GAME NEWS:
LA Noire is a game that I both absolutely love and yet absolutely loathe.
Rockstar games has, for many years now, seemingly been the end-all when it comes to top-notch open world video games. The company has fine tuned its craft, turning video games into an elegant art style of perfection. Rockstar has become synonymous with quality.
Grand Theft Auto IV was a work of near perfection. At the time of its creation, the game was vastly ahead of every other sandbox game on the market. It set a new standard for open world games, and enable gamers to experience action, violence, and story-telling like never before.
Red Dead Redemption, which released only last year, redefined open world gaming in a way few thought would ever be possible. Set in the Old West, Rockstar built upon the same concepts found at the core of GTA IV and perfected nearly every aspect.
Needless to say, when LA Noire was announced, anticipation for the title was through the roof. Early concept screens and videos showed an amazing amount of detail gamers have come to expect from Rockstar, and it seemed like only a matter of time before gamers were knee deep in a 1940's Los Angeles open world environment.
Sadly, LA Noire isn't the game you're expecting it to be.
LA Noire is an experience like none other. I can't stress that enough. You simply can't go into this game expecting anything like what Rockstar has done before. This isn't GTA V, nor is it in line with Red Dead Redemption. I really can't stress this enough.
The Story
You play as a rookie detective Cole Phelps, a previous lieutenant who served in the war and has returned a hero. As the game begins, you work your way up through the different case desks in the department, solving crimes in specific units while progressing the story.
As for the story itself, well, it's a bit of a humble mess. Plot points are told to the gamer in the form of flashbacks and newspaper articles (these unlock certain cut scenes, essentially). As Phelps, it is said you are a family man with a wife and children at home. However, these members aren't really seen until the game's final act and just how big of a role they play is questionable at best.
Each desk of the police station offers up new tales of the story, with Phelps first solving the crimes of a serial killer, then working his way through a military drug plot line, and ultimately to arson cases where the big picture is tied together.
Gameplay
The gameplay aspect of LA Noire is where the game can be most frustrating. As a police detective, you are required to interrogate suspects, question witnesses, and browse crime scenes for clues. All of this plays a part in solving the current case and progressing the game.
Granted, solving cases wrong still moves the game forward, which is one of my main gripes with the game. Certain cases were very easy for me to solve, certain suspects very easy to read, and certain clues very easy to find. However, in the cases where I asked the wrong questions and accused the innocent, I was still able to progress. Sure, I was yelled at harshly by my boss and he'd call me all sorts of names, but after a quick load screen he was singing my praises and promoting me.
It's a very frustrating experience.
There aren't any real bonuses to solving cases correctly, or at least, any bonuses that you should be working hard to achieve. Solving crimes perfectly only amounts to ranking up, but there are other ways to rise in the ranks that solving crimes correctly wasn't much incentive.
So, how does the gameplay shine?
Well, it's all about the execution. LA Noire is an ambitious game, to say the least. The way in which you are solving crimes and interrogating suspects is highly original and feels mostly refreshing. Sure, it's all inconsequential, but it feels so unique and absolutely refreshing.
On the one hand I can't praise the game's crime solving game play enough. Yet, on the other hand, I can't seem to determine if any of it really mattered. At the end of the day, you're playing LA Noire for the experience of seeing what Los Angeles looked like during the 1940's and actually solving crimes. It's not a shooter, it's a puzzle solver. That's both great and weird all at once.
Fans of Rockstar games need to understand what they're getting into before diving right in. It's a very weird mix that is both rewarding and highly disappointing at the same time. If you can learn to accept it for exactly what it is, LA Noire can be very satisfying.
Graphics
The visual look and feel is where LA Noire should be highly complimented. Anyone familiar with the look and feel of typical Rockstar games will be at home here.
What is incredible about the game is the look and feel of the main characters which inhibit it. Rockstar has done some amazing work with facial recognition, and to see so many familiar faces inside of a video game is simply awesome. It occasionally takes away from the experience as a whole, when recognizable actors appear on screen, but more often than not it is simply awe inspiring.
If Rockstar can put this much work and depth into future releases, only good things can come of it.
Overall
My thoughts on LA Noire are very torn. On the one hand, the experience is very unique and well worth experiencing. On the other hand, I honestly have no idea what I've just spent the week playing. It's not a shooter, it's not a puzzle solver, and it's certainly not an open world experience.
I tried taking off in one of the many vehicles and piloting it down city streets to achieve mass destruction. Rockstar has foiled those attempts by programming all of the city dwellers to be experts at dodging oncoming traffic.
I can't pull out my weapons unless the game allows for it, nor can I introduce random strangers to my fists of fury. The entire game is on full lockdown, with Rockstar only allowing for certain things to happen at certain times.
As such, there always felt like there was very little to do except to move the story forward. That would have been fine, honestly, had the gameplay consisted of more than just asking questions with little rhyme or reason. Ultimately, it didn't matter what I did so I had many struggles wanting to do much of anything with the game.
Visually, the game is exactly what we come to expect from Rockstar. It is top-notch in every way possible. The soundtrack is equally amazing, but these were the only two aspects that I really fell in love with while playing.
LA Noire is a 'must-play,' but it's hard to really explain why. You need to experience the game for yourself to fully see what Rockstar has created. The level of fun you take out of it will all depend on whether or not you really enjoy the new style of gameplay Rockstar has gone with.
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