GM Review: L.A Noire – Hollywood Never Looked So Sinister
Much hype has been given to L.A. Noire’s facial technology, and how it merges the line between videogames and films unlike any game has before. In my opinion, it doesn’t merge the line between videogame and film, but rather it merges the line between videogame and television. The episodic feel to the cases, the cast of television actors, the well drawn out character and plot development; these are all aspects seen in television, and they are aspects which L.A. Noire recreates perfectly. Despite being set in the midst of Hollywood, there is no Hollywood level of dumbed down scripting and over the top action. I would have happily watched it as a TV series, and the gameplay only serves to add an extra level of enjoyment.
Team Bondi transport us back to late 1940’s Los Angeles, expertly recreating the feel of the time period. Not that I know from experience, but based on what I’ve seen in films (and when are films ever wrong?) it is pretty damn accurate. The city has that romantic feel that young starlets fantasize about, especially when you are driving through Hollywood at night with the street lights sparkling and a swinging track blasting out of the radio. The romantic vibe juxtaposes sweetly with the sinister feel that drops down in the middle of a dark case as the music tenses and the pace quickens.
The cases are what the game is all about, and you play the part of detective Cole Phelps as he works his way up the ladder of the LAPD. Phelps is an ex-soldier with a penchant for justice by the book. Starting as a lowly traffic cop, you are quickly reassigned to the Homicide desk, before moving to the Vice and Arson desks later in the game.
The gameplay is essentially a point-and-click adventure with a lick of modern action paint. Cases start with a trip to the initial crime scene where you must find clues, interview witnesses, and get up close and personal with the deceased. Clues unlock more locations to visit, and more people to interview. By piecing together the various scraps your case slowly builds and a clear suspect becomes apparent. However, missing clues and getting questions wrong during interrogations will severely halt your progress and could even result in the arrest of a wrong suspect. I found it easy to misread a face and get a question wrong, but the clues were sometimes a bit too obvious. A lot of the time they were either in plain sight or hidden in some ridiculously complicated contraption with a secret compartment. Apparently none of the criminals in L.A. Noire felt the need to simply hide evidence in a sock drawer – if they had, the brightest minds of the LAPD would have been left stumped every time.
You are given three choices when a suspect provides an answer during interrogation; Truth, Doubt or Lie. If you accuse your suspect of lying, you better have the evidence to back it up or the line of questioning will come to an end. Doubt is for those situations when you can instinctively tell a suspect is lying from their facial expressions, but don’t have the evidence to back a full accusation.
Interrogation is when the fantastic facial technology really makes a difference, and seeing the subtle shift of an eye as the suspect tells a lie is a satisfying feeling as you confidently doubt their claim. It is an even more satisfying feeling when you don’t need to read their face, you simply know they are lying as you already have the evidence to throw at them. It’s a feeling of power – knowing their attempts to squirm out of a tight spot are fruitless when confronted with your deductive prowess.
