So, anyone getting this on Friday?
I'm sorely tempted, especially as I have the flat to myself next weekend and could have a proper all-night gaming binge. But on the other hand it looks like a massive time-sink, and I've got shit to do, most importantly several personal work projects that I've already put off for too long...
Charlie Brooker has an advance copy and has been tweeting about it - I must admit I'm intrigued...
I'd love it, but there's no way I'm getting it at the minute.
I have masses of writing to do over the next couple of months and don't need any further distractions thank you very much.
It does look glorious though...
Yeah, my copy should be turning up in the mail on Friday. Having played Fallout: New Vegas to death by now, I guess I've been looking for something new to sink my teeth into in the video game world. Looks very L.A. Confidential, seems to be getting rave reviews everywhere.
will be doing when the xbox is mended working etc have had my points on my reward card saved for aeons! if its half as good as red dead redemption i'll be a happy bunny.
not been gaming for ages, but this if anything will tempt me back, possibly post payday, oh and moving house too
Brooker mentioned that it's very reminiscent of the old point and click adventure games, which sounds interesting...
Only just realised this isn't coming out on PC. Bah!
SLight thread hijack (sorry) but really hoping the release of this prompts that "Oh, and we're gonna bring out Red Dead for the pc" announcement I've been waiting on.
Fingers crossed.
This does sound awesome though. Im a big fan of the IGN Gamescoop podcast and they've been talking about this quite a bit.
Oh, I've been watching this from the corner of my eye and calculating whether its worth for the first time in a long time buying on release, as I've still got Assassins Brotherhood to do and Undead Nightmare.
But did someone say reminiscent of point and click?? On top of being an 18 by a reputable gamers firm? Very, very tempting.
Ah but practicality abounds and alas, I'll be umming and arring for a while yet.
i think the point and click elements relate to the crime scenes as you can miss clues which could have an effect...
Interestingly, Mark Kermode is reviewing this on The Culture Show tomorrow night (Thursday). I say interesting, because the last time he reviewed a game it was some wii shovelware and he said it was the first time he'd ever played a game and that he hoped it would be the last, and then tore into it as an entertainment medium. I always thought that was a bit like sitting down to watch Meet The Spartans and basing your whole opinion on film as a medium on that one experience.
His opinion doesn't particularly matter to me, it'll just be interesting to find out if LA Noire can sway him a bit.
Meh.
That is all.
Mark Kermode is a smug c*nt and should be killed while people who actually create stuff stand around and complain his suffering "feels turgid"
Yikes, perhaps I'll wait a while:
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/report-la-noire-to-blame-for-consoles-overheating (http://www.next-gen.biz/news/report-la-noire-to-blame-for-consoles-overheating)
yup - getting it for the xbox tomorrow.
game spot gave it a 9.0 http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/adventure/lanoire/review.html?tag=summary%3Bread-review (http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/adventure/lanoire/review.html?tag=summary%3Bread-review)
gs reviews are pretty good showing the initial good and bad points, (as you'll see.
and heard a lady game reviewer on bbc radio 4 last night saying it was pretty good and a fair attempt at making a game feel like a movie too
BUT LETS ALL REMEMBER: THIS IS ONLY PRODUCED BY ROCKSTAR - IT@S NOT GOING TO BE AS GOOD AS GTA OR RDR AND IT@S NOT FREE ROAM
Hehehe! thanks to Ctrl+Alt+Del
(http://v.cdn.cad-comic.com/comics/cad-20110518-8cc03.png)
Awesome.
Quote from: zombemybabynow on 19 May, 2011, 02:22:01 PM
BUT LETS ALL REMEMBER: THIS IS ONLY PRODUCED BY ROCKSTAR - IT@S NOT GOING TO BE AS GOOD AS GTA OR RDR AND IT@S NOT FREE ROAM
Indeed, it's only Rockstar the publisher, not Rockstar Nort (little cross-thread joke there :D)
Seems interesting though, sounds like that recent noire detective thingy. Yep, Heavy Rain, although maybe less linear than that was.
Heh, love the cartoon :lol:
Not so sure about the validity of the overheating claims though, lot of Sony bashing about right now. I know mine makes a hell of a noise these days though, one of the original 60Gb ones, even when streaming stuff.
