GAMES: The truth shall set you free. LA Noire XBOX 360

For less than a week now LA Noire has owned my thoughts and free time.

Little bits had been slowly dripping out about Noire before it released and I was in a rabid froth to try out my detective chops by Monday night at midnight (yes, I'm one of those people...but unlike the others I bathe on more than a bi-monthly basis).

Being a Rockstar product I was expecting certain overlap from Grand Theft Auto 4. The kind of clunky character movement, the insane amount detail on an actual cities worth of people, cars and buildings, and of course an interesting story.

I was hoping Noire wouldn't be bogged down by the "real life activities" that plagued GTA 4. Every ten seconds some jerk was calling you wanting to hang out or go bowling. Luckily it isn't, because cell phones weren't around in the 40s-50s (really kids...they weren't). So people would often go whole days without letting friends, let alone the world, know where they were eating lunch or what they thought about the latest movie...as they were still sitting there watching it.

In Noire there isn't much personal time of the protagonist. There is a story element, but nothing you get to play.

A bit of that would have made it more immersive. One simple thing I think would have been cool to feature is something I as a journalist, who grew up around cops, have experienced and witnessed on a number of occasions.

The 2 a.m. call.

Jobs like police, fire, EMS, and yes...journalists, require the sacrifice of having to run out your front door at an insane time of day to respond to a tragic event. These jobs demand that kind of dedication. Even if they had just been a cutscene or two where you have sit down to a nice dinner and then BAM, phone rings and you have to leave while shoving bread into your face on your way out the door. Or just get home to spend time with the family and your wife is standing with the phone in her hand, looking pretty fed up, because your boss is calling to tell you another body has been found.

One more piece, and this again is one of experience, "gearing up" to go to work can be an exciting experience. I don't know if it would translate in a video game, but for a beat cop (photographer) to put on all that gear before heading out the door makes it seem like more than a job. Especially since the main character in Noire was a WWII soldier, the juxtaposition would have been an interesting story piece early on in the game.

Just some thoughts, now on to actual stuff.

This game is the progress of the video game industry not only growing up with a large percentage of its client base, but also getting closer to a game I dreamed up while I was still in high school. There are elements here that I never could have imagined, like the face recording technology that is a key feature of this game, but a game where you work as a cop and rise through the ranks...totally my idea. I probably still have the notebook with my notes about it from forever ago. Way to catch up, Rockstar. :D


The Cases that you work through are all different, but the formula is much the same. Procedural, as it were. But that doesn't stop them from being interesting and making me want to catch the deviant bastard out there killing people in my town!

Collecting evidence is fun for me. I don't think everyone will like it, but I do. It is a slow process, that often requires thought and attention to detail. So hardcore blow em up shooter fans would probably be wise to steer clear. Because you can pick up all sorts of things that obviously aren't clues, but some crime scenes have a bunch of stuff that you can investigate and then end up not using. The thing that seems like it should be a vital piece might not come into play until way down the line.

The interrogation sequences are much the same. You have to think and observe. Putting all the pieces together. Reading the faces of the suspects is easy sometimes but can be very difficult at other times because, like real people, some of them are good liars and some aren't. You have to figure out which is which AND have the evidence to back it up if you accuse them of lying.

I wish I was strong enough to just let the game happen, like a real story. But sometimes I get suckered by these lyin' sumbitches and my interview goes to hell...so I quit and start over from a checkpoint. Most of the time it's because the evidence I picked to prove them wrong isn't the right evidence for some reason. "Oh, the bloody socket wrench doesn't prove anything...really?"

A preview of what line of questioning Phelps is going to use when accusing them of a lie would help a lot. Because a few times I was sure that whatever evidence proved they were lying, but my character's line ended up referencing some other thing that I didn't have.

If they had a "hardcore mode" where you couldn't quit and come back from a checkpoint I probably would have played it, but since the option is there I want to see what the hell I did wrong.

Because it is really a lot of pressure.

Jesus, I almost wrote "I had a case where...", see it's immersive.

There was a case where you have two suspects, each pointing a finger at the other, evidence is pretty close to the middle and I sat there just staring at the screen after I had interviewed them trying to figure out which one had done it. It weighed on me and now I know I picked the wrong one...but you will too if you play, I guarantee it. But I don't want to give anything away. If you make it that far on the homicide desk you should already have a gut feeling something sinister is lurking.

The interview/interrogations could use a few other options. When a suspect/witness makes a statement there are three options. Truth, Doubt and Lie. I would like a "threaten" option, which kind of happens with doubt sometimes...but not like I want. "Tell me the truth or I'm going to pound your head into this table, you shit!"

And then of course if they still lie, WHAM!

Though I like to stick to the straight and narrow in games like this, I would like to try beating a confession out of a suspect...for realism to the time period. Or to subdue a perp with a sap.

My suggestion for Rockstar would be to make a modern day version of the game. Some people would probably think it was a cheap way to make more money, but if it is a good game, who cares? I'm thinking LA Noire meets The Shield. Interrogations, Vic Mackey style! Where's my phonebook?

There is a lot of action in this thinking man's game. Tons of suspects flee; either on foot or by car. In foot they always seem to climb up stuff. Why? Where the hell are you going to go on a roof except DOWN?

Part of the fleeing is my fault. "Me" as in the character in the game. He yells "LAPD!" from like a quarter mile away. It's a rookie move. You're in a suit, walk up and latch on to the guy first! Jeez. But those action sequences can even be skipped, if that isn't your thing.

The cars handle like tanks, which is period correct, and the citizens are on the downward slide after the war, which is why this time period was chosen for LA Noire. It was some of the most violent times in the city's history.

Overall it is a masterpiece of a game. At first I was worried about the game being on three discs. I was more excited about the amount of game, but a little annoyed that I might have to insert disc 1 every time I started playing, but not so. Each disc starts the game. I assume it is the massive amount of dialogue and cutscenes that take up all the space and the actual "game" can be shoe horned into the remaining space.

I'm a visual guy and the visuals are stunning, the audio is done very nicely and the detail on the faces will hopefully set a new standard for the medium. Back when they first announced the game, years ago, I had heard a rumor it was going to be presented in black and white. That would have been awesome. But I know most people would have complained.

The depth of the game is where I really get absorbed. There is just so much stuff, when I heard they had worked for seven years on this game I was surprised, but after a half hour playing it I completely understood. You are ripping through town so often that most of the buildings are just a blur, but when you slow it down and really look you see a town. A whole town. It's insane.

I could just keep going, but I'd rather get this finished and play some more.