LA Noire

[Smoove_B]

Yes - that's what I couldn't put my finger on. There have been times exactly like you mentioned where I would want to accuse someone based on what I found but the game didn't want me to go that route. It's clear now that for the first Vice case:

Spoiler:

they want you to go after the distribution house and not the talent agent

but when you're only given "Truth, Doubt or Lie" as an option the questioning breaks down. Its sort of the same disconnect that was happening in the original Mass Effect where you'd pick a conversation option and Shepard would say something completely different. I'm not exactly sure what would work better, but I have to believe this system can be improved. Regarding the homicide desk:

Spoiler:

After thinking about it some more, I think I'm more irritated that it's pretty clear that something bigger is going on but the game railroads you into pinning the crimes on people that aren't guilty. I had a huge disconnect with how the story was progressing because of what happened in "The Golden Butterfly" - the case with Greg Grundberg. It seemed too much to believe that his bloody work overalls would be in the victims car at the last place she was seen. But the evidence suggested it was him, so I charged him...and earned 1 star for the case. Apparently I was supposed to charge Rooney, which didn't make any sense based on the evidence I collected.

I did check my time in the game last night and with 19/21 cases completed, I believe I've put in around 20 hours. If I skipped all the street cases, it would probably be closer to 17 or 18 hours, though maybe I'm severely underestimating how much time I've spent driving all over LA responding to another dirtbag with a gun.

[J.D.]

Made it to the 3rd disc last night (finished the first Vice case). I really didn't like how homicide ended.

Spoiler:

So I've been arresting innocent people all along? That's fine, but what about all of the evidence I found to implicate the innocents? The husband burning the bloody shoes? The bloody shirts? Are we to assume this evidence was planted by the actual killer?

[Smoove_B]

Finished it last night; I think it was a 24 hour effort which includes the 25/40 street crimes.

If I had to rank the game in terms of story, it would probably be behind Bully, but ahead of the Grand Theft Auto series. Although I had high expectations, it just doesn't come close to Red Dead Redemption. The narrative felt a bit disjointed and the final chapter of investigations (Arson) was a struggle to complete after they changed up how I had been doing things for the majority of the game. There is an additional short video after the game credits that (I guess) bookends one of the game's stories, but after watching it I didn't feel any differently as to how it all played out.

Without question the motion-capture technology was awesome and I felt like the actors did an amazing job at portraying their characters. I would hope that they continue to use this technology, but in my opinion it's not enough to carry an entire game. I fully admit the game's theme was lost on me. Perhaps someone with more interest in the detective / noir setting might find it more enjoyable, but I guess that's the same for Red Dead Redemption's Western theme.

I did finish it, which is more than I can say for the entire GTA series, so I would still recommend that people try it - particularly if you could never understand the popularity of the GTA games. I think the difference for me was the supporting cast in LA Noire and the basic game play. Even as the credits were rolling, I was ambivalent towards Cole Phelps. Niko Bellic? Maybe 5 hours of my time before I couldn't have cared less.

I guess my overall complaint is that the game feels uneven. As more people play, I'm curious to see what others think and I'm hopeful that future games can be developed (and improved) using the basic elements.

[D.A.Lewis]

Just as I was about to give up on Witcher 2, I figured out a game style to keep me interested so LA Noire has to wait.

However,

this past weekend I loaded the game up so that it would be good to go after I got done with Witcher. AFter I loaded the game and the updates, I started the game and the car would not move from the stop light. I am the lamest of lame action gamers but this was ridiculous. The camera angle would change, the guys would get in and out of the car, the siren would go on but no car movment. I not only switched remotes but I even tried the DVD remote. Nothing worked. There was even a car that got stuck in back of me and would not pass. Finally I remember some gamer basics, If all else fails- reboot.

And reboot I did and viola, it worked. Yea me. Now I was just back to my regular old lame action gamer crashing into any an all objects. By the time I got to the FIRST case I had two dented front panels, the hood was concaved in and tons of scrathes on both sides of the cars. I lost track of all the public and private damage I did on the way. But I finally made it and was able to solve that very first crime scene. This game play is way better than Heavy Rain. Although LA Noire, will probably fall short in the story department but . . . I'll soon find out for sure.

[Doomboy]

Don't worry. The game will inform you about how much damage you did during the case. It's very helpful that way.

