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[Bragr]

In the last half of the game, they increase the difficulty of the conversations to the point where it's almost impossible to figure out who is lying or what is going on, they assume players will pick up on minor twitching and movement that's too hard to decipher.

But the first half is still rather stunning, and there are some tense moments that are well worth playing the game for. The facial animation tech is still great, and it's still hard to find any game characters that come off as lifelike as this. It's no gimmick. Apart from a few meme-worthy absurd lie sequences.

Cole Phelps is on a crusade to save his dignity after his failures during the war. The threads from Phelps to Kelso are interesting. I enjoyed the themes concerning the hubris of Phelps, how it makes him succeed and suffer in equal parts, and how it has affected the people around him.

What really hurts is the grandiose ambition of the campaign, frankly, the later parts with insurance crimes and whatnot are nowhere near as compelling as the early/mid game, especially since the conversations start to feel like a guessing game.

The city is sterile, the setting is awesome, combat is not great, but getting headshots is still satisfying.

The soundtrack is also worth mentioning, it lends a great vibe.

It needs more polish in some parts, needs a more fleshed-out city, and a more concise campaign. But it tells a good story, puts you into a fascinating time, and the conversations when at their best, might be one of the better gaming moments of that generation.

 

[Skifi28]

Adding to the negatives, there's a bit too much driving from A to B to C and after a certain point the distances get a bit ridiculous, the city is too big for its own good and works against the game. It's also capped at 30fps in both PC and remastered versions for the consoles which is very unfortunate.

But the overall game is great and a breath of fresh air, both back then and now. There's just nothing else quite like it and with a big Rockstar budget.

 

[Kupfer]

I'm playing it for the first time and streaming it from the PS5 to the Deck.
Everything works technically great, but I still can't get into the game.
I think my last case was the one with the ambassador's car or the hit and run case in front of the bar. I can't remember what I played last. And that's one of my problems; I don't feel like there's a story, a red thread, or a motivation to follow.
Does the game get a real story later on, or does it stick to solving case after case?
Furthermore, even now in the beginning I find it difficult to impossible to read the other person and ask appropriate questions.
I would like to like the game because I see how much effort has gone into it, but somehow the game blocks itself.

Edit:
I do, however, like the crimes that are radioed through off-case. So far, they've always provided a bit of variety. However, the distances that you have to drive between the case and the crime are beyond good and evil and it annoys me when I have to drive 5 minutes in the wrong direction to drive back the same way later.

 

[winjer]

I tried to play it on PC, but the game runs very poorly.
Because of that facial tech they had to lock the frame rate to 30. But that made the game unplayable.

 

[SirKicksalot]

 

[theStartupSound]

This deserves a sequel in the same (budget and attention to detail) league as GTA and RDR. Pretty compelling concept but also many things to improve. Would buy it day 1 and would be pretty hyped for it.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

I love this game. It's one of the best experiences my wife and I have enjoyed together (I exclusively play detective or adventure games with her, where we can discuss and enjoy the puzzles etc).

I don't think the conversation logic is as hard as you're implying. At first we found it very confusing, but after a bit you start to learn how the choices ("doubt" etc) are not actually meant to be your interpretation of what the other person just said--in fact they're more like choosing between tactics for your response. To choose the doubting option means that you expect playing bad-cop with them to bring more information to the surface, whereas certain characters and their reactions tell you that better information will be given if you appear to follow what they're saying without suspicion as if you're on their side. It's entirely about the strategic flow, not simply about trying to judge what they just said (and the creators said in an interview: "When we originally wrote it, the questions you asked were Coax, Force and Lie," which makes my point here--it's tactics).

And I love the facial tech. Probably the only game we've played where the acting felt even remotely real.

 

[synchronicity]

Yeah the setting and the facial capture were amazing, but the game as a whole was pretty mediocre for me.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Only played some of the game. Played it on 360 10 years ago. I liked the production values and facial animations. But the gameplay was one part boring and one part sketchy frame rate.

 

[Droxcy]

Loved the later parts of the game start is a bit slow for me but after all these years its a 9/10 for me still.

 

[JOEVIAL]

Playing through this for the 3rd time. One of my favorite games of the 360/PS3 gen, it was so ahead of it's time. And is still stunning to this day. You can feel it was such a labour of love by the developers, they poured their heart and soul into this game.

The pacing is perfect for the 1st half of the game. You get well written story bits every minute, great pacing! This wanes a bit when you get to the VICE cases.


