Xboxist

GameFlavor L.A. Noire Xbox 360 Full Review

\"Hey, isn't that the cop that solved the big case and got promoted?\"\n\nYes, Cole Phelps is that cop. Yes, he solved that case. And yes, he got that promotion. It's just as bland as it sounds in practice, but beneath the motionscan technology and the eerily empty but accurate recreation of 1940s Los Angeles, there's the makings of an excellent noir story here. The only question you have to ask yourself is if you're willing to wade through the copious amounts of crap it takes to get to the heart.\n\nMoving past the technology that is much lauded in the game and looking at the actual gameplay presented within L.A. Noire, you'll feel as though someone dressed up a matchstick house with persian rugs and told you it was the perfect place to live, never mind the windy weather. In fact, L.A. Noire trips over itself more often than not so much so that by the end of the game, you're actually glad to be finished, rather than wondering where Rockstar and Team Bondi will take the franchise next.\n\nThe main problem here is that Cole Phelps is so damned cookie cutter. He's the good guy with a bad past. He did some bad things in the Great War and now he's trying to make up for it by playing good cop. He's the straight as an arrow, never do any wrong guy that should fade into the backdrop of more detailed characters. In fact, Phelps' crooked partners often have more life breathed into them than the man whose skin you must wear for the better half of the game.\n\nThroughout Phelps' career as an LAPD detective, you'll work cases in Traffic, Homicide, Vice, and Arson. Each presents their own challenges when it comes to interviewing suspects and finding clues, but in the grand scheme of things, the game really doesn't start getting interesting until the end of your Vice term.\n\nTraffic and Homicide cases feel strung together as if to relate the game to its historical period, as the notorious Black Dahlia murder is prominently featured while Phelps is wielding the Homicide schtick. Picking up small papers littered throughout crime scenes and investigations will give you some clue of piecing the story together while you work these cases, but overall I feel as though the entire first half of the game could be cut out and not a thing would be missed.\n\nThis is a relatively sad declaration, because most of the lauded motionscan technology is featured prominently within these two areas. That is not to say it is confined there, but it seems as though the neverending monotony of listening to clues and looking at one.. two.. three.. shifty eyes to determine whether or not someone is lying or telling the truth lays a bit too heavily in these areas.\n\nIt feels as though Team Bondi were unsure of where they wanted to take their game until big brother Rockstar stepped in and added the magical touch. In fact, the turning point in Vice feels almost as though Rockstar tapped the team on the shoulder and said, \"This tech demo you've got going is great. Now where's the game? You know, the story people pay to play?\"\n\nOnce this change occurs, L.A. Noire becomes magical. While Phelps still feels as though he is more cookie cutter than ever, the story that is laid out is an enjoyable one. Interviewing suspects actually becomes interesting, because in the grand scheme of things you realize that 1940s Los Angeles is more corrupt that you ever could have imagined, at least in this telling.\n\nThe folding and unfolding of the plot is handled masterfully towards the end, but it's a pity the build up takes so long. The tech demo feeling of Traffic and Homicide quickly wears thin, so those who aren't willing to stick it out to make it through to the Vice desk are likely to have a bad taste in their mouth after having played L.A. Noire. I know. I almost walked away from it myself.\n\nAs far as the open world play goes, don't go into the game expecting the depth that you'd find in previous Rockstar titles. L.A. Noire was obviously crafted to tell its story and the illusion of open world play that is overlaid makes the game more tedious to play than enjoyable. Sure, there are police calls you can respond to, but these are usually small vignettes that end in either a car chase or a shoot out. Thankfully, the team included the option to allow your partner to drive so you can avoid the grueling task of driving around in an empty world.\n\nFor all its faults, L.A. Noire is not a bad game. The animation is superb and the recreation of the city is excellent, despite feeling very Truman Show when everyone you pass begins talking about you for no good reason at all. The audio cues that alert you to clues and whether or not a site is still relevant case-wise are brilliantly executed, so in your search for the truth you never feel as though you're missing something vital to the case. Sitting through the first half of the game to get to the second will reward you with an interesting noir story, but wading through the uninteresting cases to get there is cumbersome and unfulfilling and hopefully something Rockstar will fix in L.A. Noire's all but confirmed sequel.