On April 15th-17th, Rockstar fansites were exclusively treated by Rockstar Games to experience L.A. Noire. To me, this is the most in-depth preview I've seen yet.
I suggest you go to the original article here:
- Rockstar Fansite members were invited to stay at the Roosevelt Hotel
- They were all also invited to go on the Black Dahlia Tour.
- They all got to experience a demo of the game hands-on!
- They had the chance to play the demo ALL THE WAY THROUGH if they wanted to
The character movement is extremely fluid, no stuttering and no FPS problems. The facial expressions are phenomenal, and the acting is second to none. The build we saw was very solid - and it wasn't even the final build yet.
A Rockstar employee stated that this is the biggest map they have ever done! I was able to look at the map while playing the game, and I can promise you will not be disappointed! The Rockstar rep also stated that they drove from one end of the map to the other and it took them 30 minutes to drive the entire distance.
All is true about the BIGGEST map Rockstar (or Team Bondi) has ever made! In Red Dead Redemption it takes approximately 20 minutes to get to one side of the map, to the other... and that's just by horse! 30 minutes...
There are subtle musical clues that you will hear when you come up to an item of interest. These musical clues will help you greatly in your investigation when searching for items. For example, when you walk by an item on a scene you will hear a few piano chords play and your controller will vibrate - this is informing you that you are near an object of interest. Another clue will be the facial expressions of the characters in the scene. You will need to actually read their faces and study them and choose the right line of questioning to move your case forward.
Everyone knows that there are musical clues and vibrations to help you find evidence, but did you know you also had to view other character's faces? (Thank you MotionScan)
Unlike GTA games where you are encouraged to drive everywhere, you have the option of letting your partner drive.
Taxi!?
Hand to hand combat has greatly improved over GTA IV. You can feel the "weight" of your punches hitting your opponent. The mechanics are much more life-like and fluid than its predecessors. I think you will really enjoy beating the crap out of the bad guys
The best hand combat I've seen yet is from GTA IV, let's see if this game conquers it.
A lot of the same buttons did the same actions as in previous games, so you won't have to worry about learning all new controls for L.A. Noire.
Good! Now I'll know what to press to punch/shoot instead of doing something else idiotic.
One of the other guys who played it drove to the Roosevelt Hotel where we were staying just to check it out - that's how realistic the game is!
Expect landmarks to be about exact!
While driving around you will hear a crime come over the radio and you have the option to go investigate it or continue on with your case. If you decide to do the "side mission" you won't screw up your case in progress, it just gets put on hold until you are ready to proceed.
While I'm on the subject of exploration, you will notice building's shop windows aren't "painted" on to the building texture. Team Bondi did an amazing job recreating period shops from the 1940's. The windows have items in them, they have depth, and are very realistic looking.
So more realism in the game! Also seems like they did a great job on finding items from that time period.
Their conversation topics are the murders around town and other misc. things that you will find interesting. Have no fear - you still get an inkling of Rockstar's humor at certain points, although subtle, it's still there! It wouldn't be a proper Rockstar game if it didn’t!
Rockstar's humor? Uhh, something concerning sexual... things?
The damage modeling on the cars are amazing, they seem to be greatly improved from GTA: IV. I crashed the car into a light pole and where the car hit the pole, it wrapped around it - I was floored! I also took the car off a few cliffs - and I never did get thrown out of the car like in GTA: IV…but you do get a fair amount of damage to the car when you nosedive it from a 200ft cliff!
So this'll be a step up from the physics in GTA IV
but I can say that each car had its own handling characteristic, and you do notice a big difference in handling. If you decide to drive a larger vehicle, don't expect it to handle like a smaller, more nimble car. You also need to keep in mind that this is 1947, a time that isn't known for upgrades in handling and speed. Radial tires were not widely dispensed until 1946, so the majority of the cars you drive will handle like cars without that new technology.
If you're a horrible driver, then you might be complaining a lot.
I didn't notice any cars that were driving erratic or slamming into other cars – Team Bondi seemed to make their AI a little bit smarter. You may occasionally see a fender bender, but it's not going to be a huge pile up like in GTA.
Hopefully the AI is also smart with how people behave.
and to my surprise there was no auto aim! This brings the "realism meter" up a few notches for me. While in this gun fight, I decided to shoot the bad guys in various spots, and body shots took about 2-3 shots to kill them. If you shoot them in the leg, they will fall down, headshot.... well... one shot will suffice!
No auto-aim people. It'll also be like Red Dead Redemption, you shoot someone in the leg, they'll limp/fall down.
While testing out my headshots, I accidentally missed and shot a guy in his fedora, and just like in Red Dead Redemption the hat goes flying off his head - I really like that effect! Also, if the enemy is really far away and you only have a pistol, don't waste your bullets on them! Cole (your character) will mention that "they are too far away I can't hit them from here" - you will either need to get closer or find a rifle to finish them off.
Nice to see the effect of a person's fedora flying off when you shoot them, just like in RDR. Also it's nice to see Phelps well be talking to you and giving you advice such as not wasting your ammo because of your far distance from your target.
When I came back out I decided to not take my police car, but to grab a civilian car. We all know how to "jack" a car in GTA - you run out in front of it, they stop, and you get in. In L.A. Noire, you stop a vehicle and Cole flashes his badge, then the people step out of the vehicle and you legally commandeer it. No punching, no head butting, no shooting a gun, you just get to take it! And I forgot to mention, I did this in front of a police officer walking down the street and I must say it felt weird doing it and not getting chased!
It's seems to be a little like True Crime, you flash a badge and take the car.
you really have to pay close attention to detail, and the more time you spend canvassing the crime scene, the more that will help you with your interrogations.
We were told at one point in development that every item was able to be examined, and when game testers were playing they were picking up every object to find clues. I'm glad they decided to not allow you to pick up every object, I think I would have lost interest very quickly if I had to pick everything up to examine it.
Seems like Team Bondi knows what to take out so it doesn't bore the player to disinterest.
I was very worried that the facial expressions and voice inflections were going to be over the top and obvious. I couldn't have been more wrong! You really have to work at studying their expressions, and listen to what they have to say about your question. We all know that you get the option to choose whether they tell the truth, doubt them or call them a liar. Well, if you decide to call them a liar I hope you canvassed the crime scene well because you will need to back up your claim with proof!
Don't expect interrogations to be a 'walk in the park'. Also, evidence people, evidence...
When you are examining a body, the camera will zoom in on Cole's hand and you will use his hand as your "cursor" to select which body part to manipulate and investigate. This is also the case with inspecting objects in houses that are grouped together. You can use his hand to select which item you want to inspect next. Once Cole picks up the items, you have total control of the object. You can roll the left stick around to find anything of interest on the object.
You have about full control when inspecting an object. Inspecting a body close up? Sexy? Will if you find dead bodies with blood sexy, then you have a problem.
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