The woman was brutally stabbed to death and the entire L.A police department is stumped but there is one man who stand above all... His name is Cole Phelps and he is the latest hero in Rockstars lineup! That's right L.A Noire has been released and it is Rockstar as you have never seen before.
First off I should say that this is a Rockstar published game but the talent behind it lies in Sydney, Australia from one of Rockstars sub companies Team Boni. Yes the Aussies have delivered us a game unlike you have ever played before.
Now in L.A Noire for the first time in a Rockstar game you play as the good guys, you are Cole Phelps a street cop in 1940's L.A and your job is to climb the ladder from simple street cop with an eye for investigation all the way to Vice (The Rolls Royce of policing apparently...) So we begin with Phelps getting a lucky break as some boys from Vice do not want to bother with an investigation leaving Phelps to take care of it and through some in depth policing you find that a simple shot to the head goes much deeper and once the case is solved it seems the head honcho of the local PD has his eye on you. He quickly promoted you to the Traffic desk which has you investigating a series of deaths having to do with automobiles. The story quickly escalated from there but it is up to you as the player to find out just how it escalates.
Onto the overall story, now this is a bit different since there is no "Main story" each desk you get promoted to will have you following a series of murders most of which have to do with the same killer however it will take some good policing to figure out weather the suspects and witnesses are lying, or telling the truth. The game uses a sophisticated facial capturing technology which actually captures the expressions of the actors playing the characters and put's it in stunning realism. During investigations you will first visit the crime scenes which are surprisingly brutal and gritty, so it is advised you not have kids in the room on them as they do not censor themselves at all. Your job is to search the area for clues which can be examined and used as evidence later in interrogations.
During interrogations is where the facial recognition really comes into play, as a player you will ask them a series of questions and you will have to ability to choose one of three options being Lie, Doubt and Truth. Now you are going to have to try and read their facial expressions in order to try and make your final decision which of the three are going to be used. Selecting Lie for example will force you to accuse them and you will have to use evidence found in the investigation in order for it to be the right answer but if you have no evidence then you must doubt or if you think they are being straight then select Truth! It is a simple concept yet surprisingly difficult to nail all the right answers.
Now onto the action of the game.. Now as most Rockstar games focus heavily on the physics and the combat this one concentrates mostly on the interrogations with some shooting and driving, the shooting will feel familiar to you but it will not feel as polished as say Red Dead Redemption or GTA 4, instead it uses a mediocre version of the famous Rockstar physics and often is not as responsive as you would like to make it feel like a satisfying kill. The driving in the game is a huge part.. Bigger than it needs to be to be completely honest, L.A is beautifully reconstructed in the game and could take you a good 25 minutes to get across the city in a straight line! But 40% of the game is driving around in beater cars that feel just as mediocre as the gun fighting, do not expect the same level of detail as GTA 4 in terms of car reaction to impacts, dents scratches you name it.. The cares back then apparently were tanks on wheels because a bent bumper and a cracked windshield are about the most damage you wills see besides an exploding car.
I will also note that the world is not as living and breathing as it is in previous Rockstar games there is no driving around and throwing darts at a bar or going to eat at a Burger King it simply wants you to do the Main Story with about 40 side missions that randomly appear around the city which normally result in the same thing.. Shootout, car chase or foot pursuit. There really is not much diversity in terms of things to do and truthfully this game could have done much better considering it was announced 5 years ago. I will also mention that at each desk you are given a partner each one with their own charms but they are not much help at all besides using them as a fast travel method... For once in a game the answer is YES! Someone else will drive you to the location, but besides that it seems all they do is tell you obvious points and bitch about various things when in the end Cole is always right it seems. I also mentioned the facial recognition earlier which is a fantastic technology and I hope other games use it in the future but in this game the tech far exceeds the came.. In comparison to the games graphics the facial expressions look like moving masks and the children in the game look horribly done, specifically a little girl you interrogate at the Homicide desk (Play it and see for yourself).
This game is solid and there is an even number of good things as well as the bad to be said about this game, that is not necessarily a good thing however as you want to minimalize the bad when making a game.. Especially one that took 5 years to develop, the idea is solid but there needs to be more to do and it needs to feel more real if it wants to compete with the upcoming 2011 titles. In summary it is a solid game that is worth a rent if you are in the mood for a game that takes a sharp mind to play but if you are looking to buy it beware the replay-ability of this game is limited to none.
6.5/10
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