Granted Rockstar are publishing but I don't think many folks realize how the work is shared between the different studios. I remember that because Red Dead was a San Diego production there were a lot of comments about how it wasn't from the same creators as GTA, when in fact North were working their behinds off on it too and every r* project is being steered by essentially the same people (the top dogs in New York). With LA Noire being such a big and ambitious release I wouldn't be surprised if the credits are full of a lot of familiar names from GTA.
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 18 May, 2011, 11:16:16 PM
Meh.
That is all.
So I take it from your in depth critique , that you have played it?
Quote from: Misanthrope on 19 May, 2011, 07:43:39 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 18 May, 2011, 11:16:16 PM
Meh.
That is all.
So I take it from your in depth critique , that you have played it?
Nah. Just don't fancy it. As no one else has, sticking two fingers up to the hype is as rational as being sucked in by it. I find myself suffering more and more apathy towards games. Maybe it's an age thing. The only future releases I am interested in are Max Payne 3, Fear 3 and Mass Effect 3 - all to see how the stories end (certainly, I fear Fear 3 will be a pants game).
personably i'm looking forward to being a plod in 40's america and loved being a cowboy in rdr! the whole gangsta thing never gelled with me in gta despite the free roaming which i adore! but saying that i did enjoy being a goodfella in mafia 2
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 19 May, 2011, 07:06:55 PM
Granted Rockstar are publishing but I don't think many folks realize how the work is shared between the different studios. I remember that because Red Dead was a San Diego production there were a lot of comments about how it wasn't from the same creators as GTA, when in fact North were working their behinds off on it too and every r* project is being steered by essentially the same people (the top dogs in New York). With LA Noire being such a big and ambitious release I wouldn't be surprised if the credits are full of a lot of familiar names from GTA.
True, heaps of Norts worked on RDR for sure, as well as it being the same engine, more or less I assume. No idea about this one though, I know I'd rather they were busy working on the new Vice City or whatever it's going to be :D
Picked it up this morning from HMV and got a free Bluray of LA Confidential and a DLC code for a gun of some sort. Not a bad deal as I can flog the movie for a tenner on ebay Promised myself I wouldn't play it until I finish inking a page.
Inking at breakneck speed, really want to play the game! >:(
I played a few cases today and am finding it very, very absorbing. The mechanics of investigating the crime scenes and asking the right questions is incredibly satisfying, particularly when you nail an interrogation (I've botched several though so I look forward to a second playthrough as a total super-sleuth!).
Downsides are that sometimes the 'tells' in the interrogations are massively exaggerated, which given how much hype has been made about the facial capture is disappointing. You don't need to study the intricacies of someone's facial performance to know they're lying when every time they finish talking they start glancing round the room frantically on a loop. The facial capture genuinely is good enough for that not to be necessary, and I'm hoping that it's just easing me in and will get more subtle as it goes on.
Only other thing I don't like much is the procedural missions that trigger ambiently when you're driving around. I'm one of those gamers who feels compelled to take on every side mission that pops up, and they come up a lot more frequently than I'd like. They all seem to involve just shooting some guys too, and the combat isn't particularly strong. They're not bad, they just don't play to the game's strengths.
Minor quibbles though, I'm totally compelled to play it again which is a good sign.
QuoteDownsides are that sometimes the 'tells' in the interrogations are massively exaggerated, which given how much hype has been made about the facial capture is disappointing. You don't need to study the intricacies of someone's facial performance to know they're lying when every time they finish talking they start glancing round the room frantically on a loop. The facial capture genuinely is good enough for that not to be necessary, and I'm hoping that it's just easing me in and will get more subtle as it goes on.
The Edge review (8/10) said basically that - the lie detection thing gets a lot harder and more sophisticated the further you progress in the game.
It's on for £36 in Sainsburys and I had a £3 off voucher! Now all I need is some precious time to myself to play it, grrrrr!
Quote from: radiator on 18 May, 2011, 02:31:09 PM
But on the other hand it looks like a massive time-sink, and I've got shit to do, most importantly several personal work projects that I've already put off for too long...
