A dark back alley. A figure emerges from the fog. He tips his fedora, lights a cigarette, the ember glowing in the gloom. This is the kind of iconic imagery that makes up Rockstar Games’ latest epic L.A. Noire, an action adventure game inspired by classic film noir and the novelists that inspired them. If you’ve ever seen a Humphrey Bogart film or read a Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett novel then you’ll be familiar with the setting and tone of this unique game. L.A. Noire is unlike any Rockstar game that has come before it, and while it does feature an open world element and gunplay, those looking for a Grand Theft Auto game set in the 1940s should look elsewhere. L.A. Noire is first, and foremost, an adventure game, with the core gameplay spent investigating crime scenes and interrogating witnesses.
Set in 1947, L.A. Noire follows Cole Phelps, played by Mad Men’s Aaron Staton, an L.A. beat cop and former war hero with a troubling past. Cole stands out from the usual Rockstar character as in addition to not being a criminal, he is also incredibly virtuous, with a very black and white world view and a defined moral code. If you were hoping to mow down some pedestrians with vintage Cadillacs, you’re out of luck: the game simply won’t let you, and you lose points for causing reckless damage and injuries. And say goodbye to those ridiculous civilian murder sprees: Cole can’t access his weapon unless the player is engaged in a specific action sequence.
The game is structured around “Case Desks,” and follows Cole’s quick rise through the ranks of the L.A. police department. You start out as a patrol cop, eventually becoming a detective in the Traffic, Homicide, Vice and Arson departments. Though the game does feature an overarching story, it is more focused on individual vignettes, the cases players play through. Cases generally start with Cole and his partner examining a crime scene and searching for evidence. Music changes and adjusts to the gameplay, letting you know when you’ve entered a crime scene, when you’re standing over a clue and when all clues in the area have been discovered. The soundtrack isn’t quite as dynamic as Red Dead Redemption’s, but it is impressive, recalling not only classic Jazz but also the scores of noir films such as L.A. Confidential, which it most closely resembles. It wouldn’t be a Rockstar game without a car stereo, and L.A. Noire is no different: while driving through the painstakingly replicated map of Los Angeles, the player can listen to actual news and radio play broadcasts from the era as well as songs from such legends as Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. On the downside, there’s only one radio station and far fewer songs, so after a few hours of gameplay you’ll find yourself running through the same selection of tunes.
Once Cole has accrued enough evidence, he can interrogate witnesses, which makes up a significant portion of the gameplay and is also the game’s most unique aspect. As most informed gamers will already know, L.A. Noire features groundbreaking facial capture technology, which accurately replicates the actual actor’s faces and produces the most realistic facial animations to date. At first it does take one aback: the animation is so realistic it’s almost creepy. But after a few hours you get used to it and wonder how games ever existed without the technology.
Thanks to the realistic facial expressions, the player is tasked with determining whether their suspect is lying or not after asking a question. If the character’s staring right at you and not blinking, they’re definitely telling the truth. If they’re shifty-eyed, they’re most likely lying, and the player has the option of calling out the lie. If you accuse a suspect you have to back it up with evidence by selecting one of the clues you have uncovered from the crime scene. If you know they’re lying but can’t prove it, you can use the “Doubt” option, which has Cole intimidate them into telling the truth. This is the most unique and engaging aspect of L.A. Noire and can be genuinely difficult. The acting is top-notch, probably better than in any game before, and some of the more subtle performances make it very difficult to tell if a character is hiding something. Getting every question right is an impressive feat, and though L.A. Noire doesn’t have as much replayability as other Rockstar titles, I have found myself wanting to go back and replay cases to get a Five Star rating and to see how the story changes based on different choices.
L.A. Noire also features a mild leveling system that grants you “Intuition Points,” which can be used to make interrogations easier (i.e. remove an answer) or reveal every clue on the map in a crime scene. Leveling up also grants you new outfits and the mild RPG gameplay, while a minor aspect of the game, is a welcome addition.