This time I've really noticed how incredible the acting is. Feels very real and accurate, like these are real people in a real setting. Team Bondi nailed that aspect. Acting in a lot of games really bugs me. You know... all the self-commentary dialogue, completely unrealistic responses, and weird tonal shifts in voice delivery... most games just have the feel of "this is definitely a video game" and can't break away from that. The acting in LA Noire is more akin to an HBO crime drama series, great stuff.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Adding to my previous statement, if you want to play the game correctly, the best way to interpret the 3 dialogue choices is:

- good cop (play nice, they're being cooperative)
- bad cop (intimidate and push them to get more information, if they're being evasive or if you think this approach is better suited to them)
- receipts (reveal that you know one of their lies based on specific information / evidence)

If you spend your time thinking only "are they being 100% truthful?" and decide based on that alone, you'll make constant mistakes and misunderstand the way interrogation is meant to work.

 

[R6Rider]

Was planning to buy this again on Series X (for the enhancements) or PC.

I did buy the PSVR version of the VR Cases, which was on sale recently.

 

[Raven117]

The sound track was so so good.

I would love for another studio to take another crack at something like this. (forget the facial recognition stuff....just give me a bad ass 1940's hard boiled Noir story).

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[GymWolf]

I still have to play this one.

 

[Bonfires Down]

I feel like the game (at least outside the interrogations) has some excellent dialogue. As I remember it one your partners makes a pretty severe racist statement at one point. Another is a drunkard and misogynist. That guy is even pretty likable. But that’s just life in that time period and there is no official condemnation, they don’t ”get what they deserve”. With the caveat that I haven’t finished the game so maybe they do get what deserve. Either way, it’s an example of the game not sweeping uncomfortable things under the rug and instead trying to keep it realistic.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

I feel like the game (at least outside the interrogations) has some excellent dialogue. As I remember it one your partners makes a pretty severe racist statement at one point. Another is a drunkard and misogynist. That guy is even pretty likable. But that’s just life in that time period and there is no official condemnation, they don’t ”get what they deserve”. With the caveat that I haven’t finished the game so maybe they do get what deserve. Either way, it’s an example of the game not sweeping uncomfortable things under the rug and instead trying to keep it realistic.

The portrayal of its era was very good, without falling much into the trap of 99% of today's "historical" dramas--where half the characters are written to sound like current-day people, and the other half are flimsy "bigoted" strawmen written solely to reinforce current views.

This game also taught me about the history of the Hollywood sign, since I spotted "HOLLYWOODLAND" in the background and had to go read up on its changes over the years:

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

Always thought this was developed by Rockstar, but just the other day found out they only published it.

First, and last game developed by team bondi.

Pretty wild that their first game was this good, yet still couldn't find another publisher afterwards

 

[JOEVIAL]

Adding to my previous statement, if you want to play the game correctly, the best way to interpret the 3 dialogue choices is:

- good cop (play nice, they're being cooperative)
- bad cop (intimidate and push them to get more information, if they're being evasive or if you think this approach is better suited to them)
- receipts (reveal that you know one of their lies based on specific information / evidence)

If you spend your time thinking only "are they being 100% truthful?" and decide based on that alone, you'll make constant mistakes and misunderstand the way interrogation is meant to work.

Great stuff. You really have to be mentally active when playing this game. The game rewards you if you pay attention to the exact wording and dialogue people are using. Just like a real detective would.

This is one of the greatest aspects about this game. Using deductive reasoning based on facts to determine what is true... what is a lie... and if the suspect is withholding information but not actually lying. All of this can be determined by the excellent writing and dialogue.

 

[Bragr]

Always thought this was developed by Rockstar, but just the other day found out they only published it.

First, and last game developed by team bondi.

Pretty wild that their first game was this good, yet still couldn't find another publisher afterwards

L.A. Noire had a notorious development cycle, 7 years, extreme crunch, loud abrasive bosses, and unpaid wages. Rockstar wanted nothing to do with them after the game was finished and Team Bondi died out soon after.

 

[Crayon]

This game is super cool but I had trouble telling when people were lying. My wife seemed to be better at it.

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

L.A. Noire had a notorious development cycle, 7 years, extreme crunch, loud abrasive bosses, and unpaid wages. Rockstar wanted nothing to do with them after the game was finished and Team Bondi died out soon after.

Ahh, I knew about the bosses and crunch, didn't know about the development cycle or wages though, bummer

 

[The Fartist]

This game is super cool but I had trouble telling when people were lying. My wife seemed to be better at it.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

I found it a very boring game

 

[BennyBlanco]

Game is incredibly unique and different from normal AAA schlock. So of course it flopped and the studio was disbanded.