L.A Noire

[glb]

Not hit a wall with it yet (10 hours in) but being careful to ration the time I spend with it, usually playing one case, and a few side missions, in any given session. Not that a game should be rationed, but the approach has left me still feeling that this is a good game, it's just hella wonky in places.

Also, glad to see 'Doubt' doesn't just have me befuddled. Will try using it how Wickedkitten suggests on the previous page, which is the most logical explanation I've seen.

[Vulgar Monkey]

Just finished.

I actually really enjoyed the way the narrative pulled together in the last few hours once you

Take over as kelso. Although the ending leads me to reason that the consiracy case ends up dead in the water? Tex is dead, phelps is dead, it looked as though all those goons got into the tunnels because the new DA cut a deal with the bent police chief, and Vice seems intact too. Tossers.

[Pekoe]

I done did a hit and run in the hit and run case. /ironing

[Monkeyboy]

Why do the villains make a film of themselves conveniently discussing their dastardly plan, and then leave this incriminating evidence lying around a disused film set, right next to a film projector? What purpose would any of this serve?

Yeah, that puzzled me as well. Why would they do that? Another thing that didn't sit well with me was...

ENDING SPOILER!

Kelso and his gang attacking Walter from Fringe's mansion like it was the movie Scarface. To see him taken down in a shootout seemed a bit cheap. I would have been more than happy just to see his world unravel because of hard evidence, and see him being arrested and led to a police car, humiliated, his reputation destroyed. Unless I fucked up something, and the case branched to the shoot out. Or did everyone get the shootout regardless?

[Guest]

Ah, I totally forgot about Uncharted 3. But we're veering off-topic here. This is a solid 8/10 for me. I really enjoyed it.

I gave it a 2/10 and said it was probably the worst game I've played a couple of pages back, but I'm intrigued as to how it seems to be dividing opinion.

An 8/10 seems crazy generous to me, so I'd be interested to hear why you rate it so highly. I honestly can't think of anything that would make somebody enjoy it so much, so do you fancy giving me a quick rundown of what you felt made the game so good?

[NecroMorrius]

I'd like to hear it too. I'm not going to shout anyone down for really liking it, I'm genuinely interested in what people are getting out of it as I just don't see it myself. I know a bunch of guys who have been playing it in real life, they're all onboard with the 'meh' reaction except for one guy who told me he really liked it, and when I asked him why he said 'it wasn't very good but it was a good test for GTA5', whatever that meant. He means the facial tech I assume. Also I listened to the latest Weekend Confirmed today, and again all of them said they liked it, but then they laid into it for a good 25 minutes and didn't seem to have a good thing to say about it, facial tech aside. People seem to be having a really hard time articulating what they like about it.

I played the first two Vice cases tonight, they were somewhat more enjoyable owing to not being another identical homicide case, but I'm extremely tired of the formula now.

Also I noticed that whenever you get into a gunpoint footchase, if you aim and shoot a few rounds the second you gain control of Phelps, you can often down the suspect before he gets around the first corner

[Monkeyboy]

Speakings of 8s, Edge gave this an 8, didn't they?

edit: yep, they did. http://www.next-gen.biz/reviews/la-noire-review

[exwhyzed]

I always get the feeling with games like this and Heavy Rain that people like them because the developer has tried something different so they feel they should like the game. Atmosphere is often cited as a reason for liking this game, but the city is completely dead so I guess what they really like is that it is set in a past time period.

[NecroMorrius]

If you condense the edge review, it basically says 'the facial tech is good'. And then complains about everything else, including the interrogations in which the facial tech is most important. And then they call it a success and give it an 8.

They do say it's 'thrilling' actually, but they don't say why, other than 'the creaky combat is thrilling'.

Also "It’s a structure that deftly avoids the videogame pitfall of the bloated second act". Pfft, did they play homicide?

I always get the feeling with games like this and Heavy Rain that people like them because the developer has tried something different so they feel they should like the game. Atmosphere is often cited as a reason for liking this game, but the city is completely dead so I guess what they really like is that it is set in a past time period.

