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

Having played through Red Dead Redemption just recently (lttp I know), I am finding that I am increasingly in awe of Rockstar games, and how they keep managing to take the GTA formulae of old and injecting it into new game worlds, I loved GTA, Bully and Red Dead.

Is LA Noire along the same lines? I would love another Rockstar games playground to play in, but from the stuff I saw of the game I just didnt get the open world vibe or a sense of action from the trailers. Is this game another beast entirely or will I like it if I liked the other Rockstar games?
 

tiff

Banned
The open world and stupid street crimes are about the only similarity between this and GTA4/RDR. The formula is completely different.
 

Hey You

Member
I noticed when starting the game it said "Rockstar,the Rockstar logo blah blah and LA Noire are trademarks of Rockstar. Do they own the LA Noire IP or does Team Bondi?
 

angrybus

Banned
cacophony said:
Real Life LA Noire


Thought this was hilarious
Pretty funny but the comedy skit of "hey let's parody videogame characters walking around robotically" is getting kinda stale. Not to mention that the movements when inspecting a body in the game actually look quite convincing.
 

Radogol

Member
Hey You said:
I noticed when starting the game it said "Rockstar,the Rockstar logo blah blah and LA Noire are trademarks of Rockstar. Do they own the LA Noire IP or does Team Bondi?
I think you just answered your own question :)
 

TheOddOne

Member
Just finished it.

Wait, was that the ending? Really Cole is dead and those high officials go scott free? The flametrower guy did it? WTF.
 
Game is a mixed bag for me, currently up to vice, Im enjoying it but damn the game has so much potential to be epic, Im a sucker for this era when it comes to gaming and movies, Im not sure whats missing but......maybe more content but that would make it GTAish so I dont know, enjoying though.
 
TheOddOne said:
Just finished it.

Wait, was that the ending? Really Cole is dead and those high officials go scott free? The flametrower guy did it? WTF.
Just got to the credits myself too and thought it was pretty awesome game/story but the ending did puzzle me too for a while.

the point was that Cole pretty much caused all the crimes leading to the ending by himself (combined with Sheldons creed) and the cycle of corruption just keeps going
 

Radogol

Member
dreamer3kx said:
Game is a mixed bag for me, currently up to vice, Im enjoying it but damn the game has so much potential to be epic, Im a sucker for this era when it comes to gaming and movies, Im not sure whats missing but......maybe more content but that would make it GTAish so I dont know, enjoying though.

My PS3 gave in before the game did (T_T), but I agree that, even more so than Mercenaries, L.A. Noire is a fantastic sequel waiting to happen.

One thing I believe a potential follow-up could benefit from is an accusation system. I would take a page from Cluedo and have you collect three kinds of things as you're conducting the investigation: P.O.Is, evidence and statements. Once you think you have figured the case out, you go to your superior and present him with: the perpetrator (chosen from available P.O.Is), the murder weapon (chosen from available evidence) and the motive (chosen from available statements).

I'd also allow the player to fail every once in a while (for example, the game would continue after a suspect escaped) and instead of punishing you for bad driving, I would give out rewards for good driving. The way it is now, you basically must have your partner drive everywhere if you want a five star rating.

Also, more open world distractions are a must, obviously. These however would be much easier to come up with if the main character was a private dick.
 

bathala

Banned
so started playing again after one month hiatus

got into a fist fight. "shit forgot the controls" went to options for control layout, controls = sensitivity, invert. and aim assist.... sigh.

I have to fucking google the control basics.
 

bathala

Banned
Radogol said:
Huh, game rentals are not very popular around here - do they really not give you the manual? Not very cool if so.
its gamefly they only send u a a cd slip, and u have to go to their website for a barebones manual info.

yay disc 2
 
Suspect: Herp derp dose papers be legitz
Cole: You lying bitch *shows proof that papers have fake info*
Suspect: lolz no I don't want to talkz to u ne moar lol

X

Me: :\

This game sometimes...
 
