L.A. Noire

[Stevil]

Well, see Kane and Lynch aren't sociopaths, they aren't putting on a show for the public, they are very hard to approach troubled men thanks to the things they have done in their life, and it reflects in their speech and actions. I say Marston would have to be one, because you wouldn't think he had done many bad things by talking to him, he puts on a face that everyone can warm up to. I don't believe he's a sociopath though, I just think he's written a little backwards. That isn't to say he's an unlikable character.

As for making an open world game rich in character development and story content, it's not a matter of how it was structured, it's a matter of the pay off after returning to the story after 7-8 hours of dicking around. Mexico should have been written and directed a WHOLE lot better than it was. McFarlane ranch was the best segment in my opinion because it slowed its pace while keeping the gameplay moving and told a nice little sub story with lots of drama that centered on the area of the Ranch and nothing else. It was focused on one area much like some western films are. They hit this stride again with Marston's family segment, but I felt like that wasn't as polished as the Ranch segments. The Ranch was a glorified tutorial which in turn allowed that part to do its own thing and not hurry along. I feel like the rest of the game (or at least a lot more of it) should have had this same mentality tutorial or not.

They also did a nice job of revisiting the McFarlane's again later on to get the cattle. That was a moment of the kind of character development in an open world that I'm talking about. I wish they'd let Marston and son stay for dinner before heading home with the cattle though, maybe later that night on McFarlane Ranch, John and Jack could have a heart to heart near the corral or some shit, or on the McFarlane's front porch, sitting in rocking chairs, really slowing down and relaxing. Imagine a moment like that, which wasn't rushed, then imagine the ending after that. How about one with the wife while we're at it? We didn't once see the family sit down talk and eat around the table. Not once did we see John and his wife shoot the shit while laying in bed after a hard day of work. These kind of things can very well be implemented into the open world space without compromising the gameplay. Hopefully this tech will allow that to happen with less effort, and then these open world games can feel less rushed and less like they are conforming to the supposed roadblocks of telling a incredibly rich story within the one medium that has the most room to breath as a story telling product.

You're the only guy I know who actually understands Kane & Lynch as people. Ha!

RDR wasn't that bad for the first half, but it all felt a bit rushed at the end. We get a sense that John can't cope with being tied down as a farmer (from Uncle's observations), but then there's never nearly enough scenes with Marston and his family to see where it might be heading if Edgar Ross doesn't show up. I'm still not sure what the point of Professor MacDougal was either, other than being a nod to Rockstar's penchant for comic relief and a plot device for Dutch, but he's so out-of-place in RDR's world and his sub-plot eats into what would have been more time for the Marstons.

I think they were a great bunch of characters, but as a unit, you don't see it much. Especially, the reactions to Marston's vitrolic attitude towards Uncle (which is seen away from Jack's eyes). I think Rockstar might have been a bit worried that it would drag on and have the same complaints as GTAIV's overdrawn plot.

Either way, L.A. Noire is Team Bondi's baby, not Rockstar's and I'll be very interested to see how the overall arc plays out.

It sure as hell won't be a true noir (http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Ste...--188712.phtml), but I hope it doesn't fall into a pale imitation of LA Confidential.

[Sir Legendhead]

Yay! They finally released a gameplay trailer and it looks great.

[Stevil]

I honestly don't care about any other game this year other than L.A. Noire.

As you can tell from my avatar...this is my shit.

[IEmpire]

Just watched the newest Trailer and that game will be epic. I can almost already smell CIA or FBI cases in the game aswell, maybe as DLC or for Part 2!

[Ali D]

I honestly don't care about any other game this year other than L.A. Noire.

As you can tell from my avatar...this is my shit.

I think considering this was seemingly vapourware for a while and how it's now coming out in just a couple months makes me really excited. I don't know anything else that's coming out around the same time, so I hope I can just sit down with this game and soak it all in.