Yeah you could be right. I thought it was quite good for the first few hours, but then I realised I just really, really wanted it to be good because they'd tried something different. Once the tech and the 'different' wears off, you're left with a couple of mechanics and a whole load of trudging to get to the credits. Heavy Rain was a failure in many respects but I enjoyed it to completion, probably because it wasn't repetitive and had a properly branching narrative, which was enough to keep me going. It was also quite unintentionally funny at times, whereas LA Noire seems drab and lifeless, even despite the facial tech. For instance, Aaron Staton gives a good performance as Phelps, and yet the character is boring and unlikeable. It's not that it's badly written or performed, but rather that his character doesn't go anywhere narratively interesting.

[exwhyzed]

Its like art house film where people will say they enjoyed it just to make it seem like they "get it".

[NecroMorrius]

I feel there's a real element of the emperor's new clothes. They've tried something different and made an important leap with the facial tech, both of these things are really commendable. But when everything else in the game doesn't really work, why not call a spade a spade?

[Uncle Mike]

Yeah, we get it guys - you don't like it.

[exwhyzed]

Though I reckon LA Noire 2 will have the same sort of leap between Assassin's Creed and its sequel.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

I always get the feeling with games like this and Heavy Rain that people like them because the developer has tried something different so they feel they should like the game. Atmosphere is often cited as a reason for liking this game, but the city is completely dead so I guess what they really like is that it is set in a past time period.

Its like art house film where people will say they enjoyed it just to make it seem like they "get it".

I find this quite a condescending attitude really. You seem to be insinuating that people who say the like it (or arthouse cinema) are pretentious twats who just pretend to like something to gain some kind of credits from their peers... I think that's not really fair on the people in this thread as most have stated exactly what they like about the game even though they're not blind to its flaws. Fine to disagree, but questioning their integrity is a bit off IMO.

[exwhyzed]

You can enjoy the game, most people on here that say they enjoy the game do genuinely enjoy it. The art house comment was more aimed at reviews, I think reviewers have given it good scores because everyone else was in the release hype. Some reviews are full of criticisms with sparse commendations and yet give it something like 8/10.

I stand by my comment that games that do not fit traditional genres get more praise than they merit.

[The Mighty Ash]

I loved heavy rain and I love this, conversely I didn't like portal 2 that much. In a nutshell I enjoy this and heavy rain because I don't have to think too much to push the story on. I work 9-5 thinking all day, I like games that I can come home to and push the narrative on with not too much use of the old grey matter. I find the driving servicable, the combat ok and the atmosphere pretty good. The overarching narrative is interesting, and the whole case structure makes it good for short bursts.

8/10 so far seems fair.

[Kiwi Cake]

I'd probably also put myself in the 7-8/10 group as I've enjoyed pretty much everything about it to a degree. There are painfully obvious improvements to be made, but that hasn't stopped me enjoying what's already there.

It's been doing the rounds for a week or two, but I've not see the Digital Foundry Timelapse of L.A. linked here yet. There may be little to do in it, but the attention to detail is pretty incredible.

[NecroMorrius]

Yeah, we get it guys - you don't like it.

We're just interested in people telling us why they did, no-one here or elsewhere has been able to articulate it for me yet.

There's a lot of 'quick neg him he doesn't like it' but absolutely no-one has been able to give any description of what they liked about it, just that some or all of it 'wasn't terrible'. Ashmatuk is the only person who's even given it a go, and he said he likes it because it's easy and doesn't require much effort

[Kiwi Cake]

Like I said, I enjoyed pretty much everything. My favourite aspect, similar to RDR, would likely be the world building. I think LA Noire provides you with an excellent sense of place and time. I love the world, even if there is little to do in it.

Like Ashmatuk I enjoy the "episodic" nature of it, and find the writing and acting to be enjoyable. I would have preferred a few more nods to classic noire over the contemporary Ellroy noire the game is so fond of, but I like that stuff too so hey ho. The overarching plot is interesting enough to keep me playing, though I do wonder if large chunks of it were removed along with the two desks they took out of the game as it does seem a little disjointed.

