Extra Punctuation: L.A. Noire Is a Bad Adventure Game

[SideSmash]

This proves to me that, like Spoony and Angry Joe, Yahtzee hates pretty much everything in the game industry.

Not that it's a bad thing, it's his opinion and all, but his videos get so predictable with this in mind. As in, "well, of course you didn't like it Yahtzee."

 

[Photocopier]

Yes, I completely agree with yahtzee here, LA Noire was far too easy- It was like playing an adventure game with a walkthrough (which for me takes all the fun out of it).

We need a new myst game

 

[Kanatatsu]

The game Yahtzee describes sounds like a whole lot of no fun.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Yes Mr. Chroshaw, you are being overly cynical.

Personally I find this game quite a refreshing experience in an industry full of action games, it requires you to think (not very hard mind you) and explore, without it feeling too much like a chore. (in my opinion of course).

Also I think a time limit is quite a bad idea, seeing as the game requires you to explore and detect minor details, and if these are overlooked, it can be quite unsatisfying.

 

[internetzealot1]

All this article did was make me realize that my life is still lacking Fun Space Game: The Game.

 

[mikespoff]

mmm... rabbit stew...

The concept game with the countdown timer sounds interesting, but it could only appeal to an audience who didn't mind losing a game...

 

[bob1052]

I wouldn't call LA Noire a bad adventure game. That assumes it has some kind of interesting adventure.

I would just call it a bad game.

Here is a rundown of the entire game.

You arrive at the crime scene.

There are many things to look for at the scene.

Spoiler: Here is an example of pretty much every important item

Spoiler: Here is an example of literally every unimportant item

After you find the important item you can move on to an interrogation.

Interrogations boil down to two scenarios, and you use knowledge or, much more easily, the persons face to tell if they are lying or not.

Lets take a trial run of every single interrogation in the game.

Spoiler: Truth

Spoiler: Lieing

Fun fact, despite having such a wide variety of two possible faces due to that facial expression capturing technique they used, the game still manages to look like ass. And an ass that flaps realistically is still an ass.

Upon coming to the realization of if the person lying or telling the truth you can choose one of three options.

Spoiler: Truth: Wank them off

No image for this, use your imagination

Doubt: Accuse them of being the spawn of Satan

Lie: Accuse them of something far less sinister than being the spawn of Satan, and then make an attempt to back it up or apoligize

Once you are done you can get into an obligatory car section which does absolutely nothing for the game except for needlessly extend the game through collection minigames and an unnecessary time waster between crime scenes. It wouldn't be that bad if the cars didn't drive like shit, but they didn't even bother to make the thing you spend a third of the game doing (unless you skip it, in which case the game is significantly shorter) not painfully horrible to do.

LA Noire was without a doubt the worst game I have played in years.

 

[The Random One]

As far as games that try to repackage the adventure game as something new and daring go, L.A. Noire is at least way better than Indigo Prophecy.

Also, that game you described sounds like The Shivah, if it had lived to its own expectations.

 

[copycatalyst]

Decrying the use of cliches on one page then starting a new game idea with a serial killer in the next... hmm.

 

[qeinar]

what i would like to see in the game that they didn't do is that you could imprison the wrong person, and the game would just go on. (now i mean if someone was framed and you didn't notice that and imprison that person, not improsoning the wrong person on something obvious) then if you had gotten the wrong guy, it would come back to bit you in the ass later in the game.

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

A fantasy based detective game would be very interesting. Player as a courtier trying to solve mysteries, choice of being honest or manipulative and pushing your character up the kingdom's hierarchy. Great npcs, all knights are jocks, heroes are nutters, ladies of the court are less than pure. Noire fantasy.

 

[Aphantas]

if this really is the beginning of a spate of Adventure Games, then hurrah, no more trying to get old games working for a while.
Maybe I should take a chance on L.A Noire just because of this.

also Yahtzee's idea sounds very similar to a adventure game called Darkseed. this too has a time limit (3 days in-game), in which you have to investigate the meaning of a recurring nightmare about aliens implanting an embryo in your brain, and an increasing headache. which plays out in both our world, and a dark twisted reflection of it which was designed by H.G Giger. it was demonically difficult, one action done out of order could deadlock the game later on.
it would be interesting to see how Yahtzee's game turns out, if at all.

EDIT: just remembered two other similar games Manhunter and Manhunter:New York

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

I don't understand why in these forums ANY kind of criticism at all is immediately equated as 'hating'. You can criticise something you like, something you don't feel very strongly either way about. Yahtzee always puts forward some interesting criticisms about different games, some of them I don't agree with, but they're good food for thought. However, he can't open his mouth without being accused of 'hating' everything, as if to discredit every thing he says because it's motivated out of illogical prejudice.

