L.A Noire

I actually bought L.A Noire somewhere around the time it was released and then subsequently let it gather dust on my shelf for the best part of 3 years before it finally found its way into the game console.

L. A. Noire follows the story of Cole Phelps, an Ex-Marine in the late 1940s trying to develop a normal life as a policeman offer. Apparently, he has a real knack for pointing at things and picking up empty beer bottles and cigarette packets that make him a really good detective. He quickly gets promoted from beat cop to detective and starts an emotional rollercoaster ride as he tries to be a good cop in bad city.

Cole’s personality can be a bit schizophrenic at times, especially when he is doing interviews slash interrogations. One minute he can be nicely warming up the interviewee into giving him information, then in the flick of a switch, start screaming at them when he thinks they are lying. This is especially funny when the person has been quite nice up to this point, then takes exception to Cole’s manner... and starts screaming back at him as well.

Now, the main selling point of L.A Noire is the character facial expressions and a quick check on IMDb reveals that, for the most part, they are quite accurately based on the faces of the actors that voice them, which is a nice touch. I did think that a lot of the women in the game looked quite samey though.

They also spent so much time on the faces that they forgot to fully shore up the cars. When it rains, it rains inside the cars – a slight graphical oversight there, I think.

The music is also a good selling point. It is in keeping with the settings of the late 1940s and forms an excellent backdrop to what’s going on - for the most part. There were a couple of scenes where the music kicked in like there was going to be some kind of chase but in reality, you are just making your way to the next destination.

The gameplay almost plays second fiddle to the story such is its depth and strength and where it is strong in some areas, it is weak in others.

Firstly, it is an original idea combining third-person shooting with driving in a sandbox environment whilst the main game mechanic is actually more of a point-and-click-adventure game style, interspersed with interrogations and interviews.

The crime scene bits are well structured and contain various things for Cole to inspect - using his index finger - that do not always relate to the case. The game is kind enough to let know you, via music, that you have found all the clues in the crime scene.

The interviews are another matter. You need to be able to tell whether the person you are interviewing is telling the truth or lying. You can use clues to prove the lie or simply doubt what they are saying. The problem is that sometimes you need to have psychic abilities to work it out which means that this can become a game of trial and error between truth and doubt.

The free-roaming and driving about, which also includes the occasional car chase, are really well done. The sandbox is a bit large but they have also built in a fantastic fast travel system where you can get your partner to drive everywhere. This means that you will never get fed up with having to drive around everywhere. I have to admire the developers here. They have taken the most monotonous part of the game and made it entirely optional which is great for keeping you immersed in a story-focussed game.

That leaves the third person shooting aspect which I found to be pretty poor in comparison to the rest of the game. You can use cover but it doesn’t go as far as to having chest high walls placed every five metres apart which is good, however Cole is so ham-handed that actually aiming at the bad guys is an exercise in frustration.

As well as Cole’s inability to aim, there is also his willingness to shoot to kill every mutherfucker he comes across, regardless of their crime. But that’s more to do with life in 1940s America than the game. Can’t get a confession? Kill them. They won’t be able to argue otherwise.

Achievements – 1,400 Points – 60 Achievements

There is quite the haul of achievements in L.A. Noire and they are quite varied. That said, there are a few non-story-related secret achievements which scores negative points with me. I don’t quite understand the achievement for racking up $47,000 worth of damage. It’s not much of an achievement to do stuff that makes your score worse but hey, it just adds to the variety.

There are a few case-specific achievements but these are not missable as if you do not get them on the first run through, you can replay missions. You will most likely need to do this to get the Shamus to the Stars achievement for getting 5 stars in every case (unless you are using a guide on your first playthrough which would completely negate the point of playing the game.)

The most annoying achievement by far is for driving every car in the game. Most of the cars look completely identical and there is no in-game list that you can access to check which ones you have driven. Even if there was, it would be next to useless because of the lack of variation in the cars. To top it off, there are 95 of the fuckers and it is not the most enjoyable task roaming round looking for the last ten cars on the list. To top it off, this also counts towards the 100% completion achievement so it’s a pain in the ass for two reasons.

There are also 50 golden film reels to find and I was amazed that by the end of playing through the story, I had only managed to find one!

Downloadable Content

There are four DLC packs for L.A. Noire which each offer an additional 100 Points and an additional case. Also included in this lot is one of the hardest achievements in the game (in my opinion). Now, I don’t think that the shooting was the main gameplay seller in L. A. Noire so I was a little dismayed when I found out there was an achievement for shooting two guys in cars before they get out. This would be fairly tricky in a first person shooter, let alone an over-the-shoulder third person game when the gun accuracy is equivalent of pissing into gale-force winds. I got there in the end though and was able to add the game to my 100% list.

L.A. Noire is one of the best games I’ve played for a while, albeit I’m slightly late in my playing of it. The only trouble is that it offers no real replay value. There are no alternative endings or different pathways to solving cases so it’s all a bit linear. Still, if you haven’t played it, it is definitely worth investing in.