$20 Game of the Week: L.A. Noire (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)

L.A.Noire was one of Rockstar’s most ambitious projects. Developed by Australian group Team Bondi, L.A. Noire is a detective story taking place after WWII. Playing as Cole Phelps, you set out to solve a series of crimes in post-war Los Angles, among them being a series of killings inspired by the real life Black Dahlia Murders. L.A. Noire’s gameplay and graphics make this a unique open world experience. It’s just too bad that we may not see much more from the developers.

The game is composed of 21 separate cases (plus some that are available as DLC). In each case, players will search for evidence and question witnesses. As you search crime scenes, audio cues alert you to important evidence. At times this may seem like hand holding, but you can always turn it off in the options screen for a more challenging experience. When it’s time to question witnesses and suspects, you have to read their facial expressions as you listen to their stories. You can then either take their word for it, or if you suspect they aren’t being straight with you, you can doubt them or accuse them of lying (just make sure you have evidence to back it up). This is where the facial technology developed by Team Bondi really shines. It makes L.A. Noire one of the few games that make graphics a key component of gameplay. Getting the proper facts means that you score higher and earn intuition points, which give players abilities that will help them choose correct answers or discover all the hidden evidence in a crime scene. Unfortunately, it seems that points are all it factors into. It would have been nice to see the story change up depending on how well you do your police work, but at least the scoring gives me some incentive to replay cases. When not on a mission, there are various street crimes and hidden vehicles that serve as side quests. An unlockable mode called ‘The Streets of L.A.’ allows you to travel the city in pursuit of these hidden objectives so that you don’t have to pursue them during the game.

You’ll get swept up in the game’s plot as you go along. Various flashbacks to Phelp’s WWII days give you some information about his past experiences while making you question his psyche at times. Various plot twists will keep you hooked, and the game’s music and atmosphere will take you back to the post-WWII days. You can even play the game in black-and-white mode to give the game a 40’s detective-cinema feel. Be warned, the game gets very graphic at times. female murder victims are often shown nude, and you’ll be forced to get up close and personal with them while searching for evidence. While there certainly isn’t anything on a survival-horror level, it’s certainly not for the young-ins.

It’s unfortunate that the game’s release and success was marred by some ugly politics. As revealed in this ign article, it turned out that the game had taken seven years to make. Several staff members weren’t given credit for the game, and Rockstar actually pushed it’s own cash towards development and marketing. Over time, tales of abysmal working conditions such as 12-hour work days came to the surface, and Team Bondi’s relationship to Rockstar has been damaged to the point where Rockstar may not work with the studio for its next game. This should be a firm warning to those of you who run a game company (and really, all CEOs): not doing right by your employees can do you as much harm as putting out bad product.