I find it so tiresome that the internet has this ridiculous culture of yes-men, who believe that you should only ever say good things and are so stringent in attacking anyone who disagrees with their view: and they do it in such a way that they don't engage with the argument, but attack the person: call them a troll, a hater, etc. Once again Yahtzee has a perfectly valid view about what he felt was lacking in L.A. Noire and he gets ripped a new one for daring to express it.

For the record, I'm enjoying L.A. Noire, but the linearity is really off-putting, and at times it can be downright frustrating. Overall though I like the game, so don't call me a 'hater' because I think there are some things it could have done better.

 

[beefpelican]

To be honest, I hate the idea of there being any sort of time limit in an adventure game. The beauty of adventure games is being able to relax once in a while, not having to constantly shoot something, run from something, perform leaps and jumps, hide from something, dodge something, or perform some other action associated with quick fingers and reactions. That's what I've loved about adventure games - it's a time when you're giving your reflexes a rest, and instead letting your brain and creative mind take over while you get immersed in a unique and interesting world. Unfortunately, a time limit (no matter how drawn-out it may be) can do nothing but damage that relaxing, laid-back experience that comes with playing an adventure game. It would require the player to do everything quickly, and it would make them feel like they have to rush the thing; something which the adventure game genre simply should not make a player do, in my opinion.

Subsequently, a time limit would ruin almost everything that's great about an adventure game. It would discourage exploration and experimentation, for one thing. Whenever I've played adventure games, from a young age until now, I've always enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny of the environment, and have had fun with trying out random, illogical item combinations purely to see what the character response(s) would be. If I were to have a time limit throughout the entirety of my playtime, it would discourage me from experimenting with and exploring the virtual world around me; I'd be more inclined to simply search for the solution straight away. As a result, I'd probably miss out on a lot of content, and would ultimately be deprived of a lot of the depth within the game and the potential enjoyment that it may hold.

In fact, this is precisely what happened to me when I played the first level of 'Space Quest 1' (which I only played recently). See, with the 'King's Quest' games, I'd like to do the aforementioned and 'look at', 'examine', 'pick up', 'talk to' almost every single bit and piece of the environment. Why? Because a lot of the subsequent responses were often quite funny or interesting. I was looking forward to doing the same thing in 'SQ1'. However, the first thing that I was presented with upon playing was a lovely, big countdown clock in the corner of my screen. This prevented me from going about my usual adventure-gaming routine, which I instead had to exchange for a more rushed and fast-paced approach. Ultimately I was given a less enjoyable experience; the time limit detracted from the whole experience that the first level could have held. I actually felt cheated, to be honest - cheated out of an enjoyable section of the game - to the point where I'd gotten rather pissed off and decided to resort to a walkthrough (something I very, very rarely do). So, to have an entire adventure game be based around a time limit would just suck, for me, and would probably turn the game into something unenjoyable.

I'm with you on this one. Puzzle solving isn't really a thing that takes a set amount of time, especially if it's a well thought out puzzle with lots of steps. When I think back to playing Grim Fandango or Monkey Island, I usually had a sudden spark of inspiration that got me through a puzzle. There's no way to tell how long that will take someone. If I played the investigation game I'd probably have to start over whenever I got a puzzle so I could rush through all the early ones.

As to LA Noire's sandbox and action elements, they aren't bad because you can skip most of them. Your partner can drive everywhere and you don't have to respond to police calls if all you want is an investigation game. Meanwhile, if someone else wants to take a break from the investigation to chase down some robbers or drive like a maniac with the siren on, they can. Extra content that is entirely optional is never a bad thing.

 

[bushwhacker2k]

I'm rather surprised for some reason that Yahtzee has played Phoenix Wright...

I am somewhat as well, but as critical as he is of games, he certainly seems to try a lot of them, which is probably why his points are so valid so often.

 

[Darthbawls77]

Why are we dogging LA Noire? Want attention much?

 

[Vect]

The Combining Ideas thing sounds like Miles Edgeworth's gimmick in Ace Investigators, which is the Logical Process as opposed to Phoenix Wright's mystical doohickey and Apollo Justice's ancestral ability to be Phelps 2.0.


The problem with a time limit in an adventure game is that it seems to just make player think "Oh crap oh crap gotta do this fast" and make them rush it. I guess it could be done with a very generous one. A sense of urgency I'm afraid might interfere with the player's ability to piece things together unless they just do the right stuff and the game spells it out.

Another problem is the player's ability to pick up subtle cues. While I know that most players should have some sense of subtlety, I've seen some who are truly lunkheaded and have no ability to pick up on clues unless it's absolutely written out (and even then they might forget things like characters' names or something). Of course, people like that normally don't play Adventure games.

 

[Davroth]

I'd like to point out that Pointy clicky adventures never went away, they were always right here. And rockstar sees fit to add some cover shooting and driving and call it innovation.

Also, I think Pheonix Wright does it better.