That's my thinking too. I'm gonna wait 'til I get FLU 2 wrapped then maybe pick up this along with a side-dish of DEAD RISING 2.
Oh yeah...
This game is EXCELLENT!
I was up playing the bugger until 2am last night and really didn't want to go to bed! It's so immersive, and while it 'boasts' Rockstar's usual seedy sex and drugs angle, it's generally done as sensitively as it could be and really is there to enhance the plot.
I've just made it to homicide detective and my first two cases have been genuinely shocking, both involving gruesome nudity so expect the Daily Mail to be all over this game soon. Gameplay-wise it's fairly simple - find the clues, interrogate the suspect, use the clues to outwit or corroborate the suspect's story. However, the stories are so twisty and engaging, it makes you desperate to close the case.
Like others, I'm getting a bit cheesed off by the frequency of street crimes I'm asked to help with (you're on your way to nail the killer then a bank robbery takes place half way across town - I always feel duty bound to help out. Once that's sorted, I'm ALMOST at the killer's location and guess what? There's a hold up elsewhere - aaaagh!) I know that getting your partner to drive cuts this out but the Dredd fan in me needs to be a super cop!
Gah, work is bugging me, I just wanna go home and play!
Damn it Pete, you're making me want this more!
I actually nearly bought it yesterday - had a tenners worth of clubcard vouchers and would have put those towards a copy, but alas my local Tesco was sold out.
Still undecided over whether to get the PS3 or 360 version, though. Xbox has the disadvantage of coming on three discs, and is apparently a little glitchier (PS3 was the lead development platform) - but I much prefer the 360 as a games machine, from the controller to the interface... I tend to use the PS3 primarily as a media player and the only games I get for it are exclusives.
Quote from: Pete Wells on 23 May, 2011, 09:47:45 AM
Like others, I'm getting a bit cheesed off by the frequency of street crimes I'm asked to help with
Fair's fair. It's a lot better than being on your way to a big bank heist, or whatever, and being harrassed by friends constantly phoning you up demanding you play darts or go bowling with them - a la GTAIV.
probably the only person on the planet that didn't dig it?!
gone back to do more rootin' tootin' with rdr
It really is brilliant, I was up til after 3am last night because the Homicide strand was just getting way too intriguing! It's a brave game, more akin to point and clicks than anything else really, and I have to say I'm finding it way more absorbing than Heavy Rain (which I did like).
I've switched off the vibration notification when you stand next to a clue though, started to feel too easy. As a puzzle game I'm aware that you only get one chance to solve this stuff, and it won't really be possible to up the challenge on a 2nd playthrough. Kept on the musical cue for when you've seen everything at a crime scene though, otherwise you might never leave just in case.
I have a question. Why does the title use the feminine form of the adjective? Is it a play on L.A./la? Or is there some central person or object in the story which would fill in the blank?
Quote from: GordonR on 23 May, 2011, 11:12:43 AM
Quote from: Pete Wells on 23 May, 2011, 09:47:45 AM
Like others, I'm getting a bit cheesed off by the frequency of street crimes I'm asked to help with
Fair's fair. It's a lot better than being on your way to a big bank heist, or whatever, and being harrassed by friends constantly phoning you up demanding you play darts or go bowling with them - a la GTAIV.
It got to the point where I would arrive to pick up Roman, and then shoot him in the face.
Annoying twat.
Quote from: The Cosh on 24 May, 2011, 12:40:07 AM
I have a question. Why does the title use the feminine form of the adjective? Is it a play on L.A./la? Or is there some central person or object in the story which would fill in the blank?
I don't know if this was meant to be schmuck bait, but I was under the impression that L.A was short for Los Angeles.
Quote from: The Cosh on 24 May, 2011, 12:40:07 AM
I have a question. Why does the title use the feminine form of the adjective? Is it a play on L.A./la? Or is there some central person or object in the story which would fill in the blank?
My guess is an attempt to avoid infringing on several books and films of the gender-correct title, and an assumption that nobody cares about masculine/feminine forms when you're mashing Spanish abbreviations with French adjectives. But we showed them, oh yes!
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 May, 2011, 06:40:21 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 24 May, 2011, 12:40:07 AM
I have a question. Why does the title use the feminine form of the adjective? Is it a play on L.A./la? Or is there some central person or object in the story which would fill in the blank?