Occasionally suspects will be more difficult and more drastic action will be required to bring them to justice. Action sequences in the game range from fistfights, standard shootouts which use the exact same controls and cover system as GTAIV, as well as high-speed pursuits and foot chases. There are also forty “Street Crime” side missions, which can be played at any time and feature a collection of the aforementioned action gameplay. Truth be told, gunfights are the weakest aspect of the entire game. Some of the car chases are incredibly white knuckle and the foot chases can be a lot of fun—both recall classic film noir moments— but the shooting sequences felt incredibly uninspired, almost as if they were tacked on to make the game appeal to a broader audience. Though they improve in later levels, most feature only a handful of enemies who can be easily dispatched thanks to their “whack a mole” strategy. The game even includes the option to skip action scenes entirely, begging the question why they’re in the game at all. While I appreciate the variety, I think if Rockstar and Team Bondi wanted to add an action element to L.A. Noire they should have put just a bit more effort into the gunplay, especially as the era-specific weaponry is pretty cool.
L.A. Noire is all about story. It tells a long and complex tale and like the Metal Gear franchise, probably features more cut scenes than it does actual gameplay. This isn’t a bad thing; on the contrary, L.A. Noire strives to define its medium as a legitimate art form, and the fact that it was chosen as an official selection at the Tribecca Film Festival proves people are taking it seriously. But those who like their games light on the story and heavy on the action should steer clear. L.A. Noirestrives to be a film noir, and the end result is a title that feels less like an actual game and more like an interactive film. While it tells a great, albeit structurally awkward story, it doesn’t fuse the videogame and film worlds in quite the seamless way as recent titles such as the Uncharted Series, Dead Space 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction. Granted, those are all action games, but they felt like cinematic games, not interactive films.
In the end, L.A. Noire is a flawed game but one that strives to be more than its contemporaries, and for that ambition alone it should be commended. It’s obvious that much time, love and effort was put into every pixel, every frame of animation and every line of dialogue. No corners were cut here, and though there are some minor graphical and performance issues (I encountered some serious frame rate issues, a couple drops in dialogue and one freeze) the overall product is incredibly polished. Though L.A. Noire isn’t likely to accumulate the same level of accolades as Red Dead Redemption, it deserves a place among some of the greatest film noir stories ever told. The story takes some time to get rolling, but by the time you reach the final case desk you won’t be able to put down the controller—the story’s just that engaging.
If videogames are nothing more for you than cheap thrills, avoid L.A. Noire. But if you’re like me and you not only love a great story but also consider games to be art, then you owe it to yourself to pick up L.A. Noire. I have no doubt that years from now, when games are taught in universities, L.A. Noire will be referenced as a defining moment for the medium. 2011 may be the year historians declare videogames finally crossed that ill-defined boundary between entertainment, and art, and it’s thanks to the ambitious title that is L.A. Noire.
Fun Factor: Investigate crime scenes and interrogate witnesses with core gameplay that recalls classic adventure games. Car chases, shootouts and hunting for collectibles add some variety. The main joy of playing L.A. Noire is watching its epic story unfold.
Difficulty: Though it’s impossible to “lose” L.A. Noire other than die, it is surprisingly difficult to correctly interrogate witnesses, and players will have to pay attention to every bit of dialogue and every detail they’re presented with to complete a case with a five-star rating. Action sequences shouldn’t be hard for anyone who’s ever played a Grand Theft Auto title.
Length: Including the Street Crime side, missions it’s a little over twenty hours for one playthrough.
Bang For Your Buck: If you collect DVDs, particularly film noirs, then L.A. Noire will make a great addition to your collection. As it is a Rockstar game, it isn’t flimsy on the gameplay and it’s well worth $59.99. But there isn’t as much replayability as in Red Dead Redemption or Grand Theft Auto and most players will likely only want to run through it once.
