L.A. Noire

 Switch
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 244 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 184 out of 244
  2. Mixed: 38 out of 244
  3. Negative: 22 out of 244
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  1. mtlvmpr
    Nov 26, 2017
    5
    A decent game hindered by terrible performance.
    There are many points where the game slows down when it can't keep a steady framerate. Controls also feel a bit janky.
  2. Whyeeszy
    Aug 30, 2020
    7
    LA Noire is a great title to pick up if you’re a fan of the Noire genre and a fan of attention to detail and good stories. Seeing it on the switch is a half and half situation. Having it on a mobile console like this, the game has to sacrifice graphics and frame rate, so be prepared to see the game be slow at some times and even a bit disgusting graphics wise. However, it still doesn’tLA Noire is a great title to pick up if you’re a fan of the Noire genre and a fan of attention to detail and good stories. Seeing it on the switch is a half and half situation. Having it on a mobile console like this, the game has to sacrifice graphics and frame rate, so be prepared to see the game be slow at some times and even a bit disgusting graphics wise. However, it still doesn’t take away the features from the gameplay and story itself. If you’re a hardcore LA Noire fan or a Detective fan, it’s a good thing to pick up on the switch. I wouldn’t really recommend it for any regular gamer as it’s gameplay style can be boring to some and even a bit repetitive.… Expand
  3. muzzirenti90
    Mar 16, 2018
    7
    This game is a decent port but with technical issues.
    If is your standard Rockstar game that usually never disappoint with its story and gameplay.
    If you are playing the game with the joy cons for your controller it sometimes doesn't feel that great but if you have a normal controller for the switch the controls feel a lot better. So I would suggest playing the game with a controller if    This game is a decent port but with technical issues.
    If is your standard Rockstar game that usually never disappoint with its story and gameplay.
    If you are playing the game with the joy cons for your controller it sometimes doesn't feel that great but if you have a normal controller for the switch the controls feel a lot better. So I would suggest playing the game with a controller if you have one.
    In some occasions you will notice that the conversations will be out of sync with the characters and you will experience the odd frame rate drop here and there. If this bothers you I would avoid.
    Overall it is still a decent port and at half the retail price of a normal game personally I think its worth it because I can see past some of the performance flaws since they are not a constant hindrance.    … Expand
  4. He_Never_Helps
    Feb 26, 2021
    5
    What the hell is wrong with this company? I start the game and the first thing I notice is that for some pointless gimmicky reason they added highly extensive touch controls (and they list those all clearly) but they literally don't list the actual controls you'll use to play the game. Anywhere. All their games are like this. They seem to prioritize flash and cash and and good press overWhat the hell is wrong with this company? I start the game and the first thing I notice is that for some pointless gimmicky reason they added highly extensive touch controls (and they list those all clearly) but they literally don't list the actual controls you'll use to play the game. Anywhere. All their games are like this. They seem to prioritize flash and cash and and good press over the finer points of the actual experience. I'm so sick of this design philosophy. I'll probably never buy another Rockstar game.

    The game is fine by the way. It's fun-ish and all, the writing is good except for the massive white washing masquerading as gritty realism, all the while aggressively diluting the pervasiveness of the racism and sexual violence of the original setting (again, all their games do this, which would be fine, but they pretend at an ultra realistic experience while teaching kids false history), but I just can't see clear to give any more cash to a company who thinks so little of us. Not when there are so many devs who actually like gamers and really want to make the world smarter and better. Red dead frustrated me in the same exact way. For example, did you know that probably a full 50% of cowboys were black or Hispanic? And what about the cast of red dead? Now, I'm Not at all blaming them for using white cowboys, but rather for congratulating themselves for adding a black guy and a racist and trying to act like that's realism worth applauding. They weren't doing cowboys in that game, they were doing honkey cowboy movies. That's fine, but that's not how they sell the franchise. At least they called this game "noire" while selling it as super realistic. Different specifics, but the same frustrating feeling of adding features that make for good ads and ignoring features that make for good accessibility and ownership. I mean, FromSoft is notorious for making hard, elitist games, but I always feel like they really care about my experience when i play them. It would take so little to make their games accessible to everyone, most importantly, to actually disabled gamers. Especially for such an incredibly rich dev. To me this is a much bigger sin than putting out a game that needs patching. I mean, Really? Touch controls for driving but no colorblind or dyslexic options? Just saying, it really seems to show some poor priorities.    … Expand
  5. KacperPL
    Feb 28, 2018
    7
    Good port, but it has some technical issues, the story is interesting but after playing for 5-6 hours doing the same things all over is getting boring.
  6. EdwardG
    Aug 26, 2019
    6
    L.A. Noire has a cool concept, and the facial animations are impressive to this day, but too much of the gameplay is dull and repetitive.

    Once you've played a couple of the cases, you'll see that they follow the same pattern. This wouldn't be too much of an issue if the gameplay was fun, but unfortunately, many of the things you do can be boring and tedious. Looking for clues    L.A. Noire has a cool concept, and the facial animations are impressive to this day, but too much of the gameplay is dull and repetitive.

