Rockstar, a studio known for its groundbreaking work in sandbox games, has done it again – this time with an entirely different genre. LA Noire is a mystery thriller with an old-movie feel; you’ll solve crimes, put degenerate lowlifes behind bars and drive through eight miles of beautifully recreated 1940’s Hollywood. This is not Grand Theft Auto. It’s sort of like a playable Dick Tracy, only without ridiculous characters and with a potentially memorable story. For those of you who have ever played Police Quest, you know what to expect.
The demo opens to the scene of a young woman being savagely beaten and brutalized. The graphic cinematic then cuts to a police station where L.A. Noire’s protagonist Cole Phelps, a fresh-faced detective looking to move up the ranks, is awaiting for a partner to be assigned to aid in the investigation of the grisly murder. For this particular case a detective by the name of Galloway is chosen to aid Phelps, but Rockstar has assured that there will be Phelp’s partners will alter depending on the case.
After a brief chat with the captain we find ourselves at a beautifully detailed, painfully realistic crime scene: the victim is nude, bloodied with profanity written on her body. Reporters are on the scene. After giving a proper tongue-lashing to the news media for their clamoring of information, Phelps is able to investigate the relatively small crime scene. This might not seem worth pointing out but Rockstar has confirmed that crime scenes can scale up to several city blocks. As Phelps inspects the corpse, he notices footprints around the victim’s body. It is here where we are greeted to the intimate nature of crime scene investigation as we are able to lift the woman’s lifeless limbs to check for details such as signs of a struggle, or in this case, a missing ring. After making note of the footprints and nearby tire tracks, we move on to discover a lighter. With some swift puzzle work, we are able to unlock the lighter to discover the address to a local bar.
The investigation continues at the bar where Phelps and Galloway decide to ask bartender Garret Mason a few questions. The murder girl in question goes by the name Celina Henry, and we are told that he bar’s owner, McCall, is well acquainted with her. It’s at this point where Galloway instructs us to handle the questioning on his own as he partakes in a drink at the bar. Rockstar states that this is an example of how Phelp’s partners will differ, their unique personalities will shine through and some will be more helpful than others when solving crimes. We eventually step into McCall’s office and proceed with a basic line of questioning: how do you know her, when was the last time you saw her, etc. McCall says he calls the victim’s husband, Jacob, whenever she has had too much to drink. Only this time, he didn’t show up. This is where we truly see what L.A. Noire is capable of.
L.A. Noire uses a facial recognition technology that recreates the actors’ face in the game, almost too perfectly; a furrowed brow or indirect eye contact is telling that the suspect may be lying. In this case the owner has locked eyes and seems fairly calm. We are greeted with three options after hearing a suspect answer: truth, doubt, and lie. Truth is self explanatory. Doubt has you push the suspect for more information. And if you believe someone is lying, you need to provide evidence from your notebook to prove otherwise. We select ‘Truth’, and the owner provides Phelps with a piece of information he would not have received if we pursued another line of questioning – the victim’s address.
Moments later we arrive to find the Celina’s house completely ransacked and we enter to proceed with our investigation. Since L.A. Noire has little if no UI, it has an very cinematic feel, a quality that I immediately fall in love with. Instead the game uses audio clues. You hear what is known as the ‘investigation music’ which lets you know there is still evidence to find – no music, no more evidence. If you do walk near a piece of evidence you hear a two-tone piano sound; again, no visual clue. We find a rather hostile note from Celina’s husband and after speaking with a neighbor of 10 years, we learn that Celina has a penchant for liquor, and last night her husband Jacob decided he’d start an intervention by slapping her around. The informative neighbor, Jennifer, provides Jacob’s address and we are en route to a break in the case.
The murder-solving duo arrive at Jacob’s house, weapons drawn and ready for a fight. After kicking in the door, Jacob appears to be shocked at our accusations of him being involved in his wife’s murder. Before we interrogate the suspect we are given the opportunity to investigate his house. A pad is found and it seems as if a note was made out asking someone to "take care of his wife". As this seems to be sufficient, we now get to interrogate our suspect. As expected, Jacob immediately denies knowing she even went out drinking that night. Phelps is quick to call him on his lie by checking his notebook and pulling the testimony of the bar owner, who stated he spoke to the Jacob the night Celina was killed. Jacob goes on to say he did speak to the owner but he has nothing to do with her murder. Galloway gets harsher in his line of questioning and the accused husband snaps. He punches your partner in the face and you are now having a fist fight with suspect. After he is subdued, he is taken in. We are told there is more to the case but the demo ended here as to not spoil too much.
Would be crime-solvers can look forward to playing 22 cases over four different desks in the police department, each can spanning from 45 minutes to possibly two hours in length. As you will encounter several suspects in each case, it is also possible to arrest the wrong person. This will affect the overall narrative down the line and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Rockstar has left no stone unturned with L.A. Noire, as we are told that you can miss evidence at the crimes scene and this would affect the investigation of the case. Say we missed that lighter, we may need to work based off of the tire tracks for example or won’t have access to a line of questioning on a suspect. Those who are meticulous in the investigation get treated to the whole picture. If you do miss evidence you will be able to progress albeit in a clumsier fashion.
Rockstar reinvented Grand Theft Auto with its ingenious sandbox, mission based gameplay and they have done it again with L.A. Noire. With its unique level of detail and seemingly well crafted story, L.A. Noire has all the ingredients for AAA title and dare I say it, Game of the Year.
Post contributed by KC Garcia. Questions for the author? Send an email to litlmutt@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @LightsinStuff.