Groundbreaking, Even If A Bit Disappointing.
"L.A. Noire" is not nearly as perfect or as polished as Rockstar's previous venture, "Red Dead Redemption". The level of perfect seen in that game isn't quite shown in "L.A. Noire", however none of this really diminishes Noire from being one of the better games you will play in 2011.
You play as Cole Phelps, a recent graduate of the police academy and at the beginning of the game, a beat cop. You work your way up in the beginning to defective, and the beat cop missions serve as the tutorial to get you used to the game. The first element that will turn many people off is the fact that, Cole Phelps is a hard, by-the-books cop, so you can forget about running around gunning down innocent civilians, or running over hookers. I can not stress this enoguh, this is not simply Grand Theft Auto: Los Angeles 1947. You are a straight up good guy, something that is revolutionary in the game world. Yes, you are given the option many times to shoot and kill the so called "bad-guys" you run across, but nearly half of those opportunities you will lock up the thugs anyways.
The most revolutionary part of "L.A. Noire" is in it's facial recognition. The use of real actors (I'm convinced that nearly half of the actors from Mad Men show up in this game, hell the main character is played by Kenny Cosgrove from Mad Men) really brings out a sense of realism that hasn't been touched upon in many games.
That is to say, Noire is also the most mature rated title in recent years that I can remember. I honestly can say that no one under the age of fifteen should even come near this game, partially because they won't have the patience to deal with Noire's slower pace, but also for the fact that some of the things I dealt with in Noire include Necrophilia and Pedophilia, full frontal female nudity, and just the overal factor of dealing with some of these more heinous crimes. It is however refreshing to play such an adult oriented game, making the experience seem that much more revolutionary. Noire doesn't messs around, that's for sure.
A few minor issues plague the game though. During a few of the games car chases and even on foot chases it chugged down to almost single digit frame rates, a problem that can hopefully be patched at some point, but at this point, I've beat the game so I don't really care. Also, while the story is really well done, I can't help but feel that it started to fall apart in the final act, which ultimately leads to one of the less satisfying game endings I've experienced in some time. Perhaps the joy I got from the end of last years "Red Dead Redemption" really overshadows the more mundane ending that Rocktar has chosen to go with here in Noire. Without spoiling anything, Noire has a true ending, which means, once it ends, the games over.
Besides the main story, there are various collectibles, and forty different street crimes to be solved. Most street crimes are similar, and only a handful of them last more then five minutes in length.
One of the more impressive parts though was "The Naked City" dlc. This downloadable content (currently gamestop exclusive) gets sandwiched into the vice cases, and this case felt longer then most of the on-disc cases I played.
I eagerly awaited "L.A. Noire" for some time, and while I can say that yes, it still is truly one of the best games that's been released in the last year, I can't help but feel a bit cheated with the games ending and overall length. It will run you about twenty-hours, much less time consuming then a typical Rockstar venture. However, the time you spend with Cole Phelps is perhaps one of the more memorable gaming experiences you will have in recent memory, as it was for me. I for one hope that this game gets widely expanded with some much needed download content.
