L.A Noire Your Thoughts and Impressions

[Zeema]

currently LA noire for me looks like Heavy Rain plus Mafia 2 but i have yet to play the game and thats what i see when looks at reviews.

I think it looks really good but i don't really wanna buy it to expensive in AUS $110 it costs

so im gonna wait for a while....even though 'Dead rising 2' is still at $90 so im gonna have to wait long time

but i did have questions

What do you think about the game?
Is it Fun and or Interesting?
Immersive?
Would you go back and play it again?

and how long is the game i hear its bout 30% longer then RDR from a Mate.

 

[Netrigan]

Played through the tutorial section today.

First impression is that it's a 3D point-and-click adventure game. You may only interact with a very limited number of items and you must put things together in the way the game demands.

And I'm hoping the rest of the game pulls me in better. So far, it's very episodic and disjointed. One case ends, next one starts with some voice over and a flash-back. There's not really the sense that this is one big narrative yet, but it's far too early to make up my mind.

 

[Esper Empress]

I enjoyed it when I got it. Sometimes when you interrogate, you won't know what your character will say and it might badger the person to the point of not giving you anything useful, and I'm beginning to notice the correlation between the flashbacks and the current game, so they do become informative later in the game. The driving is fun too because you can just turn on the sirens and essentially drive into whatever you want (besides people of course). All and all, it's the first game from Rockstar that I've fully liked.

 

[thethird0611]

Ive finished the game (Not 100% completion yet), and I have to say, its a very fun game, and the replay value is pretty good.

The way the game is, with the interrogations and things such, it makes you really think about how the puzzle pieces fit together.

They do alot of things to to keep you in the game, even while driving, pretty much every ride will have your partner talking to you, and it helps you get to know the characters.

Length wise? Couple of days if you stick to the story and dont do any side missions, and dont do any of the driving. So alot more if you do those.

 

[ShakesZX]

Played through the tutorial section today.

First impression is that it's a 3D point-and-click adventure game. You may only interact with a very limited number of items and you must put things together in the way the game demands.

And I'm hoping the rest of the game pulls me in better. So far, it's very episodic and disjointed. One case ends, next one starts with some voice over and a flash-back. There's not really the sense that this is one big narrative yet, but it's far too early to make up my mind.

A 3D point-and-click adventure game isn't necessarily a bad thing. I personally loved this game. If it weren't for the fact that my brother stole my Xbox, I'd still be playing it now. Sam&Max and the Monkey Island series are some of my favorite games of all time.

 

[DustyDrB]

One thing that annoyed me today: I've been enjoying the fact that I don't have to drive everywhere myself. I've been splitting the driving duties evenly with my partners, actually. I've just been playing a good many sandbox games lately and have gotten sick of tedious driving.

That bit me in the ass tonight. You can "discover" landmark buildings when you drive by them. I was at the end of the Homicide missions section tonight and had only found eight (I assumed they were just a meaningless collectible for completionists. I'm not a completionist and couldn't care less about collectibles).

At this particular mission, I had to go to certain landmarks (only knowing which ones to go to by reading their descriptions on the map and then driving there). So not having found three or four of them, I had to drive around aimlessly for five to ten minutes until Cole "figures it out" on his own (at which point a map marker appears where the landmark is). So it was my least favorite part of the game made even more tedious. I was highly annoyed. Now I'm paranoid that it might happen again, so I'm driving on my own more.

 

[Netrigan]

Played through the tutorial section today.

First impression is that it's a 3D point-and-click adventure game. You may only interact with a very limited number of items and you must put things together in the way the game demands.

And I'm hoping the rest of the game pulls me in better. So far, it's very episodic and disjointed. One case ends, next one starts with some voice over and a flash-back. There's not really the sense that this is one big narrative yet, but it's far too early to make up my mind.

A 3D point-and-click adventure game isn't necessarily a bad thing. I personally loved this game. If it weren't for the fact that my brother stole my Xbox, I'd still be playing it now. Sam&Max and the Monkey Island series are some of my favorite games of all time.

Not necessarily bad, but not exactly what I expected from the game. I really wasn't in the right frame of mind for the game, having just come off the conclusion of Mass Effect 2 only a couple of hours earlier.

One thing that annoyed me today: I've been enjoying the fact that I don't have to drive everywhere myself. I've been splitting the driving duties evenly with my partners, actually. I've just been playing a good many sandbox games lately and have gotten sick of tedious driving.

That bit me in the ass tonight. You can "discover" landmark buildings when you drive by them. I was at the end of the Homicide missions section tonight and had only found eight (I assumed they were just a meaningless collectible for completionists. I'm not a completionist and couldn't care less about collectibles).

