game L.A. Noire

[Deathshead]

Type of game: Third Person Action-Adventure

Cost: 15 Euros on Steam (40 Euros for the Complete Edition; includes all the DLCs)

 

Short Summary: Source - http://lanoire.wikia.com/wiki/L.A._Noire

 

"LA Noire is a third-person neo noire crime video game developed by Team Bondi in conjunction with Rockstar North and Rockstar San Diego, and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 May 17, 2011 in North America and May 20, 2011 in Europe and Australia. LA Noire is set in a nearly perfectly recreated 8 square miles of Los Angeles of 1947, with players being given an open-ended challenge to solve a series of crime and murder mysteries. As the title suggests, the game draws heavily from both plot and aesthetic elements of film noir - stylistic films from the 1940s and 1950s that shared similar visual styles and themes including crime, sex and moral ambiguity and were often shot in black and white with harsh, low-key lighting. The game uses a distinctive colouring-style as well as the choice of black-and-white in homage to the visual style of film noir. The post-war setting is the backdrop for plot elements that reference the detective films of the '40s, such as corruption and drugs, with a classical jazz soundtrack."

 

Pros:

• The post-war setting which sets the foundation of elements that reference the detective films of the '40s.
• The 40's characteristic, classical jazz soundtrack which adds a lot to the atmosphere
• MotionScan - the technology used to capture every emotion delivered by the outstanding actors involved in this title
• An ample story (lasting for about 18 hours), told through bits along the game (newspapers you collect during every case). Although this mix of the story's sides (the "active" part which you experience through actual gameplay, the "passive" part consisting of the newspapers you find as you advance through the game, the back story which shows the past of the protagonist) might seem confusing, it eventually ties in very well.

Cons:

• Poor optimization - it requires a pretty beefy rig in order to run smoothly
• Vehicle mechanics are very different from other games of this type (and not in a good way); skipping to your destination by asking your partner to drive is a good alternative though
• The gameplay can get very repetitive
• The overall fact that it's a console port, and that it can run worse on some PCs than on consoles.

Even with all the technical issues that this game threw at me, i still was able to play it from beginning to end (and also enjoy it a lot). It's definitely not a game that anyone can enjoy, but despite leaving quite a bit to be desired, it certainly has an awful lot to offer.

 

My final rating: 8/10