L.A. Noire - by EvaUnit02
Fingernail on 31/5/2011 at 11:25
It's true, sometimes the clues don't match up quite as fluidly as they would in real life - a similar thing where I was trying to prove the writer McCaffrey's link to the victim, I chose the torn half of her letter found in his appartment - surely that proves a link? Apparently I wanted the book with his name in found at her place. The letter, of course, places him at the scene instead where the other half was found. Of course! And no such thing as weight of evidence in the case - it's all about the right evidence in the right consecutive order.
But still, it is fun and the animation and performances compelling, even if there is a slight interactive novel quality to it; if you fail at one of the physical challenges enough times it offers you the chance to simply skip that sequence and move on with the story. And chasing people only to end up shooting them gets old eventually.
I also wish there was something else to do in the city, I don't know, buy stuff, or something. I've not really got to know the map at all as I did in Mafia and GTA games because the extent of your relationship with it is really driving from point A to point B. I guess in Mafia there wasn't really much to do either, maybe a city was a bit more of a novelty back then. These days you just take it for granted that they've created a whole city environment with overly jumpy pedestrians (who all seem to be having the same conversation) and random traffic.
Also the amazing teleporting car which will arrive if you need to have a radio sequence, even if you drove a civilian's car there. Also your partner can make it on foot if you drive off without him! And I think the cop cars are too indestructable, I've been hit by trams and stuff with no ill effects.
Pyrian on 31/5/2011 at 22:07
Quote:
...sometimes using a legitimate piece of evidence to accuse someone doesn't work, because you should have chosen the other piece of evidence decided by the developer.
I think I've had that sort of problem with every adventure game (or adventure like game) I've ever played - and frankly a few school quizzes and exams as well. Maddening. From the designer's perspective, this is probably very difficult to get right; there's no way they're going to think of everything the playerbase is going to think of.
Generally I prefer games that have a clear and consistent ruleset, to ones that are essentially arbitrary flags based loosely on "real" world consequences.
demagogue on 1/6/2011 at 01:30
That's a good point. It's probably frustrating for the developers to script it too and I'm sure they know full well how arbitrary it ends up feeling and there's only so much they can do to credibly push a plot forward under all the different possible tracks the player could go down. But if they didn't script it like that then it's hard to see how you could wedge any interactive narrative line into the missions at all. You can have open analog gameplay or arbitrarily interactive narrative-nodes. You can mix & intersperse them, but seems like you have to pick one or the other track for any given mechanic.
henke on 5/6/2011 at 19:46
I just finished it. The final few missions are really gripping. I played one or two missions a day through most of the game but today I ended up running through the last 5 missions in a row. The final missions focus less on the crime scenes and the interrogations in favour of more action. But that's alright because the narrative becomes so focused and clear, hurtling you towards the conclusion.
The game isn't perfect. LA Noire reminds me of the first Hitman game in a way. They both do something new, but they're flawed in the same way. Just like Malf says it sometimes feels more like trying to figure out what the developers intended you to do than just doing what seems logical. And you might well have to play through the game once to be able to play it properly the second time. Hitman eventually got the formula right, though, with Blood Money. I'm hoping LA Noire's sequel will get there too, to a place where the interogations just feel natural. For now, it's a flawed masterpiece. I'd give it a 8/10
And I'm hoping the DLC will demonstrate the same kind of out-of-the-box-thinking that R* demonstrated with RDR's Undead Nightmare. I've seen 1940's LA from a cop's perspective, now I'd like to see it from a gangster's point-of-view. :cool:
Scots Taffer on 15/6/2011 at 14:01
so what was the final verdict on this? lots of mixed talk with lots of spoilers so I've only skim-read most of it... seems to be a fair mix of opinion but settling down somewhere around a consensus of great style but middling gameplay? is that fair?
is it in a similar class to RDR? I lost interest in RDR in Mexico but when it gripped me it was unlike anything I'd played before.
henke on 15/6/2011 at 15:12
It doesn't have much in common with and is not as good as RDR. It's more like Heavy Rain than any R* game. If you're on the fence, hold out for a pricedrop.
CCCToad on 15/6/2011 at 15:17
I actually like it better, though that may be partly because I'm very happy to see an adventure-style game make it big. Hell, its great to see anything thats not a shooter or 3rd person action game succeed on console.
The game itself. Its flawed, but brilliant in a way. While I wasn't able to beat it before I got on the plane I was pretty impressed by what I did play (I completed up to the second Arson case, so the majority). Vice is definitely the most interesting desk, with the best storylines for each mission.
Largest criticism I have is that the action sequences need to be better fleshed out. I suspect that using the GTA engine accounts for a lot the clunkiness. While having a scripted ending for chases that you can't win is nice, it needs to be easier to run bad guys off the road and to stop on foot bad guys before the end of the chase. It would give the player a little more feeling of control.
june gloom on 15/6/2011 at 19:08
L.A. Noire is the detective game I didn't know I wanted. To hell with Heavy Rain, Heavy Rain can go fuck itself. While the game has its flaws, it has quite a bit of the old-school point and click feel, and there is an on-going story arc that slowly starts coming through as you work your way through the rather episodic nature of the cases. This episodic nature
can feel a bit dull at times- you're mostly doing a lot of the same things over and over. But hell, that's not a lot different from real police work. As long as you know what you're getting into, it's not going to be a big deal.
The driving around is boring as shit, though, but that's why you make your partner drive as often as possible. This game isn't GTA 1947, and it wasn't fucking meant to be.
The shooting and whatnot doesn't really work for me. The cover system, I've never really been able to get the hang of. Fortunately over the course of the game there isn't all
that much shooting. Probably the hardest thing for me are car chases; you have to be careful not to cause too much damage, while keeping up with the suspect. Likewise with tailing, you have to basically break traffic laws just to keep up sometimes. Running red lights is a risky proposal at best.
The interviews are fun, even though you, like me, are probably going to be fairly bad at reading people. And while you'll always close the case, there's always the possibility that it's the wrong guy, or that you missed something.
And boy, they weren't kidding about that M rating; full-blown naked dead ladies in between regular (neutral) use of the word 'negro' and good old fashioned racism, sexism (Roy Earle is so very punchable) and drug abuse.
The music is great, too. Good selection of period music, and a soundtrack that is at times "Miles Davis lives." I think it may be one of my favourite new game soundtracks in a long time.
Overall the writing is solid and the characters are believable: Bekowsky is gruff but affable, Galloway is a pig, but he grew on me, and Roy Earle is a straight-up dick; Phelps himself puts in well as the sometimes-naive, by-the-book cop who gets the job done, isn't afraid to make threats, but is prone to occasional mistakes, big and small. I notice quite a few people- Phelps included- are played by
Mad Men regulars, which means I have to get in on that shit yeah?
I only just started the arson cases, but things are... heating up.
Inline Image:
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t185/dethtoll/yeah.pngEvaUnit02 on 22/6/2011 at 17:07
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http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/blockbuster-la-noire-faces-credits-crisis-20110620-1gaw3.html) There be a thunder brewing Downunder.
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approximately 130 Australian developers who claim they were not credited for up to four years of work on the game.
The credits that appear at the end of a video game or in its manual might be overlooked by most people but for those who develop the games they are crucial as proof of their contribution.
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But L.A. Noire developers are now fighting for recognition and have created lanoirecredits.com to draw attention to their plight. They refuse to individually be named in stories, however, worried that the small world that is the Australian games development industry may shun them.
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