It seems like every game that uses the 1940’s setting is always a World War II shooter. Even more disconcerting, the rarity of seeing new graphics technology boast a gameplay innovation is just as hard to find. Team Bondi, development studio started by ‘The Getaway’ creative director Brendan McNamara, set out to change these lax behaviors with their first game: L.A. Noire. Even after such a long development time by this freshman studio, this graphic title’s uncompromising style is another instance of the wait feeling worth it.
The setting is 1947 Los Angeles. Cole Phelps has recently returned from the war and is now a beat cop for the LAPD. After working a few patrol cases (which also act as the player’s hand holder for Noire’s gameplay features), Phelps shoots up the department’s ladder to become an investigator for various desks. Within each of these investigations, which act similarly to self-contained episodes, the player soon becomes aware that The City of Angels also has its fair share of demons, both inside and outside the department.
Whether you’re looking at earlier investigation cases that last for about an hour or ones later on that act as a paper trail for the big (yet slightly rushed) finale, the branching storylines are entrancing. Phelps (brilliantly acted by Aaron Staton), an affable erudite with a decent sense of humor, contains such resonating qualities because of his willingness to remain firm to noble ideals when moral ambiguity surrounds him throughout the entire journey. Even the side characters themselves sometimes pose questions that textually and sub-textually present doubt of certain political choices that are still maintained in today’s age. The deep over-reaching plot tied into different case desks makes excellent use of certain hardboiled questions that help the player become rapt in every situation.
Despite how engrossing the different layers of the plotline may be, there are faults to be found. Even when you find yourself getting slammed by the department for charging the wrong suspect, the next episode is presented as if everything went according to plan. Where it also makes bold, new steps in cinematic direction it also fumbles through two storytelling methods that rob the player of suspense: a voiceover narration in the patrol cases and some collectable newspapers. The idea of someone preemptively presaging “the case that would change Phelps” is a cheap technique to inform players of what they would find out eventually; given how briskly this method is removed, it seems like the writing/directing team weren’t sure what to do with this option either. Most of the collectable newspapers properly incorporated in certain cases present the parallel storyline gimmick quite well; however, some of these unnecessarily forecast entire situations that would happen later. The repercussions of these mistakes cause some later interviews to hand you the correct choice on a silver platter.
To compare one of the movies it was inspired by, L.A. Noire could’ve used a “less is more” last-minute approach like Polanski did with removing Jake Gittes’ voiceover narration in ‘Chinatown,’ in order to allow simultaneous player/character discovery to happen more frequently. Overall though, the amount of different themes from excellent noir films subsumed into this narrative help makes it one of the best videogame stories of 2011.
An advantage in having such an underused setting is the disparity in both the artistic design and classic sounds of that age from other open world titles. Rather than the sundry amount of rap, rock, and other current genres in present-day GTA titles, players can expect jazz and-funnily enough-inspirational oldies for the rock-and-roll genre, like Hank Williams’ “Move It On Over." The quality voice acting also supports the proper vernacular written in the script. Gang members and lower-educated citizens colloquially state their explanations while the rest read their part in a way that’s proper for the backdrop. The dedication to producing 1947 Los Angeles to such jaw-dropping detail, in both sights and sounds, makes it nearly impossible to praise one specific facet. Even subtleties like the option to play in black and white or visit historically accurate building models breathe a sense of life into the timeline. While a few technical anomalies poke their head out a bit too often, it doesn't drastically overwhelm the meticulous care that was taken in making (or should I say crafting?) the locale to look as if it has deep history around every corner.
For a generation so stretched as this one it’s quite refreshing to still see games take technological steps that can invent, or reinvent, gameplay expectancies. On the surface, the idea of walking around crime scenes in search for clues and then interrogating persons of interest sounds like something done eons ago; but when technology capable of thoroughly tracking the physiognomy of every witness or suspect is incorporated into the gameplay the role of old-school detective feels more pronounced. Wavering tones in speech, darting eyes, and a plethora of different reactions are displayed in order for you to make one of three choices: Truth, Doubt, or Lie. While the ‘Truth’ and ‘Doubt’ options are passive, claiming someone is lying requires you to pick the correct clue(s) in your notebook (think of it as your database for each case) in order for the question to be considered a success. If the choice was successful, that person may provide more clues that could help you later on. What’s ingenious of this questioning system is how initial inquires will sometimes trail off to different subjects that you have to refute. The necessity to keep an incisive observation on both the question and general attitude of each person is what makes this meaty portion of the gameplay feel so involving, and-most importantly-it felt like this attention to detail couldn’t be done without this new technology.
Beyond investigating macabre scenes of dead bodies and interrogating P.O.I.'s, L.A. Noire also covers other duties of a police officer on television: chase scenes (by car or on foot), shooting, fistfights, and tailing suspects. All of the combat-based secondary features are decent and evenly paced, but lack that same amount of polish as the satisfying core. Shooting maintains a decent formula throughout, but maneuvering from cover to cover feels sluggish. Chase scenes on foot can feel artificial because of what the game allows during certain chases. The option to fire a warning shot in the air after aiming your weapon at a fleeing suspect for a few seconds is locked out of some pursuits to force you to tackle an absconder, sometimes without giving an indication as to which is allowed. While these additions do help portray the “just another day in the life as a cop” action-oriented mentality seen in police dramas (which is further reinforced by the episodic format), it won’t take long to notice they pale in comparison to the sleuthing facets of the game.
The open-world design is one of the biggest blessings and curses for L.A. Noire. Where the-previously mentioned-scale and vibrant nature of late 40’s Los Angeles is a boon, the sense of player autonomy (or lack thereof) is a drawback. Despite having such an interesting backdrop, everything you interact with outside of the story cases feels hollow, especially in comparison to other open-world heavy-hitters that have “Rockstar Games Presents…” on their cover. Beyond the forty street crimes that usually utilize the lesser gameplay elements, everything else to do simply feels like a bland collect-a-thon. There’s also the technical graphics when considering how smoothly this city is rendered. Install or no, I oftentimes ran into screen tearing issues or AI oddities involving my partner. While there’s expectancy for some small problems to arise, many more occur whenever you simply want to drive around the city and ignore the story. This imbalanced focus specifically on story locations compared to everywhere else become jarring after a while.
In the end, L.A. Noire is one of those cases of biting off more than it could chew. For having such a long checklist of gameplay features and bygone places to explore, it’s a shame to see it stumble to deliver them in an equally-polished way. Nevertheless, the dedication in faithfully recreating such a varied city, rethinking what gamers can expect from noir titles and constructing a first-rate story makes this an easy recommendation. It’s rather ironic to see such a pulsating backdrop as this noir setting be used so often in early film, yet rarely depicted in the videogame medium-even as it strides closer and closer towards cinema. After playing L.A. Noire, you’ll wonder why that’s the case.
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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 .
Nice review cb, I actually just finished this game about a week ago. I gotta say that I never ran into any graphical or technical issues with it though (I got it on PS3, the obviously superior platform :P). My biggest gripe, if you could even call it that, was that there is this giant open world and almost no reason to explore it. Unless of course you buy the find the hidden badge DLC. Overall the story was engrossing and I always wanted to come back to find out what was happening next.
I got this game when the bundle went on sale for $20 (thank you PS+). Haven't gotten round to finishing it (good job minimizing spoilage). Based on this review, I'd say I got an excellent value for my money.