L.A. Noire

[Brightside]

Would you say this is worth paying full price for, or waiting a month or two for it to drop?

[Brightside]

Did you trade stuff in, or something?

I'm inclined to wait for around the £25/£30 mark, in that case. Thanks.

[Brightside]

Yeah, I've just looked and you're right. I'll probably still wait until about a week into June when my exams are finished, anyway. It'll have probably gone down to £25-ish by then - maybe less.

[Stevil]

I'm pretty much same as you on it Stevil, It's different, but still interesting.

Cole's a chump at times, and sometimes the right answer is really vague.
I had a funny moment where he had a go at someone and he was getting ripped on for the rest of the case though.

Yeah, I came across a similar huge flaw in The Golden Butterfly.

Captain Donnelly wants you to arrest one character, but all the evidence points to another. Both arrests are based around circumstantial evidence (which is the major theme of the Homicide desk) and even though you pick the one suspect with the most evidence against them as a killer, you get a 2 star rating and told you did it wrong.

In the end, I thought it was a bit shitty because it's clear that Homicide is making false arrests and instead of being asked for your input, even so far as collecting evidence and pinning it on someone, the game wanted you to pick another suspect because that's how the story arc is being set-up.

It was a shame because the rest of the case was tough and engaging.

[ClownBaby]

I haven't played the game yet, but that's interesting because a common theme of Noir Films is people getting wrongly accused.

[Stevil]

Indeed, but you also have to remember that you're playing a game, where as a player, you're required to collect evidence and make the right call. It goes completely against what you're being told. It's weird to have the player/protagonist bond broken off momentarily like that.

I should mention that the rest of the homicide cases are fine with their end results and revolve around a suspected serial killer, but since it's in the wake of the Black Dahlia murder, your department wants any lowlife that fits the bill. It's weird because you have Phelps arguing with Galloway that The Werewolf is behind it all, yet, he's more than happy to arrest anyone to end the case (because that's the gameplay taking over the story).

I've enjoyed the other cases on Traffic, but I do love the complete grey area in the Homicide; it's just that one case threw me for six because the gameplay was at odds with the story. I think it says a lot that picking the one suspect bagged me a 2 Star rating, but pinning it on the other gave me the full 5 Stars (because I collected everything and questioned everyone correctly). The other Homicide cases haven't been so vague in that regard, even though it's quite clear all of Phelps and Galloway's arrests have been completely and intentionally shaky at best.

Personally, it's been the only big mis-step in an otherwise decent game.

[Brightside]

Dunno about that, It's a Rockstar game. It'll sell well for a long time.

Nah, I think it'll probably drop to £25 and stay there for a long time. There's always deals online, too. It's just a matter of F5ing Cheap Arse Gamer now.

[ClownBaby]

Nah, I think it'll probably drop to £25 and stay there for a long time. There's always deals online, too. It's just a matter of F5ing Cheap Arse Gamer now.

Too lazy to google your crazy money, but this game won't be dropping below $60 for a long time. You might get lucky and grab it on a sale for $40 during some crazy weekend or Game Stop will have some huge trade-in bonuses, but don't count on the price going down anytime soon.

[Brightside]

It's £30 now at Best Buy in the UK, which is $48, and that's with 20% tax, too.

[ClownBaby]

$60 at Best Buy here still. Exchange rates and all, or else you just have a sweet sale going on.

Man, the UK Best Buy webpage sucks. There's not shit on there. I was trying to look up other games to compare prices, and it's fucking super messy.

[Brightside]

It's pretty nasty to navigate. Kinect is just splooged all over the 360 section.

[Gilthalas]

I've only put a couple of hours but all I can think about is how many people I recognise from Mad Men.

[Stevil]

I finished Homicide last night and I'm actually glad I've moved on to Vice now.

The problem I found with Homicide was that the game wanted you to be perfect with the vaguest of evidence links and expected you to follow in a very linear fashion. Screw one line of questioning up and you were basically floundering with several different testimonies down the line. I wouldn't have minded this style being at the end of the game, but Homicide felt too much like I was playing to the game's beat, rather than being intuitive on my own terms, e.g. despite doubting someone over shared testimonies, the correct answer at one point was "lie" and to pick something that vaguely connects to the accusation. Doubt would have sufficed and enough to spill the beans, but the game wanted you to be exact for the sake of the plot.

Apparently, from the other forums I've been reading up on, a lot of people felt the same way during The Golden Butterfly case.

Anyway, Vice feels more like Traffic, where if you screw something up, you're not struggling to find alternatives and there's some little truths in the wrong answers to pick up on. There's always another way to pick up a lead and there's always enough locations to find them. They've scaled back the difficulty, but it's cool. I need a break from the tough ones right now.

I've only put a couple of hours but all I can think about is how many people I recognise from Mad Men.

Yeah, when "Matt Parkman from Heroes" came through the door during The Golden Butterfly, I was taken out of the moment for a while. Coroner Caruthers was also in the movie Deja-Vu...for about five minutes.

[Gilthalas]

It's disturbing how irritated I get whenever I get an interview question get wrong. It's not so surprising how annoyed I get at ANY SEGMENT THAT INVOLVES A FUCKING CAR. Christtttttttt.

[BulletTrain]

What gets me, is sometimes you can only figure out which piece of evidence to present only after selecting lie so you can hear a piece of the dialogue. Otherwise you might just chose doubt because you don't think you have the correct piece of evidence.

[Stevil]

So, I've finished L.A. Noire.

I like the way it changes gears towards the end and the pacing feels a lot better for it. The whole thing ends with your standard extended shootout, but hey, I'm not one to complain after what went on before. It's a good wrap-up, with homages to L.A. Confidential and...er...Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (kinda), and I could see how they would make a sequel, but if they did, Team Bondi need to realise that using a simple questioning system with a complex idea really insults the intelligence of its audience. Sure, it's more work for the developer, but if you're going to use something so complex with that facial capture, at least give me some meat to go on those bones.

That's not saying the game was shit for it or that everyone is a brainiac, but there needed to be more scripting involved that allowed for your plausible leaps of faith and multiple connections for the same questions. Ah, well. It was still one hell of an experience, not quite one to knock the Kyle Hyde mysteries - Hotel Dusk and Last Window - off their noir perch, but that's for a future blog, methinks.

[Sir Legendhead]

I tried to pick this up at the local rental store and they're charging each disc as a separate game. Lovely lovely lovely.

[randombullseye]

I like LA Noire. I've been playing a couple cases a day since I got it, and I like it. It really does boil down to a guessing game and late introduced evidence seems to keep happening that changes everything. I love how the game doesn't necessarily say you've caught the real bad guy or not. I've had my doubts about certain people whose virtual lives I may have virtually ruined, but I don't care. If I find a bloody pipe in your house, and you've been lying to me, that reads as guilty to me!

I tried to pick this up at the local rental store and they're charging each disc as a separate game. Lovely lovely lovely.

Rental stores are fucking stupid. Personally, I'd never rent there again ever for any reason if that was the sort of thing going on.

[Sir Legendhead]

Rental stores are fucking stupid. Personally, I'd never rent there again ever for any reason if that was the sort of thing going on.

Yeah I agree. It's definitely time to check out this Gamefly thing. Better late than never, right?

[Bobthecatlol]

Good news guys. The Rockstar pass is for 800 ms points and you get all the preorder content, so that's all cases and suits.

Rockstar know how to do DLC right!