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If you screw up a case, your 5-star rating will obviously not be so hot at the end of a case and you will likely get an absolutely horrendous earful from your superior about disappointment and anger in your abilities… but then the game keeps going. You don’t have to start the case again, you don’t get demoted, or fired… all of that stuff is left to the story’s plot instead. Most action set-pieces tied to the game’s main story will even offer you the ability to skip it if you fail a couple of times, with no repercussions.

You see, that’s where I find myself torn when it comes to L.A Noire. Besides the skill needed to shoot and drive fast, L.A Noire has a story to tell, and it feels like it’s going to get told with or without you. The problem is that it can’t decide if it wants to be an interactive story or a video game. I liked Heavy Rain for fully dedicating itself to being an interactive story that adapts to your actions and choices.

LA Noire on the other hand, pushes you in directions regardless of your choices and performance. The pre-determined story itself is the number one priority and there’s nothing you can do to change it.

Since the story is such an important part of L.A Noire, it needs its own bit of explanation (don’t worry, there are no spoilers here).

As mentioned before, the story revolves around Cole Phelps and will often cut to flashbacks of his memories of the recent war. Bits and pieces of the story are also revealed to you if you can find newspapers that are placed around certain locations.

As much as I don’t like the story feeling forced, the actual events that take place are pretty spectacular at times, especially as far as a detective story goes. You will have a few “holy crap!” moments of revelation, as well as some ups and downs that you probably won’t actually like, but work towards the bigger story.

I don’t want to go on too long about the story though, as I wouldn’t dream of mistakenly spoiling something for someone. Just know that over the four desks that you work, and the overall narrative, it’s a real ride of ups and downs.

The performances of the actors, some more recognizable than others, are a very important part of the puzzle that is L.A Noire, and they have all done inspired jobs considering the conditions that the performances were captured in. The expressions are lifelike, the voice work is phenomenal and without that, this game would have been nothing.

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On a technical level, the game is solid, the city looks fantastic and loading times are very quick. The campaign ran me just a few minutes short of 20 hours, and I barely completed a quarter of the street crime missions and didn’t have any of the DLC.

Conclusion:

L.A Noire is revolutionary for some very big reasons, but at the same time it has some major flaws with its formula. I have many reasons to recommend that all gamers play this game, but there’s no doubt that with some changes and some fine tuning, this franchise could become truly great.

With so much potential for unrelated sequels spanning different eras and locations, I truly look forward to a sequel that really hits the right notes. For now, L.A Noire is a really good, albeit flawed, experience.


Scoring:

Gameplay: 8.5

The interrogations and crime scene detective work is an interesting experience, although it often feels like patiently sweeping areas and taking guesses. With some more complex elements it could be fantastic.

Design & Presentation: 9.5

L.A Noire captures the essence of 1947 Los Angeles immaculately and combined with the revolutionary animation technology and amazing performances from the actors, you have something very impressive.

Value: 8.5

The campaign is perfectly built to last you a decent length of time, especially because it can be treated like a TV show and be picked up for one case at a time over a long period.


Overall: 8.9

Like Heavy Rain, L.A Noire looks to change the way that people spend their free time with entertainment. It does have its flaws though and the story has a few issues of its own. It’s definitely an interesting new experience, but it needs some tweaking before it’s truly great.

[Reviewed on Xbox 360]

Last Updated: May 31, 2011

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LA Noire
8.9

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