L.A. Noire

There's no denying this is a repetitive game...

User Rating: 7 | L.A. Noire PS3

By trente | Review Date: June 5, 2011

There's no denying this is a repetitive game. In fact, there's not much of a game here when you've done all your ooh-ing and aah-ing over *that* facial animation. The faces! Ooh, look at the faces! That's what everyone was saying about this game long before it was released, and, yes, to confirm: the facial animation is perhaps the best yet seen in a game. But the graphics around those faces? Nothing mind-blowing. There are numerous occasions where the graphics look positively rudimentary, with character animations appearing particularly clunky. It's probably just that, in having been juxtaposed with the super-real facial stuff, the flailing arms and robotic body movements can't hope to match up.

There's no denying this is a repetitive game. All of the cases pretty much play out the same, all of the embarrassingly easy street crime sub-games play out the same, all of the interrogations play out the same. It's a measure of how repetitive the game is that I was thrilled when they threw in a rain-soaked case. The stormy sky added something new to what had rapidly become a very samey process: drive your car around a sunny L.A. (an L.A. devoid of interactivity and therefore devoid of any real incentive to explore), maybe respond to an identikit street crime, examine another easy-to-read crime scene, visit a location and interrogate somebody, leaping from sensitive policeman to ball-breaking idiot and back again within a couple of questions. Get a pat on the back from the station chief. Case closed. Now let's do it all over again.

There's no denying this is a repetitive game. But, with its very adult themes and the fact it's trying something new, I've awarded a 7. It's just a shame that the facial animation seems to have been the focus for the developer rather than an engaging game. I'm not going to fall into the trap of poo-pooing this because it's not GTA. Yes, Rockstar has a hand in it and there are inevitable comparisons, but they are two very different games. If you do want to go down the comparison route, I would say that something like Red Dead Redemption offers a far richer, more satisfying gaming experience.

Did I mention that this is a repetitive game?

Other Helpful Reviews for L.A. Noire

• Rating:9.5

  Technical achievements aside, L.A. Noire manages to do something that few games can: force players to think, not shoot.

  By TalSet_11 | Review Date: May 18, 2011 | PS3

  At the outset, I'm going to warn you that this isn't GTA. It was never supposed to be GTA, and I'm tired of hearing people say, "This is lame, GTA was so much better." This is a game about upholding the law and being a... Read Full Review

  16 of 17 users found the following review helpful
• Rating:9

  He's a professional.

  By Iridescent406 | Review Date: Sep 04, 2011 | PS3

  It's been 7 years since the beginning of what we know as 'L.A. Noire'. It's been a pretty rough development cycle for both Take-Two and Team Bondi, as financial issues and constant changes were made to a game that we wer... Read Full Review

  10 of 10 users found the following review helpful