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Team Bondi's L.A. NOIRE |OT| Watchin' Faces, Solvin' Cases

Carnby

Member
I wish that I could like this game more. But the game is a glorified point and click game with amazing facial animations attached to robot bodies. This game could have used a better dialogue choices like Mass Effect or Heavy Rain.
 

T Ghost

Member
I'm having trouble with a glitch where my partner (Galloway) either walks away from the scene after interrogations or he stays in place. He doesn't follow me to the car and if I call him he says "I'm busy here, Phelps!".

so I have no option than drive myself to the next location. Once I get out of the car he shows up out of nowhere and participate of the scene investigation/interrogation.

PS3 Slim 120GB here.



Anybody with anything similar?
 
I'm watching some gameplay vids, and I don't like, that when pressing "Doubt" most of the time Phelps gets very aggressive, starts yelling, only to calm down with the next question. Makes it very unnatural.
 
When you're investigating and questioning this game is great, when you do anything else (drive, shoot or fight) it's quite shit.

I'm on the last homicide mission now I think and I've really enjoyed this section of the game. The
serial killer arc
is pretty interesting and now that I'm seemingly close to the end of this section it's coming together quite nicely. Due to the fact that
I'm dealing with a serial killer
I've found that the cases have been slightly repetitive, however, as they've all been
drunk women who are alone in a dodgy area.
I hope that when I move on to Vice and Arson the crimes get more varied.
 
finished.


I can basically sum it up as this: There are glaring problems with the gameplay and story, but I love the game, including the gameplay and story
 

zlatko

Banned
Just finished it and I'm glad to be done with it. Stuck it through because I have to write a review, but if this was on my own free time I would've just lost interest probably in homocide.

All in all I just couldn't see past the games faults to focus on the few things it got right. The story felt like a giant waste of time too.

:/
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
T Ghost said:
I'm having trouble with a glitch where my partner (Galloway) either walks away from the scene after interrogations or he stays in place. He doesn't follow me to the car and if I call him he says "I'm busy here, Phelps!".

so I have no option than drive myself to the next location. Once I get out of the car he shows up out of nowhere and participate of the scene investigation/interrogation.

PS3 Slim 120GB here.



Anybody with anything similar?
that usually happens when I either haven't got all the evidence or I haven't interrogated someone to "their full potential" (which usually means I haven't found some evidence that opens up a new line of questioning).
 

T Ghost

Member
Rez said:
that usually happens when I either haven't got all the evidence or I haven't interrogated someone to "their full potential" (which usually means I haven't found some evidence that opens up a new line of questioning).

I'm aware of that. Only that this time I had all clues found and all questions nailed. Nothing else to do at the scene. It happened for 4 locations and it stopped. I ended the case with all clues, all questions nailed and 5 stars valorous. Thanks for the answer Rez.
 

Amory

Member
welp, this whole "decipher the poem, find the location, find the next poem" shit sure has gotten old fast. hope it ends soon!
 
On the last arson case. Overall, there's been a few ups and downs, but otherwise it's been enjoyable.

One thing that I found odd was that Phelps never uses the knowledge of the BD case to his advantage when dealing with the corrupt higher ups of the Police department. Probably would have made his job a lot easier. The whole thing just gets completely forgotten about.
 

WrikaWrek

Banned
What the fuck at the character
change
. This late in the game? What gives? I invested too much already, fuck this shit i don't even feel like playing anymore.
 

Grisby

Member
WrikaWrek said:
What the fuck at the character
change
. This late in the game? What gives? I invested too much already, fuck this shit i don't even feel like playing anymore.

I thought it was neat but your right, it happens much too late in the game.
 
WrikaWrek said:
What the fuck at the character
change
. This late in the game? What gives? I invested too much already, fuck this shit i don't even feel like playing anymore.

Yeah, that was handled way too abruptly. Kelso wasn't fleshed out enough beforehand (other than the whole Kelso and Cole don't like each other thing), you just had no attachment to him when he takes over for the last chunk. A shame, as he's a pretty likable character, although Cole is interesting for the fact that he's far more flawed than the vast majority of video game protagonists.
 
WrikaWrek said:
What the fuck at the character
change
. This late in the game? What gives? I invested too much already, fuck this shit i don't even feel like playing anymore.