My guess is an attempt to avoid infringing on several books and films of the gender-correct title, and an assumption that nobody cares about masculine/feminine forms when you're mashing Spanish abbreviations with French adjectives. But we showed them, oh yes!
Oh, that's hardly likely, is it? It's been bothering me since I first saw it written down.
Quote from: Misanthrope on 24 May, 2011, 03:29:08 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 24 May, 2011, 12:40:07 AM
I have a question. Why does the title use the feminine form of the adjective? Is it a play on L.A./la? Or is there some central person or object in the story which would fill in the blank?
I don't know if this was meant to be schmuck bait, but I was under the impression that L.A was short for Los Angeles.
He's wondering why it's "noire" and not "noir".
Quote from: Misanthrope on 24 May, 2011, 02:09:58 AM
It got to the point where I would arrive to pick up Roman, and then shoot him in the face.
Annoying twat.
Why did I never think of that? Genius! :)
Quote from: Misanthrope on 24 May, 2011, 02:09:58 AM
Quote from: GordonR on 23 May, 2011, 11:12:43 AM
Quote from: Pete Wells on 23 May, 2011, 09:47:45 AM
Like others, I'm getting a bit cheesed off by the frequency of street crimes I'm asked to help with
Fair's fair. It's a lot better than being on your way to a big bank heist, or whatever, and being harrassed by friends constantly phoning you up demanding you play darts or go bowling with them - a la GTAIV.
It got to the point where I would arrive to pick up Roman, and then shoot him in the face.
Annoying twat.
Part of the joy that is GTA :D
Quote from: M.I.K. on 24 May, 2011, 05:06:57 PM
Quote from: Misanthrope on 24 May, 2011, 03:29:08 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 24 May, 2011, 12:40:07 AM
I have a question. Why does the title use the feminine form of the adjective? Is it a play on L.A./la? Or is there some central person or object in the story which would fill in the blank?
I don't know if this was meant to be schmuck bait, but I was under the impression that L.A was short for Los Angeles.
He's wondering why it's "noire" and not "noir".
Ah, I see.
Picked the game up yesterday and played for about 45 mins last night.
Stunning looking game - production values are off the scale. Loving the modern take on the adventure genre aspect too, and thematically it seems very mature and sophisticated (for a videogame at least).
Slightly concerned that it seems very linear so far - hoping that this is just the tutorial bit and there will be a bit more exploration and freedom to come. The controls sadly retain that slightly fiddly/twitchy quality that all of Rockstar's games have, but I kind of expected that.
More worryingly, the game feels a little buggy, which kind of undermines the superb atmosphere and presentation that the developers have put so much effort into. During the shootout in the early bank raid mission, a robber ran straight into a wall and continued to run on the spot until I gunned him down. Entering the bank, I wandered round and round the building, not knowing what to do. After ten minutes or so, I finally spotted a bank robber on the upper floor who I hadn't seen because he was just standing behind cover, motionless. Bullets seemed to have no effect on him, and it took about five direct hits with a shotgun to bring him down, which kind of spoiled the tense atmosphere.
Still, looking forward to delving a bit deeper into it.
Just finished this today, and apart from a few missteps towards the end (the last strand doesn't hold together as well as the rest of the game, and there's one particular design choice which didn't work for me but might for others) I loved it.
It really is an evolution of the old point and clickers I played as a kid, and was incredibly absorbing throughout. I've seen a lot of mention of bugs but apart from persistently poor streaming and the framerate diving from time to time I didn't have much trouble. Looking forward to playing through again in black and white, which I'm sure will turn out to be the best way to play.
A great, but flawed game, but great enough that the flaws are easily forgotten.
A question - do I always have to kill the perps in the street crime bits or can I subdue them somehow? The way Phelps calls for an ambulance or coroner always makes me feel like I've failed a bit, despite doing the mission...
Reckon killing them is the only way, which I found strange too. I spent the first gunfight only going for leg shots because I assumed that would be the cop way! The fact the objective text reads 'subdue' and not 'shoot to pieces' is perhaps misleading.
my console is fixed and on its way home :D so finally i'll be able to get this!
