I finally got my copy of L.A. Noire a couple of days ago from Gamestop. I've gotta say this game does not disappoint. The guys at RockStar have made another great game. The scenes in this game are amazing. They really take you back to the 40s. They really captured the essence of that time. I loved the title screen at the beginning of the game with the soft jazz music playing in the background. I can listen to that all day.
Most of the music was done by Andrew Hale who has worked with several artist such as India Arie, Corinne Baliey Rae, The Rolling Stones, and, Sade. I'd have to say out of all of the music the main theme really has me locked down. It really fits the theme of the game. Overall every piece of music fits the game perfectly all the way up to the chimes that let you know that there is a clue to be found.
The title menu was beautifully done with the night alley theme. I like how the options of the game are off to the side on a wall like silhouettes and there's a guy off in the distance looking for evidence or clues. It also meshes well with the RockStar Social Club and the PlayStation Store. It keeps everything within the game. It doesn't exit and take you somewhere else. In the PlayStation Store you can download L.A. Noire DLC content. There's a ton of goodies to get there too.
There are several other cases such as Reefer Madness, Nicholson Electroplating, A Slip of The Tongue, The Naked City, and The Consul's Car. There are other items such as suits and weapons that provide you with special abilities that will help you in your cases. So there are plenty of helpings to go around with this game that will keep you playing for hours on end.
The gameplay is amazing and kind of different for RockStar. This game wasn't like the Grand Theft Auto series where you just pulled your gun out and started shooting aimlessly. L.A. Noire consistently gives you a specific scenario for when and where to fire your weapons. You don't run around shooting everyone you see. You probably could in the game but you'd probably get a bad rating as a cop. I haven't tried it yet so I don't know. You just go about solving a particular case and you'll obviously see when its time to draw your gun.
The protagonist in Cole Phelps is very refreshing. He isn't very adept to understanding the ways of L.A. at first and he sometimes finds it hard to apply his moral gauge to different situations. As you progress through the game though he gradually catches on and proceeds accordingly. I really like his character because he doesn't always know how people in L.A. specifically are and why they're just so blase about everything. To him they have that business as usual attitude and you can see that he's fervent in stopping the madness.
RockStar could have easily created a character that was all about L.A. and knew about the politics and how people did things but they chose to go the outsider route. There's some dialog in the game in the Fallen Idol case just after the briefing Captain Leary where Cole says that he's just trying to fit in. His partner Stefan Bekowski says, "Educated, hard-working, straight as an arrow... I hate to break it to you, Cole, but you'll never fit in at Central." What Stephan said was so true because Cole does stick out from everyone else in the game due to his moral upstanding nature.
I also love Cole's back story. They show flashbacks of him during his military days through out the game. It shows more of who he is as a person. It seems like he had a rivalry with one of his war cohorts or should I say frenemy. lol Obviously there's something going on there. The flashbacks also show a strong willed Cole wanting to go to the lengths to achieve his goals. The scenes are interesting to watch.
Though the game is not linear the stories and cases are progressive and puts you on a path to eventually solving crimes. These cases are very in-depth. Nothing is what it seems. The people you talk to and interview are characters within their own right. They all have they're own distinctive characteristics about them. With that said the clues are out there you just have to pay very close attention to finding them.
What I found out in the game is that the characters can lie their asses off. lol Its kind of hard to distinguish when someone is telling the truth or not especially when they're mostly telling lies. I just finished the Fallen Idol case yesterday and not one character, so far, told the straight up honest truth. Well one did but he held back a little so that doesn't count. lol
During certain points of your interviews with the witnesses or suspects you will be given the chance to determine whether they're lying or not. There will be options on the top left corner of your screen. X is for truth, square is for doubt, and triangle is for lie. Let's just say that for the most part you'll be pressing the square and triangle buttons in this game. lol
There's a whole lot of lying going on in L.A. Noire. Even if you think they're lying you still have to ask the right questions if you want to get some answers. Then you have to be care with the accusations because they can easily turn a deaf ear in a heartbeat. The worst liar was June Ballard to me so far. She does everything that she can to throw you off the trail in the Fallen Idol case. I played that case over and over again just so I could get all my answers to her story right and I could claim a PlayStation trophy. It's amazing what RockStar did with the facial expressions of the characters. They can either really throw you off or put you on the right track given the facial expressions they make. I have to thank June Ballard for really putting me on a mind trip. lol
When you play the game Cole carries a notebook where he keeps all of his notes to every case. From there you choose what questions to ask the people that you interview. You can also use the book to make accusations towards the suspects. So for instance, you'll ask them a question and you might catch them in a lie. They'll resort to some statement towards you proving them wrong. Your notebook will present you with a list evidence to accuse them of or trump what they were talking about. It took me awhile but I learned that just because the question is at the top of the list doesn't necessarily mean that it's the first question you ask.
