I have a love/hate relationship with this game. To me this isn't a game I can just power through. I do about a case a night or maybe every few days. I just can't get that into it to have a long play through but I like the game. Also pisses me off that I get all the questions right but I'm guessing vehicle damage is making me 4 star. I really don't want to redo these cases either for the trophy. Ugh
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Team Bondi's L.A. NOIRE |OT| Watchin' Faces, Solvin' Cases
- Thread starter ColonialRaptor
- Start date
AranhaHunter
Banned
Just finished. Great game. Rockstar is on a roll this generation. I think they'll end up with 3 great new IPs this generation when it's all said and done (Agent, RDR, and LA Noire).
Noisepurge
Member
Fjordson said:
but sometimes it is hard to decide on whether you have evidence or not
or from 2 pieces of evidence, to choose the one the game wants you to pick.usually they choices are easy but there are some pretty tricky ones too...
Diablos said:
You're a stronger man than me. I've had the game since release and have only finished 12 cases. After the first couple cases, I thought this game was amazing. But after doing the same thing over and over and over, it's just not fun anymore. If I played for 8 hours, I'd probably sleep for 7 of them.
I finished this a few days ago. It was fun, but I didn't find it 'amazing'.
The Good Stuff:
- Face capture tech is very, very cool and (obviously) adds a human dimension to the characters. I think I even recognized a few actors' faces in there (e.g. Greg Grunberg, who played Matt Parkman on Heroes)
- The graphics detail and art direction is stunning. Coupled with the face capture stuff, I really felt like I was watching a very long movie set in the 1940's.
- The interrogation system is a really novel idea.The notion of calling out a suspect's answers as Truth, Doubt, and Lie adds a lot of depth to the game, for sure.
- The storytelling and voice acting are very strong. Team Bondi obviously did their research and has a great feel for the Noire genre.
The Bad Stuff:
- Repetition, repetition, repetition. There are only so many drainpipes, car chases, and fistfights one can put up with.
- The interrogation system felt very flawed for me - but maybe I just suck at it. As good as the face capture tech is, it still came off as 'weak' in some of the interrogation sessions.
- The map of L.A. was kind of boring. While amazingly detailed, there's nothing about 1940's L.A. that screams out 'landmark' to make me want to wander the streets.
- No free-roam after you complete the game? Maybe I missed something?
- Having recently finished the more 'open play' world of RDR, L.A. Noire felt somehow claustrophobic in its more linear storytelling.
Like I say, it was fun. But RDR really set the bar for me - and L.A. Noire just doesn't measure up.
The Good Stuff:
- Face capture tech is very, very cool and (obviously) adds a human dimension to the characters. I think I even recognized a few actors' faces in there (e.g. Greg Grunberg, who played Matt Parkman on Heroes)
- The graphics detail and art direction is stunning. Coupled with the face capture stuff, I really felt like I was watching a very long movie set in the 1940's.
- The interrogation system is a really novel idea.The notion of calling out a suspect's answers as Truth, Doubt, and Lie adds a lot of depth to the game, for sure.
- The storytelling and voice acting are very strong. Team Bondi obviously did their research and has a great feel for the Noire genre.
The Bad Stuff:
- Repetition, repetition, repetition. There are only so many drainpipes, car chases, and fistfights one can put up with.
- The interrogation system felt very flawed for me - but maybe I just suck at it. As good as the face capture tech is, it still came off as 'weak' in some of the interrogation sessions.
- The map of L.A. was kind of boring. While amazingly detailed, there's nothing about 1940's L.A. that screams out 'landmark' to make me want to wander the streets.
- No free-roam after you complete the game? Maybe I missed something?
- Having recently finished the more 'open play' world of RDR, L.A. Noire felt somehow claustrophobic in its more linear storytelling.
Like I say, it was fun. But RDR really set the bar for me - and L.A. Noire just doesn't measure up.
MurkyZebra2417
Member
Wow, for some reason I always only get 4 stars in the cases. Now i got 100% clues and only missed one question -> fucking idiot drives straight into my car while I drive with sirens on -> damage -> 4 stars -> FUCK YOU
Davey Cakes
Member
So I've been working through this game slowly. I've done some cases in homicide.
The Golden Butterfly. WOW. Just fucking WOOOOOOOW. Talk about absolute bullshit trickery on that case. So much ambiguous and potentially circumstantial evidence. Vagueness.