Just finished it - it was OK - not as groundbreaking as I thought it would be. And it felt excruciatingly slow at times, like getting info via the Gamewell.
The whole Truth/Doubt/Lie seemed a bit unpredictable, where sometimes 'doubt' = flying off the handle at the suspect, and there wasn't much scope for re-interviewing the suspects.
For a sandbox game, it felt a lot more linear than GTA, and I missed a lot of the touches from that franchise, such as public transport, being able to interact more generally with the world, picking fights with random strangers, even the ability to jump.
It just felt a bit of a step backwards, when you're playing something that initially feels like GTA.
The atmosphere was great though, and I thought it was a lot more interesting after [spoiler]the serial killer plot was resolved - this almost felt like a tacked-on DLC type level[/spoiler]
The ending [spoiler]was a bit final, I thought it might have been a bit more open, I couldn't see if there was a way to complete the street crimes for example[/spoiler]
QuoteThe whole Truth/Doubt/Lie seemed a bit unpredictable, where sometimes 'doubt' = flying off the handle at the suspect, and there wasn't much scope for re-interviewing the suspects.
I did the first couple of interviews/interrogations last night, and totally found this to be the case - the Truth/Doubt/Lie thing isn't intuitive at all - I bit a witnesses' head off and blew the interview when I was merely trying to hedge my bets, and it took about seven, intensely frustrating attempts to get the 'right' answer from the Jewelery store owner, when all I wanted to do was ask him why he ran from the police (which curiously wasn't an option).
The random street crimes seem a bit arbitrary, too, and actually serve to detract from the atmosphere of the game somewhat. It seems faintly ridiculous that the detectives routinely stop on the way to a crime scene to shoot a fleeing man in the back, then carry on as if nothing has happened.
Looks like this might be a 'finish as quickly as possible, then bung on eBay' type of game...
xbox "in transit to preston" reckon i'll be finally getting a go tomorrow-ish
I've seen posts elsewhere about the interrogations being random and frustrating too, but I'm really confused why people are having trouble with them. If they're lying and you have evidence to prove that you choose lie, if they're lying and you don't have evidence you choose doubt. If they're telling the truth you choose truth. These are always the right responses. As to whether or not they're lying, the post-dialog animations they slip into always make it pretty easy to tell(if they're being truthful they'll hold your gaze, otherwise they fidget and glance around) so the game is really more about collecting enough evidence and matching it correctly to different answers.
I admit though it took a couple of cases before I nailed that so it maybe could have been communicated better to the player. Also, a lot of folk seem to be getting frustrated and constantly replaying interrogations until they get the right answers, absolutely the wrong way to go about it. Regardless of how you conduct them the case will play out (maybe slightly differently) and your case notes at the end will usually show you where you slipped up. Makes a second playthrough surprisingly satisfying.
I think you've just undone your own point with this comment, Keef:
QuoteI admit though it took a couple of cases before I nailed that so it maybe could have been communicated better to the player.
I may well get the hang of it eventually, but it is indeed
very poorly communicated to the player - it could have been introduced gradually to thoroughly explain what each choice means - say the first interview you could only choose 'Truth', the second 'Lie' etc.
Quote
if they're lying and you don't have evidence you choose doubt
It sounds simple when you put it like that, but with no context 'Doubt' sounds very ambiguous - I interpreted it as "I don't know if the suspect is lying or not", but picking it resulted in Phelps losing his temper and blowing the interview before I could get any info from the suspect, with no option to retry the interview.
Allowing the player to completely blow the first interview simply because they are trying to be cautious is a very shoddy bit of design imo, and the sort of thing that should surely be ironed out in testing. Making that 'mistake' made me avoid the 'Doubt' option in the next interview which resulted in about seven very frustrating trial and error attempts until I figured out that it was in fact the 'right' answer. Very sloppy and counter-intuitive imo.
Strangely confusing too was the fact that I wasn't able to ask the suspect why he ran from the police, but the issue of his faith and some sort of racial motive came up in the questioning - seemingly at random.
As first impressions go, that's not good is it?
