L.A. Noire Review

[Onyx Oblivion]

I hate the foot chases so much. Seriously...And the fact the game kept acting like I charged one suspect, when I clearly chose the other. Made my choice moot. :[

Although, this is basically a serious Phoenix Wright. And anything like PW is good in my book!

 

[ed_zero]

Am i the only one that feels that the video review was a little... slow? lacking a bit of energy and though it fits the atmosphere i was yawning through the half of it, I know i know... the voice and mood was to fit the game, but please don't make it sound like you just wake up and need to do the review. Still looks like an interesting game.

 

[de5gravity]

Nooooooooooooo not a half kitten!!!



In all serioussness, I'm sad this is a console exclusive

Somehow, I doubt it will stay that way. If wanted enough - the PC may get a port with a few upgrades.

L.A. Noire Review

As alluring and confounding as the rich genre that inspired it.

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I do have a question - why is it that most of the games that are Multi-Platform are reviewed on 360? Is it just because most of the Escapist has one? I always wondered :/

If you could get back to me with the answer that would be great.

They actually kind of address that in Podcast 003, you should give it a listen!

 

[Russ Pitts]

I do have a question - why is it that most of the games that are Multi-Platform are reviewed on 360? Is it just because most of the Escapist has one? I always wondered :/

If you could get back to me with the answer that would be great.

It varies by reviewer, but for me, I prefer to play a console version because I have a bad back and sitting at a PC all night and weekend after sitting at a PC all day is not fun And I tend to go to the 360 first because I'm more familiar with it. I will make exceptions for games that are PC exclusive or have some other compelling reason to be reviewed on PC or another console, but generally I like to review games on the platform I spend the most time with. It's not a grand conspiracy, just personal preference.

 

[Russ Pitts]

Am i the only one that feels that the video review was a little... slow? lacking a bit of energy and though it fits the atmosphere i was yawning through the half of it, I know i know... the voice and mood was to fit the game, but please don't make it sound like you just wake up and need to do the review. Still looks like an interesting game.

We're in the process of moving offices and we'd already taken down a lot of the sound-proofing in the studio where we record our VOs. So I was intentionally trying not to in my usual overly-enthusiastic tones so as not to blast the room with echoes. probably went too far int he other direction, but there you have it. Life is never-ending struggle and strife

-R

 

[The Wykydtron]

I really liked the interrogations, and i think the whole "well, you fucked up that case, on with the game!" thing is just a cunning ploy for replayability...

Also after playing the Phoenix Wright games judging which evidence to present was pretty easy in comparison.

Also also i love the whole
"YOU'RE LYING!!"

"WANNA PROVE THAT WITH EVIDENCE?!"

"Looks like i was mistaken"

It's fucking hilarious the way the interrogation just carries on after such an epic rage moment, Phoenix Wright could use some of those backing out powers

 

[Netrigan]

So the game is great, except the gameplay? Sometimes I wonder if game critics wish they were reviewing movies as much as developers are accused of wishing they made them.

This is definitely one of those games that the users are going to be much harsher than the critics. It's fairly original and well-made, which is going to draw in the glowing reviews... but even those favorable reviews betray that game play can be needlessly frustrating.

I picked it up the other day and I hope I don't get too annoyed with the problems.

 

[rsvp42]

One of the complaints I've seen here and there is the repetitive nature of the activities. On the one hand, I know what they mean, but on the other, every case has its own feel and events. It's not like playing through a movie, it's like playing through a TV series. Each case is like an episode. Yeah, the episodes have a formula, but the unexpected car chases, the unraveling of each conspiracy, the grappling with the realities of police work during that time... it's all so thoroughly engaging that I can't help but love every minute of it.

Though I do hate how cars never follow the proper traffic laws around you. I'm about ready to go on a rampage over the next car that tries to turn left in front of me when I have a green light. I mean c'mon, they wait for the NPC cars.

 

[Macrobstar]

I am shocked this game is not on PC. First of all, as the review says, it has some very intellectual moments, secondly it is based in a period that more older PC gamers would know about and appreciate and thirdly, it's no big deal to have 2-3 DVD's because it's all installed to the hard drive!

As per the paltry 36 posts here, for a few people, this is going to be a brilliant game for many older more intellectual console gamers, I do not think the average Mass Effect/Bioshock/Halo console gamer will be interested. It's very hard to get sales numbers in the game business, but I would not be at all surprised if this doesn't even manage 2 million sales, half of what Rockstar games usually do. Giving the cost of development, this game won;t make a profit therefore, so I don't thin we'll see an L.A. noire 2.

Personally, I think a game like this would sell at least an additional 2 million on PC, and Rockstar are so missing out by making a game suitable for the PC market and PC gamers, but then only releasing it on console!

Well I can tell you now that you are wrong about everything, LA noire has already broken sales records in the UK for a new IP and for a gemer to remember the 50s they'd have to be in there late 60s

 

[AMX58]

ha look you a fun time with it thats what im doing an yeah the interrogations are a little hard but thats how hard is to be a cop

 

[FPSMadPaul]

I agree 100% about the interrogations, they were pretty stupid at times.

What really got to me was when I had a piece of evidence that clearly proved someone was lying, but it wasn't the particular magic 'right' evidence the game picked and so the 'lie' option failed.

The there were the times Cole turned into a rage filled maniac when you hit 'doubt'.

Other than that, amazing game... if game is even the right word for this kind of interactive medium anymore. Amazing interactive entertainment. (can we coin the term IE now and take credit for it?)

I have to agree. Still doesn't stop the game from being kick ass however.

\
Don't you mean "Still doesn't stop the interactive entertainment from being kick ass however"?

