If you look at my previous blog posts it would deem that the only time I ever write anything is when a new Rockstar title is out, and that’s absolutely right. That fact aside I just couldn’t help taking some time to reflect on my experience with LA Noire, and share it with the Giantbomb community.
Those who watched the trailers of LA Noire that were released in the year or so leading up to its release knew that the it would be a unique experience that would be unlike any other title that Rockstar has published. As a matter of fact, it turned out to unlike any other game ever released. Some people believe that LA Noire’s departure from what I will call the “Rockstar antihero formula” is a fatal flaw that ruins the experience because you are not able to pull out your sidearm at any moment and lay waste to LA citizens that stand in your way. I can understand why people feel that way, but I look at this kind of change in a positive light.
To be honest, the freedom to incite mayhem hasn’t been my reason for playing a Rockstar game since GTA: San Andreas (Granted, I was 14 at the time). However, at the release GTA IV the tone and intentions of Rockstar protagonists began to change. The player was no longer in control of a gangbanger ( CJ, GTA San Andreas) or a schoolyard bully ( Jimmy Hopkins Bully), There were put behind the eyes of Niko Bellic, an Eastern European, former soldier who was trying to live the American dream.
In my opinion, Niko was the first Rockstar character that I felt had a conscience; sure he was a bad man, but he felt bad about his wrongdoing. In playing GTA IV, I felt that Niko was a victim of circumstance who was doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. This character change is further exemplified in Red Dead Redemption through the character of John Marston. Marston is a man with a questionable past who is seeking redemption as the name of the game implies. Unfortunately, Marston must commit heinous acts on his path to redemption, but he is a man with good intentions all the same. Cole Phelps does not operate like any other Rockstar game character; or at least not at first. He is a by the book detective who seems to have the world’s most infallible moral compass. However, by the end things fall apart for Cole.
His character aside, I was able to appreciate Cole’s story and the way that game was structured because it felt like I was taking part in something that was larger than a single main character. I was completely immersed in the gritty, 1940’s LA that Team Bondi had created; where a person is almost never who they seem to be, Cole Phelps included. I felt as though the game itself was defined by its story. and that the gameplay mechanics used (the ultra-realistic faces and the interrogation system) added to the story. Sure people complain that the open world element of the game is sparse and the action sequences are inconsistent; but nevertheless, LA Noire is a prime example of what happens when a developer commits to a story and fleshes it out. This seems to be a goal that Roackstar has continuously strived for over the years so it makes perfect sense that they chose to publish LA Noire for Team Bondi. Who Knows? Maybe we’ll see a linear game developed by Rockstar someday. I’m curious to see what they would do with a linear experience instead of their usual open world approach. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
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