Yeah, Doubt essentially means 'You are lying but I can't prove it so I'm going to bully you a bit so you cave'. I still think that once you get the hang of it it's a really satisfying mechanic, I find the satisfaction of actually 5-starring a case brilliant. I'm guessing the thoughts were that letting you re-do the first main interrogation until you got it right would be enough to cement the system, but it does take a couple more before it sinks in, because you do just end up retrying until you pass and don't really learn anything.
Basically I'll concede that the system isn't well communicated (your approach of easing the player into the different responses would be great) as you're expected to pick it up purely through a couple of offhand pieces of dialog from your partner and a whole lot of trial and error. What I'm defending is the actual system itself, which I don't find to be flawed.
Fair enough. To be honest even a blank screen at the start of the interview with this in bold letters:
QuoteIf they're lying and you have evidence to prove that you choose lie, if they're lying and you don't have evidence you choose doubt. If they're telling the truth you choose truth. These are always the right responses.
...would be a vast improvement because it gives the commands some sort of context. As it is you are kind of thrown in at the deep end.
Games have come a hell of a long way in the last decade in terms of user-friendliness and accessibility, but they still have a long way to go. I frequently see examples of horrible design and storytelling in games, where if you miss one little hint or line of dialogue, you end up very confused later on.
This game is technically great, smooth as butter (on ps3 at least) and obviously gorgeous. I just wish it wasn't so damn boring. I've played about 4 full cases (after the tutorials and once you get a 'desk' job) so it may get more interesting after that but I'm really disappointed. I saw this game in development about 18 months ago (I used to work for rockstar, albeit never on this title) and it held a lot of potential back then and I've been very interested to see how it all eventually came together.
Glad I didn't pay for it!
It isn't terrible by any stretch of the imagination but it just feels like such a chore to play, a beautifully detailed and (for a game) well written chore - and its not the relative lack of action that bothers me, its the simplicity of the sleuthing and the pace of the clue gathering.
Take all this with a pinch of salt, I think I'm going off games altogether (until Disgaea 4 comes out that is).
Leaving aside the interview system I found it lacking in a few areas.
The main character isn't that engaging, I much preferred [spoiler]When it switched to Kelso, although that made the interviews with Elsa a bit weird, since it was your former character who told her to go to Kelso, and the reason for doing so. I think it would have been more interesting to have had the freedom to lean on witnesses, at the risk of jeopardising the case[/spoiler]
The city is not as involving as GTA - there's little interaction with the population or the city itself beyond driving around.
For example, I think it would have been more interesting to pick up clues from people around the crime scenes by listening in on conversations, rather than just official interviews.
It felt far too linear, even though I hit a fair amount of people driving around, there didn't seem to be any problem with that, same with unlimited ammo.
I'm not asking for it to get bogged down with managing resources, but no matter how I played it didn't really seem to be that much of a challenge as a game, and I'd expected something a bit more from the buzz it had been getting.
Maybe I'm being harsh, but it did feel like a bit of a let-down.
If anyone's into it enough to want more the DLC has gone up. There's a bunch of gubbins like outfits and extra weapons (which are no interest to me to be honest) and the 2 bonus cases that were pre-order incentives (one of the cases comes with an easter egg hunt too). It's about 300 points a case, but 800 points for a rockstar pass that gets you all of that plus another 2 cases when they're released in the next month or so. Think the pass goes up to 1000 points next week though. I bought one, had some points anyway and was intrigued at the prospect of more cases.
Maybe if they had a vigilante mode where you could go round and beat the crap out of the scumbags who got away first time round :)
Ooooooh sounds interesting, I certainly liked the game enough to get the DLC.
As for the criticisms, I can see many of the faults in hindsight, but have to say I was totally immersed in the game when I was playing it. The cases were great and the story kept me hooked right until the end.
So, for me at least, the game was a success.
lovin' it! played the first case about three times cos i rushed and pissed of the witness...
Am i the only person struggling to really get into it?
I was hooked when i saw the trailer but i dunno, it just seems to lack something?
Could just be me, i'm still only a third of the way into GTA4
Now announced for PC (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/23/l-a-noire-arriving-on-pc-this-fall-with-3d-support-and-improve/). Yay!
Cool, lets hope they do a better job of porting it to the PC that they did with GTA4.