L.A. Noire

[Hendo]

You'll be on disc two anytime now, Hendo. I think there's one homicide case on disc one.

Yep, just had to switch discs after the first homicide case ended, at least I think it was the first. Got a perfect on it too - all clues found and all questions answered correctly!

I'm very tempted to get the soundtrack at the moment, some of the tunes have been so strong I was expecting them to be Miles Davis tunes that I just hadn't heard before, but I think they're all original.

[retroed]

Looks like now might the best time to buy

Yeah. Here's a breakdown of what stuff costs, and when it's available.

• Chicago Lightning Detective Suit (Social Club only) - May 17
  
• L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass (limited-time discount price) - May 31
  
• "The Naked City" DLC case - May 31 (320 MSP / $4)
  
• "A Slip of The Tongue" DLC case - May 31 (320 MSP / $4)
  
• Broderick Detective Suit and Gun - May 31 (80 MSP / $1)
  
• Sharpshooter Detective Suit and Gun - May 31 (80 MSP / $1)
  
• The Badge Pursuit Challenge - May 31 (160 MSP / $2)
  
• Chicago Piano Machine Gun (free community unlock) - May 31
  
• L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass (standard price) - June 14
  
• "Nicholson Electroplating Disaster" DLC case - June 21
  
• "Reefer Madness" DLC case - July 12
  

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-05-31-la-noire-reefer-nicholson-dlc-dated

I think I'll get it (EDIT: got it). I don't know why I bothered entering my Naked Case DLC code that i got with the game, though. Bit of a waste as I haven't got to it yet.

[TopGunKnacker]

bought! yeah, the naked city bonus doesnt seem like a bonus anymore, but that is a lot of content for 800 ms points.

[illdog]

I don't know why I bothered entering my Naked Case DLC code that i got with the game, though. Bit of a waste as I haven't got to it yet.

bought! yeah, the naked city bonus doesnt seem like a bonus anymore

Yeah! Im glad i went with the T Shirt! Yeah!

[Hendo]

Bought the soundtrack last night and listened to it in work, brilliant stuff. Perfect for being up at 3 in the morning.

[TopGunKnacker]

so i should have the slip of the tongue case now right? it isnt in the case folders..

[stoobie]

so i should have the slip of the tongue case now right? it isnt in the case folders..

You have to download the pass and then download the case. You can do it from the main menu

[TopGunKnacker]

oh, thanks bud

[Hendo]

Started a case (involving a young religious Latin couple) and it had a really great, strong opening....

...where the killer has made a trail for you to follow

But the ending to it was pants!

Admittedly I didn't go to one of the locations but I ended the case with a 4 star rating, only missed one clue and yet so much of the case was left unanswered, such as the killer's motive and also the killer's reasoning for leaving behind clues that led me right to him (such as the dice numbers on a piece of paper).

For those who have done it:

The only place I missed was the El Dorado bar but I'm not sure how much info that would've given me. I went to the fruit stall first after talking to the husband in the interview room and then after a bit of a car chase he's arrested and that's that!

Also, did one of the shortest side-missions ever! Got to some old couple's house and the the mission was over after 5 seconds!

[TopGunKnacker]

yeah some of those are really short, i remember a couple where theres meant to be a chase but if you just start with guns blazing you can kill them before they get in the car, one of them was less than 5 seconds. i was like huh..

[Sly Reflex]

http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/games/871923-l-a-noire-developer-shuts-bought-by-mad-max-creator

After several weeks of revelations regarding the poor relationship between Team Bondi and L.A. Noire publisher Rockstar, as well as rumours of sweat shop-style working conditions and poor leadership from boss Brendan McNamara, the news that Team Bondi is being broken up doesn't come as that much of a surprise.

According to industry website Develop, equipment from Team Bondi has already been transferred to Kennedy Miller Mitchell (KMM), a production studio in Sydney owned by Miller which already has some small experience with games.

Insiders are quoted as saying that all Team Bondi staff have been offered a job at KMM or a severance package. The exact fate of studio head McNamara - who has been blamed by insiders for many of the problems at the studio - is not clear, but it seems he may also have been offered a job at KMM.

The company had been rumoured to be in severe financial difficulties and close to bankruptcy for some time. With Rockstar apparently adamant that it would not work with Team Bondi again, the studio was forced to look elsewhere for a new publisher, seemingly with little success.

Team Bondi itself might not actually close - but with its entire staff gone it's going to have to go on one hell of a recruiting drive. The fate of Depth Analysis, the company that created the stunning MotionScan facial animation system for L.A. Noire, is also unclear but current rumours suggest it is unaffected.

None of this will affect L.A. Noire itself, which Rockstar still owns the rights too. The PC version due this year is being created by Rockstar Leeds and any sequel would be entirely up to Rockstar.

If you're wondering what George Miller might be wanting with a games developer, it's not that hard to guess: years ago he announced he was making a game based on Mad Max and even hired God Of War II director Cory Barlog to work on it.

Nothing has ever been seen of it in public though, and it seems to have been stalled thanks to the trouble production history of movie reboot Mad Max 4: Fury Road. We're not sure how it's going to fare with Fallout and Rage already on the market either.

Although the buyout could ultimately well work out for the best for Team Bondi, there's much less positive news for the rest of the Australian games industry, with THQ announcing the closure of Melbourne-based Blue Tongue - responsible for the excellent de Blob games - and their Brisbane offices.