 

[Cousin_IT]

So the game is great, except the gameplay? Sometimes I wonder if game critics wish they were reviewing movies as much as developers are accused of wishing they made them.

This is definitely one of those games that the users are going to be much harsher than the critics. It's fairly original and well-made, which is going to draw in the glowing reviews... but even those favorable reviews betray that game play can be needlessly frustrating.

I picked it up the other day and I hope I don't get too annoyed with the problems.

Until the issues start piling up, it's actually quite enjoyable. When the cases (think of them as episodes) are still fairly short & fresh, it's actually really fun & easy to look past the flaws. But as the cases get longer & more formulaic (investigate scene > find evidence > find suspect/drive to next scene > chase suspect > confront suspect with evidence > next case) the flaws become more glaringly obvious. It's especially annoying when you figure out who dunnit before the characters do, or find evidence in the wrong order, & then have to play through their clumsy path to the truth despite knowing they're doing it wrong.

Personally, I think all the comparisons with the film noir genre do LA Noire a disservice, even if it was clearly intended by the devs/publishers/marketers, because we instantly compare it to the greats of the genre. LA Noire is no The Maltease Falcon or The Third Man. What it is, if anything, is Stranger on the Third Floor, a film credited with laying the framework of the genre while itself not being very good. Hopefully, LA Noire will do the same, a proof of concept if you like, & we won't be stuck with it as the only example of when games tried to tell a crime narrative that wasn't Scarface or The Godfather.

 

[Dango]

To be honest, the thing preventing me most from getting the game is the faces. Something about how the faces and bodies seem completely out of sync is just too distractingly creepy.

 

[StriderShinryu]

The graphics are so... weird. Yes, the faces are pretty amazing, but they contrast so much with the stiff body animations. There's just something really off-putting about it all - it's like a bunch of disembodied heads walking around on robot bodies.

Nice to see I'm not the only one who's noticed that though, for some reason, it never gets mentioned. As nice as the facial cap is in Noire, it's so blatantly obvious that they just stuck them on the same basic body models they've been using since GTA3.

Sure it doesn't kill the game but it's such an obvious visual anachronism that you can't help but be distracted by it.

 

[uk_john]

@ Macrobstar - Broken FIRST WEEK sales figures. That doesn't mean it will be a big enough seller overall to make a profit. Given the $40 million development costs, that's about 4 million sales to break even, maybe a few more. I can't see it doing those numbers. Maybe 2-3 million.

 

[uk_john]

Fanboys always come out to play when you tell the truth that doesn't match the hype!

I have already noticed a thread on a console gaming forum with a poll asking "what's the best RPG of 2011" and includes Dragon Age 2, Skyrim and The Witcher 2. On a PC gaming forum I don't think you would find a poll that listed a game that isn't even out yet as possible best RPG of the year!

 

[ZeroMachine]

Fanboys always come out to play when you tell the truth that doesn't match the hype!

I have already noticed a thread on a console gaming forum with a poll asking "what's the best RPG of 2011" and includes Dragon Age 2, Skyrim and The Witcher 2. On a PC gaming forum I don't think you would find a poll that listed a game that isn't even out yet as possible best RPG of the year!

What's up with you and your disgustingly elitist attitude when it comes to PC gaming? I've never seen it that bad, and I've seen it really bad on here.

Seriously, it's to the point where it's beyond me being pissed and onto me being curious as to how you could possibly think that PC gamers are so much better than other gamers. I'm not even going to bother trying to talk you down, I can tell it'd be a fruitless endeavor. I just want to know.

So, really, why? What the hell is up with that?

 

[Jumplion]

See, about the audio and vibration queues when investigating, wouldn't those instances make the game easier overall? A game like L.A. Noire only has so much replayability, and while the interrogations may be easily screwed up on, if you find all the clues before and you want to replay through a case, you're just trying to find the clues as fast as you can until you get to the interrogations. Wouldn't you want to turn off those indicators so that when you're going back to the scene of the crime you can still find something new about it.

It would make sense if one of the design flaws of the game was that you don't have any sort of in game cues about where to find the clues. The first clue you find in the game is a murder weapon that's on top of a building, and which you find through a reflection. The game fails at giving you any sort of visual cue on where and how to look on most cases.

So it would be best to play with the queues on because without them you would be wandering around aimlessly anyway? That kind of sucks, I'd like to have a challenge in deducting what could and couldn't be a clue, but whatever.

 

[Laxman9292]

See, about the audio and vibration queues when investigating, wouldn't those instances make the game easier overall? A game like L.A. Noire only has so much replayability, and while the interrogations may be easily screwed up on, if you find all the clues before and you want to replay through a case, you're just trying to find the clues as fast as you can until you get to the interrogations. Wouldn't you want to turn off those indicators so that when you're going back to the scene of the crime you can still find something new about it.

Not really, personally I don't ever leave a crime scene until I've found all the evidence. I just know that unless I find every piece then the one piece I miss is going to be the one I need. That paranoia keeps me from ever leaving a scene unfinished. That, and I'm a huge completionist.

 

[AgDr_ODST]

Spoiler

and thats another good point...I wondered why the developers completely skipped Burglary...maybe its a planned DLC like your thinking...but they'd have to be cautious....if they do it too quick whiners will piss and moan about how R*/Bondi are trying to screw them over and that it shoulda shipped with the game

I read somewhere that they had to cut A LOT of the game just to get it fit on three disks (on xbox anyway), and it originally had way more stuff on it. This is quite evident when you look at the case numbers, the first three cases are something like 1, 3 and 6. It could be the case that the burglary. And yeah, I think they plan to release the cut content as DLC.

yeah but it wasn't just the Xbox 360, I heard that even the Playstations Blu-Ray disc couldn't hold everything that they wanted to include in the final version of the game