Is L.A. Noire Really That Good?

Gamespot rated it 9.0 and gave it an Editor's Choice award. There are an abundance of user reviews giving it 9.0, 9.5 or 10.0 rating. Is it really that good?

I was looking forward to its release after first hearing about it because I thought GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption were great games. I was expecting a similar gaming experience from Noire but was disappointed by it's highly structured story over which the player has virtually no control. The graphics are great and its cast of actors from popular TV shows adds an element of fun that is unique, but its repetitiveness and shallow gameplay leave much to be desired.

One of the most annoying aspects of the game for me is the incredibly bad AI. Shrubs and wooden fences will stop a car cold and objects small enough to step over become impassible barriers when walking around crime scenes. Leave your partner behind and he will still arrive with you at the next location. You don't really need to do anything during chase scenes except avoid crashing and stay close enough to the suspect so as not to lose him and he will always either crash and total his car or stop on his own. Save points and investigation cut scenes are triggered by mere proximity rather than game progress or destination settings. I've been pulled into the wrong crime scene a couple of times simply by driving past it on my way to the destination I had set in my notebook.

It looks to me like they spent too much time and money on the cast and the detailed facial graphics and too little time on the AI and the gameplay itself. L.A. Noire is unique in some important ways, but I just don't see it rating that high in terms of the actual gameplay, although I can understand how those who are not fond of fast-paced shooters might find it to be a refreshing change. Hopefully Rockstar will fix its many problems over time so that it can actually live up to all of the hype.

I have two gripes with the game. The first is that it really is the same thing over and over again ala Assassin's Creed. The cases are really interesting and each case is somewhat fun to go through, but after awhile you realize that it's just gathering clues and arresting people. It drags at times as well. During homicide, I felt like it was just too many cases.

[spoiler] As for my second gripe, it's Cole with the German woman and the affair. Aside from a brief dialog during one of the homicide cases, I would have never known about Cole having a family. It would have been better if we really got to know his family and got some more depth as to why Cole cheated on his wife and what exactly went on with the singer. [/spoiler]

Overall, I'm still enjoying the game.

Gamespot rated it 9.0 and gave it an Editor's Choice award. There are an abundance of user reviews giving it 9.0, 9.5 or 10.0 rating. Is it really that good?

I was looking forward to its release after first hearing about it because I though GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption were great games. I was expecting a similar gaming experience from Noire but was disappointed by it's highly structured story over which the player has virtually no control. The graphics are great and its cast of actors from popular TV shows adds an element of fun that is unique, but its repetitiveness and shallow gameplay leave much to be desired.

One of the most annoying aspects of the game for me is the incredibly bad AI. Shrubs and wooden fences will stop a car cold and objects small enough to step over become impassible barriers when walking around crime scenes. Leave your partner behind and he will still arrive with you at the next location. You don't really need to do anything during chase scenes except avoid crashing and stay close enough to the suspect so as not to lose him and he will always either crash and total his car or stop on his own. Save points and investigation cut scenes are triggered by mere proximity rather than game progress or destination settings. I've been pulled into the wrong crime scene a couple of times simply by driving past it on my way to the destination I had set in my notebook.

It looks to me like they spent too much time and money on the cast and the detailed facial graphics and too little time on the AI and the gameplay itself. L.A. Noire is unique in some important ways, but I just don't see it rating that high in terms of the actual gameplay, although I can understand how those who are not fond of fast-paced shooters might find it to be a refreshing change. Hopefully Rockstar will fix its many problems over time so that it can actually live up to all of the hype.

capaho

The first half is SUPERB. Everything after the Homicide desk just wasnt all that interesting.

It's great, I really like it.

