L.A. Noire for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

I loved nearly every aspect of the game, from the story line, gameplay, all the way down to the characters. It was nice to play a unique game where can interrogate them and decide if they are lying or not. This game was well made, i did not come across many flaws, but i did run into a bug every now and then where i would have to restart from check or redo the case. Other than those and few other minor complaint, the long storytelling and great gameplay kept me entertained till the very end.

Probably my 2nd favorite game from gamefly behind dishonored.

Pros-
- The storyline is fairly interesting. Puts you in a position almost opposite from all the other games you play, and is a good change in pace.
- Interviews and Interrogations that actually affect what happens later in the case really make you think rather than just rush through.
-The old LA environment is an extremely unique one that you'll just want to drive around in.
-Side missions are fun and interesting to watch.

Cons
- Some cases can get boring/frustrating.
- Not for the faint of heart, some cases can get pretty gruesome. If you're very uncomfortable with blood, this game is not for you.
- The open world isn't very interactive, all you can do is basically chase more bad guys.

L.A. NOIRE is one of the best cop free world game EVER!!!!!
you get to be on the traffic desk,homicide desk,vice desk,and arson desk.(HOUSE FIRE) the 2 things i dont like is i wish that it was modern times then the 1940's and second the cop cars have sirens but no flashing lights, but over all L.A.NOIRE is one of the best games evveer made. :)

This game was pretty fun I must say. lol while I played the game I actually felt like a real police officer/detective!
You do many crime scenes, interogate many people. Sometimes it gets kind of repetitive but its fun! And the facial features theyve put into the characters are so detailed, you can axctually almost tell by facial expressions if someone is lying or telling the truth.

It's worth renting! [:

what can i say about this game. Well for certain that my father an intellectual pc gamer who enjoys myst and mutiple others of their ilk will love this game. but ya know what? i do too, its a wonderful blend of detective and rpg with a little bit of action thrown in for spice. but there is enough meat to this game to really get into. exploring dark corners, searching for clues with smooth jazz playin in the background and only ur instincts to guide you. helpfully ur instincts take the form of musical cues and controller vibrations. also i love the polite way that you can jack everyones cars, and for once i am able to make a 24 car traffic jam without cars freakin dissapearing.... although i will say that it is tough finding 95 different cars that to me all look freakin identical

the attention to detail and refined, slow paced deliberate sense of the game is a real change from that which other games attempt to cultivate. i for one enjoy really thinking out whats happening and taking my time.

a surreal yet starkly visceral adventure like white water rapids, at times mild and at times violently thrilling this is a tremendous effort that delivers on almost all fronts.

The facial reconstructions are so magnificant that you are simply willing to overlook simple flaws such as frame rate stuttering and some minor environmental glitches. while mass effect 2 is far more advanced graphically in other areas, it is the only thing i can compare this game to in terms of facial

the ability for characters to portray emotion borders on unbelievable, and never before realized in any game. this is very important due to the fact that as a cop your job is to interogate and investigate. many times it will be your reading of a person that will determine how things unfold.

Similar to heavy rain yet with just a bit of gta allows you to unfold the events as though a movie. set aside some time for this one however as its 3 disks long. or maybe i should say 3 disks awsome.

LA Noire is very slow, very deliberate, at times boring and at times frustrating.

That being said, the story lines and the way the cases develop are often still good enough to keep me engaged and playing.

The game is comprised chiefly of investigating crime scenes and other locations pertinent to the various cases and interviewing people. The mechanics for each of these activities are passable, but not without their flaws.

Investigating crime scenes is much more "hunt-and-peck" than an exercise in intuitive searching. A controller vibration lets you know when you're near a clue, so its often just a matter of sufficiently walking around an area to get what you need.

Interviewing persons if interest involves asking a question based on your investigation, then reacting to the P.O.I.s answer by taking it as truth, doubting it, or accusing them of lying outright (which requires soe evidence as back-up). There is only one right answer and path in any interview scenario and often times you must rely on clues from facial "tells" from P.O.I.s coupled with info and clues you've already found. The process is a little boring and can be frustrating when you don't know the path the game wants you to take.

Game play is otherwise peppered with clumsy chase sequences (both on foot and/or in a car) and a few combat scenarios. The controls for these parts are what makes them clumsy (especially running and taking cover) and they aren't in any way different or unique compared to anything you've probably already played.