The characters were strikingly similar to their acting counterparts. Some of whom I recognized from TV shows and movies. Take a look here:
Aaron Staton aka Cole Phelps
Andrew Connelly aka Capt. James Donnelly
Ned Vaughn aka Capt. Gordon Leary
Michael McGrady aka Rusty Galloway
I was amazed at how close RockStar got to the actors facial resemblances for their characters that they played. Most games don't even come close to exact likenesses like this. I was even more impressed by the star studded cast that they had. Ok, well I mean these guys might not be A-listers here but they're just as good as them though.
I've seen Michael McGrady on TNT's gritty Southland TV show. That show is one of my favorite shows to watch. Ned Vaughn definitely has a recognizable face to me. I've seen him on various TV shows and movies. Aaron Staton has been featured on the TV shows Mad Men and The Good Wife. Andrew Connolly has a lengthy acting career as well. He has appeared in shows from ER to The Closer. The last movie he did was Water For Elephants, 2011, which featured Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon. They even have John Noble, Leland Monroe in the game, who plays Dr. Walter Bishop in the popular Sci-Fi series Fringe on Fox. So all these actors are stars in their own right and RockStar couldn't have made better choices to fill their roles.
I've seen Michael McGrady on TNT's gritty Southland TV show. That show is one of my favorite shows to watch. Ned Vaughn definitely has a recognizable face to me. I've seen him on various TV shows and movies. Aaron Staton has been featured on the TV shows Mad Men and The Good Wife. Andrew Connolly has a lengthy acting career as well. He has appeared in shows from ER to The Closer. The last movie he did was Water For Elephants, 2011, which featured Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon. They even have John Noble, Leland Monroe in the game, who plays Dr. Walter Bishop in the popular Sci-Fi series Fringe on Fox. So all these actors are stars in their own right and RockStar couldn't have made better choices to fill their roles.
The gun battles in the game are something I look forward to. So far I've been in about 3 gun fights in the game. There's one in Armed and Dangerous, another in Marriage Made In Heaven, and a third in Fallen Idol. Now these gun fights are fairly easy to someone who plays games like Call of Duty: Black Ops or Gears of War. They're even more easier for me who's not the greatest shot in shooters so the mechanics in this game are perfect.
Armed and Dangerous is the mission that gets you ready with using your weapons. I was really happy that this game had an auto aim feature that worked. That meant that I didn't have to work as hard to aim at my target but L.A. Noire's ability for aiming wasn't all that bad. Usually when I play shooters the sensitivity is such that its so hard for me to aim at a direct target to get an on point shot. With L.A. Noire the sensitivity for aiming is set comfortably where I don't have the shakes when I'm aiming. So all is good in that department. I still don't think that I'd be any good in a L.A. Noire multiplayer shootout though. That is if the game had such a function. lol
Armed and Dangerous is the mission that gets you ready with using your weapons. I was really happy that this game had an auto aim feature that worked. That meant that I didn't have to work as hard to aim at my target but L.A. Noire's ability for aiming wasn't all that bad. Usually when I play shooters the sensitivity is such that its so hard for me to aim at a direct target to get an on point shot. With L.A. Noire the sensitivity for aiming is set comfortably where I don't have the shakes when I'm aiming. So all is good in that department. I still don't think that I'd be any good in a L.A. Noire multiplayer shootout though. That is if the game had such a function. lol
Gun fight from Armed and Dangerous
Gun shoot out on movie set from Fallen Idol
All in all the game is perfect and then some. I couldn't be any happier with playing the game than I am now. There's only one problem that I have with the game and that would be with Cole's running. He's not the fastest guy on the block. I wish he was but he isn't. I want to at least be able to have a chance to catch the criminals when they take off running.I want to be able to use that tackle feature in the game to I can bulldoze suspect into the ground.
So far in the game two guys have took off running leaving poor Cole in the dust. Those guys were fast. One was the jewelry store owner from the Buyer Beware case, Edgar Kalou, and the other was Leroy Sabo, the owner of Ray's Cafe and also Lorna Pattison's lover in the Marriage Made In Heaven case. Both of those guys were fast. I couldn't keep up with them. lol
I only stopped Kalou because he got stopped by a car. Sabo I only stopped by shooting him down. I had to he was shooting in public. If it wasn't for those events happening those suspects would've got away. I'm just glad that the game didn't play those two events like that though. Other than that I have to tip my hat off to RockStar games and Team Bondi for making a great game. If you don't have it yet get it now people! We'll definitely be talking about this game as a classic in the upcoming years.
Related Sources:
http://lanoire.wikia.com/wiki/L.A._Noire_Wiki
http://lanoire.ign.com,
http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/16201/the-la-noire-official-soundtrack-verve-remixed-albums-now-availa.html
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