    Once you've played a couple of the cases, you'll see that they follow the same pattern. This wouldn't be too much of an issue if the gameplay was fun, but unfortunately, many of the things you do can be boring and tedious. Looking for clues translates to walking around and waiting for an audio cue to tell you what you can interact with. Plus, if you miss something and don't have an Intuition Point (gained from levelling up sometimes) to show you where the missing clues are, you can be walking around aimlessly staring at the floor. Driving isn't particularly fun, and a lot of it can be completely skipped by asking your partner to drive for you. The combat is serviceable, if nothing to write home about. Interrogations are a lot more interesting, mainly because of how well the actors' performances are captured. However, it's often a little too difficult to tell what the protagonist, Cole Phelps, is going to say when choosing from Good Cop, Bad Cop and Accuse.

    One thing that bugged me is that I noticed a lot of pop in when driving in docked mode. Other than that and a couple of frame rate drops, the performance on Switch is alright.

    Thankfully, the atmosphere, overarching story and characters keep the game afloat. The flashbacks to WW2 flesh out the story and character motivations. Cole has a personality and ideals, so he's not just another blank slate for players to project their own personalities on to.

    After all is said and done, L.A. Noire is still a decent game with a good ending. It plays like a detective TV show set in the late 40s, and it's world feels authentic to it's time period - it's just a shame there's not a whole lot to do in it.

    If you can look past the gameplay being repetitive and unengaging at times, L.A. Noire has an entertaining main narrative that may be enough to have you playing right through to the end.    … Expand
  7. Ngachacha
    Feb 28, 2019
    5
    Bsdies the glitches, the game wasn't very fun or exciting at all. Rockstar should've taken some notes from Capcom's Phoenix Wright series when it comes to investigation and interrogating suspects in a fun and progressive manner. Essentially when you're interrogating suspects, if you get it wrong (i.e., accuse them and use the wrong evidence to support your accusation) that's it. Too bad,Bsdies the glitches, the game wasn't very fun or exciting at all. Rockstar should've taken some notes from Capcom's Phoenix Wright series when it comes to investigation and interrogating suspects in a fun and progressive manner. Essentially when you're interrogating suspects, if you get it wrong (i.e., accuse them and use the wrong evidence to support your accusation) that's it. Too bad, so sad, you'd lose that suspect and you wouldn't e able to use them later when you're interrogating someone else. It's very easy to arrest the criminal without enough evidence and what ends up happening is the criminal gets released due to a lack of evidence and your boss yells at you and you move onto the next crime. Although there aren't massive consequences for failing this investigations, you don't get a sense of satisfaction from successfully solving the case. Again, Rockstar should take notes from Phoenix Wright games, where you have the ability to try again if you make a mistake during interrogations.

    L.A. Noire on the Switch was incredibly buggy and full of glitches - people's heads were missing or during interrogations there'd be NO options to select form, forcing me to restart the entire game. The game was consistently slow when driving as in the background and the roads would load when you drive. Sometimes I'd be driving on a blank background and then the background would appear later. I bought a physical version of the game, so I'm not sure of a digital version would've helped with this problem but I doubt it.

    Overall, a very bad experience.    … Expand
  8. IFLiden
    Nov 25, 2018
    5
    Pros:
    - Interviewing/interrogating people of interest is enjoyable
    - Driving around is fun Cons: - Shooting/aiming is horrific - Story is mundane and repetitive - Doesn't hold up on a technical stance (buggy) You'll often find yourself experiencing massive FPS drops and chipped/laggy audio. You'll hear honking horns from cars lagging every time you're out on the street. The game    Pros:
    - Interviewing/interrogating people of interest is enjoyable
    - Driving around is fun

    Cons:
    - Shooting/aiming is horrific
    - Story is mundane and repetitive
    - Doesn't hold up on a technical stance (buggy)

    You'll often find yourself experiencing massive FPS drops and chipped/laggy audio. You'll hear honking horns from cars lagging every time you're out on the street. The game is, as mentioned, very repetitive.    … Expand
  9. DanielIbarra909
    Aug 22, 2019
    7
    It's a good game. Good mechanics, good history, there is no side quest as such. Pretty linear but there is so much room for errors. This Switch port it's not very good. Check for price deals.
  10. ResetButton
    Dec 22, 2020
    6
    It looks great on Switch but the gameplay is very “point & clicky.” I don’t feel like I’m investigating scenes. Instead, you walk around environments waiting for investigation prompts to pop up. I’ve tried playing this several times now thinking it’ll be great if I give it another shot. I always come to the same conclusion and bail after the first hours. It’s a shame because I love theIt looks great on Switch but the gameplay is very “point & clicky.” I don’t feel like I’m investigating scenes. Instead, you walk around environments waiting for investigation prompts to pop up. I’ve tried playing this several times now thinking it’ll be great if I give it another shot. I always come to the same conclusion and bail after the first hours. It’s a shame because I love the concept, pace and visuals.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

53
#53 Best Switch Game of 2017
35
#35 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2017
9
#9 Most Shared Switch Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 47 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 47
  3. Negative: 0 out of 47
  1. games(TM)
    Jan 25, 2018
    70
    Unnecessary additions are irritating. [Issue#196, p.88]
  2. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Jan 7, 2018
    80
    Even all these years later, L.A. Noire is still an interesting and distinctive experience. [Issue #31 – January/February 2018, p. 36E]
  3. FNintendo
    Dec 23, 2017
    70
    L.A. Noire on the Nintendo Switch brings back the best of this criminal investigation game, as its excellent actor performances and facial animation still look impressive. As unique as L.A. Noire is, however, the conversion to the Nintendo Switch also has its flaws and it doesn't add anything too significant to the original game.
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