The L.A. Noire Journal: Day 7

My time with L.A. Noire drew to a close a few days ago, but I’ve been so busy with E3 (WIIUUU!) that I didn’t have time to write up my closing thoughts on the game until now.

I’ve changed my opinion on this game so many times, I’ve lost count. In my last journal entry alone, I went from hatred to love in a matter of minutes, and where did I finally end up? Somewhere in the middle.

Watching E3 has made me appreciate L.A. Noire for what it is, original. It seems like 90% of all major releases are sequels to popular franchises now. There are fewer and fewer new ideas under the sun these days, and so it seems counterproductive to criticize something that is trying something distinctly new.

But I wouldn’t be a good critic if I let the game slide on its obvious faults, which I’ll detail below. There are a good many things the game does right, but an almost equal number of aspects where it falls short.

“Yes, when they promoted me to Vice, they made me wear this hideous jacket and tie.”

By far the best take away from this game is the new performance capture technology used to bring its cast to life. The industry has seen nothing like it, and it’s so effective, I’m perfectly comfortable recommending that any company that can get their hands on it should use it in their own titles. To actually be able to recognize actors easily through their faces and performances is amazing, and it’s something I’d love to see in every future game, regardless of genre.

The storyline of L.A. Noire is highly engrossing, and has enough twists and turns to make it interesting without being predictable. I did think the game sort of peaked dramatically at the Black Dahlia murders, and the real estate scam seemed like less of a pressing issue. I also have to wonder why some important characters simply evaporated, like Mickey Cohen, when they had been exceptionally intertwined with everything all through the game.

I very much liked the unexpected turn (spoilers ahoy) that was Cole’s fall from grace, and the eventual playability of his old rival Jack Kelso. It was an interesting shift to realize that Cole wasn’t the stand-up boy scout he appeared to be, and Kelso actually had a lot more honor and courage than he did. Once again, Rockstar knows their storytelling. It’s not quite as memorable as Red Dead Redemption’s finale, but its well executed in its own right.

Turns out you’re actually kind of a douchebag.

But now it’s time for a strong dose of vinegar, as for as much as the game’s advance technology and storytelling is good, the actual content of the game needs a lot of work. I’ve mentioned before that the game is split in two between investigation and action sequences, both of which have their respective issues.

The action is just too mundane, and not complex enough. There are only two real types of action sequences, chases and gunfights. Gunfights are beyond standard. You pop out from cover, you unload a few rounds, the end. With only about four guns in the game, they’re not terribly strategic, and it’s exceedingly hard to die even if you run in to a bank full of armed robbers like a maniac.

Chases are even simpler, and either when on foot or in a car, all a player has to do is stay behind their target until the game throws out a scripted event that ends the pursuit. On occasion, if you’re really lucky, you can end it early, but there’s no real benefit to doing so, and it’s borderline impossible to fail these sequences.

The open world poses additional questions. With a city this detailed and stunning, why did Bondi and Rockstar decided to populate it with absolutely nothing? Granted, much of the focus is on the cases here, and there’s little time for “free roaming.” But rather than the shops and real estate ventures and jumps and sidequests of Grand Theft Auto, there’s hardly anything comparable. There are a few hidden cars you can teleport to and uncover (though you’ll likely never use them again) and there is the occasional street crime, which is one of the two above action sequences in an even easier abridged format. For three discs, the world created here is barren. I guess that’s why they let you just teleport everywhere.

Beautiful, but barren.

But the game is three discs for a reason, and that’s because of the insane detail put into each of the game’s 21 main cases. I really liked most of the ones toward the beginning of the game, which featured most of the games interviews and clue finding segments. But as time went on, and the plot started spiraling toward a conclusion fast and faster, clues became scarce, interviews an afterthought. Rather most of the important missions ended with an aforementioned easy action sequence, including the finale of the entire game.

In fact, I can only remember a handful of cases where I actually got to interrogate people at the station. The best moments of the game were when you were pitting suspects against each other, and using their answers to incriminate the other, before YOU had to make a final judgment call about who was in the right and who was guilty.

These sequences were few and far between, and when they did show up? The game had a very specific idea of who they wanted you to convict, even though in both cases that I’m thinking of, all suspects involved were actually being wrongly accused.

I think this one’s guilty.

The interview process can be immensely fun when its logic and the answers make sense, but too often there’s a puzzling disparity between “Doubt” and the various “Lie” options that require you to choose evidence. It’s often impossible to figure out the right answer on the first try, and a reload of the game two or three times was often required to get the desired responses. Not how the game was meant to be played I’m sure, but sometimes a necessary evil to not look like a complete fool during an interview.

It’s tough, I really respect what L.A. Noire is trying to do, and I think they’ve made a great many advancements for the industry with this game. Unfortunately the gameplay itself leaves a lot to be desired, as action sequences are a cakewalk and investigation gets substantially easier as the game goes on.

The game does a lot of things right, and is certainly original, but it almost works better as a movie than a game. Still though, I had fun, and I hope Rockstar keeps innovating the way they have been.

3.5 out of 5 stars