Product ReviewsL.A. Noire (Microsoft Xbox 360, 2011)

Amazing. Get it, play it, roll around in its awesome.

L.A. Noire is a great, & it was a real treat to play. Though I have mild complaints, the overall gameplay won me over.

The interrogation process is not for people who don't like critical thinking. Of course, it's simple enough to just Google for a guide to get some guidance...use your "Intuition" or use the Social Club to help you. It's not impossible to get all of your questions right, but if you go at it alone (without any help) relying on simply their facial expressions is not helpful. Someone who looks as if they're guilty end up telling the truth. So it's all about critical thinking.

The design is beautiful. The city & scenery is perfect, & I love the fact that the characters/people look real & hold expressions not commonly seen in a video game.

The protagonist Cole Phelps was an interesting character to play. Uncovering his story by bits & pieces until the end was a nice touch. His own personality puzzled me, though. I guess that was the beauty of it--he at first seems like a wholesome person, out to protect people; but as it continues you find out why he's so adamant about doing so & in turn, discover how flawed he is in character. I could never fully "jump in," however. Perhaps that was the way he was supposed to be made.

The storyline was great; great encounters with supporting characters. The crime scene investigations are great, especially for forensic junkies like myself.

Slightly repetitive at times, but a great 360 game overall. If you're an avid GTA gamer like myself, you'll find yourself having to constantly remind your brain not to hit pedestrians, that you can't shoot people that make you mad with their stupid driving, yada yada yada...

You could finish this game in about 30 hours (including all the extras), but it's well worth a play!Read full review...

The new point and click adventure game

In a world where the FPS and 3rd person shooter reigns supreme, Rockstar and Team Bondi bastardize the RAGE engine to tip their cap to a dying breed of game. On the surface, you would make comparisons to GTA or cross your fingers that its like Mafia. This game, fist and foremost, is a re-imagining of the point and click adventure game. With that in mind and not comparing apples to oranges (like this game to GTA); you will be quite pleased with the outcome.

The games mechanic is quite simple but it is the set pieces, story, and characters that truly drive the game forward. The driving, shooting, walking is just a vehicle to go you to these scenes.

For what it's worth I think the game is brilliant. It isn't perfect but it's the first of its kind. I pray Team Bondi and Rockstar continue to make experimental games like this.Read full review...

Classic Rockstar game with great gameplay

What's Good:
-You get to play in 4 different departments (Traffic/Homicide/Vice/Arson), so you learn a lot
-Detail on faces helps bring out a lot of the characters emotions
-If you love this time period ('40s, Hollywood, Suits/Fedoras, White Walls, etc.) - you'll love this game. There's a lot of eye candy to go around.
-3 discs (plus DLC) means a lot of time to enjoy the game

What's Not So Good:
-Gameplay gets a little repetitive after awhile
-Car chases (as usual) are difficult
-Try not to read too much into facial expressions during interrogations. Stick to the clues.
-Excessive gameplay mechanics - climbing buildings, mini-puzzles

Similar Games:
Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption - except you can't carry your guns everywhere you go.Read full review...

Superbly realistic grahics!!!

Great game with 3 discs!

Superbly realistic facial grahics, the best that I've ever seen on a video game. However, even with the extremely graphic murder scenes and the brutally honest interactions, sometimes it just seems like the creators just simply added foul language to get the Mature rating.

Don't take me for a patsy, I drop the F-bomb with the best of them, but sometimes it is ill placed into the monolouge.

Take a chance on this one, if you liked the Red Dead Redemption style of game play then this ones for you.Read full review...

Very fun game! AMAZING GRAPHICS!

Great game! The graphics are one of the biggest parts of games and this is just amazing! Sadly though if you are looking for a game like Grand Theft Auto (also made by Rockstar Games) where you can go around killing random people and jump off buildings just for the fun of it then this is not the game for you. In this game you play as Cole Phelps, a police officer. You start out as a Patrol officer then make your way up to an arson investigator.Read full review...

Good direction, just didn't quite get there with this one.

Tomb Raider or Red Dead it's not....but it is a very amusing ramble through the psychological looking glass. I think each player will see the game, and the choices their alter ego makes in the game, from their own point of view, giving the game somewhat of a unique niche. Small problems with the program as far as movement, weapons selection, and vehicle operation are concerned, but if you're into the mental aspect of the game these things aren't as annoying.
Overall, a decent game. Just don't expect too much.Read full review...

L.A. Noire won't disappoint the film noire buff or crime lover. Great game.

I bought L.A. Noire for 2 reasons: 1) I am a criminal investigator, 2) I love L.A. Bottom line: I love the game.

Initial impressions: Graphics great; easy to follow b/c it is similar in a few ways to GTA4; mental challenge of interrogating suspects using clues found at scene fantastic; sufficient action that it doesn't bore; nice pacing of game, but not for the all-out action buff; reality of L.A. very convincing.

If you love film noire, are into crime shows, and game, you won't be disappointed with L.A. Noire. Shot in 1940's Los Angeles, L.A. Noire captures the seedy underside of the city. You begin as a beat cop working cases, quickly climbing the ranks to detective.

From there, you work various cases such as auto theft, burglary, robbery, and murder. During your investigations you respond to crime scenes, collect clues, interview potential witnesses, tail suspects, and engage in gun battles and car chases.

The real challenge of the game besides the intense shoot-outs and harrowing car chases (which if you don't like driving in GTA4, you will hate in this game b/c you have to worry about damaging the city and setting off your police siren when tailing suspects) is the crime scene analysis and the interviewing and interrogation of witnesses, victims, and suspects. You have to really search the scenes to collect all the clues, and then use them strategically to interview and interrogate.

For example, let's say you find a gun at a scene. You might go to a nearby gun dealer to trace the serial number. If the gun dealer has any history with the gun, that becomes a clue. Then when you confront the suspect with gun ownership and they deny it, you would then present the information you gathered at the gun shop to challenge the validity of the suspect's statement. That can lead to a breakthrough, which leads you to alternate lines of questioning.

The graphics really come into play at this point b/c the faces of the actors you interview are shot using a new, innovative photo technique that captures their facial expressions so clearly, it's unnerving.

I won't give away any of the plot line, but if you are interested you can reference Rockstar's L.A. Noire site to get a preview of some of the different types of cases and their plots.

All in all, this is the perfect game for the crime aficianado, the CSI buff, law enforcement, and gamers who love puzzles, even though the cases are a bit slow at first.

Hope this helps.Read full review...

get it

la noire is a great game and a good change of pace from your gun and gun games . you solve cases using clues and your partners help, you also go through different jobs as a cop first a traffic,then homicide which is awesome, vice which you do shoot and kill and run and gun then arson murders with fire it is just an awesome game and the xbox live markertplace has also realased 5 more cases for download and a tommy gun this game is a must playRead full review...

Lengthy in a Good Way

This game is certainly worth the money as it is lengthy and provides a lot of twists and turns to keep you intrigued. It is certainly not an intense action game, but that should not be expected with a "murder mystery" or investigative genre game. I am not sure of the proper nomenclature for these type of games, but that is how I would classify it. It definitely causes you to use all of your sleuthing skills when you are interrogating a suspect or even a confidential informant/witness.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: boundbysilence

Amazingly realistic game with great plot!

Great game! The facial expressions on the characters were stunning! I have never seen anything like it! One complaint I had was that the game was really hard to play without subtitles on because the characters would speak so softly at times even with the in game voice volume turned to the max. The map was huge which made it possible to drive for long periods of time and always see something new.(thank god for being able to skip to your destination!) The plot of the story was exciting also with many twists and turns along the way.Read full review...