I remember vividly anticipating L.A Noire, I was enthralled that a game was attempting to capture the flavor of the genre that got in my heart, like that dame you just can't seem to kill...
When she was released, more than their fair share were none too kind on this delicate flower. She just was not for the times, had she come along sooner, maybe they would have seen the knockout they all discredited far too soon. We had such little idea of she was going to be for so long, all we clung to were vague ideas and promises; so naturally, once we met, all we could do was realize she would never shape up to the dreams in our head.
Way back in 2006, just as the seventh console generation was really getting started, L.A Noire debuts with a brilliant teaser trailer that gets many gamers hyped at the idea of playing detective in 1940's Los Angeles. We all daydreamed the possibilities that Rockstar and Team Bondi had in store for us. Then two big things happened, two things that would alter the way in which L.A Noire would be received, first in 2008 there was Grand Theft Auto 4, then in 2010 there was Red Dead Redemption. Red Dead Redemption especially hurt L.A Noire due to being only a year old by the time Noire finally emerged.
You may be wondering just how these two games, played such a role in L.A Noire's less than stellar launch; while L.A Noire launched in a pristine condition, no bugs, and no game issues to speak of, there was one fault that could not be polished so easily. While L.A Noire was made in a pre-GTA IV world, it did not launch into one; worse, it did not have the luxury of coming from another developer, this was the game seen as Red Dead and GTA's successor.
Sadly, and fortunately, the game was never intended to be anything like any open world game before it and even after it. Although, the upcoming The Sinking City does feel like L.A Noire meets Call Of Cutlthu, so fingers crossed! The city of Los Angeles is open to explore, however, unlike many games of and since it's time, there was not much to do within the city. You had twenty cases to solve at launch, which was then bumped up to twenty-five with post-launch DLC, that now comes standard with every remastered or complete edition. In addition to the story missions, you had forty side cases, which generally involved a shootout, chase, fist fight, tailing a suspect, or sometimes a combination thereof. You also had the option to explore the city for various collectibles, and the opportunity to explore a period-authentic 1940's, Los Angeles. These are great selling points, however, the gamers of the time and today are well, they are fucking spoiled brats who can't appreciate a good thing when they have it.
Rant aside, gamers expected tons of things to do outside of a twenty plus hour story. Ok, I need to rant a little here. I love lengthy games, but this constant need for every game to be over ten hours is absurd. This is why we have so few games made today, you want every game to have so much content, that even when a game has more than enough, you still think it should have more. So now developers are breaking their backs to please you. Raise your hands if you thought Red Dead Redemption 2's story could have been ten hours shorter.
One other common complaint outside of the lack of side activities, is that solving a case was more like an adventure/puzzle game, than the organic and next-generation crime solving simulator that was expected. Your goal during each case is to look for clues and evidence at the scene of the crime, interview witnesses and interrogate suspects to solve the case. This is a video game, after all, this was never meant to be a simulator. If you have evidence you can accuse people, you try to tell if they are telling the truth, or call them on a suspected lie; you can even fail case after case and finish the game, as you are never truly punished for failing.
The game does casually reference the fact that you solved, or failed to solve a case through NPC dialogue that you randomly encounter as you travel through the city of L.A. This is what gives the game it's real flavor, it is also why the accusation that this was just a really advanced choose your own adventure story, is totally true. The conclusions to the game never change, yet each case can have several different endings depending on how you perform. Performance is based on a couple of factors, did you find all the clues and evidence, and did you accuse, spot a lie or tell the truth correctly each time.
This means playing the game with any kind of guidance, robs the game of its personal story; it can be annoying to fail a case, but that is also how many Noir stories end, tragically. If you grew up playing adventure games, and loving the puzzles and stories, but wishing there was more exploration, interaction and maybe even some combat, then L.A Noire is a love letter to your idea of a video game. If you expected Grand Theft Cop, then this game may not be your cup of coffee.
There is also the accusation that the game has no overarching plot, this is totally untrue, as the game is the story of Detective Cole Phelps; none of the cases needed to intersect, although there is that one big case that lingers through the entire game. That is of course, if you pay attention to the many scattered newspapers you can find during the story. I did not mind the story being told in this way, as it did immerse me into the world; I just wished that the war flashbacks to Phelps days in the Pacific, had either been playable to some extent or, if they had been optional interactions like the newspapers. Of course, that is just modern gamer nitpicking, we all do it, and we should be ashamed of ourselves, unless we can make a better game, then bra-fucking-vo.
Most bad experiences we have with a video game is due to our expectations; many, many moons ago, there were games that were bad because of broken, uninspired gameplay, luckily these are very rare now and often the biggest issue we tackle, is our own entitlement. We have stopped caring about what other people may like, now, we only focus on what we hate. I understand if you hate something that is doing the world harm, but if you hate something that could bring another joy while not doing any harm, then the detective in me says you need your priorities fixed. If you try and find a reason for that thing you hate to become supposedly harmful, then I think you need some me time in a sanitarium.
I also would not be a very good detective, if I failed to mention the game's one true flaw. Cole Phelps is probably the worst lead character in any major video game, ever. The performance is great, I am also sure Aaron Staton who plays Cole is a perfectly fine actor; but, he is written as the most wooden and uptight cunt you could ever meet. Ok, that was a little far, he is not intolerable, worse, he is just so dull and lifeless,
that it gives the game a case of the "no-face".
Phelps has very little personality, and comes across as fairly unlikeable; at least, on the first playthrough, I won't lie and say that I love his character now, I still think any one of his partners would have made a better lead, but there is something about him that becomes more enduring with time. As a matter of fact, while I loved the game when it came out, I have grown to adore it far more than I thought I would. Each time I go back, I enjoy it as much or more than I did the last time, which is something I feared during my first playthrough; I kept thinking, I love this now, but it can't last, it will get boring or become dated with time, but it never did, as time passes L.A Noire ages like a classic scotch.
No comments:
Post a Comment