Finally got around to playing the shrink wrapped copy I've had sitting on my shelf for a few weeks and worked my way up to homicide in a sitting. L.A. Noire is shaping up to be an interesting experience. I like that L.A. Noire, like Mafia II before it, is kind of antithetical to the now standard open world design formula. If not for the optional cases the open world would be solely present to help establish and suspend disbelief. The player could choose to have their partner drive them from point A to B in every optional instance and avoid the open world for the majority of the game if they wanted. There isn't any of the standard spam or filler activities.

I think L.A. Noire does a commendable job of establishing and reinforcing the fact that you're an officer of the law with the structure of the game itself, the game world, the main and optional cases, the slower pace of play with its emphasis on talking to suspects and witnesses, the gathering of evidence, having to solve the crimes, how the game rewards or penalizes the player for their actions or how you complete a case. I like that L.A. Noire is not just a bog-standard action game from start to finish where the protagonist happens to be a police officer and everyone you shoot just happens to be a criminal. How it isn't just another Dead to Rights or Max Payne (not that I'm dogging on Max Payne). I guess what I'm trying to say that even though it's far from perfect, I appreciate the stab at doing things a little differently.
 

TheOddOne

Member
PetriP-TNT said:
Just got to the credits myself too and thought it was pretty awesome game/story but the ending did puzzle me too for a while.

the point was that Cole pretty much caused all the crimes leading to the ending by himself (combined with Sheldons creed) and the cycle of corruption just keeps going
Yeah, a hour or two later after finishing the game I kind of got it.

Did you watch the till the end of the credits?

Jack Kelso could have prevented the morphine from hitting the streets, if you look at the flashback at the end of the credits. On the boat ride home on the boat with the morphine supply, one of the guys talks about a newspaper article in which Cole has been promoted to a detective. The guys argue that, while Cole gets his due, that they will have nothing to go home to. They will still be doing the piss poor jobs they had done before the war. Sheldon then gets a idea to boast the morphine, so they can live in ease after the war. Jack gives a speech about that while the public might forget their actions in the war, he know that the men are heroes and that the only thing that matters. He declines to to join Sheldon's plan, but doesn't stop it from happening.

Its funny that both Cole and Jack, men who pride themselve on doing the right and honoust thing, both set in motion what happend in L.A. Noire.

The part that still kind of puzzeling: where does the Black Dahlia case fit in to all of this?
 
I love this game's soundtrack (listening to it now on Spotify). So many great tracks are missing though and I have no idea where to find them.

One such track is a frantic piece which plays when you have to rush to a destination asap. It's the track you hear right at the start of the first mission, in the police car on the way to the crime scene. If anyone has a name/link, i'd be eternally grateful.
 

dwebo

Member
I NEED SCISSORS said:
I love this game's soundtrack (listening to it now on Spotify). So many great tracks are missing though and I have no idea where to find them.

One such track is a frantic piece which plays when you have to rush to a destination asap. It's the track you hear right at the start of the first mission, in the police car on the way to the crime scene. If anyone has a name/link, i'd be eternally grateful.
I think it's this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXVCd3BD-nM

Doesn't appear to have an official name.
 
Not sure if this has been covered already in the thread, but 130 former/current developers of Team Bondi are furious after being left out of the credits listing for LA Noire.

Blockbuster L.A. Noire faces credits crisis

It's one of our biggest cultural exports since Crocodile Dundee but the fanfare surrounding L.A. Noire only further twists the knife for the approximately 130 Australian developers who claim they were not credited for up to four years of work on the game.

The credits that appear at the end of a video game or in its manual might be overlooked by most people but for those who develop the games they are crucial as proof of their contribution.

...

