L.A. Noire

[DisturbedSwan]

Been gradually eking away at this, Switch says over 20 hours now.

 

I've finished the first 3 cases of Vice and have started the 4th so I've got another 7/8 cases left or so.

 

Coming in to this I really didn't expect to enjoy it as much. I know it was a divisive game back in the day but I always stuck up for it and had fond memories of playing through it. Now that I'm older - and hopefully a little wiser now - I really thought it would be a drag and I'd end up getting fed up with it but I've been enjoying it way more than I thought I did first time around - if that makes any sense?

 

I maintain that the lead up to the Homicide desk is a bit of a drag, Traffic has its moments and I know its there to just show you the workings and mechanics of everything you have to do and know in the game, but even so the real meat of the game starts at Homicide. The game is at its very best when missions start to intertwine with one another, when you're chasing the Dahlia in Homicide, solving all these grizzly murders one after another and slowly start to see the patterns between them all, the missing items of clothing/jewellery, the broken windows and ease of which the suspects were framed it just becomes so incredibly compelling. 

 

You role play as Phelps, especially in the interrogation scenes, I find myself sitting forward in my seat avidly studying their faces to try to find any semblance of a lie or the truth and become intoxicated with the case. I actually went to bed one night thinking about which murder suspect to arrest out of the two available, I was weighing it up in my head as I laid there with my head on the pillow.

 

The finale to the Homicide chapter is just phenomenal as well. A wild goose chase across the LA landmarks, you have to figure out from bits of poetry which landmarks the killer wants you to head towards, then decipher a new clue he has left for you when you get there, it feels a bit like the 'Simon Says' bit from Die Hard with a Vengeance but is so incredibly compelling, with every new destination you reach you uncover a new piece of the puzzle and eventually add up and attribute various grizzly murders to just one deranged guy. 

 

Vice has been fantastic too. It's different to Homicide, which is good, it feels different being in the Hollywood division, you can feel the glitz and glamour of the area and the folks you're rubbing shoulders with. I adore gangster stories by Scorsese etc. so the one presented here centring Micky Cohen as the Don of a whole host of dodgy dealings is great, the missions don't connect quite the same way - yet - but the overarching theme and vibe to this chapter truly makes me feel a bit like Jack Nicholson in Chinatown or Russell Crowe in LA Confidential. It's just so well done.

 

I think having actually gone to LA since I played the original makes a difference as well. Before it just seemed like this cool - albeit slightly bland - 40s sandbox but having that resonance with certain areas when you're driving about, faintly recognising landmarks, road names and just the vibe of the place - which Team Bondi nailed - makes the whole thing resonate that much more.

[Sly Reflex]

My favourite part was when the detective punched the man noncing up the dead body on the railway tracks. I'm all for this type of police brutality.

 

Cole being obsessed with shoesize was another highlight.

 

On a more serious note, this game actually made me feel quite repulsed by some of the actions taken by some of the people in it. The paedo ring and the mad racism were particularly nasty. They made me angry in ways I don't normally get at games.