Yeah really odd choice, not happy.... altho
I think this private detective guy would have made a better main character than phelps
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
Kevitivity said:
I obviously can't help you if you don't like open world games, but trust me, they are not a crutch. If anything they are risky for devs because of how difficult to code and QC.
I'm not talking about technical design. I'm talking about game design.
 

npm0925

Member
I hate that there is both a "doubt" and "lie" option. I routinely score poorly on the interrogation segments, feel like I am missing a ton of the story associated with each case, and become disgusted with the game. I don't understand why a player is given infinite chances to complete an action sequence but only one chance to question a suspect, especially when the story is supposed to be the main draw of this game.
 
NotTheGuyYouKill said:

That was pretty cool to watch. I think he makes some good points too. I think Team Bondi did a good job of taking the right artistic liberties. If it was completely 100 percent accurate simulation of detective work, each case would last a very long time. Like the point about calling in the car description, in th 40's they would have to spend several hours sifting through records to get the owner.

I notice one thing people point out is the lack of concern for fingerprinting. I admit, the lack of putting gloves on is kind of weird, just using a hankerchief would be inaccurate but less jarring. In reality, fingerprint identification is really a painstaking process, though. Even 20 years ago, you would be talking about comparing prints to physical prints and not simply running them through a computer program. Even today, fingerprint analysis is a time consuming process. The state I live in, it might take you several months for the lab to come back with a final report. That's not even mentioning the fact that there might be prints belonging to more than one person on say, the murder weapon, which makes prints not really that useful.

I think the best point he made was that the best detectives can have a conversation with anybody and that even with all the clues and evidence in the world, if you can't get someone to talk, you aren't a good detective. A lot of interviews are actually being nice to a person, pretending to be friendly and lulling the suspect into a false sense of trust. Many times it not about just yelling a people and shoving evidence in their face.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
I really think Aaron Staton was an inspired choice for Phelps, the character is supposed to rub you the wrong way and he's so great at pulling it off in a really compelling, authoritative way. He's not an obvious choice at all either, but he's so great at it that I really respect the casting guys for the game.
 

Amory

Member
npm0925 said:
I hate that there is both a "doubt" and "lie" option. I routinely score poorly on the interrogation segments, feel like I am missing a ton of the story associated with each case, and become disgusted with the game. I don't understand why a player is given infinite chances to complete an action sequence but only one chance to question a suspect, especially when the story is supposed to be the main draw of this game.

Unless you're positive you have some evidence in your possession that can PROVE that they're lying, you can eliminate that possibility right off the bat. Plus you can look at your notebook before making any decisions, so do that if you're unsure what you've got.
 
mattiewheels said:
I really think Aaron Staton was an inspired choice for Phelps, the character is supposed to rub you the wrong way and he's so great at pulling it off in a really compelling, authoritative way. He's not an obvious choice at all either, but he's so great at it that I really respect the casting guys for the game.

Yup, totally agree. Very good choice of protagonist, very likeable but his makes have me liking him more and more.

I finished this yesterday, and while I definitely had a few issues with it, as many have already mentioned, I respect what it's trying to do and overall I believe it's a fantastic experience.

Like RDR, the atmosphere and just "feel" is spot on! The characters aren't always likeable, the women are often gorgeous and either fragile or head strong, the main character is human. He makes mistakes, but I'm fond of him as a character. I think Aaron Staton did a fantastic job, and while the character he plays has strange rants that are almost out of character at times, I think he works well.

Story interest was kinda on and off, some parts of the game it really picks up and doesn't stop until shit hits the fan, but there are definitely tedious aspects to the cases. I especially found the homicide cases a little monotonous after a while, and didn't particularly like the wall that the ending seems to put up as soon as you actual find out what's going on. I found Arson picked up everything quite a bit, and eventually it doesn't stop until it's all over.

Gameplay wise it's strange. I think it's unique, but at the same time I don't think it's unique at all. It's essentially a more elaborated point and click game with some action sequences. I've read people mentioning that the clues etc were too obvious, too simple and didn't give the player the chance to actually use their head. But tbh, while that's partially true, I don't know how they could do it much better. Maybe if a second game is in the works, they'll make the cases more elaborate and actually give the player the tools to solve the case themselves, but what they have right now is fine for me.

I quite liked the shooting mechanics, though they could seem quite stiff at times. But towards the end, I found that the actual gunfights were satisfying, especially with the sound of the weapons. It all sounded very meaty. The hand to hand combat was pretty well done, felt slightly janky at times, especially the clothesline when pursuing criminals.

