In 2011, developer Team Bondi (the only game they ever made) and publisher Rockstar Games (famed for the Grand Theft Auto series) released L.A. Noire, a game that had been in the making for seven years. Unlike another long-awaited title released that same year, it received great praise critically and was a commercial success. But was it worth the long wait?
The plot of the game follows Detective Cole Phelps (voiced by Aaron Staton, who played Ken Cosgrove in the TV show "Mad Men") as he rises through the ranks of the 1940's LAPD, starting as a lowly traffic cop, only out of World War II by two years. As he solves cases, using detective work as well as some good old-fashioned interrogating, he finds himself getting quite popular with his superiors. But things aren't as good as they seem on the surface, and the police may not be the forces of good they should be.
The plot is somewhat standard for the genre the game emulates, a film noir. However, it is done very well. It's nicely paced, and the game throws some twist surprises at you. This also works against the game at one point, however, in that one late-game twist (not spoiled here) comes almost completely out of the blue, and basically serves as a Diabolus Ex Machina [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DiabolusExMachina], which is not a good thing. Overall, though, the plot is pretty good.
However, a decent story can be carried quite far with the right characters and voice acting, and here the game succeeds. The main character, Cole Phelps, is voiced quite well, and he has a lot more substance to him than first appears. When you begin, he seems to be the normal perfect game hero. But as you play further, and the character is developed more, he starts to seem more like a flawed hero, like most film noir heroes. He's definitely good, but he's not as much of a white knight as he seems to be.
The rest of the characters, almost without exception, are portrayed equally well. Most of the characters are gray morally as well. Take, for example, the police captain Donnelly (voiced by Andrew Connolly, who played Charlie Dugan in "Patriot Games"). He is the classic compassionate boss, encouraging Cole to solve the cases, lock away the bad guys, and so on. However, his methods of doing so are not exactly something that would fly today (for example, in one case, you have evidence to put away either the husband of the victim, or a pedophile, and he pretty much tells you to twist the evidence to put away the latter). Characters that are neither pure good or pure evil are more interesting, and this game delivers on almost every level.
There are two exceptions, however. The first is Det. Roy Earle (voiced by Adam Harrington, who played Jack Magnum in "The Ugly Truth"). He is quite well acted, but his character is just...too slimy. He's not a nice guy, at all, and that's fine. What isn't is the smug attitude he has at all times. Even when he's helping Cole, he has an arrogance about him that makes you want to run him over with a car, Game Over be damned.
The real sore thumb in the category of characters, however, is Jack Kelso (voiced by Gil McKinney, who played Dr. Paul Grady on "ER"). Again, it's not an issue with the voice acting, which is serviceable. But where Roy Earle is smugger than Dallas in the summer, Jack Kelso is so infuriatingly perfect. He does no wrong, exists mostly to show the flaws in Cole's character, and to be better than Phelps. I don't like a Mary Sue, and he is damn close to a Gary Stu, which is something that needs to stay away from film noir.
The graphics, while hard to tell from a screenshot, are incredible. The people look quite realistic, the facial capturing is one of the best I've ever seen in a game, and the work put into recreating every street of 1940's LA is evident, down to the last storefront and alleyway. However, there is a downside. As the graphics of people get better and better, there is a dip into where they just look creepy, rather than ultrarealistic. This game falls smack into that category. Don't get me wrong, it's a gorgeous game. But seeing some of those faces...*shudder* Nightmare fuel, that is.
The gameplay is pretty solid. The on foot and driving portions are pretty much pure Grand Theft Auto IV (meaning you may want your partner to drive if you wish to avoid racking up too much vehicle/property/human damage, a good idea in this game). Where the game stands out is in two categories. First, the investigating is done by walking around a crime scene, or an area of interest. When you hear a jingle, or feel a vibration, you press a button, and inspect the clue. However, instead of putting the clue into a pocket TARDIS like most adventure games, Cole records the clues by sketching them in his notebook, writing a description, which adds to the feel of being a detective.
The other category is in interrogating. This section of the game is why it spent so long in development hell. In order to interrogate a suspect, you ask them questions, obviously. However, in order to tell if the suspect is lying, you have to read their facial expressions, as well as listen to how they answer. It is quite well done, and makes you feel, again, like a real detective. The other part of interrogating that is interesting is that there are lifelines, and three possible responses. The lifelines basically let you see what other people who have played the game answered. Basically, think the "Ask the Audience" lifeline in "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?". The three possible responses are "Truth", meaning you think the suspect is being honest, "Doubt" meaning you think they are lying, but have no evidence to prove it, or "Lie", meaning you have evidence to prove they are lying. Therefore, you not only have to try to figure out if they are lying, you have to figure out if you have evidence to prove it.
Overall, this game is quite solid. The graphics are great (albeit creepy), most of the characters are well-rounded, and all are at least decently voiced, and the story is serviceable. However, the couple of characters that are not quite as well-rounded stand out all the more, and some plot twists serve no purpose other than to make things worse for the character. In the end, this is definitely a game I'd recommend to any fan of detective works.