It is good? Yes, but it really varies from person to person, the sound design and gameplay from a case stand point is great, the overall story imo is weak, and it doesn't have the replay value of most Rockstar games, but I would say that it's a game worth playing, the a.i. isn't good, but most games have weak a.i. so I wouldn't say weak a.i. equal bad game, that's a silly thing to say, l.a. Noire's gameplay is good when it focusing on the cases and bad when it comes down to the gunplay and running sequences imo, it's not trying to be RDR or GTA IV if you were expecting that, then that's your fault for not doing your homework, RDR and GTA had weak a.i. as well, hell most games have weak a.i., overall it's a great game imo, but as good as hype up to be? Imo, nope, but it's still a great game worth playing.wizdom

I wouldn't say that most games have weak AI and I would say that it's hard for a game to be good without decent AI. The driving physics in GTA IV are much more realistic than in L.A. Noire, there's really no comparison. Different vehicles have different handling characteristics, they don't all drive the same, and you're more likely to lose control during high-speed driving if it's raining. Crash damage to the cars is also more realistic in GTA IV and a high-speed collision is likely to send you through the windshield, whereas your car just bounces off of the other car in Noire so that you can continue on your merry way. Opponents in both GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption appear to have at least some adaptive AI as they react more realistically to your tactics and are much more difficult to take out, as opposed to just ducking down and popping up at predictable intervals as they do in Noire. When it comes to the action sequences, L.A. Noire simply isn't in the same league as GTA IV and RDR.

The first half is SUPERB. Everything after the Homicide desk just wasnt all that interesting.

Shmiity

Tbh, I felt that it was the other way around (with the exception of the weird German lady subplot, which needed a lot more build-up) - the game started well, but not that well, and then fell into a rut for a while where the story went nowhere. It was only until the second half of the game that the story started to pick up steam, and those were the most interesting sections.

The Homicide desk in particular was probably the lowest point of the game. While investigating murders was fun, you were basically just solving a bunch of very similar cases in pretty much the same way over and over. It was quite tedious, and the way it all played it was rather disappointing - they could have done so much more with that whole story arc.

The Vice desk story made things much more interesting again, as all of the sub-plots started tying together nicely, and everything started to actually feel a bit more noir.

The second half of the Arson desk was simply awesome, the definite highlight of the game for me.
For the first time in the entire game, I actually felt like I was playing a film noir (or rather, a combination of Double Indemnity, Chinatown, The Third Man, and more), and that was exactly what I had expected of the game all along.

It actually felt as if they'd written the last few hours of the game first, realised that the game would only be a few hours long, and then padded it out with hours upon hours of earlier police cases.

I personally didn't enjoy the game, the storyline was weak and the novelty of being a detective wears off way too quickly (and sadly enough, the fun also disappears with it). All in all it starts of pretty good but slowly but surely gets weaker and weaker as the game progresses. I honestly reached the point where I stopped playing it (I was at the Arson desk segment of the game, which was the last part of the game).

I personally didn't enjoy the game, the storyline was weak and the novelty of being a detective wears off way too quickly (and sadly enough, the fun also disappears with it). All in all it starts of pretty good but slowly but surely gets weaker and weaker as the game progresses. I honestly reached the point where I stopped playing it (I was at the Arson desk segment of the game, which was the last part of the game).

koospetoors

I was almost ready to give up after that silly bulldozer chase sequence during the insurance investigator subplot. Which brings me back to my original question, is this game really worth a 9~10 rating?

I was almost ready to give up after that silly bulldozer chase sequence during the insurance investigator subplot. Which brings me back to my original question, is this game really worth a 9~10 rating?

capaho

No, its not worth a 9-10 rating at all. At best I'd give it an 7 for its different approach, but its definitely more of a 6.5\10 game for me.

Are GT5, Dirt 3 or Forza good games? I don't like cars or racing at all.

It's great, and with DLC coming there should be reasons to return

I thought the game was good, it took a while to get going but when it picked up, it was great. If you're expecting GTA or RDR then you better think twice. L.A Noire is incredibley linear. You can't go around killing random people and driving wherever you like.

Are GT5, Dirt 3 or Forza good games? I don't like cars or racing at all.

kaealy

If you don't like cars or racing then why are you asking about racing games?

[QUOTE="kaealy"]

Are GT5, Dirt 3 or Forza good games? I don't like cars or racing at all.

LazyMushroom

If you don't like cars or racing then why are you asking about racing games?