I could say a ton more about the game, but I'll refrain since I'd end up writing an entire novel. I really did enjoy the game, I had quite a few issues with it, and like it's been mentioned, these are definitely more noticeable because of the kinda game it is. Heavy Rain had this issue too. They are selling an experience that is very character based, wanting you to buy into what you're seeing, but when, for instance, you select doubt and get it wrong, Cole begins his odd rants and the next second, the conversation almost resets once the suspect has said his/her line. It's odd, and jarring when things like that happen, especially in this kinda game, but maybe the second game can improve this.

Overall, it's a very ambitious game, and most of the time it achieves it's goal. The atmosphere, characters shine, but the gameplay lacked the same quality at times. I would love another game like this, Team Bondi should be proud of what they've done with this game. It's not unique, but it's also like nothing I've ever played. As self-contradictory as that sounds.

8.5/10
 
So...
Cole's wife
...

993mvb.gif
 

statham

Member
The English Conquistador said:
Yup, totally agree. Very good choice of protagonist, very likeable but his makes have me liking him more and more.

I finished this yesterday, and while I definitely had a few issues with it, as many have already mentioned, I respect what it's trying to do and overall I believe it's a fantastic experience.

Like RDR, the atmosphere and just "feel" is spot on! The characters aren't always likeable, the women are often gorgeous and either fragile or head strong, the main character is human. He makes mistakes, but I'm fond of him as a character. I think Aaron Staton did a fantastic job, and while the character he plays has strange rants that are almost out of character at times, I think he works well.

Story interest was kinda on and off, some parts of the game it really picks up and doesn't stop until shit hits the fan, but there are definitely tedious aspects to the cases. I especially found the homicide cases a little monotonous after a while, and didn't particularly like the wall that the ending seems to put up as soon as you actual find out what's going on. I found Arson picked up everything quite a bit, and eventually it doesn't stop until it's all over.

Gameplay wise it's strange. I think it's unique, but at the same time I don't think it's unique at all. It's essentially a more elaborated point and click game with some action sequences. I've read people mentioning that the clues etc were too obvious, too simple and didn't give the player the chance to actually use their head. But tbh, while that's partially true, I don't know how they could do it much better. Maybe if a second game is in the works, they'll make the cases more elaborate and actually give the player the tools to solve the case themselves, but what they have right now is fine for me.

I quite liked the shooting mechanics, though they could seem quite stiff at times. But towards the end, I found that the actual gunfights were satisfying, especially with the sound of the weapons. It all sounded very meaty. The hand to hand combat was pretty well done, felt slightly janky at times, especially the clothesline when pursuing criminals.

I could say a ton more about the game, but I'll refrain since I'd end up writing an entire novel. I really did enjoy the game, I had quite a few issues with it, and like it's been mentioned, these are definitely more noticeable because of the kinda game it is. Heavy Rain had this issue too. They are selling an experience that is very character based, wanting you to buy into what you're seeing, but when, for instance, you select doubt and get it wrong, Cole begins his odd rants and the next second, the conversation almost resets once the suspect has said his/her line. It's odd, and jarring when things like that happen, especially in this kinda game, but maybe the second game can improve this.

Overall, it's a very ambitious game, and most of the time it achieves it's goal. The atmosphere, characters shine, but the gameplay lacked the same quality at times. I would love another game like this, Team Bondi should be proud of what they've done with this game. It's not unique, but it's also like nothing I've ever played. As self-contradictory as that sounds.

8.5/10
that great to hear the homicide missions did kinda kill it for me, I'll jump back in tomorrow. some of the chase scenes can be delt with early if you know whos running, if you know what I mean.
 
Does anyone know the title of the song that is playing in the early part of the first Vice desk case? It starts up just as you get in the car to head to the crime scene. It's slow and has no vocals.

Been looking all over and came up with bupkis.
 

statham

Member
chubigans said:
Every single time I have to fight I completely forget how to do so.
me too, I press block thinking its a punch 'character does nada' 5-6 times before I relize I'm pressing the wrong button.
 

rdrr gnr

Member
Calavera520 said:
Does anyone know the title of the song that is playing in the early part of the first Vice desk case? It starts up just as you get in the car to head to the crime scene. It's slow and has no vocals.

Been looking all over and came up with bupkis.
The one with the harp?
 

JMizzlin

Member
Bought the soundtrack today in anticipation of my game arriving. Incredible :O Going to play it over the sound system at work tonight.
 

statham

Member
Chanser said:
Finding all the vehicles is a real pain. :(
I thought about going for that achievement, but having to wait for your partner to enter a vehicle, that alone kills it for me . and so many look alike. so I'm entering the same vechicles many times, and once in awhile it'll be a super version of it.
 

