L.A Noire

[Eren Ozkural]

Well, we just wrapped on my debut feature as director and got my hands on an Epic M briefly thanks to the Post Factory here in London...I need to recharge the batteries a little for a week so I thought I'd buy L.A Noire....
...wow. I'm totally hooked. Anybody else here pickup this game?

In case you're not familiar with it the story is pretty similar to LA Confidential and the main gameplay mechanic is interrogating suspects based on evidence, body language and facial tics all made possible by a new facial motion capture system (that i've blathered on about before elsewhere on RedUser) not too dissimilar from a light stage.

Here's the technology trailer: CLICK HERE

Who else has this game?

 

[Chuck Z]

I'm waiting until the overheating PS3 issue gets resolved. I've had enough of Sony's shenanigans recently.

 

[AndrewThomas]

First thing that really impressed me about the game is the lip syncing and facial animations. Even the wife noted that it looked realistic as she passed by the TV while I was playing. The detail in the city is also really amazing but also quite expected at this stage in gaming. I also really like the tweaks in the way the player interacts with the environment by not having to specifically press a button to do certain actions.

What I have found that I'm not too happy with is the Truth/Doubt/Lie system. I find myself often having "got it" as to what happened but the game wants me to have some other piece of info or get to some specific line of questions to call people out. A little frustrating so I have to remind myself to pay attention to what is going on so that I can get all the details out before I decide to push them or let them off.

The game has also been fairly repetitive through the end of disc 2 (360 version ), with a lot of similar crimes and a lot of scripted foot chases. I wish they would develop more possible routes for these things to take and randomize the NPCs choice.

So far I would rank these last three big R* games RDR > L.A. > GTA 4.

 

[Noah Kadner]

Looks amazing!

Noah

 

[Brad Webb]

I spent all day today playing. I'm having a blast playing the game. I also live in LA and seeing a 1940's LA it pretty cool. I spent a good 30 minutes fantasizing about what it would be like to be able to drive 65 down Wilshire with almost no traffic. I need to see what landmarks in the game are still around so I can go check them out in person.

There's an option to play the game in Black and White. Whenever it starts raining I switch the game to B&W mode to get that full Noir effect.

 

[Steve Marshall]

The facial animation is absolutely amazing. I'm only a little way in and I'm a bit disappointed at the brevity of the cases, but hopefully they start to get longer and longer as you progress.

There's been a few moments when I've forgotten it was a game and I thought it was real actors.

 

[Steve Marshall]

So far I would rank these last three big R* games RDR > L.A. > GTA 4.

I completely agree with this. I cannot wait for a RDR sequel with this type of facial animation.

 

[Chuck Z]

Also, how many Sterling Cooper employees are in this game?

 

[Sean Lee]

so I thought I'd buy L.A Noire....
...wow. I'm totally hooked. Anybody else here pickup this game?

ah geez, I really shouldn't be looking at this... I have been known to get hooked on a game or two until I finish it or it drives me up the wall of frustration, whichever one comes first.....

 

[Felix K.]

Hehe, I'm playing it right now. Fun! But it gets a little repetitive.