Total number of TV Tropes references: 2
The plot of the game follows Detective Cole Phelps (voiced by Aaron Staton, who played Ken Cosgrove in the TV show "Mad Men") as he rises through the ranks of the 1940's LAPD, starting as a lowly traffic cop, only out of World War II by two years. As he solves cases, using detective work as well as some good old-fashioned interrogating, he finds himself getting quite popular with his superiors. But things aren't as good as they seem on the surface, and the police may not be the forces of good they should be.
The plot is somewhat standard for the genre the game emulates, a film noir. However, it is done very well. It's nicely paced, and the game throws some twist surprises at you. This also works against the game at one point, however, in that one late-game twist (not spoiled here) comes almost completely out of the blue, and basically serves as a Diabolus Ex Machina [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DiabolusExMachina], which is not a good thing. Overall, though, the plot is pretty good.
The 40's had some great suits. This is one of them.
However, a decent story can be carried quite far with the right characters and voice acting, and here the game succeeds. The main character, Cole Phelps, is voiced quite well, and he has a lot more substance to him than first appears. When you begin, he seems to be the normal perfect game hero. But as you play further, and the character is developed more, he starts to seem more like a flawed hero, like most film noir heroes. He's definitely good, but he's not as much of a white knight as he seems to be.
The rest of the characters, almost without exception, are portrayed equally well. Most of the characters are gray morally as well. Take, for example, the police captain Donnelly (voiced by Andrew Connolly, who played Charlie Dugan in "Patriot Games"). He is the classic compassionate boss, encouraging Cole to solve the cases, lock away the bad guys, and so on. However, his methods of doing so are not exactly something that would fly today (for example, in one case, you have evidence to put away either the husband of the victim, or a pedophile, and he pretty much tells you to twist the evidence to put away the latter). Characters that are neither pure good or pure evil are more interesting, and this game delivers on almost every level.
There are two exceptions, however. The first is Det. Roy Earle (voiced by Adam Harrington, who played Jack Magnum in "The Ugly Truth"). He is quite well acted, but his character is just...too slimy. He's not a nice guy, at all, and that's fine. What isn't is the smug attitude he has at all times. Even when he's helping Cole, he has an arrogance about him that makes you want to run him over with a car, Game Over be damned.
Wears a mean suit, though.
The real sore thumb in the category of characters, however, is Jack Kelso (voiced by Gil McKinney, who played Dr. Paul Grady on "ER"). Again, it's not an issue with the voice acting, which is serviceable. But where Roy Earle is smugger than Dallas in the summer, Jack Kelso is so infuriatingly perfect. He does no wrong, exists mostly to show the flaws in Cole's character, and to be better than Phelps. I don't like a Mary Sue, and he is damn close to a Gary Stu, which is something that needs to stay away from film noir.
The graphics, while hard to tell from a screenshot, are incredible. The people look quite realistic, the facial capturing is one of the best I've ever seen in a game, and the work put into recreating every street of 1940's LA is evident, down to the last storefront and alleyway. However, there is a downside. As the graphics of people get better and better, there is a dip into where they just look creepy, rather than ultrarealistic. This game falls smack into that category. Don't get me wrong, it's a gorgeous game. But seeing some of those faces...*shudder* Nightmare fuel, that is.
The gameplay is pretty solid. The on foot and driving portions are pretty much pure Grand Theft Auto IV (meaning you may want your partner to drive if you wish to avoid racking up too much vehicle/property/human damage, a good idea in this game). Where the game stands out is in two categories. First, the investigating is done by walking around a crime scene, or an area of interest. When you hear a jingle, or feel a vibration, you press a button, and inspect the clue. However, instead of putting the clue into a pocket TARDIS like most adventure games, Cole records the clues by sketching them in his notebook, writing a description, which adds to the feel of being a detective.
No sarcasm, that is really incredibly good motion capturing.
The other category is in interrogating. This section of the game is why it spent so long in development hell. In order to interrogate a suspect, you ask them questions, obviously. However, in order to tell if the suspect is lying, you have to read their facial expressions, as well as listen to how they answer. It is quite well done, and makes you feel, again, like a real detective. The other part of interrogating that is interesting is that there are lifelines, and three possible responses. The lifelines basically let you see what other people who have played the game answered. Basically, think the "Ask the Audience" lifeline in "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?". The three possible responses are "Truth", meaning you think the suspect is being honest, "Doubt" meaning you think they are lying, but have no evidence to prove it, or "Lie", meaning you have evidence to prove they are lying. Therefore, you not only have to try to figure out if they are lying, you have to figure out if you have evidence to prove it.
Overall, this game is quite solid. The graphics are great (albeit creepy), most of the characters are well-rounded, and all are at least decently voiced, and the story is serviceable. However, the couple of characters that are not quite as well-rounded stand out all the more, and some plot twists serve no purpose other than to make things worse for the character. In the end, this is definitely a game I'd recommend to any fan of detective works.
Total number of TV Tropes references: 2