L.A. Noire
Producer: Team Bondi/Rockstar Games
Release Date: May 17, 2011
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3
Rating: Mature
Genre: Action Adventure
Case Closed
Written by Jesse Seilhan
Rockstar Games has a legacy unlike any other company in modern gaming, with their unique blend of story-telling taking narratives to new heights while delivering mature (and sometimes immature) gameplay and active experiences. By teaming with Australian developer Team Bondi, Rockstar has added another feather on their illustrious cap in the form of L.A. Noire, right beside titles like Grand Theft Autoand Red Dead Redemption. Graphics, gameplay, audio, and narrative are all pushed beyond normal gaming expectations and come together in a way never before seen, but groundbreaking technology and a seven year development cycle can sometimes overstress a team and ultimately the product can suffer. The end may not justify the means, but taken on its own, L.A. Noire is one of the best games of this generation.
1940’s Los Angeles is the backdrop and most of it has been faithfully recreated, using photographs by Robert Spence as the groundwork from which to build. Famous landmarks and streets fill the open world and real actors are used as the characters in the game. Vintage cars and clothing also shine in this post-WWII City of Angels. Add to this realism the most remarkable part of L.A. Noire: the facial scan technology. Using a series of computers and animation software, the actors voicing various characters actually have their face accurately recreated within the game, adding a layer of depth unseen in other games. This is especially important considering the core gameplay mechanic is interrogation and the fact that you can tell if someone is lying or not based on how they hold their arms, look around the room, or even gulp, is a remarkable advancement.
The entire scope of LAPD police work is taken into account, from the boring low-paying role as a traffic cop up to the more exciting homicide, vice, and arson cases. For the most part, each case is its own story with some rarely tying into the larger canon. Discovering clues is up to your own perceptive skills, as a crime scene is carefully designed to leave some things out in the open and others only visible after some searching or slight puzzle solving. Once clues are found, a small audible chime clues you in on your completion and now the fun part starts: interrogation. Between smug liars, slimy husbands, vindictive vixens, and jacked-up junkies, learning the way each person ticks is one of the things that makes a successful detective.
Story writing and acting are both superior and on par with some of the best network crime dramas of the past decade. Although some of the quips get old (you can only enjoy the misogynist quips about how dumb women are for so long), the dramatic writing and involved cases more than make up for it. The game is also less “videogamey” compared to the studio’s prior work, as you cannot brandish your weapon in public and go on violent killing sprees. You are an LAPD detective, after all, and running over taxpayers for jollies wouldn’t fly with the townsfolk.
Compared to its kin, nothing comes close. Whether you look at it as a period piece (it destroys Mafia II and The Godfather) or a detective story (also better Heavy Rain and any of the CSI games), this is signature moment in gaming, and an achievement of the highest magnitude. L.A. Noire deserves to be viewed as a work of art, not just the sum of its digital parts, and only a few brush strokes away from a masterpiece.