Steve Boxer, from guardian.co.uk, has posted a review of Team Bondi's L.A. Noire. This review tells what the player can expect in the game. guardian.co.uk has rated the game 5/5 stars. Will other video game reviewers agree with this score? We'll find that out sometime around the game's release.
Here are a few things that caught my eye.
Read the full review Here
Between cases, you either get a flashback to Phelps' war experiences in Japan or a glimpse into his off-duty life; both those elements end up feeding back into the overarching storyline. The oeuvres of Shelley and even anarchist author Piotr Kropotkin are fed into the mix. Newspapers that you find when hunting for clues trigger yet another backstory (this time involving ongoing LA skullduggery), which yet again intersects with the main storyline in the game's later stages.
The control system is sufficiently simplified that even the most determined non-gamers shouldn't find it intimidating.
Indeed, the more hardcore gamers may carp that it isn't sufficiently action-packed or precise. The one criticism that could be levelled at the game is that the shooting system has been over-simplified so that it feels clunky compared to thelikes of Grand Theft Auto.
From start to finish, LA Noire feels like a film – LA Confidential
As you rise through the ranks, you earn Intuition points, which can be cashed in to eliminate one wrong question-tone (or reveal the location of all the clues at a location). Luckily, LA Noire is pretty forgiving, so if your body language-assessment skills aren't up to CSI standards, you should still get the right result in the end, although you risk a chewing-out from your boss for shoddy police work, which is genuinely mortifying.
The game's pacing and narrative arc impress as much as its believability. The bog-standard detective work, fun though it is, is punctuated judiciously by action sequences including car chases, pursuing suspects on foot, climbing around inaccessible areas, puzzle-solving and, of course, shoot-outs.
UPDATE:
The review has been restored:
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