Thankfully this game lets you go back and make the right choice after making the wrong one. I thought about the conviction decision for a good 15 minutes. I looked over the logs. I looked over the evidence. I was convinced that the game was tricking me but I wasn't sure which way it was tricking me. Rusty's flip-flopping, where he goes from saying "take down this guy" to "the evidence points to this other guy." The initials "H.M." can mean two different things. Eerie music plays with one suspect, while the other says he's not speaking any more until his lawyer; where both of these things seem mysterious to me. A tire iron which ends up being completely circumstantial even though it points to one of the suspects more than the other.
Such a balancing act of logic, intuition, and "is this game trying to play me like a fiddle?" bullshit. Frustrating and yet it's still fun enough to keep me engaged, dang it.
The Golden Butterfly. WOW. Just fucking WOOOOOOOW. Talk about absolute bullshit trickery on that case. So much ambiguous and potentially circumstantial evidence. Vagueness.
Thankfully this game lets you go back and make the right choice after making the wrong one. I thought about the conviction decision for a good 15 minutes. I looked over the logs. I looked over the evidence. I was convinced that the game was tricking me but I wasn't sure which way it was tricking me. Rusty's flip-flopping, where he goes from saying "take down this guy" to "the evidence points to this other guy." The initials "H.M." can mean two different things. Eerie music plays with one suspect, while the other says he's not speaking any more until his lawyer; where both of these things seem mysterious to me. A tire iron which ends up being completely circumstantial even though it points to one of the suspects more than the other.
Such a balancing act of logic, intuition, and "is this game trying to play me like a fiddle?" bullshit. Frustrating and yet it's still fun enough to keep me engaged, dang it.
StopMakingSense
Member
Tryckser said:
If you're going for 100% just let your partner drive.
Ninja Scooter
Member
Rash said:
Yeah I just finished this case and it really mind fucked me as well. Had no idea who to convict. I ended up going with
the pedo
endlessflood
Member
I loved the game. It's not an intense experience, but rather one that you can savour at your own leisure, and that change of pace from most other games on the market was definitely welcome. The number of cars they modelled was jaw-dropping, as is the sheer size of the city. You can argue that a lot of it is boring to look at, but that's true of a real city (for better or worse). It's certainly a shame they couldn't have given you more of a 'beat' where you got to really know a neighbourhood, but it really does feel like you're driving around in 1947 L.A. to me. The facial tech is stunning and really does make a massive difference from a storytelling perspective, even if the animation is still the same old clunky stuff we're used to.
The game mechanics were hit and miss. The driving, running, and shooting all felt fine. The 'clue' setup was fine too. The interrogations were a great idea, but they way the choices have sometimes been implemented leaves a lot to be desired (mostly because there's a disconnect between what's being discussed prior to your choice and the things that you say after the choice) and it sometimes felt like you were trying to guess what the developer was thinking rather than trying to read a face in conjunction with the evidence. It also felt slightly too linear for my liking whereby there were limited options in terms of how you actually approach making the cases; most of the 'branching' in cases stems from interrogations rather than deductions made in the face of the evidence. I like how the slower pace of the main missions is offset by the 'cut to the chase' nature of the street crime, giving the player the ability to customise their own experience by injecting more action whenever they feel the need for it.
The overall story wasn't too bad, although I thought the ending could have been stronger. Ending spoilers:
On the whole though I thought the story and characters were pretty good. There's certainly plenty of scope for good DLC beyond what's already in the pipeline; in fact, this game is probably more suited to 'compartmentalised' DLC than any other game I can think of. So far I've played through the 3 available DLC cases and enjoyed all of them.
On the whole this is a very good game and I'm glad I've had the chance to play it. After reading the 'downer' opinions here I'm a little surprised at the reaction that some people have; I suspect they were expecting a very different game to the one that Team Bondi always intended to make. One criticism that bears discussion is the similarity (or repetitiveness if you want to be harsh) in the homicide cases... but there is a good and interesting reason for that and the final homicide case is absolutely brilliant as a result.
The game mechanics were hit and miss. The driving, running, and shooting all felt fine. The 'clue' setup was fine too. The interrogations were a great idea, but they way the choices have sometimes been implemented leaves a lot to be desired (mostly because there's a disconnect between what's being discussed prior to your choice and the things that you say after the choice) and it sometimes felt like you were trying to guess what the developer was thinking rather than trying to read a face in conjunction with the evidence. It also felt slightly too linear for my liking whereby there were limited options in terms of how you actually approach making the cases; most of the 'branching' in cases stems from interrogations rather than deductions made in the face of the evidence. I like how the slower pace of the main missions is offset by the 'cut to the chase' nature of the street crime, giving the player the ability to customise their own experience by injecting more action whenever they feel the need for it.
The overall story wasn't too bad, although I thought the ending could have been stronger. Ending spoilers:
I wasn't a fan of the switch to Kelso. He was an asshole IMHO and whatever flaws Phelps' character had, he was the one we'd followed throughout the course of the game and grown attached to.