You could ask the same question to the OP. It was pretty clear from the beginning that LA Noire wouldn't be anything like GTA4 or RDR.

LA Noire is awesome. It has a great story, dialogue, and gameplay mechanic. It requires attention to detail and logic. It's definitely a different game.

You could ask the same question to the OP. It was pretty clear from the beginning that LA Noire wouldn't be anything like GTA4 or RDR.kaealy

Being different isn't the issue for me. I read the previews so I knew the game would be different, the problem is that the gameplay was poorly implemented. Its flaws are inexcusable for a company that set such high standards for gameplay with GTA IV and RDR, and, from that perspective, the high ratings it's been getting here are hard to justify. It looks like a game that was pushed into release by the accounting department before the coding was finished because it would have broken the development budget to make the gameplay more realistic.

Despite the frequent comparison to its Rockstar predecessors GTA IV and RDR, the game actually compares more closely to Mafia II. That game also had a linear story, a not-so-open world (although not quite as restrictive as L.A. Noire), and driving physics that weren't as realistic as those of GTA IV. However, Mafia II had a good story that carried throughout the game, interesting characters and witty dialogue, and relentless action sequences. Despite the better story and superior gameplay, it wasn't as highly rated on Gamespot as L.A. Noire. Go figure.

[QUOTE="Shmiity"]

The first half is SUPERB. Everything after the Homicide desk just wasnt all that interesting.

Planeforger

Tbh, I felt that it was the other way around (with the exception of the weird German lady subplot, which needed a lot more build-up) - the game started well, but not that well, and then fell into a rut for a while where the story went nowhere. It was only until the second half of the game that the story started to pick up steam, and those were the most interesting sections.

The Homicide desk in particular was probably the lowest point of the game. While investigating murders was fun, you were basically just solving a bunch of very similar cases in pretty much the same way over and over. It was quite tedious, and the way it all played it was rather disappointing - they could have done so much more with that whole story arc.

The Vice desk story made things much more interesting again, as all of the sub-plots started tying together nicely, and everything started to actually feel a bit more noir.

The second half of the Arson desk was simply awesome, the definite highlight of the game for me.
For the first time in the entire game, I actually felt like I was playing a film noir (or rather, a combination of Double Indemnity, Chinatown, The Third Man, and more), and that was exactly what I had expected of the game all along.

It actually felt as if they'd written the last few hours of the game first, realised that the game would only be a few hours long, and then padded it out with hours upon hours of earlier police cases.

I don't think it was quite worthy of a 9. My gripes - Tedious phone calls, story handled badly at times, never got the hang of 'Truth, doubt, lie' (characters that are made to differ in mannerisms make the system useless), ending cutscenes felt unsatisfying. I also felt they could've been a bit more creative with the cases._Cadbury_

[QUOTE="_Cadbury_"]I don't think it was quite worthy of a 9. My gripes - Tedious phone calls, story handled badly at times, never got the hang of 'Truth, doubt, lie' (characters that are made to differ in mannerisms make the system useless), ending cutscenes felt unsatisfying. I also felt they could've been a bit more creative with the cases.Shmiity

[QUOTE="Shmiity"][QUOTE="_Cadbury_"]I don't think it was quite worthy of a 9. My gripes - Tedious phone calls, story handled badly at times, never got the hang of 'Truth, doubt, lie' (characters that are made to differ in mannerisms make the system useless), ending cutscenes felt unsatisfying. I also felt they could've been a bit more creative with the cases._Cadbury_

LA Noire is awesome. It has a great story, dialogue, and gameplay mechanic. It requires attention to detail and logic. It's definitely a different game.

