One Hour In -- Episode #10
By ssj4raditz 1 Comments
I'll keep crankin' 'em out, if you keep readin' 'em! Ain't it the truth! Hell, even if I knew no one was reading these things, I'd keep doing this, if just to keep myself occupied for a little while on a cloudy Sunday afternoon. Beats doing anything important, like, say yard work (yuck!). Anyway, I guess you're all looking forward to this week's hour game session. Well, truth be told, I really did do a proper sit-down for this week. So, in lieu of that, I'll go through my impressions of the first bit of L.A. Noire. Sound good? Alright then, let's do this!
L.A. Noir
Dammit, spellchecker, I know "noire" is spelled wrong, stop it!
Okay, on to the game proper. I get put into the shoes of one of the LAPD's finest, Cole Phelps. Cole is just a regular cop working his beat when we first meet him. Answering a call to search the scene of a murder, Cole and his partner arrive. The detectives tell the cops to search the area for any evidence. I'm introduced to the game's clue collecting mechanic here. I like the subtle musical cues, along with the controller's rumble to help locate clues. I pick up several beer bottles, a newspaper, and examine them. Cole let's me know, verbally, that these things probably don't pertain to the investigation. Searching around a bit more, I catch the glint of a reflection in a window. Appears the perp threw his gun up on the roof and beat a hasty retreat. Cole clambers up a nearby drainpipe, and secures the weapon. Cole's partner suggests they just make their way back to the police station, but Phelps has other ideas. The gun could lead them to the assailant. Cole's partner relents, and suggests they check the local gun store. Driving there and questioning the clerk leads to the revelation that the pistol belongs to one Mr. Errol Schroeder. Checking the ledger for Schroeder's address, the cops decide to pay him a visit. Locating the apartment is easy enough. Mr. Schroeder invites the officers in, but clocks Cole's partner. A quick fight ensues, and Errol is subdued rather quickly. I search his apartment for any more clues, and then haul him off to the slammer.
Next up is a bank robbery. a few well-armed men are trying to hold-up a local bank. Responding to the call, Cole and his buddy get their shoot on. Looks like this is the game's gunning tutorial. It's a simple matter to dart between and behind cover, methodically taking out the bandits. I gun them all down. Looks like the coroner will have a busy night...
As we're patrol, Cole's partner spots a guy who seems to have an outstanding warrant for breaking parole. Cole jumps out of the car, and an on-foot chase ensues, This section has me getting Cole to leap walls, shimmy up ladders, down drainpipes, and weaving through alleys. It ends with me cornering the dude on a rooftop. I knock some sense into him with my quick brawling skills, and he gets hauled off back to the stoney lonesome.
Shots fired. Cole is just on his regular beat when several gunshots are heard around the corner. He rushes to the scene to find a body lying on the sidewalk. A local says the ambulance and police have been called, but it appears the man is already dead. A pair of badges show up as Cole is assessing the situation. They form a perimeter, and Cole is asked to examine the body for evidence. I go over the stiff, find nothing of interest but a layaway receipt in his pocket. Next, it's time to question the eyewitness, Clovis Galleta. She states that the dead man was her employer, and I press her for details. The game now introduces the questioning mechanic. Not convinced that she's being forward with her, Cole keeps on her. Ms. Galleta breaks down and states that the man was probably killed by the jewelery store owner, Mr. Kalou. Satisfied with her answer, I exit the shoe store and search for more evidence. I find some shell casings on the sidewalk, and the murder weapon tossed in a trash bin. Examining the gun closely, I find the serial number on its side. I could go to the gun shop and pinpoint the owner, but I already have a good idea it's Mr. Kalou. I head to the jeweler. The man inside says Mr. Kalou isn't available, that he's out back getting some air. Cole asks for the man to go get him. The clerk relents, but then bolts out the back door! That was Kalou! I give chase through the alleys. Kalou's slippery, and I can't seem to get close enough to tackle him. Instead, I'm able to target him with my gun, and fire a warning shot to get him to stop. He's cuffed and hauled off to the police station.
Back at the station, Cole is given the chance to interrogate Kalou. Here's where I prove that I can get a confession out of this man. I grill him, asking about what happened, and presenting the evidence that there was no doubt he was the culprit. Mr. Kalou has no choice but the confess, and it looks like he's going away for a long time.
After all that, it looks like Cole Phelps is moving up in the world. He gets a promotion to detective. He's now set to work the Traffic Desk with his new partner Stefan Bekowsky. Sure, it doesn't sound too glamorous, but the captain promises better cases if Cole does well. Time to start the real detecting, right guys? Let's go for it.
And... I'm just going to stop right there. I don't want to ruin the first case for anyone. The intro was plenty, too. So far, L.A. Noire seems like a well put together game. Like I said, the facial animations are amazing, and I'm curious as to where the game's story will lead. I probably won't be going through this title at a snappy pace. I want to savor the cases, and not get through it just to get through it.
Other Happenings
Man, I really need to figure out how to do some header images to slap in here. Oh well. Here's what's been going on that I think is interesting in the world of gaming and the world in general.
Randy "Macho Man" Savage Passes
A sad, sad day for those of us who grew up watching the exploits of the WWF. On Friday, we all learned of the death of one of wrestling entertainment's greats. Randy Poffo, better know as "Macho Man" Randy Savage was killed in an unfortunate car accident in Florida. I remember vividly Mr. Savage being one of my favorite wrestlers when I was a young lad. I was very saddened by his passing, but I have a feeling he's up in heaven, elbow dropping on the angels. OH YEAH!!PSN Returns (kinda), the Masses Rejoice?
So, after extensive rebuilding and testing, Sony finally flipped the switches and brought the PlayStation Network back online last weekend. A quick (well, for PS3) firmware update and password change and it was back to online play! Yay! Of course, the downside is, not everything has been restored; the biggest of which is the PSN Store. So, even though I could play Mortal Kombat online, since I redeemed my Konbat pass before the outage, many could not (this has since been temporarily resolved). There's that, and I also can't redeem my L.A. Noire PS3-exclusive DLC, nor anything else that would require inputting a redemption code. I mean, I won a copy of a PSP game, but it's a digital-only copy, so no redeeming until the Store is back.Also, on the subject of the PSN outage, Sony has outlined the "Welcome Back" package that they'll be offering. Included is free PS+, free games on both PS3 and PSP, and a bunch of stuff free for Home. Cool, free is always good. But, of course, people will gripe, and people did. Listen, it's FREE STUFF. FREE. Have some gratitude people. At least it's not nothing.