Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Solving Crimes, One Frustrating Lie At a Time


So here I am, police officer Cole Phelps, rising star of the LAPD, recently promoted to dectective, and veteran of WWII.  You start out LA Noire with a tutorial case so you can learn the ropes of gathering evidence, pursuing suspects, handling your weapons, and interrogation.  The first thing you notice when you play LA Noire is the amazing facial capture technology that they employ.  You can actually see emotions, and easily recognize actual Hollywood actors who as used not only to voice characters you encounter but also are recreated as the character themselves with the new technology.

LA Noire isn't like most sandbox games like GTA or Mafia 2.  You aren't rewarded for causing mayhem across the sprawling backdrop of LA, you can't pull your gun at any moment and go on a killing spree.  You are a cop and cops play by the rules and don't run down pedestrians for the fun of it.  So even with a huge playground to wander around in this is very much a linear adventure telling the story of Cole Phelps as he rises the ranks and moves on to more and more important cases.

John Noble in full video game glory
So far I've been having a grand ol time in this "blast from the past" detective story.  Oddly enough, even though there is a lack of action and gunplay, I find myself more engrossed in not getting tricked or lied to by a suspect or witness.  It's really more of a thinking game than a shooting game.  It angers me to no end when I get duped by a suspect or accuse them of lying without proper evidence to back my claims up.  I feel as though I failed as a cop.  I actually started a case over that involved a 15 year old girl getting abused because I pushed her too hard and I felt like a complete asshole.  

This is an intriguing game so far and I'm very much into it's atmosphere and it's way of story telling.  Watching videos of someone else playing doesn't do this game justice.  You have to make your own justice on the mean streets of LA to really understand the beauty of this diamond in the rough.

20 comments:

  1. Might buy LA Noire i love both gta and mafia

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  2. There's a lot of hype for this game, hope it lives up to it!

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  3. Saw the trailer, seems interesting

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  4. I gotta pick this up somehow.

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  5. NEED IT. So if you get tricked by suspects, it affects how the story plays out? Like, instead of just a failed mission?

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  6. If it is real, then they shd be taking bribes, at least some of them. Great review!

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  7. @Kari; Typically you will still have enough evidence to be lead to the right direction. When you close the case their will be a tip at the bottom explaining things such as, "Were you faster to so-and-so's apartment you could have encountered the attackers and given them a taste of justice."

    Doing things differently can get you more evidence sooner in a case so you don't have to use lethal force perhaps because you know that suspect has a weapon and is capable of using it.

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  8. seems like some nice graphics :O

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  9. Wish this was coming out for pc ._.

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  10. Sand box are point and click adventures of our times! New and more exciting way to tell a story, because GTA is not about mayhem but story! I can't wait until I get my copy of LA Noir.

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  11. It keeps on getting better. John Noble looks pretty good 3d.

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  12. Sounds interesting, I'll have to check it.

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  13. This game looks really good. I look forward to trying it.

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  14. This sounds like a game for me indeed - I'm more of the thinker! Let us know what you think after playing a bit more of it - release date here is Friday!

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  15. I've heard about this game, looks pretty neat :D

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  16. Yeah, I also wish this was on the PC. I bet the faces would of look 10x better. Guess I'll have to bust out my xbox or ps3 and get this game.

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  17. I totally agree with you. This is a great game and the fact that there isn't an over abundance of shooting isn't a turn off. I believe the parts that do include firefights are that much more intense because of the fact that the key focus of the game is on investigating. Great review.

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