MathMattS

Which leads back to OTs question, is it worth all the 9~10 scores its getting? Anyways, what also deeply irks me about this game are the questionings; especially the "Doubt" and "lie" options. I've had numerous times where I presented a relevant piece of evidence that clearly proves the suspect wrong, but Cole yells at him instead and I get the "wrong choice" tune. Same with doubt where Cole, like the stupid monkey he is (he really should have died in the war), verbally assaults the person instead of actually saying the right thing. Its not really the vagueness that irritates me but more the fact that Cole acts like primitive ape-man when trying to prove people wrong. I'm surprised he never took a club and whacked a guy over the head during an interrogation yet. koospetoors

Aspects of the game that annoy me as well. Phelps' reaction to answers often seems a bit over the top. The questions Phelps asks don't always seem to fit with the questions written in the notebook, and the answers don't always fit the question that was asked. Someone also pointed out elsewhere that the Truth choice and the Doubt choice usually result in Phelps responding with the same comment.

The game is just too sloppy for a detective story when it comes to the details (and the gameplay). I think combining expensive actors with a new graphics technique while still trying to produce a reasonably playable game ended up becoming a monumental task for Rockstar, one that fell too far short of what could have been a really great game. I suppose the question now is, can they salvage it or will they write it off?

Like a lot of other people are saying. The first half of the game was really interesting and excitjng. But after that it just becomes very repeatative, and i also found myself becoming bored and uninterested in the cases. Soo by the end i was just rushing through them without taking much notice at what was actually happening. But still, there was defo some great moments such as "Spoiler" when you get chased by the site manager on the bulldozer "Spoiler.

Finding clues, uncovering the mysteries behind the cases, interrogation, good. The incredibly slow unchangeable camera controls not so good. The one thing that really annoyed me.

It's a great game. But if you are a gamer that finds replayability a necessity then you should probably just rent it.

Like a lot of other people are saying. The first half of the game was really interesting and excitjng. But after that it just becomes very repeatative, and i also found myself becoming bored and uninterested in the cases.

kingkarl123

I hated the arson/vice desk. Eventhough the story developed overall, the cases themselves just were not as compelling as the murders. The *plot twist* during vice also made no sense. I hated the game after that. The whole story development after that was so un-believable, killed it for me. It didnt make humanistic sense.

Shmiity

On top of that, I felt that the overall plot - particularly the conspiracy part - was genuinely compelling and quite well-written. I was just disappointed that it took too long to start up.

I would say it's more of a 7.0...

The stories are okay, but I found the gameplay itself to be very shallow and repetitive.

I would wait until it reaches the sub-$30 pricepoint.

I think the game is great. Its really something different. The real gameplay if figuring out the cases and interrogating people.

I'd give LA Noire a 6 .

It was interesting for a few hours but in the end it's just...i dunno...flat...lifeless, boring

I've put the game down after completing the homicide case with the lipstick. I felt the game did nothing to progress Phelps' character and left me thinking he was a pompous ass in the way he carried himself. I think the "truth, doubt, lie" option in the interrogations wasn't well implemented either, and often when you select "doubt" if you're a little unsure of what the suspect is saying, and you just want to probe a little deeper before you make a final decision, Phelps seems to instead call the suspect a liar outright and pretty much blows your interrogation. There needed to be a more in depth system, rather than just three choices, as the "doubt" option tends to be leaning towards the "lie" option more than it should do.

I'd also have liked for there to be some kind of "action" system where you can intimidate the suspect or bring out some evidence to show them, or take them with you to the crime scene for further questioning (to put them under pressure), or question passers by (like the folk who gather behind the police tape) to gather more clues.

Didn't like the shooting either. Can't seem to wound or disable someone when I'm chasing them, and often have no choice but to shoot them or stand there for 5 seconds while Phelps shoots the air. Which leads me to another point - why can't a trained cop shoot the air whilst running? Everything seems so scripted, it's like I have no impact on the game whatsoever. There's only one path the game wants to go in and all you can do is follow it.

