L. A. Noire is here, folks. Team Bondi and Rockstar have delivered the last big release before the summer drought, and now the entire world is immersing itself in the harrowing mysteries of 1940s L.A. Or at least, that’s what’s going on in my house, anyway.
I’ve only played a few hours of L.A. Noire at this point, but already it’s made a great impression on me. In the same way that calling Red Dead Redemption “GTA with horses” was a bit off the mark, calling L. A. Noire “GTA in the 1940s” misses the point as well. The game plays out like a much more polished Heavy Rain in some ways, and in other ways feels like playing through a pulp mystery novel. The investigation mechanics are a nice change of pace from other Rockstar releases, and the whole thing has already sucked me in a bit. And of course, as everyone’s saying, the facial animations are astounding. We’ll see how well the whole thing holds up over 20-30 hours.
What about you guys? Who else is playing some L.A. Noire? Roll call!
No surprise at all: the guys were right, and this was absolutely the perfect game for me. I already feel like it’s a serious contender for my game of the year.
I’m playing some LA Noire and I’m loving just driving around the city looking at stuff and just hunting down landmarks.
The cases are all intriguing and it’s fun to see the blend of crime film-level conspiracy and just “Occam’s Razor”-level motives come together in cases.
One thing I’m a little disappointed in is that there’s not much to do besides sight-see or go on collection hunts or solve street crimes. I’m not saying Cole Phelps has to go John Marston on L.A. and hunt indigenous wildlife or gamble or whatever, but it’d be nice to have something to do between solving cases.
Also, fingers crossed for some horror-themed cases around Halloween. LA Noire: Night of the Werewolf or whatever.
Comes out Friday here (UK). Got a 1 day delivery from Amazon so fingers crossed I may get it early.
Sucks that PSN Store is still down so we can’t redeem DLC codes (although I’d rather that then having 3 discs 😛 ). Does anyone know if the DLC suits are overpowered? I hated in RDR that you basically got the best items in the game from the word go, the horse was ridiculous.
Ran out of time to pick up my copy yesterday, which on the plus side means I actually got some sleep last night. My college roommate is flying in for the next couple of days – I’ll have to try and rope him in to the experience. Anticipation levels are getting dangerously high.
I love it so far. I hit the “disc 2” point right before going to bed. I love the game, a TON of fun. Its beautiful too, the faces are magnificent.
Im hoping that across 3 discs this game goes beyond 20 hours easily. I think to fully finish the game it will. The only thing that worries me is that Disc 2 already has come up. I think the multi disc approach is due to its huge size and detail but Im hoping it keeps trucking with the story. Its amazing fun
It’s definitely on my list of “settling for the console in the living room” games. If I have money after the PC releases this year, I’m hoping to get L.A Noire, Read Dead Redemption, Alan Wake and Heavy Rain, all used and cheap. Watched some reviews yesterday and it’s looking spectacular!
I’m getting it NEXT Friday as I have a month long gap between my ICT exam (next Friday) and my last one (Technology and Design on June 23rd) so I’ll have a few days to chillax and hopefully pick up both it and Portal 2.
I have not picked it up yet but let me just say, The Witcher 2!!!! It is truly amazing, I think it actually beet out portal 2 for my game of the year contender which, if you know how big of a Valve fanboy I am, is saying a lot. Basically The witcher 2 is what Mass Effect 2 and Assassins Creed 2 were for ME1 and AC1 its really just that good, it is what Dragon Age 2 should have been. the morality is mature and expertly done, there is no “good” or “bad” just the lesser of two evils and some of the choices that I thought were really good ended up being terrible and costing the lives of hundreds of inoculates.
Ok back on subject, I am really looking foreword to sinking my teeth into L.A. Noire as I am a huge film Noir enthusiast. I could go on and on about it but suffice to say, “I am a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk.”
Playing it. Liking it so far. Only done a half hour, so reserving judgement.
Playing it and loving it! And btw Eddy, Duke Nukem is the last game before the drought, which I know you’re excited for lol
[quote comment=”16555″]Playing it and loving it! And btw Eddy, Duke Nukem is the last game before the drought, which I know you’re excited for lol[/quote]
no no no you both are wrong The Witcher 2 is the last big game before the drought. 😀
I was excited for this game when I first heard about it, and after RDR I only got more excited (that built my faith in Rockstar). I’m not letting myself buy it for another 2 weeks (after finals), but I’m glad to hear that everyone playing it likes it so far. Also good to hear that the facial recognition stuff is as good as Rockstar said it was, because that was really going to be the make-or-break for this game.
I feel like I’m the only one who is getting frustrated with LA Noire. I really love the animation, the characters, and the writing (all top-notch), but the interrogations are frustrating. I know that’s the point, but after playing a few hours of it, I’m not skilled with the Truth, Doubt, & Lie dialogue system. I suck, but I really want to give this game its due. It’s very well made and I hope I can quit my bitching and love the interrogation process. Maybe I was just in a bad mood yesterday. I really want to appreciate LA Noire’s story.
You’re all wrong about the drought. Deus Ex 3 comes out in August, at the peak of Canadian Summer. I’m playing through the 1st game again (probably for the 20th-ish time, honestly). Do yourselves a favour and get that game cheap, or better yet, get it for free when you pre-order 3 on Steam 😉 .
Cossack, I sort of agree about the investigations at times. It seems like it can’t quite hold up with what they want it to be. Sometimes the suspect will say something vague, and it’s unclear that I’m supposed to take that vague statement and prove a lie with it. I mean, I guess the point is that it’s supposed to be kind of hard, but trying to tie specific vague statements to the right evidence seems like a crap shoot sometimes.
That being said, I’m still addicted to solving the cases. It’s OK if I don’t get all the questions right.