On the up side, the game has the best facial animations I've ever seen. All games going forward that don't live up to this new standard will look bad in comparison. Likewise, the dialogue is well written and well delivered and the music and overall feel and 1940s atmosphere are well executed.

Like a late night crime drama on TV when you can't sleep, LA Noire is interesting enough to keep your attention 'til the end, but not good enough to go out and buy a copy.

LA Noire is a lot of fun the first time through. However, a lot of the fun comes from solving the cases so there is virtually no replayability. Therefore, this is a great game to rent, but probably not to buy.

This game is amazing. The story will suck you in from the start. I'm the gamer that skips all the cutscenes and gets straight to the action but in L.A. Noire you can't and that's a good thing(they are actually very entertaining). Investigating crime scenes is freaking fun and using clues and interrogating people is even better. The controls are very fluid and combat whether its melee or weaponry is easy to grasp and very fun. This game has a cover system similar to Red Dead Redemption so if you were good at that then you'll be good at this. So far i've only found a few minor problems with the game such as frame rate issues but i'm sure an update will be released soon to fix that. Overall I give this game a 10... It feels good finally playing a Rockstar game where your a REAL good guy the whole time. I recommend buying this game! It is very long and already has DLC planned so you'll be enjoying this for awhile!

It's alright, definitely worth playing. But then you start playing it and you're glad you only rented it. It's a slightly better Mafia 2, though it still suffers from a lot of the lame parts that come with a linear game that has been made from a sandbox engine. These are my gripes:

The problem I feel exists with every game like this is... you can solve the case one way, or you can get it wrong. There's no other way. Do it the way the guy who made it felt it should go, or suffer a lower score.

Pedestrians jaywalk in front of speeding, siren-ing police cars. HEY THANKS FOR JUMPING IN FRONT OF MY CAR.

Traffic is lol, either I'm looking at the lights wrong or everyone goes pretty much whenever their programming decides they should. Which is usually when I'm entering the intersection.

Chase sequences are a joke, either you know where the guy is going from following him 50 times already or you stop dead on a simple, hip-high wooden fence (in a car. I don't know about you, but I feel a speeding 2-ton sedan should make matchsticks out of any picket fence).

Shooting is alright, I've seen people complain about the accuracy but the guns are mostly accurate. The real problem is there are only about... three guns in the game at any time. And that's if you download the free DLC. I get that it's not really about the shooting... but I should at least have the choice of drawing my weapon, even if it'll end the case immediately. Those NPCs need to learn what happen when they jaywalk in front of the infamous Cole Phelps.

Street crimes, the 'mini cases' scattered around the city, they're more of a joke than anything else. Cut and paste "chase this dude and kill him," or "time to let you use your gun since you really don't fire it at any other point."

What else is there... cars are okay but ultimately slow. The city is expansive but I don't want to explore it. They cut out parts of the game and expect us to pay to put them back in. Everyone is quite expressive but it's not a movi

if this was a shot em up game i would hate it but no rockstar took there time with this game they put this sandwich together with the hungrey costemors in mind and boy was it a dam good sandwich (warning if your looking for a shot em game this isnt for you)

I was skeptical when I read the synopsis of how much fun this game would be.But within the first 5 minutes I stand corrected.The graphics are spot on with super realistic 3D effects incorporating real actors from movies you might recognize.The story line is filled with twist and turns , puzzles to piece together and some really good dialogue sequences.And just when you think you know what's gonna happen next- the plot twist and you go from driving through a infinitely large map and taking any car you choose with a push of a button- to fist fighting a perp or balancing on a beam between buildings 20 stories high to pulling a gun and taking to shooting.This game incorporates graphics,action and problem solving in a way rarely seen in games these days.Rent this game and prepare to be Blown Away!

this game looks and feels like a movie but you know it s a game its by rockstar which is good its open world which is good and you get to be a detective what else could be better only thing is if you had a choice to be good or bad cop but other then that you make choices and the choices you make reflect how the story plays out and this game is so good youll forget its a game at all

The first thing I noticed when I start this game is the great inclusion of AI conversation. I know not many people mention this, but your character (Primarily Cole Phelps) will talk to people on the scene while your playing, which is rarily done in games unless it is vital to the story. The next thing I saw was the great motion of Cole Phelps. The AI, however, was not as good because they would still walk on a mine cart line or follow directly behind you. The cars are accurate, the city immersive, and the interrogations oh-so realistic. There are many features in this game that are amazing, such as using your notebook to review clues, suspects, victims, and locations. The story is fantastic, and the ending was one of the few where I kept thinking over it and how it related to the story, even when I shipped the game back. All in all, it has a few flaws, but this game is GREAT for renting, but not as much for purchase.