Also it wouldn't hurt to have stuff to do in the city. A storyline for Phelps oustside of the Police Department would help the player connect with him more, and actually provide some kind of substance and depth to what is otherwise a bland and hollow game.

i felt like the game wasnt good it was alright at the very most but not good..

the gameplay is best when your solving puzzles or in the hall of records but the rest is a range between broken-boring

shooting is boring very at the very least bare bones as you can get and the worst part is that the whole final game is this bare bones part

the clue finding is nothing more but going in circles waiting for the chime sound ( i went half the game not using it and then went well i find all the clues anyways so its kinda dumb not to use it) no interactivity or fun whatsoever outside the VERY occasional/bried puzzle involved in some of the cases

the interrogation system is damn near broken... sometimes telling someone they lie will cause cole phelps to start acting bat **** crazy and accuse them for murdering the person (i figured out later that a friend told me you can back out of a lie accusation....) later on when you interogate if you show the wrong evidence oops the chance to ever bring up that evidence is gone forever...(why cant i just show the witness the evidence and ask him what he thinks of it im spouse to be the one interrogating...)

the city feels like theres no point to explore the whole game could have been linear and to me it would have been the same something about the city just dosent seem right..

the side mission are also increadibly bare bones every single one of them leading to a gunfight or something as simple as finding/running them down no investigative elements are used period in any of the 50(?) side missions

and the story is straight up awful.

the first half has no connection whatsoever with the second at all it feels increadibly disjointed

spoilers

the whole love interest between cole and that lady was increadibly terribly done it felt tacked on and rushed with no thought put in whatsoever...

But the worst offender for me from this game was the big reveal when you found that video reel..That pissed me off so bad it blew my mind WHY WOULD THEY TAPE THAT AND LEAVE IT THERE FOR SOMEONE TO JUST SEE ITS SO DAMN DUMB..!

I think it's great, an amazing reminder of why no other medium can match video games for immersion. getyeryayasout

What aspects of the game do you consider to be great?

The mechanics are very new and refreshing, interrogation and chases are very fun but it does get really repetitive towards the end. I give it an 8 but it's solid for a new IPMBSiMMENS

I thought the game mechanics left much to be desired, especially when compared to its Rockstar predecessors. What game mechanics did you find to be new and refreshing?

I think credit needs to be given where credit is due. Not one person has mentioned that this game was not developed by Rockstar, therefore it shouldn't bear many resemblances to GTAIV and RDR, didn't you see in the opening credits "Team Bondi Sydney Australia" Rockstar published it and co developed, the original idea was from Team Bondi. I think it was worthy of the scores its getting, yes it has it flaws but it was great to see the industry trying something new for once, and now everyone is panning the game because it wasn't perfect, Was GTA1 perfect? no it takes tine to refine the game into something truly amazing. I loved the concept and most of the gameplay and story of LA Noire but most of all i think it's exciting to see how the game will develop over the coming years.phhstom1

I think credit needs to be given where credit is due. Not one person has mentioned that this game was not developed by Rockstar, therefore it shouldn't bear many resemblances to GTAIV and RDR, didn't you see in the opening credits "Team Bondi Sydney Australia" Rockstar published it and co developed, the original idea was from Team Bondi. I think it was worthy of the scores its getting, yes it has it flaws but it was great to see the industry trying something new for once, and now everyone is panning the game because it wasn't perfect, Was GTA1 perfect? no it takes tine to refine the game into something truly amazing. I loved the concept and most of the gameplay and story of LA Noire but most of all i think it's exciting to see how the game will develop over the coming years.phhstom1

Thanks for pointing out that the game was developed by Team Bondi in Australia rather than by Rockstar itself. That is an important point that I have certainly overlooked (and may explain the unrealistic portrayal of U.S. Marines). However, its promotion as a Rockstar release invites the comparisons with their great games, and it's the game's flaws that make it appear to be an overrated game here on Gamespot.

I think credit needs to be given where credit is due. Not one person has mentioned that this game was not developed by Rockstar, therefore it shouldn't bear many resemblances to GTAIV and RDR, didn't you see in the opening credits "Team Bondi Sydney Australia" Rockstar published it and co developed, the original idea was from Team Bondi. I think it was worthy of the scores its getting, yes it has it flaws but it was great to see the industry trying something new for once, and now everyone is panning the game because it wasn't perfect, Was GTA1 perfect? no it takes tine to refine the game into something truly amazing. I loved the concept and most of the gameplay and story of LA Noire but most of all i think it's exciting to see how the game will develop over the coming years.phhstom1