PS3 Review – L.A. Noire
Much has been made about the distinction between L.A. Noire‘s developers, Team Bondi, and its publishers, Rockstar Games. Take a look at the mini-map in the corner, the way cars control and how people on the street react, or how gunplay and cover mechanics work in-game. You’ll see a Rockstar Game through and through. Despite its mechanical similarities, you should be warned: this is no Grand Theft Auto. Team Bondi’s crime caper is an entirely new beast, different from anything you may have played before.
L.A. Noire centers around Cole Phelps, a war hero from the pacific theater of World War II with the gumption to step out of his patrol uniform and into the thick of 1947 Los Angeles crime. From the outset, Phelps has a course charted for him through from the traffic desk through to the vice desk. Along the way you’ll be searching for clues, interrogating suspects and witnesses, chasing down perps, and engaging in the occasional gun fight.
Those elements shift around each other at times but Team Bondi have paced each case so that action sequences feel like breaths of fresh air and interrogations feel like boss fights. I previewed Deus Ex: Human Revolution in March for another site and a key element that Eidos Montreal was trying to sell us on was the nature of a conversational boss. In that game, gunplay finally culminated into a hostage situation where what I said determined whether an individual lived or died. L.A. Noire has beaten Human Revolution to the verbal punch. While I didn’t have to talk down mad men on the brink of a murder, I did have to confront them after the deed was committed.
Of course, all of this is possible thanks to the MotionScan technology pioneered here. Recreating an actor’s performance down to every wrinkle or blink makes the interrogation gameplay possible. If your suspect shifts his eyes or swallows nervously, you’ll be able determine if what they’re saying is a load of shit. Of course, if their gaze is locked hard on you they might be telling the truth. You can only claim that a person is lying if you have evidence that contradicts their statement.
This boils down to the gut check. You’ve been lied to in real life. What feeling do you get from an individual with something to hide? How do you judge who’s playing stupid or just plain dumb? L.A. Noire is at its most challenging during this dialogue sequences. Knowing who killed the dame down by the rail yard can come from hard evidence collection or breaking the suspect in interrogation.
Let’s back up a second though, I’m getting ahead of myself. You will too. At the beginning of each case, a short tease is shown to get the mystery rolling. You’ve seen what happens in the beginning of Law & Order episodes right? Before the funky music, of course. After that, you’ll be given the reporting details and a location to inspect. More often than not you’ll uncover clues that will lead you to two or more people or suspects to question. Any normal person will start to formulate an idea of whodunit from the outset, but the interim dialogue between Phelps and his partners during transit help to turn ideas over and over in the player’s mind.
Heading to a suspect’s house might lead to more evidence searching and more interrogating. You’ll narrow down the list of suspects as you go along. L.A. Noire‘s bread and butter is the gathering of evidence and the interrogation, but bread and butter can get boring. That’s why every once in a while you’ll be given a chase sequence, whether on foot or by automobile. There’ll be the occasional shootout as well but the real combat is one of words.
Like I said, this is not Grand Theft Auto. In fact, I’m reluctant to even call it an open-world game. Sure, the expansive city of Angels is there for you to drive through. Maybe you’ll stumble across a street crime every once in a while. There are hidden items to collect too, but you’re given every opportunity to bypass all of that. Your partner can drive to every destination and choosing your next waypoint is often less than two button presses away.
If you’re not one for GTA’s parodic humor, you’ll be happy to know that L.A. Noire takes itself extremely serious. There’s nudity, but it’s the naked bodies of women stabbed, strangled, and pale after blood loss. There’s foul language, but it’s never excessive, unnecessary, or used as a punch-line. Team Bondi did their research with many cases having actually taken place in 1940s Los Angeles.
So what does all of this mean? L.A. Noire combines the best of action games, the best of adventure games, the best of cinema, and the best facial animation in video games to create an experience unlike any other. I’m gushing, it’s true. After 7 years of development, a generation of brand new graphics technology, and the passion for developing new experiences that comes with association to Rockstar Games, Team Bondi deserve the long vacation they’re probably on. There’s little else left to say other than: PLAY THIS GAME.
PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score
+ Stunning detail and refreshing variety within each case +/- Not Grand Theft Auto |  |
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25 Responses to “PS3 Review – L.A. Noire”
+ Not Grand Theft Auto…Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption got boring for me about half way through. I needed to take a break from them for about a month before I was interested in going back and finishing the other half of their campaigns.
I’m still scared to play this on my launch PS3 given the overheating rumor. Gonna buy a PS3 cooler on my way home from work though, since it does seem to produce artifacts while playing quite a few games these days…But anyway nice review!
Don’t let your console die but yes, you gotta play this game.
Meh. The movement controls are clunky, the shooting mechanics are pretty lackluster, and the game has uncanny valley written all over it. I’ll pass.
how do you make judgement on shooting mechanics, movement and graphics if you haven’t played it? Unless I misunderstood your comment. The game is great, you should give it a chance.
+/- Not Grand Theft Auto
that is a big time +++
LA noire is a welcomed fresh air
Completely agree.. I am tired of Grand Theft Auto, it’s boring.. this is such a welcome change
Great review Daniel Bischoff! I knew from the first moment I saw LA Noire that it was going to be a decent to great game and after reading this review and seeing its review score I see that I was right about LA Noire it is a phenomenal game. I honestly can’t wait in till I’m able to buy and play LA Noire.
Thanks!
Deserved a ten. Wrong again. I haven’t beaten the game but after Red Dead’s ending I kinda want all Rockstar games to have the main character die at the end. Yes. Even the ping pong games.
Sorry, I’m looking for a little bit more in order for the game to receive a 10. I’m not wrong.
what a ridiculous comment…it may deserve a 10 but saying someone is wrong for giving it a 9?? I have asked for justification before when games have gotten certain scores, just so I can better understand where the reviewer is coming from, but to flat out say they are wrong is idiotic. I for one don’t believe games deserve to get a 10/10 score unless they are absolutely perfect in every aspect which, by the way, is impossible as every game is going to have some flaw and everyone who plays it will have their own unique flaws purely based on taste. Reviews are based on opinion, you are free to disagree but you are not allowed to say they are wrong.
That’s why this awesome site, gamerevolution.com, has never given an A+
Okay. I beat L.A. Noire. Who freaking called it?!
Great review for my second favorite game of the year so far!
What was your first? Portal 2?
this has nothing to do with L.A. Noire but i really hope Rockstar shows something about Agent for the PS3 hopefully some gameplay
Agent should be interesting
I was watching my friend play this earlier and it was pretty hard for me to try to play it for him haha, this game just looks too awesome. Can’t wait to get it.
I was waiting for a review for this game because i did not want a GTA game. From what im reading, though, I might pick it today. Hope its worth it.
I neeeeeeeed this game, but I’m sooo short on money and InFAMOUS 2 comes out soon! OMG!
I love how everyone is saying that they DON’T want a GTA game.
I DO want a GTA game, GTA V! But I also didn’t want this game to turn out to be a 1940′s GTA, which it obviously didn’t.
GTA is a good game but after all those comments suggesting the game was going to be GTA with old fashioned cars and awesome that Rockstar and Team Bondi proved those people wrong. GTA is a good game and a lot of people will be happy to see GTA 5 but people want GTA 5 and not just some GTA Clone which is obvious due to the comments made on L.A Noire and RDR
I’m loving this game. I haven’t gotten too far into it yet…I’m investigating the hit-and-run that may not be just a hit-and-run. Can’t wait to get out of work to sort it all out!