I just want this game to END now. Its sooooooooo boring. It does the same thing over and over and over. Im on VICE now, and I just want this game to end. Theres nothing really hooking me to the main character or the story. Somebody dies, find clues, chase bad guys on rooftops, boooooooooooooooo! Gimme a break.

It was a good game until it started repeating itself.

The graphics are cool and everything. But I found the gameplay boring. Its pretty much just a movie, that you get to push the a few buttons very now and then.

I have read other peoples reviews and I've seen them say " It does not have action or guns" and I was thought that this game was magnificent. This game is a Detective game, a cop game, and an adventure that absolutly blew me away. It was a game that told me "you don't need guns or to much action to make a great game, you just have to create one" I think Rockstar is doing something new folks. And we should appreciate it. Thank you, Rockstar

Unlike most other reviewers here I have to say I was disapointed with this game which depressed me due to the fact I was hyped up for it. It starts off very fun and new however as the story begins to unfold your pretty much accomplishing the same thing over and over again, making rudimentary tasks right up to the dissapointing end.

The motion capture is amazing and the writing is done masterfully but sad to say thats all this game has going for it. The questioning part of the game gives very little wiggle room once you know the chain of events and how it unfolds the same way every time with very little replay value remaining, and without being able to skip cutscenes makes this a very long drwan out affair. Even the pitiful free roam the most you can do is replay the street crimes. Whats worse is the clunky mechanic of the GTA series is present in all the worst ways in the game. There is a scene in the game where you're being chased down by a bulldoser and the Mechanic shows all its faults in this scene alone, and the inability to lock on or turn quickly like most other 3rd person shooters when you need to without slowing down was a major disadvantage.

This is where I ran across the abitity to skip the entire scene if you die too many times, to me this stated that the developers knew of the bad Mechanic and instead of fixing or polishing it they just created a skip function. Which is just horrible overall because this just ruins the drama or build up they were going for and it seems like a easy way out.

That being said you can accomplish 100% of the game in one sitting in just a few hours. This game plays out like storybook which in a way isn't bad, but this is a game that has to have replay value of which it does not.

If it wasn't for the rockstar name backing it this game would have went under the radar and coming off a big title such as Red Dead Redemtion this was a major dissapointment. This is a rental in my opinoin not a buy save your money.

What's been stated is absolutely true. The game is a marvel for storytelling and the interactive experience during interrogations and crime scene investigation is fantastic. However, the game is plagued by lame and simple action sequences and boring driving. The disappointment is enhanced because these action elements are Rockstar's specialty. To get around this boredom, I frequently made my partner drive and skipped action sequences (if this is an option, you know how unimportant action was to the developers!)

How the studio that developed GTA could miss the mark this large in terms of entertaining gameplay is frustrating. So if you're looking for a GTA influenced investigation game, forget it. Just forget Rockstar is even attached to this and you can begin to enjoy the game.

Disappointing action aside, the interrogations and investigation sequences are so engaging that it's definitely worth a play for any good mystery lover. The facial capture technology is tremendous, and really tests your ability to detect lies. The story arcs are interesting, and there is a large satisfaction in 100% completion of a case. Until you realize the fact that the story continues even if you completely fail, leaving little satisfaction in progression when you clearly have done a terrible job. With little consequences for your actions, the game begins to lose it's shine and falls from being great, to just a good rental.

The well written story is the best reason to play this game. The cases are interesting and will challenge your problem solving abilities. But I wouldn't advise buying this game, one time through shows you everything you need.

Seems like it may be a pretty good game - I just couldn't get into it. You begin by playing for 5 minutes, then watching 5 minutes of story line. Then, you play for 5 minutes...and watch 5 more minutes. This went on and on until I finally gave up. It just couldn't hold my interest.

I'm going to keep this simple. This game is beautiful and the game world is very authentic. The story and game play mechanics on the other hand are sub-par. The story and the "main" character you play, Cole Phelps are boring, uninteresting and poorly developed. In essence, none of your decisions or arrests affect the outcome of the game in the slightest. Combine that with an extremely poor attempt at writing for the film noir genre with the added "fun" of repetitive chase minigames, overly easy combat sequences breaking up the drudging plot and you have a pale shadow of any of the other previous Rockstar or even 2K Czchech studios games.

Sorry Rockstar... this one is a stinker.

