LA Noire is the latest game from Rockstar and offers a completely new gaming experience. The game is a crime thriller, in which the main character is Cole Phelps. Set in 1940’sLos Angelesat the time of the post-war boom, racial tension and the rise of McCarthyism, the setting is immersive and engrossing.
In the game you play as Cole Phelps, awarded the Silver Star during the war. He is a recognised and a celebrated war hero. He embarks on a compelling journey which sees him rise through the ranks of the LAPD solving cases in Homicide, Traffic, Vice and Arson. Labelled as the honest cop of the city, his journey brings him fame from the public and glory from his colleges and chief inspectors. However, the plot features many twists along the way, all changing the way the audience feels about Phelps.
The game is entirely focused on detective work, although you will have the occasional brawl, shoot out and car chase. Expect to look for clues, interrogate suspects and use the correct piece of evidence to charge a suspect. Deciding whether a suspect is telling the truth, holding something back or down right lying is all based on the movement of the suspect’s eyes and facial expressions. This is all achievable with the ground breaking facial animation technology.
The game starts with you playing as a Patrol Officer. While in this rank Phelps deals with street crimes such as a bank shootout. However, he is quickly fast tracked to Traffic, where he is given a partner and sent to work on more important cases. Gradually he becomes better known in the LAPD and so progresses through to more desks. During these desks Phelps is involved in murder cases, stolen morphine and house fires cases. At the same time there is a back story to the whole game which can be followed through newspapers found in the cases. This all leads to a grand finale which concludes the game perfectly.
The main gameplay involves Phelps driving to a crime scene and looking for clues. The detective gameplay is completely unique. You need to search a crime scene and look for suspicious items, which you can examine for clues on leads or locations or use as evidence to show a suspect is lying. The controls for this are easy, simply walk up to the object in question and press x, then you can use the analogue stick to look at the whole object. This helps you to uncover hidden clues on the underside of the object or behind photo frames. The music is the background also changes when you discover a clue and fades out when you have found all clues, and a vibration is created when a clue is found. These hints help you to search a crime scene efficiently. Overall the clue finding and evidence search is fantastic and very life-like.
LA Noire features many interrogations of suspects, and again this is completely unique. During an interrogation you ask questions related to the case from Phelps’ notebook. However, after the suspect answers the questions you have to decide whether they are telling the truth or lying. There are three options: truth, doubt or lie. You have to judge this by observing the facial expressions of the suspect, straight eyes can show they are telling the truth or wandering eyes can show they have something to hide. The facial animation technology helps you to notice these expressions in great detail. This feature leaves you feeling that you are a real detective and working out in real life the thoughts of the suspect.
Of course with police work there is a lot of action aside from evidence searching and interrogations. In LA Noire there are many car chases and shoot outs which all provide great enjoyment. The shooting in the game is limited to street crimes and cases meaning you can’t shoot innocent people on the streets of LA. However, when you are allowed to use your gun it is something fresh. It is similar to the gun play in GTA which is fluid and very precise. There is also a cover system which works very well. With even some of the cover breaking with gun shots such as huge ice blocks and concrete blocks which eventually smash after a lot of gun fire, there is a sense of realism to the action. Once under fire the screen becomes black and white as you take more damage, after a short while colour and health is restored. But if you take too much damage Phelps dies and the gun fight must be restarted.
There are also brawls during which you use your fists to knock out enemies. The controls for this are quite simple, L2 is used to block and x to punch. However, the brawls can be fiddly and are not as precise as the gun fights and can resort to button bashing at times. They can also be frustrating and are easy to lose and you can be knocked out by the opponent. However, there are very few brawls so its nothing game breaking.
In LA Noire you can drive up to 95 different vehicles all presented with great attention to detail. They just look beautiful, the shine from the panels and the detail of the interior and exterior of the car is just breath-taking. The controls for the car are the same from GTA and they are not as good to drive as in GTA. However, there is still fun to be had making hand brake turns at high speeds, which is all possible in the game. As mentioned before there are many car chases, during these your aim is to hit the other car off the road by crashing into their wheel arches while at the same time trying to reduce damage to the city and pedestrians. The car chases are very enjoyable and really a strong part of the game.
TheLos Angelescreated in the game is free to roam. The buildings, streets and atmosphere of LA Noire just makes it feel so much like the 1940’s and is the closest experience you will have to living in that time period. The music in the game has been composed brilliantly from the radio stations to the background and menu music. It really helps you connect to the game. Dotted around the map are real life locations such as the Hall Of Records and Union Station, gold film reels and hidden vehicles, all for you to discover.
The main story features 21 different cases and 4 different desks for you to solve and complete so expect the game to last over 15 hours. There is also a ranking system on each case which is based on the amount of stars, 5 being the highest. This gives an incentive to re-play cases to achieve the highest rating.
Overall LA Noire is a very unique gaming experience. The game features a gripping story, ground breaking facial animation technology creating life-like interrogations and challenging and innovative detective work which should not be missed. Debating whether to try out LA Noire? Case Solved. Buy it and experience this gaming masterpiece for yourself.