At this particular mission, I had to go to certain landmarks (only knowing which ones to go to by reading their descriptions on the map and then driving there). So not having found three or four of them, I had to drive around aimlessly for five to ten minutes until Cole "figures it out" on his own (at which point a map marker appears where the landmark is). So it was my least favorite part of the game made even more tedious. I was highly annoyed. Now I'm paranoid that it might happen again, so I'm driving on my own more.

I was more than a bit disappointed that the game quick travels whenever you let your partner drive. I got annoyed having to open up the map every few blocks to make sure I'm on the right path and would have loved to sit back and watch L.A. pass by as my partner drives (and giving me a quick travel option if I wanted to take it). I know the usual GPS thing would be anachronistic in 50s L.A., but, then again, so is a weird little mini-map in the corner of the screen. In for a penny, in for a pound... GPS on the mini-map just makes exploring these large open-world cities enjoyable.

 

[Still Life]

Disappointment.

Why?

It's not on PC

 

[DustyDrB]

I was more than a bit disappointed that the game quick travels whenever you let your partner drive. I got annoyed having to open up the map every few blocks to make sure I'm on the right path and would have loved to sit back and watch L.A. pass by as my partner drives (and giving me a quick travel option if I wanted to take it). I know the usual GPS thing would be anachronistic in 50s L.A., but, then again, so is a weird little mini-map in the corner of the screen. In for a penny, in for a pound... GPS on the mini-map just makes exploring these large open-world cities enjoyable.

Yeah, I'd like an option to be able to sit back and watch while my partner drives (Red Dead Redemption had this option). I don't know about everyone else, but I can't really take in the city any while I'm driving. I wreck into cars and street lights (and people) enough as it is without trying to sight see. How does anyone even use that "cinematic" driving view without causing major destruction?

Driving just isn't fun for me in these games anymore. It was the first time I ever played a sandbox game (which was the first Mafia game, by the way. And it blew my mind back then), but it's just so tedious now. All I do is glance back and forth from the street to the GPS and try not to hit things. It's not fun, it's not challenging...but I don't hear many other people complaining about it. Maybe I'm just the oddball.

 

[Waaghpowa]

I like it, but I hate driving in this game, or in any Rockstar game for that matter.

 

[green00706]

I was more than a bit disappointed that the game quick travels whenever you let your partner drive. I got annoyed having to open up the map every few blocks to make sure I'm on the right path and would have loved to sit back and watch L.A. pass by as my partner drives (and giving me a quick travel option if I wanted to take it). I know the usual GPS thing would be anachronistic in 50s L.A., but, then again, so is a weird little mini-map in the corner of the screen. In for a penny, in for a pound... GPS on the mini-map just makes exploring these large open-world cities enjoyable.

Yeah, I'd like an option to be able to sit back and watch while my partner drives (Red Dead Redemption had this option). I don't know about everyone else, but I can't really take in the city any while I'm driving. I wreck into cars and street lights (and people) enough as it is without trying to sight see. How does anyone even use that "cinematic" driving view without causing major destruction?

Driving just isn't fun for me in these games anymore. It was the first time I ever played a sandbox game (which was the first Mafia game, by the way. And it blew my mind back then), but it's just so tedious now. All I do is glance back and forth from the street to the GPS and try not to hit things. It's not fun, it's not challenging...but I don't hear many other people complaining about it. Maybe I'm just the oddball.

When your driving and you don't know which why to go, hit the X button on the xbox and your partner will give you directions to the marker you set.

I have yet to complete the game but from how far i'm in (just started vice) it has been fun although for some reason i can not seem to play more then a case at a time.

 

[Geek_DR]

I have been really enjoying it, although it suffers from the old dialog-options-don't-match-the-intent problem. A lot of the time I'd read a grieving character's face and think they're leaving something out, so I select "doubt" and Cole yells at them out of nowhere. from calm conversation to yelling. Sometimes when you select "truth" it is finalized and the line of questioning ends, other times Cole will good-cop-style ask a follow-up question to fill a blank. so with not obviously hostile witnesses it can be a bit of a crap-shoot between "truth" and "doubt"

That being said, the world is very engrossing and the characters are fantastic.

Highest praise is definitely the fluidity of the investigations. You miss a clue or a question, you probably still get the guy, but with a bit more legwork, or you might send an innocent man to jail. It really leads to the sensation that you are solving the crime, not just following a set plot. Sometimes you go to one person of Interest or scene before another and it dramatically effects the tone of an interrogation later.

EDIT: and I love the Noir soundtrack. 40s music, Noir-style score. great.

 

[Ian Caronia]

currently LA noire for me looks like Heavy Rain plus Mafia 2 but i have yet to play the game and thats what i see when looks at reviews.

I think it looks really good but i don't really wanna buy it to expensive in AUS $110 it costs

so im gonna wait for a while....even though 'Dead rising 2' is still at $90 so im gonna have to wait long time

but i did have questions

What do you think about the game?
Is it Fun and or Interesting?
Immersive?
Would you go back and play it again?

and how long is the game i hear its bout 30% longer then RDR from a Mate.