There is no question that the new facial animations are amazing. But overall this game just got way too repetitive. When the exact same side mission appears in the exact same place over and over and over then you did something wrong.

Okay, side missions aren't the main focus of the game, I get that, but the main story itself was just the same thing every time. Sometimes you end up in car chases, and sometimes in shootouts and then the game gets more interesting. But for me, to get to those points was just painful.

The setting was great, and it's always fun to zip around the city and smash everything in sight, but overall the game just seems very flat.

This game had so much potential to be crippled by pure boredom. I mean the plot the plot all is in great faith but to drag out cut scenes to have nonsense path routes and the basic play of the driving and running is like the nintendo games. Your camera is severely redundent and the fact you have a look back function but hit backwards in car or walk backwards and your camera has a fit. The cars are no where near like driving the older cars and the computer has pin point capability but you have a slip and slide driving experience. The ai incorporated shooting assit works perfect but it has it's issues also. If you have it on you had better not count to heavily on it. The investigative skills are set along a preset path and to find the sequence takes a lot of restarts which is a severely stuoid function of this game. You have no save points what so ever and your at the mercy of the ai as to where your saved and what you drive. You do have a lot of free roam but if i wanted to drive around in a car and site see i would fly to L.A and do just that. The cars you find or i have found 87 have no value in game other than "I HAVE FOUND THIS" Your gonna like maybe like to ren this but hey i would not i repeat not buy this !!!!

I'll try to keep this short since the pro's have already said nearly everything to be said about LA Noire.

The technology behind the animation exceeds the hype. It takes what would already be an immersive experience and takes it to a whole new level. Incredible. As usual, Rockstar nails the details of the period and creates a world which draws you in. The cars, the music, the clothes and locations all gelled to create a world I wanted to explore. At first.

Then the bugs. Nothing grinds my gears more than bugs that cause me to have to replay entire sections over again. And I did...multiple times. Consistently the game hung while trying to clear out the mobsters at the movie set (after you search creepy prop guy's place). Finally I made it through with out a glitch after 4 or 5 tries only to have a cop run in front of my gun during the shootout in the parking lot. ARRRGGHHH.

I'd like to say this was the exception, but I encountered several other bugs like this that just sucked all the enjoyment out of the game.

I was excited for LA Noire to be another Red Dead Redemption (a modern classic), but it ended up being another buggy (yet pretty) Rockstar release with the same old tired gameplay. As neat as the interrogations were at first, it quickly became a tired and tedious gimmick filling space between "drive here and do this" missions. That's not to say that RDR wasn't more of the same...but at least it had a world and a story that distracted you from it (most of the time anyway) and compelled you to play on.

So much for this being a short review eh? Anyway, LA Noire isn't a bad game (especially with the bugs worked out), but if you're already tired of "GTA with a different theme", this won't change that. It makes a great weekend gamefly rental...but far from purchase material.

7 out of 10

AMF,

MrRothchild

Rock Star hasn't had a decent title since GTA San Andreas. At least THAT game was fun. Apparently RS must've received so much heat from PTA groups they've decided to completely tone down the violence and force you to be a do-gooder to the extreme. That said, let's move on. LA does provide a nice twist on the third person gaming, you are a detective and assigned to different departments as the game progresses such as homicide, arson, vice, etc. You're given a case and must go to the scene and collect clues, investigate, and talk to suspects/witnesses. This is the best part of the game, everything else falls short. For starters, the game forces you to be an over the top do-gooder. You can't draw your weapon in public or pick fights with anyone or fight with anyone unless it's part of a mission. You are penalized for every little thing you do. If you damage your car, hurt a civilian, even do something like hit a garbage can it affects your end case score. This is totally stupid since it's almost impossible to avoid any of that during car chases. So although you can have a perfect case score, the penalties can totally ruin it. Chase scenes are too scripted. You cannot catch a suspect either on foot or car until a certain time passes. They will ALWAYS remain ahead of you regardless of what car they drive or how old they are. The suspects car is lightning quick and can do near 90 degree turns, whether it's a plain car or box truck. Also you only carry a pistol, you can't choose a load out. They only time you get other weapons is from fallen enemies. Although you can walk around town on foot there really isn't any reason to as most discoveries can be achieved driving there isn't much reason at all for walking around.

THE GOOD
Investigations
Graphics
Story line

THE BAD
No weapon load out
Scripted chases

THE UGLY
Forces over goodness.
Lack of inventory
Checkpoint save system.