Rockstar has certainly branched out this generation, going beyond their original cash cow that is GTA to try out some new ideas. LA Noire is the latest example of this. While conventional Rockstar games have you playing as an outlaw who destroys everything in sight to get his way, LA Noire does the exact opposite. You play as a detective who has to solve a series of crimes in order to protect the city of Los Angeles and rise through the ranks. It was a fresh idea for Rockstar and a risky move for them to make, but it paid off once again.
The setting is in post WWII 1940s Los Angeles. You play as Cole Phelps, a young detective who has made a name for himself in The War. His violent time in the war still haunts him and drives him to do good for the sake of redemption. This leads him into cases that take him into the corrupted heart of the city he has vowed to protect. As he digs deeper, more and more opposition comes his way, which makes you want to root for him to win even more. LA Noire's story does a very good job of keeping you on the edge with excellent voice actors and extraordinary new facial capture technology. Special detail has been given to the time period itself, making sure all the slang, music, fasion, and general culture of the 40s is accurate for both the good sides and the bad. LA Noire's presentation is truely remarkable.
Gameplay is very different from previous Rockstar games. Being a police officer, you cannot rampage or go on killing sprees. Your weapon can only be used at certain points of the game for the sake of self defense. Instead, the main gameplay elements are solving cases. You do this by gathering clues from the crime scene and interrogating potential suspects. The latter is what I found to be the most fun part of the game because it uses the realistic facial capture to its advantage to test your skill for interrogation. You have to determine if your suspect is lying or not based on his facial expressions. Lack of eye contact and nervous expressions are a dead give away of a liar, but as the game progresses, it becomes harder to call a bluff. Finding all the clues, getting the right perp, and interrogating properly all lead to a rating at the end of the case and a level up for intuition points to make it easier to call a bluff or find clues. LA Noire's reward system truely feels rewarding when you land the bad guy in jail.
My only complaint for this game is that the free roaming aspect is pretty empty, which is a shame because the detail put into the city is very remarkable and is one of my favorite open world settings in general. The city is huge, but there is very little extraneous activities you can do other than random street crimes. It feels like a missed opportunity to add some real replay value to the game and make it even better. Even without this though, LA Noire took up a lot of my time for the story modes alone and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Overall, LA Noire is a very original concept that pushes the story telling to new heights. Some have dismissed LA Noire's facial capture technology, but I believe this will become a standard in the future of games for any studio that wants to create a true realistic experience that blends the best of film and video games. LA Noire is probably one of the most original and risky video games ive played in a long time. Anyone who wants something different and loves law drama should give this game a try.
Hanzala from eXputer: "I do appreciate GTA 6, Rockstar, but if I could trade it for a new L.A. Noire or a Bully game, I'd do so in a heartbeat."
How are they lost? You can get L.A. Noire on Steam, PS5, Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch and Bully is on the PS5 and Xbox Series too.
Mfs are too sensitive nowadays and would cry instead of being concerned bout real world problems
Whenever gta 6 launch we won't be getting another rockstar title for another 10 years lol but on the positive side they bou to come back n show how open world supposed to be done 🔥
I won't expect any singleplayer DLC like IV's The Lost & Damned or The Ballad of Gay Tony after it launches either
There was a lot to love about Rockstar and Team Bondi's 2011 open world title.
One I never finished. I've been looking at the ps4 version off Amazon the last few months just never bit
It's worth playing LA Noire is one of my favorite Rockstar games. But I would also check out pawnshops or thrift stores if you want the game dirt cheap. Someone may have been dumb enough to dump the game.
Agree, at time of release those facial expressions were amazing! They still hold strong even today imo.
The game on its own was good. Something fresh, but sidequests were a bit meh after a while.
I picked it up on sale recently, going to play it next summer. I'll get more out of it this time, first time around I treated the open world like it was GTA and goofed about, whereas now I'll play it with more respect. RDR2 has trained me well.
I also hadn't read Raymond Chandler at the time so presumably that'll add another layer of enjoyment too.
Absolutely stunning game. So underrated. Played through it again last year and it still stands up so well. Like many of rockstars games it’s actually a far better experience on PC. I didn’t enjoy it as much on console. Completed it at least 3 times on pc.
The rumours of a sequel are awesome news despite the fact I think Rockstar are now the shell of the company they once were.
GF365: "Out of the many historically accurate games out there, these are our picks for the six best games that are historically accurate. While these games aren't completely accurate, they depict the times and situations of history well. Plus, they're all a lot of fun to play, too."
Historically accurate from the past is tough to truly know and judge especially the farther you go back because history is written from the people in power and doesn’t mean it’s the truth just the narrative they wanted to tell.
I don’t care about historically accurate in most games because they are games not biographies or history books . Just make the game fun , good gameplay and such .
Ghost of Tsushima wasn’t historically accurate in many things but I loved the game . Many examples like it .
Still haven't picked this up yet, waiting for the pc release.
Good review.
i loved the game but hated the ending *spoiler alert* it's sad