L.A. Noire

[Goaty]

Hehehe! thanks to Ctrl+Alt+Del

[Richmond Clements]

Awesome.

[Mudcrab]

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  )

Seems interesting though, sounds like that recent noire detective thingy. Yep, Heavy Rain, although maybe less linear than that was.

Heh, love the cartoon 

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.

[Keef Monkey]

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.

[Misanthrope]

Meh.

That is all.

So I take it from your in depth critique , that you have played it?

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

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).

[mogzilla]

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

[Mudcrab]

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 

[davethomson]

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!

[Keef Monkey]

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.

[radiator]

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.

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.

[Pete Wells]

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!

[HOO-HAA]

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...

[Pete Wells]

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!

[radiator]

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.