Video Game Review: LA Noire (2011)
So I did my first ever video game review for Rave Magazine this week. I recently completed LA Noire on Playstation, and compiled some thoughts about it. The result is below.
Review of LA Noire in Rave Magazine
I’m pretty happy with it given I had a short deadline. I initially wrote about 1,000 words but compressed it into 600. My transcript as follows:
L.A. NOIRE [MA15+]
Developer: Team Bondi/Rockstar Games
Platform: PS3/360
Visually stunning debut from local developerIt’s 1947 and Los Angeles is going through growing pains. Hollywood is booming, but the shadier elements of society seem determined to have their own renaissance. Rampant street crime, drug pushing and murder threaten the safety of LA’s citizens and it’s up to the LA Police Department’s newest recruit, Cole Phelps, to stem the criminal tide. L.A. Noire represents five years of collaboration between Rockstar Games and Australian developer Team Bondi and, while there’s a hint of the former’s iconic Grand Theft Auto within L.A. Noire, this time the gun is firmly in the hands of the law.
The player takes the role of Cole Phelps, recently returned war hero, who joins the LAPD as a uniformed officer. The game opens with a dispatch call to the scene of the murder of a young black man and the player must scour the crime scene for clues. Then, through deft use of interrogation on material witnesses, the player can narrow down the list of potential perpetrators. Interrogation is the heart of L.A. Noire. During interrogation scenes, the player gets the opportunity to assess whether a suspect is lying or being truthful. However, players risk a dressing down from Phelps’ superiors if you accuse a suspect of lying without necessary evidence to back such accusations up. Alternatively, the player can express doubt and potentially coerce further information. Mastering the process of interrogation leads to arrests that lead to promotion.
The player solves a series of increasingly complex crimes, which are built around an intriguing narrative, assisting Phelps’ progress towards the rank of detective. Along the way the player can also respond to a variety of street crimes; miniature side quests such as taking on would-be bank robbers or prosecuting violent spouses. However, it’s the storytelling where L.A. Noire really shines. Frequent cut scenes show two threads, one portraying Phelp’s past as a soldier and the other the illegal use of morphine to treat returned veterans. As you solve crimes, more links in the chain are forged, revealing your immersion in a maelstrom of violence, murder and corruption. This is an adventure game at heart, one whose principles will seem familiar to those who remember the likes of Under A Killing Moon and the Police Quest series.
L.A. Noire is also one of the most visually engaging games of all time. The attention to detail is amazing, with a focus on creating realistic characters through gesture and facial expression. Team Bondi, working with thousands of aerial shots from 1920s Los Angeles, having created such an authentic landscape it’s a pleasure cruising about in your Lincoln automobile and shooting the breeze with your partner. Often, it’s easy to forget you’re playing a video game and not watching an episode of Mad Men.
However, the game does have flaws. L.A. Noire is guilty of being linear. The interrogations, while novel, can be disjointed and rely heavily on guesswork and even failing an interrogation doesn’t seem to have much consequence on the overall plot. Furthermore, street crime situations often seem to be resolved by Phelps having to shoot and kill suspects and, as the coroner begins to pile up these bodies, one does feel repetition creeping in.
Nevertheless, these minor gripes don’t prove off-putting and L.A. Noire’s strong narrative and gritty realism are enough to keep you busting LA’s social deviants. This game is a work of art and heralds an exciting new direction for modern gaming, one that, arguably, has gone ignored for far too long.
****½
DARRAGH MURRAY
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