Pretty piss-poor from Rockstar/Team Bondi. They've even started a website about the issues.
 

rhino4evr

Member
Just finished..This game was really great during the homicide and vice sections..but then it just compeltey fell apart at the end. Tons of plot holes and other stuff that made no sense. It Almost felt rushed. Gotta say the crummy ending has ruined my overall feeling about the game. A 7 or 8 out of 10 is what I'd give it.
 

moai

Member
so what is the final verdict about playing the game without the audio and vibrating clues aid? has anyone been playing with all the help turned off?
 

dwebo

Member
Kermit The Dog said:
Not sure if this has been covered already in the thread, but 130 former/current developers of Team Bondi are furious after being left out of the credits listing for LA Noire.
Pretty piss-poor from Rockstar/Team Bondi. They've even started a website about the issues.
Interesting article. Sounds like they were lucky there wasn't a Wives of Team Bondi blowup.
Another developer, who contributed to the gameplay of L.A. Noire for just over three years, said he left before the game was completed because "I felt as though my sanity depended on it".

He said he was asked to work 10-12 hours almost every day and on weekends and described working at Team Bondi as being an inflexible and virtually praise-free environment.

"So, after my wife had been pushing me to quit for more than a year, I did," he said.
 

rhino4evr

Member
moai said:
so what is the final veredict about playing the game without the audio and vibrating clues aid? has anyone been playing with all the help turned off?
I Just dont see how that would really enhance the experience that much. If anything it would make finding clues even more monotonous
 

jackdoe

Member
TheOddOne said:
Just finished it.

Wait, was that the ending? Really Cole is dead and those high officials go scott free? The flametrower guy did it? WTF.
It was a terrible ending.
Team Bondi really dropped the ball on the finale. There should have been a switch back to Cole for the entirety of the final level. Instead we ended up with Halo 2 and the Arbiter.
 
Just beat this last night. Not sure why Gaf is unpleased with the ending as well as
moving control over to Kelso. I personally thought the way they did this was really, really well done.

Just a really awesome game overall. Buggy, but still a wonderful game. Although it probabally costs a ton to make something with this much attention to detail and using the mocap, I do hope that this becomes a franchise.
 

fernoca

Member
Ravenn17 said:
How the hell do you access the Chicago piano? The game isn't allowing me to access the trunk of my car...
Weird. The only time I tried, I just went to the trunk, a button appeared and it let me choose the 2 weapons I had.



By the way, reminder the 3 people interested:
1. The Rockstar Pass for $10 deal was extended another week, so grab it!!
2. Tomorrow, the first DLC we'll be released: Nicholson Electroplating (Arson Case, so look for it on that desk after you download it)

-Those that got the Rockstar Pass remember to look/download the case through the in-game store.

-Those that got Best Buy codes can start redeeeming them tomorrow; after the case's up in Xbox Live (5AM+)/PSN (who knows?).

-Everyone else can download the case by separate through the Marketplace/Store for 320 MSPoints/$3.99​
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
Does the DLC trick that gets you a console license and a gamertag license (so you can get DLC to work with two different gamertags) not work with the Rockstar pass?
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
TheOddOne said:
The part that still kind of puzzeling: where does the Black Dahlia case fit in to all of this?

I think that it was just to tie the game with the most famous unsolved crime ever. Personally, Homicide was the best desk because of this.
 

fernoca

Member
henhowc said:
Does the DLC trick that gets you a console license and a gamertag license (so you can get DLC to work with two different gamertags) not work with the Rockstar pass?
Don't know if it's the same "trick", but others have noted earlier that as long as the original account/license is on the unit, other accounts can use the downloads; including the Rockstar Pass. So if account A bought/downloaded the Pass and account B wants to play with the downloaded cases (since there's no need to download it again); B can as long as A's license is tied to that unit and is there.


Juan29.zapata said:
I think that it was just to tie the game with the most famous unsolved crime ever. Personally, Homicide was the best desk because of this.
Yep. The developers said that the case serves as a backdrop to the overall story rather than the main focus. The outcome of that desk was interesting and better than the recent movie too.
 

fernoca

Member
fna84 said:
Is the Rockstar Pass worth it?
Guess it depends on how much you like/liked the overall game.

