A criminally underrated game, a flawed masterpiece and one of my absolute favourites. If you love point and click games, games where you play as the detective or are just a fan of the noir genre: this one's a must-buy for you folks!


I played this on the PC back in 2012 and I don't understand why it's taken me this long to make a review for this game... but here it is. I've got 120 hours on L.A. Noire and that doesn't even include the 100 hours or so I've racked up on the Xbox 360. Before I praise the hell out of this game, I'd like to go over some issues with this game in general:

1. The main campaign's quite long (~20 hours) and at-times repetitive. This might not be a con for some people but it's worth mentioning regardless. Although there's a lot of variety, you won't shake off the feeling you've already done this x amount of times.

2. The city hasn't got much to do in it. Another game, Mafia II, similarly shared this issue but there are street crimes or sidequests to participate in, vehicles to find and collectibles to attain. The stunning recreation of a 1940's Los Angeles is worth exploring but unfortunately there's not a lot of reasons to do so.

3. The port is locked to 30 FPS. This is not a dealbreaker for people like me but again, I thought it was worth mentioning. There also exists several unofficial ways of unlocking this (and there's not a lot of negative side-effects which is neat).

4. Performance can be hit and miss for a few individuals. I recommend swapping from Direct X 9 to Direct X 11 and vice versa for those people, as well as changing the Threading mode from "single" to "multi" and vice versa.

With that out of the way, here's why you should get this game:

1. The atmosphere. This game oozes it and you'll be immersed right away. Set in the 1940s you are placed in the shoes of a bright star who is rising through the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department. As you play as Cole Phelps and go from case to case: the voice acting and dialogue, the clothing, the cars... every little detail wants to convince you that you are in this setting. And to think an Australian team (Team Bondi) pulled this off. It's incredible and simply deserves to be mentioned.

2. The story. The story doesn't reveal itself until later in the game and until then, you're working your way from one case to the next with the occasional collectible newspaper acting as a "here's what's also going on" feature. What I liked most about the story is that it's subtle early on and then it all starts making sense. It's nothing super-amazing but I would be lying if I said I didn't think it was good. Bits and pieces of the game world also serve the story well in reinforcing issues and ideas that were present in the 1940s.

3. The characters. You've got a large roster with people of all different beliefs and personalities. Everyone feels unique, multi-layered and realistic. The characters further aid in immersing you in this wonderful game.
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=391570251

4. The gameplay. Most of the time the game's rather slow-paced. You'll be walking or driving to a crime scene while picking up clues, but at points in the game, all hell breaks loose. A man starts a brawl with you! A criminal starts making a run for it! A shootout occurs! Moments like these help break up the monotony, and while most of them are scripted, they really are exciting. Don't go in expecting an action game though. When you're not searching for clues or being a badass: you're doing interrogations. I'll talk about this in the next point.

5. The motion capture/interrogations. Never has a game utilized motion capture like this I reckon. When you're interrogating a suspect: you're not interrogating a NPC, you're interrogating someone that looks and acts like a real human being. It's something you'll simply have to witness for yourself. And this doesn't just apply to interrogations - the whole game uses motion capture for every character's face and I couldn't be more pleased with the result. Back to interrogations though... I love them. Some find difficulty with these but it's probably because the choices you have to make - Truth, Doubt or Lie - were originally called: Truth, Coax or Force. I have no idea why they were changed for the final product, as they make less sense. Still, interrogating is where you rely on this motion capture the most to see if the suspect is lying. Just like real life though: don't judge a person soley by their looks or behaviour though!

6. The soundtrack. I could go on and on in this section but let me just say this: Team Bondi killed it here. You might not be a fan of 1940s music but you'll be able to appreciate just how accurate the setting feels.

7. Everything else. The huge open city to explore. Being able to slap on a black and white filter in the options menu is just another thing that makes me love this game. Swapping between costumes for Cole Phelps is really nice too. Making different choices and the somewhat linear missions changing up a little to reflect this. The little conversations between Cole and his partners as you're driving in a car throughout the city. And if you don't want to drive? Being able to make your partner transport you to the destination in a few seconds or so. It's all small stuff in the end but it's the icing on the cake for me.


Hopefully you can see why this game is so special to me. I believe this game still doesn't get the recognition it deserves but it's great to see more and more people experiencing this gem. It's definetly not perfect but I believe this is a game that needs to be placed in a "try this game before you die" list. Writing this review... I suddenly have the urge to revisit Los Angeles. Rating 9/10.

