I have to admit that I was very skeptical of LA Noire. It seems every time a game with cinematic aspirations is released to critical acclaim it ends up disappointing me. GTA IV, Red Dead Redemption, and Heavy Rain certainly come to mind as games that early reviews pointed to as Oscar caliber writing, but I found all their scripts mostly pitiful (though RDR's final couple hours are surprisingly well written). So when I heard Rockstar was making a game called LA Noire, my first thought was that it would be a pandering mess full of typical Rockstar caricatures and broad satire.
This is one of those times where I'm glad to have been proven wrong. I've not completed LA Noire (or even come close), but after spending approximately six hours with Cole Phelps I can say that the writing is very good. Gone are the wacky obnoxious stereotypes and silly jokes. The game takes itself far more seriously than anything else I've played in Rockstar's canon (probably because it was developed by outsiders, Team Bondi), and it works. Dialogue is quick and snappy. Characters behave like real people with their own hopes, dreams, and fears. At one point I entered a crime scene and my partner greeted his friend by pretend boxing him before explaining that his buddy was a helluva fighter back in the day. That they'd go to such lengths to make such a casual scene feel so authentic is appreciated, and this is just one example among many of its attention to detail.
I'm also glad to see them not shy away from taboos. I was particularly delighted to see that the game contained full frontal female nudity, and not for the usual reasons. When you arrive at one of the game's many crime scenes, the victim is a woman splayed out completely naked, covered in blood. We've seen plenty of tits in games, but I can't think of a title that's portrayed female genitalia so openly before and in a non-sexualized context. I suppose this shouldn't come as a surprise as Rockstar previously embraced exposure taboos in The Lost and Damned DLC for GTA 4 where a corrupt politician greets you in his birthday suit and the camera makes no attempt to obscure his privates. Elsewhere, I've heard about a scene later in LA Noire where you discover a 12 year old girl in the bed of a shady entrepreneur. Neither of these seem to call attention to their shock value. It's just another day in the life of an LAPD.
Where GTA and RDR had spectacular settings undone by pandering scripts, out of place humor and one-dimensional characters, LA Noire's writing excels and helps bring this corrupt world of glitz and glamour to life.