L.A. Noire - Rockstar Lets You Play as a Good Guy!

Rockstar Games (alternatively known as R*, per their logo) is mostly well known for the Grand Theft Auto series and the Midnight Club series. In their other games, they haven't exactly had a good track record of allowing you to play as good, upstanding citizens. Many have argued since the days of Grand Theft Auto III that their games are good not because you can blow shit up, kill hookers for your money back, and do insanely crazy missions, but because the game engine is beyond godly, the acting is stellar, and the writing is cinema worthy. Many opposed to the GTA series' content never felt the games were actually that good despite the fact that very few missions actually require you to kill people.

Rockstar has shot back with its latest project, L.A. Noire, a game that uses the infamous Havok engine which GTA4 used, and places you in control of Cole Phelps, the complete polar opposite of a GTA protagonist. If there is anyone he is more obvious opposite to, its Tommy Vercetti. While Claude Speed was mute and did anything for money, he still had (some) morals. Carl Johnson was moral and left Grove Street because he was tired of the gangs, but still had no objections to killing people.

Cole Phelps is a veteran of World War II, participating in the Okinawa campaign. Phelps is Stanford educated, and frequently flaunts it by demonstrating early in the game that he will more than likely pass through the ranks of the LAPD extremely quickly due to his sharp mind. He is honest, despises corruption, and wants to know why killers do the things they do, all in the name of better understanding his enemy. In flashback sequences, Phelps is seen being fluent in Japanese and well versed in Japanese culture, allowing him to gain enemy intel much easier. He is also a realist, knowing that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because the US cut of its oil supply and that the communists in China will more than likely win their war because of the oppressive regime that today rules in Taiwan. Truly, Cole Phelps is a protagonist quite unlike any seen in a video game and does not fill the typical mold of a 1940s police detective.

There are also some tweaks from GTA due to playing as a police detective. You can't fire your gun at anyone you please, pedestrians will always dodge your car, cars do not explode when on fire, and your 9mm always has refillable ammo. You're also always accompanied by your partner, who will provide backup fire and can aid you in chasing down criminals (usually with their car).

One of the biggest departures is that the entire game revolves around case solving. You need to collect clues, interview witnesses, and interrogate suspects. When interrogating, you have the option to accept their statement as the truth, doubt their statement when you don't have evidence to prove a lie, or catch them on their lie by demonstrating evidence. It's somewhat similar to the Ace Attorney games, except when someone lies you can sometimes show multiple pieces of evidence that are all valid fib-busters and even if you fail at selecting truth, doubt, or lie, you can still "win" the case by collecting enough evidence to charge the right suspect.

But by far the most publicized aspect of L.A. Noire is the facial animations which are the best seen in any video game thus far. The lip sync is perfect, and every facial twitch is needed to see through peoples' lies or see them telling the truth.

Story: 10/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Presentation: 10/10
Replay Value: 10/10

Average Score:      10/10

This is the first game I've reviewed that I've given a perfect score to because quite simply, it is perfect.The story is better written than most cop movies, the gameplay is flawless and fixes the realistic driving controls that Rockstar shoehorned in GTA4, the graphics and music are without peer, and the ability to replay any case in any way you choose only ramps up the replay value. There's some people claiming that this game is "clearly" a rental, but I've never seen bargain bin games that allow you to replay the game in multiple ways to get different conclusions outside of a western RPG.

With Mass Effect 3 delayed to 2012, the race for Game of the Year just got smaller with the only contenders probably being Batman: Arkham City and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. Must. Buy.

Upon Further Review...

L.A. Noire does not have good replay value as it turns out. I already completed the entire game and got the majority of trophies, so the true replay value is actually very low. Furthermore, the Arson and Vice desks are incredibly short compared to the Homicide desk and try to shoehorn in a story that did not need to be told. The ending is somewhat of a letdown, but at the same time it had been foreshadowed since the beginning. Probably the disappointment was that the last 3 cases you do not even play as Cole Phelps except for a brief 5 minute sequence. In fact, of the 5 cases in Arson, Phelps only gets to do 2 cases involving actual arson.

Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Presentation: 10/10
Replay Value: 3/10

Re-Review Score:      7.8/10

If anything, this game is a Must. Rental. The game's story, gameplay, graphics, and music are outstanding, but the game is so short and devoid of special features that one feels cheated by purchasing the game. The game isn't bad per se, but the lack of special features really makes one question upon finishing whether the game was worth purchasing. As I write this, I'm preparing to trade in L.A. Noire for store credit because I finished a game that was fun, but not worth keeping around to play again.