A third of staff in THQ's Phoenix, Arizona offices will also go - with around 200 employees affected in total. THQ has also stated that it is axing the MX Vs. ATV franchise and also moving away from kids' games and movie tie-ins.

It was always going to happen.

[Hendo]

Needed a story-based game to play while my mate watches (like we did with Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain) so I've started from scratch on this - last played in June.

I've found the best way to play this is to ignore the side quests, ignore the open-world and hold down the "get into car" button and make your partner drive direct to the locations. We're pretty much brute-forcing it. It makes for a better game, though I'll probably clean up the side quests later.

[Hendo]

Considering we're brute-forcing it, it's sure taking it sweet time.

The Homicide desk seemed to go on forever, it felt like when it concluded the game could've ended but on we plod with Vice.

[Hendo]

And done.

Ambitious as all hell (I wouldn't like to guess on the budget for the actors alone) but in the end it suffers from the same problem pretty much all Rockstar games have - far too long.

I was using a guide at the end to brute-force it and speed it up and only did what was necessary but it still took an age.

[Craymen Edge]

I'vebeen thinking about this quite a lot recently with all the GOTY/ review if the year business going on at the moment. Although I really loved the atmosphere and setting while I played it, I find myself looking back at this a lot less kindly a few months after finishing it. I seemed to remember the flaws and problems with it much more than the things I liked about it.

This is kind of the opposite to the way I felt about Bastion this year. Where with that one, I enjoyed it at the time but not to the kind of levels of praise it seemed to be getting from all quarters of the press and gaming audience. But now several months after playing, I feel much warmer about that game as a whole than I did at the time.

Also, on LA Noire: The act where you play as that other guy instead of Phelps makes me wish the game was about him instead.

[Hendo]

Although I really loved the atmosphere and setting while I played it, I find myself looking back at this a lot less kindly a few months after finishing it. I seemed to remember the flaws and problems with it much more than the things I liked about it.

I was the same, I'd recommend going back for a few missions - you can go to Cases and choose the odd one to play rather than start again.

I'm looking back on it much more fondly now but it definitely has some strong flaws in it.

[Manicm]

This came on my Lovefilm a few weeks ago and tbh has just sat there, so sunday off work and no biking so thought chrimbo games or this one, went for this one. I quite like it, ok im only just got to the traffic police bit and probably just past the training bit but if i spot this in the sales tempted to pick it up now.

Back to the case!!

Oh any pointers? hints or tips for a starter?

[DANGERMAN]

look at the eyes. Also if memory serves, you can accuse then back out at no cost... I think

[Hendo]

I think you can only back out of certain things, most times it locks you to your decision.

Make sure you find all the clues, think very carefully about what the question is and what the person's answer is and work out if you have evidence to prove lies, or if not doubt. Though a lot of time people are telling the truth.

It's a long game so don't expect it to be done in a couple of days unless you marathon it, take your time, make it last.

[DisturbedSwan]

Been replaying this on Switch. Up to the first case in the Homicide desk.

 

Going in my only real memory of it was the case where the car gets crashed into a billboard and the whole film set chase sequence. For some reason I thought those were both at the very end of the game, but they were just the last mission in the Traffic desk, no idea why my memory latched onto that all these years.

 

They've baked all the DLC missions from the original release into the main storyline now. I thought to myself, I don't remember it taking this long to get to Homicide? Then i looked it up and there's another 2 missions in Traffic that were originally DLC.

 

Its been a bit of a mixed bag so far really, initially I was actually really bored by it but throughout I've been as captivated now as I - probably - was 7 years ago by the unique facial animations, interviews and detective work. But I haven't really liked the relatively soulless city, the gunplay or the random nature of the questioning - still. I seem to like the side missions way more than I did originally though, I'm not sure if they've spruced them up a bit or what but they feel a lot more varied and less shit that I remember.

 

By changing the inputs in the interviews they have at least made things a bit clearer. It's now 'Good Cop, Bad Cop or Accuse' instead of Truth, Doubt, Lie, makes the decision a little easier for me although I have had issues choosing the right input, at times when i thought they felt sincere - and all the signs were telling me so - I'd choose Good Cop and then get the disappointing little jingle after and tut in annoyance. But yeah, it feels clearer and definitely feels like I'm making more good calls than I did the first time around, but who knows if I actually am.

 

Things have really started to pick up since I hit the Homicide desk too, it just felt like with the DLC missions baked into the plot that the pacing has suffered quite a bit. I remember liking the Homicide and Vice desks the most in my original play through and it has been much the same here, Traffic had its moments but Homicide has already been more intriguing in some ways, there's just something about solving a murder mystery that is inherently cool.

 

The little touches like Cole's notebook are as impressive now as they were then, it's so nicely laid out and they've some how managed to make the process of ticking off a mission objective/question cool and have that feel and sound of a pencil on paper nailed completely.

 

I didn't remember how many car chases there were either, my memory was that I just went to a crime scene, then a few other locales, then interviewed some suspects and bing bang bosh but yeah the car chases have broke things up nicely.

 

I really didn't remember how long it is either, I'm about 8-10 hours in and only mid-way through the first Homicide mission, so its going to take me a fair amount longer to finish it. I have encountered some slow down at times but that's the only technical issue of note - well, apart from harsh pop-in at times, but that's just an open world thing really.

 

Even today there's just nothing else like it, I guess it does feel like a 'walking simulator' at times now I guess. I still find it staggering that R* put a lot of cash into this, it's still an impressive feat.