It certainly feels that way, which is fine since 50% of RDR was traveling anyway. The gunplay is EXACTLY like RDR but minus the ability to target limbs accurately/easily. The other part of the gameplay is what was previously mentioned: a point and click game. Literally. You point where the hand goes, then click(press) X(or the 360 equivalent).

I'll tell you right now that if it really costs $110 dollars you might want to skip this. Might want to skip this anyway, since there's a big fiasco about how this game is burning out and bricking original model PS3s and 360s. Aside from that, the game suffers from the same issue RDR did: characters being introduced and mostly (if not entirely) forgotten about.
_I won't spoil it, but I will warn you that though the very end of the game is ridiculously written to me with character inconsistencies and revelations being revealed WAY too late for them to matter, the biggest draw of the game was the chance to work on the infamous Black Daliah case and the murders surrounding that unsolved brutal murder. This is actually a really well done story arc (the game has a few arcs), with each case leading into the next until you get to the climax (which I won't spoil). Yet, the climax is incredibly lame and it's over before you even piece anything together for yourself. Sure this is my opinion, but if you look it up online, like watch a playthrough (which is what I recommend whether you decide for or against the game) you can see it's nearly fact.

So, yeah. My advice is to check it out for yourself if you must, but don't buy it. It's no where near $110 good, that's for sure.
Positive: Some neat features, mostly good acting (as it better be since everyone's into this phase of putting "real" actors into games these days), and you can find yourself having fun after a while.
Negative: Writing inconsistency, plot twists too late, lame climaxes, fan-dividing ending (some like it, others think it's mediocre or shit), and last but not least, the potential to overheat your console to the point where it shuts down. This happens more than once (even once), and you can say goodbye to your console.
Youtube clips to see what I mean about the plot
Link for console-killing overheating issue:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.285099-UPDATE-Sony-and-Rockstar-Neither-L-A-Noire-Nor-Firmware-Overheating-PS3-Consoles?page=1

EDIT:

I have been really enjoying it, although it suffers from the old dialog-options-don't-match-the-intent problem. A lot of the time I'd read a grieving character's face and think they're leaving something out, so I select "doubt" and Cole yells at them out of nowhere. from calm conversation to yelling. Sometimes when you select "truth" it is finalized and the line of questioning ends, other times Cole will good-cop-style ask a follow-up question to fill a blank. so with not obviously hostile witnesses it can be a bit of a crap-shoot between "truth" and "doubt"

OH! And this! MOTHER F***ER THIS! What the hell was up with that? That pissed me off to no end. Find better titles for the options or reword the options according to the interrogation. Damn did this enrage the hell out of me.

That being said, the world is very engrossing and the characters are fantastic.

Highest praise is definitely the fluidity of the investigations. You miss a clue or a question, you probably still get the guy, but with a bit more legwork, or you might send an innocent man to jail. It really leads to the sensation that you are solving the crime, not just following a set plot. Sometimes you go to one person of Interest or scene before another and it dramatically effects the tone of an interrogation later.

EDIT: and I love the Noir soundtrack. 40s music, Noir-style score. great.

Though the game does push you forward and hold your hand most of the way through, Geek_DR is also true here. Although there were plenty of times when it changed nothing and the characters suggested visiting someone I'd already arrested
"Let's go pay the bums a visit."
Me: I did. We got the guy in the interrogation room at Central. Do you have head trauma?

Oh, and I should've said how good the score was. I don't like the game, but the music is very nice and fits well. But then you could always buy the soundtrack.

 

[ace_of_something]

Thus far it makes me think of old adventure games.
Particularly this series which I played a lot of as a kid.

Those were set in modern times however. It made a point to educate the player about playing like an actual cop rather than a movie cop. (You firing your gun in most scenarios ended with a game over, you had to show up for court or the criminals got off, etc.)

 

[SpiderOneSix]

I haven't completed it yet (still playing through) but I must say I quite enjoy it. Sure the interrogations at times get tiresome (if not hair wrenching)but it still adds that little bit of realism instead of busting in guns blazing and asking later. I have to admit however that the traffic really jacks me off. If your not in the centre lane they will pull over IN FRONT OF YOU!!!

 

[Netrigan]

Played through the Traffic Desk. Glad to say I got into the game after the choppy start that was the tutorial. Usually fairly easy to tell when someone is lying, but figuring out when to use Doubt and Lie is the tricky part.

The inability to skip totally non-essential cutscenes pretty much kills any replay value. I replayed the first Traffic case in hopes of getting a five star rating... but the experience proved to be more than a little tedious.

Pretty easy to see the game's basic flaws, which I hope don't get out of hand as the game progresses; but it is a unique experience that I think anyone even slightly interested to check out... especially as the game's price tag drops.