’s how you decide that sets LA Noire apart from the rest.
One of the major selling points of LA Noire is the new facial scanning technology used to create more believable faces. This addition is quite aesthetically pleasing and removes the wooden feeling that is observed with faces in other games, but does bring with it its own set of issues. During my time playing the game, there have been several graphical glitches that seemed to be down to the face scanning technology, as well as moments of disjointed changes between expressions.
The use of this throughout the game also makes the number of unique character faces that you see through the game on the low side. It’s an understandable sort of sacrifice but annoying nonetheless. Other than that, the visual cues given through faces for lying are a little on the exaggerated side, meaning that the interview sessions are generally dead giveaways, provided you have collected all the evidence.
Otherwise, graphically, LA Noire is what is expected from a sandbox: pretty good but not spectacular. The atmosphere of the game is more important, and Rockstar have done very well to make you feel part of Los Angeles in the 40s, with the styling, scenery and sounds very close to what is stereotypical of the time (the radio is a good example).
As a statistics-lover (in games that is, I always hated statistics is school), I do enjoy the post-case review, a summation of the cost of the damage caused by yourself during the case and a small footnote about your performance, alongside a grading. This allows a certain amount of replayability once the game is finished, in an attempt to get the highest grades and the lowest bills (or the highest, if you’ve got that sort of destructive nature).
Playing through the game, you get a sense of linearity, that the case is extremely important and that it is the case which should take all your attention (I haven’t quite decided whether this is a bad thing yet or not). However, very few parts of cases are time limited, and between points of interest there is plenty of time to explore and treat the game more like a sandbox.
Indeed, there are also street missions to do between parts of the game, sort of mini-cases that take the form of the more action-orientated part of the game (shooting, brawling and chasing). These are started via answering the police radio and so can only be activated using police vehicles. Whilst these are not as detailed or as interesting as the main cases, they can be a nice little distraction (although for some, distractions are the last thing they need when trying to solve a case).
In conclusion, LA Noire is a nice deviation from the norm in the action/sandbox genre, attempting to bring with it a case solving/puzzle aspect, albeit somewhat simplified. The game gives limited freedom on a path of nearly false linearity, and the ability to continue the story becomes more convoluted when mistakes are made in cases. The facial scanning feature is pretty good looking but brings its own problems. Whilst the game attempts to mishmash several game genres together into one package, the result is both competent and compelling. Whilst it is not a technical masterpiece or in my opinion as brilliant as some critics are saying it is, it is good and worth a try.
Final Score: 8.5/10