[Avenger]

I gave up on L.A.Noire. I do intend to go back to it at some point. I am playing Cities XL 2011 and started a new season of Out of the Park baseball. This weekend I will pick up Red Dead Redemption based solely on the recomendations in this thread...I didn't really have many complaints about L.A.Noire but when I would close a case I would totally stop for the day. To me it was completely disjointed. Like reading a favorite author. You really love the authors Novels but you realize that you just bought a book of 20 short stories.

[Smoove_B]

I was off - it only took me 21 hours to finish the game - and that's with screwing around on side missions. I went back last night for a bit to finish those off and play through an investigation or two using a guide to help me pick the right answers during an interrogation. When you get it right, they actually flow much nicer and the banter back and forth between Cole and the person you're interviewing makes much more sense. So I guess they need to work on the interactions that aren't correct.

In playing through the earlier cases again I was reminded of how bad your first car is. So as bad as you think you are at driving, know that even after finishing the game, going back to the first vehicle had me all over the road. You will find much better cars that handle in a way that makes it possible to drive them more like a car and less like a pinball. The best thing I figured out (and it wasn't until late in the game) is don't be afraid to enable your siren. Cars will absolutely pull over and let you pass and if you're coming up on intersections, they'll usually stop and let you slip through. I was constantly getting hammered going through red lights, but after using the siren more, it was much better.

The only other thing I noticed was that the opening monologues for the first two "desks" (particularly the traffic desk) make much more sense after finishing the game than they did when I started playing. So there is a whole narrative for the game, but I don't think it comes together nicely. Maybe that's the noir style; I have no idea.

[J.D.]

Maybe that's the noir style...

No, it's the Noire style.

[Smoove_B]

Can't figure out why an Australian company is using the French spelling, though I've seen some creative guesses:

1. LA Noire... as in The Black/Dark [female]
2. L.A. Noire as in L.A. Dark [City... cities are female in general parlance]

So, this tells that game is not just a Noir story set in LA, but also has a female playing a key part [notice only 2 faces are visible on cover, 1 is protagonist]... think of Black Dahlia murders and it makes perfect sense to spell it Noire, not just Noir.

[TiLT]

Just finished the game. Overall I liked it quite a lot, but the conversation system is broken. I still haven't been able to figure it out, even with every case behind me. Some times when I chose Truth in situations where I was absolutely 100% certain the person was telling the truth, the game didn't agree. Choosing Truth would also often make Cole give a reply that clearly indicated doubt, and vice versa. With Lie I picked evidence in situations that fit it perfectly, yet was told I was wrong. Most of the time the game was vague on what I was actually trying to prove, making it hard to guess what would happen with each conversation option.

They should have gone with something closer to Phoenix Wright, which did this kind of thing right. It would have worked much better if you only had two options at any given time: "Proceed" and "Contradiction", with the former indicating that you found nothing truly contradictory in a statement, and the latter indicating that you have some proof that the other person is telling a lie or is mistaken. The whole Doubt mechanic was way too vague to work as intended.

You know you've got a good puzzle when you immediately go "oh, NOW I get it!" after the game shows you the solution, or "of course, I should have known!" when the game says you're wrong. In L. A. Noire, I rarely had even the slightest idea why the game said a choice I made was wrong.

Loved the rest of the game though. I hope they either make each option more descriptive the next time around (instead of the simple, generic words used right now, go with specific, short sentences related to the statement so that you know what you'll actually say, at least roughly) or just reduce the amount of choices to make things less vague.

[J.D.]

Wow, totally botched the first Arson case. Condemned the wrong man and got chewed out good and a two start rating. I still stand by my decision though, that guy seemed WAY guiltier!

[Defiant]

Looks like the developer of LA Noire is shutting down

[ibdoomed]

Looks like the developer of LA Noire is shutting down

Ah finally, time to try it out then.

[Daehawk]

Anyone ever finish this? I really liked the game and it was impressive too but I was awful at interrogating suspects and Id quit after a hand full of missions. Ive tried it like 3 times real good. Its back on my brain again for some reason.

[Rumpy]

Who hasn't at this point? I had a PS3 copy and I played it to the end at least twice and collected all the cars. I really wish Take-Two would let one of their devs make a sequel. I think Hangar 13 would do a good job of it alongside their work in the Mafia series. In fact, I could see a bit of crossover.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah I finished it (checks thread) 12 years ago...I don't think my opinions have changed.