[Stevil]

Yeah, I didn't really care much for it back when it was first announced. I guess I didn't really believe they could tackle the genre properly (much like every other "noir" game), but everything about it recently has got me going. I still don't believe that it'll be true-noir, but I like playing detective and this is the first game in a long while that allows that in a serious way. Plus, some of the influences and behind-the-scenes stuff on the website are giving me a vote of confidence.

I swear, each video release is like crack to me. HA!

[Ali D]

True. There's not been many actual good detective games. But this looks like there's more to it than just looking around and proceeding when you find certain items. But I think, as I said with the first Assassin's Creed, as long as the process doesn't become monotonous then it's looking good.

[Ali D]

New trailer is up on the front page. Still looks great, looking forward to it next month.

[Lord Death of Murder Mountain]

L.A. Noire's innovative new technology does interest me, but I believe that Team Bondi should really create a linear experience which showcases this new software and L.A. Noire's reportedly stellar narrative. A linear experience is not necessarily a shallow experience.

[Shinobi13]

While the trailers fail to interest me, the entire first page is a good read. Makes you wonder what the other guy was saying.

[Stevil]

http://www.rockstargames.com/lanoire.../achievements/

Achievements for L.A. Noire were posted a little while back. Most interesting of note is that several achievements say "as a LAPD detective or Investigator".

Something tells me that Phelps loses his job and becomes a Private Eye in the second half....which would be fucking awesome if that's the case.

[Sir Legendhead]

Eh. The face gimmick doesn't do much for me. Have they done any advertising for the story yet...?

[Ali D]

http://www.rockstargames.com/lanoire.../achievements/

Achievements for L.A. Noire were posted a little while back. Most interesting of note is that several achievements say "as a LAPD detective or Investigator".

Something tells me that Phelps loses his job and becomes a Private Eye in the second half....which would be fucking awesome if that's the case.

I can't read achievement lists anymore. Too many spoilers!

Eh. The face gimmick doesn't do much for me. Have they done any advertising for the story yet...?

The short TV spots show off some story elements, but it's all cutscene stuff. I mean the whole game looks impressive; I showed my mum and dad some clips and they were blown away. I suggested they could just watch me play the game for a bit.

[Stevil]

Three Story Trailers so far, though it seems to be one big melting pot of 40's pulp thrillers:

Phelps has to contend with police corruption, Hollywood mafia and a serial killer. Seems a tad directionless with the overall arc, but like every great Raymond Chandler novel, the cases are always linked.

[Ali D]

I wonder if the game is actually long enough to have three separate arcs or maybe they'll overlap and be occurring at the same time.

[Stevil]

I believe someone at PAX or a little before that there are 22-25 cases in all (not including the street crime diversions); all varying from 30-90 minutes, depending on how well you do.

Sounds pretty involving for the amount of cases you're getting, so I don't mind the balance. The GTAIV and RDR were pretty flabby in places, so I don't mind Noire being a bit lean in comparison.

[Sir Legendhead]

I smell the scent of David Cage* all over this. Seriously. It's not just a game, guys! It has FACES! Therefore, a movie.

[Ali D]

Yeah, but that's just marketing. Rockstar know that gamers are going to buy a game made by the same studios that made GTA IV and RDR. The trailers that make it look like it's just a movie are for people that see it on TV and are wowed by how realistic it looks.

The demo I saw at PAX East was almost an entire case and the guy showing it was showing off the gameplay, how you interact with the world, controls and the way you conduct interviews. I'm not surprised the way LA Noire is being marketed. I remember there were loads of trailers for Rockstar games that were nothing but cutscenes with no actual gameplay footage. It's just their way of doing things.

[Stevil]

Yeah, I saw the one case being secretly filmed.

From what I gather, it's a point and click adventure, with all the usual bells and whistles aimed at a mass audience. Nothing wrong with that at all. I love that shit. It's basically Phoenix Wright...but if he carried a gun and was willing to beat the shit out of mouthy suspects.

[Sir Legendhead]

It's basically Phoenix Wright...

Reminds me more of Deadly Premonition. Just with better marketing and less originality.