If you do plan on buying this game, I have to insist on getting the DLC for this game. It adds 5 great cases that slot seamlessly into the main story, as well as some new outfits and collectibles. I promise you it's worth it.



http://steamproxy.com/groups/rblc#curation

[b]A criminally underrated game, a flawed masterpiece and one of my absolute favourites. If you love point and click games, games where you play as the detective or are just a fan of the noir genre: this one's a must-buy for you folks![/b] I played this on the PC back in 2012 and I don't understand why it's taken me this long to make a review for this game... but here it is. I've got 120 hours on L.A. Noire and that doesn't even include the 100 hours or so I've racked up on the Xbox 360. Before I praise the hell out of this game, I'd like to go over some issues with this game in general: [b]1.[/b] The main campaign's quite long (~20 hours) and at-times repetitive. This might not be a con for some people but it's worth mentioning regardless. Although there's a lot of variety, you won't shake off the feeling you've already done this x amount of times. [b]2.[/b] The city hasn't got much to do in it. Another game, Mafia II, similarly shared this issue but there are street crimes or sidequests to participate in, vehicles to find and collectibles to attain. The stunning recreation of a 1940's Los Angeles is worth exploring but unfortunately there's not a lot of reasons to do so. [b]3.[/b] The port is locked to 30 FPS. This is not a dealbreaker for people like me but again, I thought it was worth mentioning. There also exists several unofficial ways of unlocking this (and there's not a lot of negative side-effects which is neat). [b]4.[/b] Performance can be hit and miss for a few individuals. I recommend swapping from Direct X 9 to Direct X 11 and vice versa for those people, as well as changing the Threading mode from "single" to "multi" and vice versa. With that out of the way, here's why you should get this game: [b]1.[/b] The atmosphere. This game oozes it and you'll be immersed right away. Set in the 1940s you are placed in the shoes of a bright star who is rising through the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department. As you play as Cole Phelps and go from case to case: the voice acting and dialogue, the clothing, the cars... every little detail wants to convince you that you are in this setting. And to think an Australian team (Team Bondi) pulled this off. It's incredible and simply deserves to be mentioned. [b]2.[/b] The story. The story doesn't reveal itself until later in the game and until then, you're working your way from one case to the next with the occasional collectible newspaper acting as a "here's what's also going on" feature. What I liked most about the story is that it's subtle early on and then it all starts making sense. It's nothing super-amazing but I would be lying if I said I didn't think it was good. Bits and pieces of the game world also serve the story well in reinforcing issues and ideas that were present in the 1940s. [b]3.[/b] The characters. You've got a large roster with people of all different beliefs and personalities. Everyone feels unique, multi-layered and realistic. The characters further aid in immersing you in this wonderful game. http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=391570251 [b]4.[/b] The gameplay. Most of the time the game's rather slow-paced. You'll be walking or driving to a crime scene while picking up clues, but at points in the game, all hell breaks loose. A man starts a brawl with you! A criminal starts making a run for it! A shootout occurs! Moments like these help break up the monotony, and while most of them are scripted, they really are exciting. Don't go in expecting an action game though. When you're not searching for clues or being a badass: you're doing interrogations. I'll talk about this in the next point. [b]5.[/b] The motion capture/interrogations. Never has a game utilized motion capture like this I reckon. When you're interrogating a suspect: you're not interrogating a NPC, you're interrogating someone that looks and acts like a real human being. It's something you'll simply have to witness for yourself. And this doesn't just apply to interrogations - the whole game uses motion capture for every character's face and I couldn't be more pleased with the result. Back to interrogations though... I love them. Some find difficulty with these but it's probably because the choices you have to make - Truth, Doubt or Lie - were originally called: Truth, Coax or Force. I have no idea why they were changed for the final product, as they make less sense. Still, interrogating is where you rely on this motion capture the most to see if the suspect is lying. Just like real life though: don't judge a person soley by their looks or behaviour though! [b]6.[/b] The soundtrack. I could go on and on in this section but let me just say this: Team Bondi killed it here. You might not be a fan of 1940s music but you'll be able to appreciate just how accurate the setting feels. [b]7.[/b] Everything else. The huge open city to explore. Being able to slap on a black and white filter in the options menu is just another thing that makes me love this game. Swapping between costumes for Cole Phelps is really nice too. Making different choices and the somewhat linear missions changing up a little to reflect this. The little conversations between Cole and his partners as you're driving in a car throughout the city. And if you don't want to drive? Being able to make your partner transport you to the destination in a few seconds or so. It's all small stuff in the end but it's the icing on the cake for me. Hopefully you can see why this game is so special to me. I believe this game still doesn't get the recognition it deserves but it's great to see more and more people experiencing this gem. It's definetly not perfect but I believe this is a game that needs to be placed in a "try this game before you die" list. Writing this review... I suddenly have the urge to revisit Los Angeles. Rating 9/10. [i]If you do plan on buying this game, I have to insist on getting the DLC for this game. It adds 5 great cases that slot seamlessly into the main story, as well as some new outfits and collectibles. I promise you it's worth it.[/i] [h1]P.S. If you like these reviews and want to see more of the same, you're more than welcome to follow my curator page. If you don't like curators or groups, I completely understand (I'm not a big fan either). It's just a much easier way to find old and new reviews I've made:[/h1] http://steamproxy.com/groups/rblc#curation