L.A. Noire

One of the Most Underrated Game after Heavy Rain (2010). Absolutely Amazing. Graphics, Gameplay are Stunning. The Interrogation Technique, Investigating Evidences, this Game will make feel you like you are a Detective. Go and Grab it!

One but cannot help but think that L.A. Noire has been inspired by L.A. Confidential (1997), Chinatown (1974), The Untouchables (1987), and James Ellroy's novel The Black Dahlia. After being in the development hell for seven years, L.A. Noire was released in 2011 and became a massive success. It is definitely worth playing, and if you have the patience to solve challenging puzzles you will enjoy this game. Also, you will learn how to read people during questioning and interrogations as to whether they are telling the truth, doubt them or lying by backing up your claims with evidence.

Set in Los Angeles in 1947, the story centers on LAPD police officer Cole Phelps played by Aaron Stanton (Mad Men), a former US Marine Lieutenant who served in World War II in the pacific. Cole Phelps starts out as a patrol officer and throughout the game you see his career rise in the LAPD through various assignments with Traffic, Homicide, Vice and Arson. Cole Phelps is also assigned various partners throughout the game including Officer Ralph Dunn (Rodney Scott) in patrol, Detective Stefan Bekowsky (Sean McGowan) in Traffic, Detective Rusty Galloway (Michael McGrady, Southland) in Homicide, Detective Roy Earle (Adam John Harrington) in Vice, and Detective Herschel Biggs (Keith Szarabajka, The Dark Knight) in Arson. Cole Phelps manages to catch the eye of Captain James Donnelly (James Connelly) as a rising star in the LAPD and promises to keep a close eye on Phelps. Phelps also finds himself caught up with German lounge singer Elsa Lichtmann (Australian model Erika Heynatz) and butts heads with former US Marine comrade Jack Kelso (Gil McKinney) who is working as claims investigator for California Fire and Life following the death of a former marine Phelps and Kelso served with during World War II.

L.A. Noire is very addictive gaming at its best and you can't help but feel you are being thrust into the world of a post World War II Los Angeles. L.A. Noire reminded me a lot of L.A. Confidential.

I wish there were more games like L.A. Noire however like this game it may take a number of years before a game similar to this will be released. Definitely one of the best games I have played in years.

10/10.

What can I add that others didn't already. L.A Noire is IMO currently the best detective game ever created. This game can make you feel like true investigator, with occasional chase and "shoot rm up" sequences. It pays homage to the film noirs of 40s. Visually stunning, highely detailed and atmospheric in evoking post WWII Los Angeles. Characters expressions and motions are incredibly and voice actors have done their job superbly. Lots of older (exotic) cars contemporary to the time and some of them you'll need to find to unlock. Storyline is intriguing, emotional and well written. Cole Phelps is one of the best characters that exist in a video game. For this genre ans style, what can you ask for more? The only flaw is: it's very repetitive. But again, it doesn't spoil the overall experience.

Rockstar games has done it again! This game is incredible - it's visually stunning, the gameplay is smooth and, most importantly, the story is fantastic. Once you start playing, you become enveloped into Cole Phelps. I bought the game at midnight because I wanted to watch the opening sequence, but I couldn't stop playing! Its true - the line between video games and movies is blurred more than ever. Especially with games like Heavy Rain and LA Noir (amoung countless others, such as Rockstar's own Red Dead Redemption), whose stories are rich and gripping. I highly recommend this game to anyone who is on the fence about getting it. You won't be disappointed!

I won't lie. I picked this game up due to the overwhelming hype surrounding it, and the track record of Rockstar. What I didn't expect was an experience as close to playing a movie as I've ever seen. A narrative full of characters that talked and acted like real people, and a hero that is flawed in realistic ways. Team Bondi put a lot of work in getting everything to look and feel as authentic as possible, and it shows. I've played through this twice now, nearly two years apart, and been completely and totally engrossed by the story and the amazing facial motion-capture technique that just adds an extra dimension to the characters you'll come across during it's very long running time.

Some comments have been made about the extended cutscenes and what can be viewed as tedious and repetitive gameplay, but I had no problem with either of these aspects of the game, as the plot completely sucked me in.

Make no mistake about it, this is a very mature tale that features brutal crime scenes, language, and violence, all of which are handled very matter-of-factly. There was never a point where I felt these things were over-the-top, however, but, rather, I felt these aspects added to the realism. Along with this, the whole city of Los Angeles in the 1940's has been lovingly recreated, from the buildings and locations, to the vehicles, fashions, and entertainment of that era.

If I were to pick anything that I had issues with, it was the noticeable lack of side missions or random events. Given the attention to detail that went in to creating the city, I would have thought the development team could have found more creative things to do within it. There are crimes outside of the main narrative that you can respond to that gain you extra "intuition" points to be used during questioning or clue hunting, but not nearly as many or nearly as diverse as there should have been. Also, this is more than likely a game you won't be turning around and playing again immediately after finishing it. It's probably something that's best revisited maybe every year or two.

Overall, I found this to be a stunning and eye-opening look at what games can look and feel like. If this is any indication of what we can expect in the future, I, for one, can't wait to see what's around the corner.