I even enjoy the gameplay mechanics, including the overly sensitive driving which is probably my least favourite part of the game. The gunplay is near identical to RDR which I only recently got around to playing and enjoyed all the same. Foot chases and the likes can get repetitive but I still find them exciting. Investigation is clumsy but I can see why it exists as it does and still enjoy tying evidence to an interrogation correctly. Interrogations themselves have been fine for me, I even four-starred The Golden Butterfly first time which people seem to be having trouble with. I'm not sure why, but I can read people quite easily it seems (though I too have encountered more than one logical fallacy).

I dunno, I just enjoy it. I see the flaws that everyone points out, but I enjoy it anyway because even though the component parts are a little dodgy I find the completed game to be a really fresh and interesting experience. In a sense that describes every Rockstar game I've ever played, from GTA to Bully, RDR or Manhunt (can include a lot of Bathesda games too if it helps ).

I guess I just don't let myself get hung up on what could have been.

[footle]

We're just interested in people telling us why they did, no-one here or elsewhere has been able to articulate it for me yet.

There's a lot of 'quick neg him he doesn't like it' but absolutely no-one has been able to give any description of what they liked about it, just that some or all of it 'wasn't terrible'. Ashmatuk is the only person who's even given it a go, and he said he likes it because it's easy and doesn't require much effort

Atmosphere - it isn't all it could be, but hardly anything ever is.

And it's different from hack/slash/shoot game number seven.

And it doesn't take the cop out of "restart because you screwed up" that other "detective" games (ha, Phoenix Wright) go with.

And it doesn't wrap everything up neatly immediately - you can fail despite not dying or restarting.

[rumblecat]

I'm just enjoying poodling around, checking evidence, making links, interviewing suspects- the lie, doubt and truth options have worked pretty well for me. Love the on-foot chases, the city is amazingly detailed (ridiculously so- I've been going around people's gardens, snooping around side streets, so many little touches put in there) and while I'd love to have a photography option- ever since San Andreas open-worlds aren't quite the same when you can't take your own arty holiday snaps- I'm liking walking around, taking in everything. But mostly I'm liking it because growing up I was big fan of 30s and 40s American crime fiction and especially writers like Jonathan Latimer ("The Lady In The Morgue", "Muder In The Madhouse" etc) and LA Noire does a pretty good job capturing the feel of that, and making me feel like an uptight asshole of a detective.

[K]

The interrogations and interviews are very satisfying when they work. I did a case before that ended with me playing off two suspects against each other, moving from one interview room to another and poking holes in their stories – a bit like in LA Confidential. When you think of a bit of evidence that contradicts what someone is saying, and use it against them, you feel really clever. And it’s something I haven’t really seen in any other games, so that part of the game feels quite fresh. The script and dialogue is often pretty good, and is often made to seem better than it is thanks to engaging performances.

But then, there’s all the bits when it reverts back to standard game clichés and boring, repetitive “action” sequences, like the rubbish foot pursuits and the soporific car chases. And there are all the bits where the new, innovative mechanics just don’t work, or some mad quirk of the design makes you fail through no real fault of your own. There was a scene in one case where I did the old trick of rubbing a pencil over a notepad to see what someone had previously written on it, which revealed an extremely incriminating note. The thing is, because I didn’t reveal one of the letters or something, my character apparently couldn’t read the note or mention it to the suspect, because I hadn’t quite rubbed 100% of the message – and there was no indication of what I was doing wrong.

This is the game’s core problem, I think – the game is massively generous in some respects (i.e. the unfailable foot chases and shootouts) and brutally unforgiving in others (the interrogations). And worse, when you fuck up, it’s very hard to tell what you did wrong, so you don’t feel like you’re learning the game – you don’t think “I’ll do better next time” because you’ve no idea what the game considers to be the right approach.

Pretty much every great, clever idea in the game is balanced out by something – either a tired, old idea, or a massive flaw in the new idea. So for me, so far, it’s a 5 or 6 out of 10. But there’s a lot in there to like.

[Uncle Mike]

There was a scene in one case where I did the old trick of rubbing a pencil over a notepad to see what someone had previously written on it, which revealed an extremely incriminating note. The thing is, because I didn’t reveal one of the letters or something, my character apparently couldn’t read the note or mention it to the suspect, because I hadn’t quite rubbed 100% of the message – and there was no indication of what I was doing wrong.