On the whole this is a very good game and I'm glad I've had the chance to play it. After reading the 'downer' opinions here I'm a little surprised at the reaction that some people have; I suspect they were expecting a very different game to the one that Team Bondi always intended to make. One criticism that bears discussion is the similarity (or repetitiveness if you want to be harsh) in the homicide cases... but there is a good and interesting reason for that and the final homicide case is absolutely brilliant as a result.
Ninja Scooter
Member
I am enjoying the game, but I can understand some people's complaints. It can get repetitive, and the most highly touted feature, the facial capture interrogations, can be frustratingly confusing at times. Like I said before, it's almost as if the game was built around you not knowing if the choices you were selecting were correct or not, only they had to make it known afterwards to satisfy the "videogame" part of it. I wonder just how much of a compromise was made, or if the developers original vision put them in over their heads.
Davey Cakes
Member
I'm enjoying it too, but I'll agree that the game can be confusing to its detriment.
Cardon
Member
I don't know how many people will find this interesting, but if you're a fan of L.A. Noire character Roy Earle then this interview with actor Adam John Harrington may be worth checking out. Topics range from Adam's take on Roy, the tech used in the game and things of that nature.
MaddenNFL64
Member
I liked Cole alot. Flawed as fuck, but did his best.
Didn't like Kelso that much. I wanted to finish the game as Phelps . And how sad was that fucking ending. Poor Elsa
. And how sad was that fucking ending. Poor Elsa
MaddenNFL64
Member
Ichor said:
Same. Just... same.
MaddenNFL64 said:
I think they did that, because both Cole and Kelso both pride themselves on doing the right things, but caused the whole ordeal. Cole was responsable for the flametrower guy and Kelso could have prevented the narcotics from hitting the streets, both indirect but the blame can be put on them both.
MaddenNFL64
Member
TheOddOne said:
No, I get it in that way, just i didn't like it at all.
And I know noir never has happy endings, but... I wanted one
.I think this would have been a great game and not just a good game with a great concept if in Homicide and Arson
You could actually pick the actual criminal atleast once. It constantly has you choosing between the right and wrong person but in the end they are both fucking wrong. Makes me sick in retrospect. They could have just given me a straightforward case just once.
bobnowhere
Member
jgminto said:
Absolutely agree, turned what should have been a groundbreaking game into an incredibly frustrating one.
endlessflood
Member
Do we know when the Reefer Madness DLC is coming?
This is basically my opinion right here.MaddenNFL64 said:I liked Cole alot. Flawed as fuck, but did his best.
Didn't like Kelso that much. I wanted to finish the game as Phelps
Great game. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I'm gonna have to get the DLC now.
Kermit The Dog
Banned
NIN90 said:What a great fucking game.
Anyone put a list together called something like "The faces in L.A. Noire you recognized but couldn't put your finger on" ?
I'm pretty sure Rockstar themselves did one, and plan to release more in an ongoing series.
GillianSeed79
Member
Rash said:
I think that case kind of defines your stance on the game. I totally agree with you. For me the game started out great, with a few flaws. But once I got to the GB case I realized the game wasn't a detective simulator and there was a overarching narrative that took precedent over anything you did. In the end, I still enjoyed the game, even the ending, but the it just seemed “off” for some reason. Also, as much as I marveled at the recreation of 50s era LA, the open world city was rather pointless. There's so much filler in LA Noire. As far as I can tell the only purpose for the city was street crimes, which were cool at first but by the fourth case were annoying as all hell.
RedAssedApe
Banned
The loading in this game drives me nuts.
StevePharma
Member
Eye Drop said:
Rockstar invented the Social Club just for you. It has all the film reels on a map with descriptions.
Well, back then they meant" "future" as in the Electroplating and Reefer cases, and the discount was basically buying everything for 50% less; though the Rockstar Pass at $10.Noriega said:
But, yeah. If things are as bad as it has been reported later, it basically confirms that there won't be any more DLC released. Around the time of the pass-announcement, some posts/reports in websites suggested that they had no plans for them. So i guess Bondi will continue working on their own thing ,and whoever ends with LA Noire might get to work on a sequel and release it in a few years.
MaddenNFL64
Member
whitehawk said:
yes you can. well i did anyway. Just look around for the red ones.
MaddenNFL64
Member
voltron said:
Keep it up. I think the last traffic case may get you into it. If not, maybe Homicide is better for you.
I dunno what to say. I fucking loved the game outside of gripes with how I wanted it to end, but that's just a creative beef.
MaddenNFL64
Member
whitehawk said:
. Try it through the cases I guess.