L.A. Noire: Detecting a winning formula

Games like L.A. Noire are few and far between. Combining the exploration of old point-and-click adventures like “Secret of Monkey Island” and “Maniac Mansion,” the deep conversation mechanics of a role-playing game and the action of an open-world game, L.A. Noire is an experience wholly different from the majority of titles currently offered on consoles.

On the surface, L.A. Noire is a game about a detective, Cole Phelps, working his way up through various desks within the L.A. Police Department. As Phelps, you investigate crime scenes, question witnesses and draw confessions out of suspects – sometimes with your fists (1940s police work is handled much differently than today). Collected clues, evidence and suspects are all added to your notebook which can be referred to at any time.

L.A. Noire isn’t an open-world game, in the traditional sense. It’s a Rockstar game and because of that fact, most were expecting a fully open, sandbox style world with collectibles, stores and safehouses. L.A. Noire handles its story in a more linear manner. You’re free to explore the city of Los Angeles during cases but, outside of case-specific locations, there isn’t much to do. There are landmark locations to discover as well as hidden vehicles, just don’t plan on buying clothes, weapons, safehouses, or collecting hidden packages.

The real meat of L.A. Noire is the detective work – gathering evidence and getting a conviction. A typical case will begin with Phelps (who is always joined by a partner) searching a crime scene and collecting evidence. It is important to collect everything before questioning any witnesses, as any missed items could turn into missed conversation opportunities. Don’t worry – pensive music will play while searching a crime scene until all items have been uncovered.

Though searching a crime scene can be exciting on its own, questioning witnesses and interrogating suspects is by far the most exhilarating experience L.A. Noire offers. Through the use of new facial mapping techniques, characters in L.A. Noire have an eerie realism to them – using body language, eyes darting around and displaying other subconscious reactions that are rarely, if ever, seen in a video game. Reading the expressions, tone of voice and body language of people is essential to discovering the truth and getting a conviction.

After hearing a suspect’s response, you’re given three responses – truth, doubt, and lie. Truth, obviously, means you believe their story, doubt will have Phelps lay on the pressure a little thicker (if you think a perp is holding out on you), and lie will cause Phelps to outright disbelieve what the suspect is saying. Be cautious using lie, though, as you’ll need to have hard evidence to back up your claims. Questioning witnesses can be nerve-wracking. Is the suspect purposefully withholding information or are they just nervous? Did you collect the right evidence to convict a certain scumbag? It’s very easy to mistakenly put away an innocent person if you don’t carefully select your responses in interrogations.

But don’t go thinking that this game is without its flaws. While it is quite a change of pace from the games I usually play to be on the righteous side of the law, using my intelligence to be successful rather than just my ability to aim down the sights of a gun, that pace may be too slow for some. Certain stretches of playtime in L.A. Noire made the game feel like it was dragging on, taking its time reaching the next big moment or plot element. Pacing is an issue that would need to seriously addressed if there is to be a sequel (which I believe there is going to be, but I’m not positive).

As mentioned earlier, L.A. Noire is a much slower, more deliberate game than most, current popular video games. Though this change of pace might suit some, it could also be an annoyance for others. Though L.A. Noire does feature elements of action, they are much fewer and far between than other open-world games. For instance, you may get into the occasional fist fight or foot/car chase but for the most part you’ll be chasing leads and questioning persons of interest. Street Crime missions offer chances for more action packed encounters (and are usually offered up whenever you’re driving from location to location over your radio), the combat controls are clunky and cover system is a little lacking. Obviously most of the work on L.A. Noire went into developing the story and characters, but much of the action feels like a tacked-on afterthought.

But the biggest crime that L.A. Noire commits is how it handles story progression. In a GTA game, a straight forward story that doesn’t weigh your decisions (i.e. change the story path) is ok because most people don’t play GTA games for the story – they play them to ramp police cars into helicopters and roll down city streets in a tank. In L.A. Noire, though, your choices often don’t feel like they have any consequence. Miss a bunch of questions? Put the wrong person behind bars? Don’t worry - you’ll continue onto your next assignment regardless of how you handled your previous case!

Let me give you an example to go along with my previous point. Of all the cases in L.A. Noire, I can still recall the one that I screwed up the most. Instead of putting away a known offender, missed questions and lack of evidence caused me to charge an innocent (albeit suspicious) man with murder. Afterward, the captain chastised me for not taking the opportunity to put away the man with a history of criminal offences and told me I’d be working the streets for a while as punishment. I thought, “So am going to be back on the beat, completing Street Crime missions until I earn my way back into the captain’s good graces?” Nah, nothing interesting like that. I took my tongue-lashing and it was onto the next case.

Outside of a few graphical glitches (in one cutscene, I watched as an entire character model didn’t render and there was just a fedora bouncing around the screen) and its few shortcomings, L.A. Noire is a testament to the kind of tremendous storytelling video games are capable of. I’d wager that L.A. Noire could easily compare to anything being produced on TV police dramas or in the movies.

If you go into L.A. Noire with the right mindframe (that is, knowing what kind of game it is) there is a ton of fun to be had. On the other hand, if you got into L.A. Noire expecting an experience that it, quite frankly, never advertised in the first place, you’re going to be disappointed.