For (right now) $10, the Pass allows to get the preorder DLC cases (Naked City, Slip of the Tongue), suits and weapons, the extra badges (like the film reel located through the city) and the 2 upcoming cases.

I already had Naked City, but still got the pass day one since I just love this game. Well worth it for more stuff. XD
 

Ravenn17

Member
fernoca said:
Weird. The only time I tried, I just went to the trunk, a button appeared and it let me choose the 2 weapons I had.


Could you select it at anytime, or was it only during a gunfight/chase sequence?
 

fernoca

Member
Ravenn17 said:
Could you select it at anytime, or was it only during a gunfight/chase sequence?
Well, you can only use weapons during missions/cases/street crimes that let you use them. So, the prompt only appears when you can use them.
 

Ravenn17

Member
fernoca said:
Well, you can only use weapons during missions/cases/street crimes that let you use them. So, the prompt only appears when you can use them.

Right, but I was just wondering if you can make it your primary weapon without actually having to go to the trunk every time a gunfight breaks out.
 

fernoca

Member
Ravenn17 said:
Right, but I was just wondering if you can make it your primary weapon without actually having to go to the trunk every time a gunfight breaks out.
Nope. ;)
The weapons are just temporary. You take them out, use them, then lose them. :p
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
fernoca said:
Don't know if it's the same "trick", but others have noted earlier that as long as the original account/license is on the unit, other accounts can use the downloads; including the Rockstar Pass. So if account A bought/downloaded the Pass and account B wants to play with the downloaded cases (since there's no need to download it again); B can as long as A's license is tied to that unit and is there.

Yeah that's the one I'm talking about. Where you can login to your console with a friend's gamertag and download a XBL game or DLC. Log out of his account and log back in with your own gamertag and still be able to access the content since there is a license tied to your console. In the past we've been able to do this to split content (i.e. COD Map Packs, XBL Arcade games) and essentially get 2 for the price of 1.

But for some reason it didn't work with the Rockstar Pass. The pass shows up in the DLC section of the game but it only shows "Installed" and not "Owned" next to it. The DLC items show up with the MS pt requirements. Maybe I just somehow messed up. (Which I don't discount LOL).
 

OneLetter

Member
All I really have to say is this, since this happened about 1 minute into my first actual Free Roam section outside of the story line once I finished the story.

"I swear lieutenant, it came out of nowhere."



I love when random stuff like this happens in games...heh. Overall, plenty of enjoyment from the game, still kinda "what?!" on the ending. Also, Phelps is one hell of an artist.
 

TheOddOne

Member
Juan29.zapata said:
I think that it was just to tie the game with the most famous unsolved crime ever. Personally, Homicide was the best desk because of this.
Yeah, the pacing and story content on the homicide desk was the best. I still find it weird on how Bondi resolved that case, the ending just doesn't fit because Cole is a die-hard policeman who tries to stop crime and
yet at the end of the case he is content with never speaking about the case and just moving on
. Feels like Bondi didn't know how to resolve it and just accepted something out of character.
 

fernoca

Member
Guess Nicholson Electroplating was delayed..or will be up later. The Live Marketplace updated and it's nowhere to be found; neither at the in-game store.

See post 8856:
fernoca said:
Nicholson Electroplating is out on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network!

XBL: 208 MB (individual case purchase link)
PSN: 685 MB

Remember that if you got the Rockstar Pass you have to download the case through the in-game store.

5 new achievements/trophies to go with it. Only Consul's Car (PS3 exclusive) doesn't have trophies (and 5 more for the upcoming Reefer Madness).
 

Shadow780

Member
What is the little newspaper icon next to number of stars of a case?

Also I finished Consul's Car case but no trophies or exp during the case, is it normal?
 

burgerdog

Member
Shadow780 said:
What is the little newspaper icon next to number of stars of a case?

Also I finished Consul's Car case but no trophies or exp during the case, is it normal?

I'll give you a hint, there's a newspaper in that case.
 
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