Mik2121

Member
statham said:
I thought about going for that achievement, but having to wait for your partner to enter a vehicle, that alone kills it for me . and so many look alike. so I'm entering the same vechicles many times, and once in awhile it'll be a super version of it.
You don't have to wait for your partner to enter your vehicle :p
 

Chanser

Member
statham said:
I thought about going for that achievement, but having to wait for your partner to enter a vehicle, that alone kills it for me . and so many look alike. so I'm entering the same vechicles many times, and once in awhile it'll be a super version of it.

Yeah they all look the same, trying out every car I see and I haven't even started looking for those film reels.
 

Insaniac

Member
out of curiosity...

when playing as kelso and you're investigating the elysian fields, and you end up fist fighting like 3 guys, I lost the battle, but I thought it was cause I kept dodging at the wrong multiple times in a row, but are you supposed to lose, considering the story continued after that.
 

Montresor

Member
Trevelyon said:
Finally, Auto Fanatic.

Life wasn't meant to be spent on this bullshit.

I think the only reason that achievement is annoying is because there are SO many bullshit guides out there. "Go on the corner of 4th and Los Angele-" NO. SHUT THE FUCK UP. There's nothing on the corner of 4th and Los Angeles you silly guide.

I'm insanely lucky though. By the time I needed a guide / started seriously going for this achievement I already had like 89 vehicles. 3 of the vehicles were conveniently parked somewhere on the map (Ice truck, army truck, massive police wagon), and the other ones I got very very lucky spotting them randomly without much effort (would've been impossible without memorizing a picture of them but yeah).

I think I got off scott-free with Auto Fanatic.
 
God, I have such a love hate relationship with this game. It's like they decided we're going to make an adventure game, but we're also going to incorporate the worst part of adventure games. At some times the game is brilliant and at some times the logic leaves me baffled. Case in point:

The last traffic desk case. Hey lets make a big deal about a shrunken head at the start. Fast forward to near the end. Okay, I know this guy has been here becasue the dope used to the drug the girl is here. Questioning. Perp: I don't really see anybody unless they need a custom prop. Aha! The shrunken head. Evidence suggests there's shrunken heads made there. There's two specific clues here. A shrunken head was used to pin the accellarator. Surely you can't deny a shrunken head from your prop shop wasn't given to the perp. Nope. Sorry. What you really needed to do was find a secret room. But not the room behind the two way mirror. But another room. Oh, and the shrunken head doesn't mean anything. God this game can be infruriating. Can I expect more red hearings?
 
TeK-DeLorean said:
Just want to say the face capture gets a lot of attention but christ.. the music is perfect in every way. From the little piano audio clues fitting perfectly, to the driving music during a dramatic case, the chase theme, and the radio broadcasts, they really nailed the immersion in that respect.

This. Definitely the best part of the game.
 
Wow, nothing breaks the pacing and verisimilitude of the game like
tightroping across onto a chandelier and then having it break with you needing to swing it from side to side, made worse with horrible controls.

Fire the man who thought of that.

Edit: In fact, the whole idea of having the
serial killer plant these elaborate clues in hard to reach places
is shit. I was really enjoying this arc, too :\

What an awful end to homicide. They totally dropped the ball.
 

TeK-DeLorean

Neo Member
disappeared said:
The entire game feels like it runs out of steam by the time you hit the Arson desk.
This This This This THIS.

I started off loving the game, but I'm on disk 3 and the small flaws are really starting to wear on me. It's driving me insane to the point where I'm replaying interrogations, still failing 1-2 questions and getting pissed off and rage quitting.. I haven't reacted like that over a game since Battletoads for NES ffs.
 
Foliorum Viridum said:
Wow, nothing breaks the pacing and verisimilitude of the game like
tightroping across onto a chandelier and then having it break with you needing to swing it from side to side, made worse with horrible controls.
Fire the man who thought of that.

I couldn't stop laughing at the way Phelps so casually walks out of the building after that entire sequence as if nothing happened. It gave me a total Frank Drebin vibe.

The English Conquistador said:
I think Aaron Staton did a fantastic job, and while the character he plays has strange rants that are almost out of character at times, I think he works well.

Phelp's erratic mood during the interrogations reminded me of the old Monty Python sketch with the man who is alternately rude and then polite.
 
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