L.A. Noire for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

"L.A. Noire" is a bit of a different game from Rockstar. This time your fully on the side of the law, such as it was in 1947 Los Angeles. You step into the shoes of Cole Phelps, war hero, and work your way from beat cop across various desks (Traffic, Homicide, Vice, Arson) as you rise in rank in the LAPD. There's plenty of action, with hand to hand brawling, gunfights, and car chases. In between these action bits you spend time canvassing crime scenes, searching for clues, gathering evidence, and interrogating suspects. The last is especially well done, as Team Bondi used new facial capture technology to bring the cast of characters to life. You need to read faces, then choose between 3 options (Truth, Doubt, or Lie) to make a determination of guilt or innocence. The game makes allowances, as you can guess wrong and still get the right man. Only if you absolutely fail in a mission (Phelps or his partner dies, or you lose a suspect you're pursuing) are you forced to try again. There are 21 main cases to do. While doing these main cases, there are 40 street crimes that you can tackle either during your main game play or later in a free roam mode. In addition, there are plenty of collectibles and sights to see- 13 newspapres, 50 film reels, 95 vehicles, and 30 famous locales are spread throughout the large map. Controls work fine for the most part, though some may require a bit of time to get used to them. The voice acting is top notch, as is the soundtrack. There's an occassional graphical glitch here and there, and sometimes movement is a bit clumsy, but these are minor quibbles. The game's not perfect, but this is a game everyone should at least try. The length will vary from player to player- some may finish in under 15 hours, others may spend longer. There's a neat option to play the game in black and white as well. It may not be for everyone, but give it a try if you're in the mood for something different. Enjoy!