I thought L.A. Noire would stir up some discussion this week, and it was nice to see myself proven right. There was a good response to Rockstar’s most recent title, with a range of varying opinions. However, I’m getting ahead of myself here, let’s see what you had to say about the 1940s investigative drama.
To start things off let’s look at sampiro05’s very positive comments about the game. They compare the game in a fairly interesting way that I don’t think I’ve seen before.
L.A. Noire is fresh in my head and fresh in general. I love the game and although I’ve finished the story, I still would play it again just because it’s like watching a great TV Series. You get hooked and you just want to watch it (play it) till the end!
You frequently see games compared to blockbuster movies, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one compared to a TV series. Perhaps it’s the game’s desk and case structure that makes it feel more like a TV show than a huge movie.
The thing that was interesting in your thoughts about this game was seeing some leaping to the defence of L.A. Noire, responding to points made in the game’s formal reviews. For example colmshan1990 had this to say in defence of criticisms of the game’s repetitiveness.
While criticism has been levelled at the repetitiveness of the game (crime scene, find clues, chase someone, question someone, shoot somebody, repeat with one or two options removed) what exactly did these people expect? It is not, nor was it ever going to be Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption. We finally got to play a game from the side of the law, instead of those unruly outlaws. The sad part is some people didn’t seem to expect that the police would have rules.
Talking about the rules the police have to abide by is a fantastic point, and not something I’d considered in the past. Whilst I’m not sure that entirely excuses the repetitive nature of the game’s cases, it is obvious really that there are certain procedures that are going to have to be followed in every case.
Of course, not everyone was so quick to come to the game’s defence. As always there were some of you who were more than happy go point out what grated you in the game. For mugsybalone ,it was the gameplay where the game fell down.
Unfortunately, it seems as though Team Bondi forgot to put a game in there, too. My enjoyment of L.A. Noire’s story and wonderfully recreated environments was spoilt by the shallow gameplay, bolted on as an apparent afterthought. Previews of the game built my hopes up to having a deep, puzzling adventure to sink my teeth into, having to piece together evidence and grill suspects for motives and methods. The reality was a dumbed-down process that had me choosing between an answer being truth, a doubt, or a lie, against ticks and twitches from suspects that ranged from the blatantly obvious to, well… slightly less blatantly obvious.
Finally, asparagushunter wasn’t pleased with the game either, although they at least managed to find some amusement in the game’s conversation system.
The story was interesting but nothing special, and some of Cole’s scenes are hilarious due to lack of correct conversation tones. It is a good game but it doesn’t really – facial scanning aside – add anything new; it’s basically a very graphically pretty adventure game.
That said, the motion capture of the faces is stunning and the overall scope is huge, but it was built up too much and as we know with these things , it will never live up to the expectations that were and are heaped upon it. A shame really.
So that’s what you had to say about the game, now it’s time to take a look at your verdicts for the game. Whilst there was a a pretty overwhelming verdict, it wasn’t quite unanimous. There was one of you said to Avoid the game, two said it should be Rented, three said the it worthy of picking up in from the Bargain Bin and finally ten of you concluded that the game was worth Buying. That seems a fairly conclusive opinion for Cole’s adventure.
Deathbrin
I wonder how accurate is this, i.e. those who reviewed as Buy It did not rent it or get second-hand themselves.
ashw92
I personally was one of the ‘Buy It’s’ and i had it preordered bought it at full £40 and would do the same again. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Joe
i agree. excellent game and had me hooked all the way through.
not perfect, but honestly what is?
blackredyellow
I paid £48 for a copy and a game guide which I barely used. Great game and I would have said Buy It if I’d WeViewed it :)
mugsybalone
I bought it at full price, and wished I didn’t!
teflon
I impulse bought it because it was £30 at Best Buy to pre-order, a day before release. Had it not been £30 I would have held off on it until it’s about £25. Having finished the game now, I would still go this route, if I were transported back in time.
I’m glad I bought it, though. It’s an important game, and a great look at where gaming could head off to in the next decade or so.
DrNate86
I voted Buy It and got mine on release for full price!
colmshan1990
I said Buy It and got it first day! Loved it, and bought the DLC first day too!
skibadee
buy it got it day one.
asparagushunter
Day 1 pre-order purchase. It just didn’t work at too well for me.
Rocket_345
I said buy it and got it around a week after release for £35 brand new
TSBonyman
I found it disappointing overall, too repetitive and almost felt like i had been tricked into buying a game that was 50% gta.
InternationalGamer
The game wasn’t suppose to be a GTA game!
TSBonyman
yep, but that’s what it was imo, with the detective parts jimmied in.
InternationalGamer
Bought game for £40, loved it, I still yet have to buy the DLC… all of em!
Samiro05
Who’s sampiro05? He stole my comment! :p all kinds of opinions shared on this game, so I think it stands to say just try it [so long as you go on to traffic desk at least] and see what you think
blackredyellow
Hah, did make me laugh :-)
quinkill
A rental did me fine. I don’t think it really has re-playability value so £40 is a bit steep.
Foxhound
Day one, completed it, 7/10th at best, definitely worth a run through, odd ending though :-/
SpikeyMikey23
Another game that I need to finish…..
LunaTink
Same, started it but haven’t got round to finishing it yet. Me and my stupid habit of starting about 6 games at once lol!