Not to argue with your main thrust, but once you've uncovered it all, he makes a comment, and the evidence pops up as added to your notebook - if it's not in your notebook, how were you going to use it? I just kept revealing until it triggered, which just seemed like the thing to do.

[the_debaser]

I'm on disc 2 at the moment and some bits in this game are utterly brilliant and I adore the setting but it really has some serious issues. The evidence finding is actually genuinely rubbish, wandering aimlessly around people's houses until you feel a buzz in the controller and more often than not it's something which doesn't help the investigation. "Hmmm, don't think this helps" - well why have you put it there for me to find you time wasting bastards? The clunky control system which also plagues GTA and RDR doesn't help the search for evidence either. Then there's the questioning whereby, should you use the doubt function, Cole goes mental at people immediately, even on a

little girl who's just found out her mom's been brutally murdered

. The biggest issue the game has though is that it seems a bit repetitive - get a case, drive to scene, get evidence, visit coroner, talk to someone, chase them (usually following them up a drainpipe) but never catch them until your mate pulls over in the car and then questioning. I guess that's just the structure which befits most crime dramas but a little more variety would've been nice.

[NecroMorrius]

Thanks guys, I wasn't trying to be combative by asking what people were enjoying, I was genuinely interested, thanks for all your answers.

[K]

Not to argue with your main thrust, but once you've uncovered it all, he makes a comment, and the evidence pops up as added to your notebook - if it's not in your notebook, how were you going to use it? I just kept revealing until it triggered, which just seemed like the thing to do.

Maybe I was just unlucky, but I thought I had uncovered the whole thing – I didn’t notice that part of one letter hadn’t been revealed, even though the message was clear:

it was along the lines of “WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT MY WIFE”, where the “g” in “something” hadn’t been fully revealed. It was confusing because, again, the fact that the game didn’t yet acknowledge this as a clue wasn’t clear. Basically, I knew something that my character didn’t, although I wasn’t aware of that.

I only discovered that after I’d arrested the guy, and I realised the music was still playing at the crime scene – after having checked literally every other room. It’s unfortunate, and admittedly quite hard to predict on the part of the developers, but it still meant I failed the case in a way that took me right out of the game.

[supert3d]

Traded this in yesterday after getting a bit fed up with the same thing over and over. Have to say, it's a really impressive game, especially the face movement but i dunno, maybe LA Noire 2 is one to pick up instead for me.

Nice surprise was that I got £35 from GAME for credit. I swear I bought it for that price off shopto

[df0]

FYI, it is possible to redeem the codes.

For me it went like this:

entered code -> error message that the code is incorrect or already used -> entered same code again -> code accepted. Now I am trying to actually download it. Ow, the file - in my case Naked City - is large, 1,2GB. You may want to take that in consideration when downloading now, the PSN can kick you off and there is no resume functionality.

[CandyBob]

Another one for the enjoyed it warts and all gang.

The amtosphere mostly did it for me. I liked the presentation and the whole feel the game created. I'm not sure if I would call it noire as such but I did feel transported to a post WW2 L.A to a certain extent. It was also mostly very well acted and I especially liked the partners I had.

Once the weaknesses in the interrogation mechanic surfaced I mostly played those sections how the game wanted me to rather than using any logic or investigative skills (although it did on occasion work how I imagined it should). I enjoyed the evidence gathering part and tried to avoid walking around pressing X until the music stopped. I would remove that particular mechanic from future games. I guess the cases weren't as open as they needed to be but I want to miss some evidence to see how differently the cases can pan out.

I found some of the cases quite engaging. A few of them felt like filler but I definately got something from some of them.

The biggest weakness for me was the main character. I just couldn't get on with him in anyway and enjoyed playing Kelso alot more.

I mostly got what I expected from the driving and shooting sections so no suprises there.

It's not RDR by any stretch and I prefered Heavy Rain but I got a good 20hrs or so from it.

[Pob]

There's got to be a better way of doing the evidence gathering than bungling around a set area waiting for a rumble and avoiding red herring items. Maybe a first-person option, with objects of interest getting highlighted when you look directly at them. That would better replicate the process of poking round a crime scene looking for stuff. Even incidental details that don't get recorded as actual 'clues' would help to flesh out the characters and perhaps insights as to motives, relationships etc. All stuff which could help with questioning.