L.A. Noire

 Xbox 360
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 998 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 717 out of 998
  2. Mixed: 207 out of 998
  3. Negative: 74 out of 998
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  1. mj787878
    Jul 14, 2011
    3
    LA Noire is just not a good game. I thought the point of video games was that you could CHOOSE what happens on the screen. This is not progress. You don't actually get to use any skills a detective would use, like deduction, critical thinking or even reflexes. You could get through most of this game blindfolded. The acting is good, but since they are actors they are of course "lying" allLA Noire is just not a good game. I thought the point of video games was that you could CHOOSE what happens on the screen. This is not progress. You don't actually get to use any skills a detective would use, like deduction, critical thinking or even reflexes. You could get through most of this game blindfolded. The acting is good, but since they are actors they are of course "lying" all the time, eliminating the possibility of actually picking up on involuntary tells or "microexpressions". You will be forced to charge suspects you KNOW to be innocent, because you simply don't get other dialogue options. The game makes (lets?) you kill a lot of people in filler sequences but it is totally detached from the story. And the cars are all the same. Not a good game at all. Respect to the actors and animators though… Expand
  2. Xphost
    Aug 25, 2011
    0
    terrible....just f**king terrible. absolute garbage. You either drive or shoot or question. A linear story tantamount to watching cardboard decay. Everyone loves to hate anything successful (i.e: halo and COD franchise) and yet lord this garbage over our head calling it innovative. Its not innovative, its just lazy and bland. It boils down to an interactive movie experience with aterrible....just f**king terrible. absolute garbage. You either drive or shoot or question. A linear story tantamount to watching cardboard decay. Everyone loves to hate anything successful (i.e: halo and COD franchise) and yet lord this garbage over our head calling it innovative. Its not innovative, its just lazy and bland. It boils down to an interactive movie experience with a disappointing ending, that will leave you wanting your time and money back.… Expand
  3. Phattee
    May 26, 2011
    0
    If you love GTA, then chances are you will not like this game. LA Noire consists mostly of carefully driving yourself from one heavily-scripted, semi-interactive cutscene to the next, and if you don't want to drive you don't even have to do that, you can let your partner do it. The sandbox aspect could be entirely removed from the game and you'd still have the same game. While interactingIf you love GTA, then chances are you will not like this game. LA Noire consists mostly of carefully driving yourself from one heavily-scripted, semi-interactive cutscene to the next, and if you don't want to drive you don't even have to do that, you can let your partner do it. The sandbox aspect could be entirely removed from the game and you'd still have the same game. While interacting with the world, you can't jump, you can't run (you can do a brisk trot, but that's it), you can't climb things, hell it won't even let you pull out your gun. This is an extremely restrictive game that completely departs from what we've come to expect from Rockstar.… Expand
  4. SpunkyMonkey
    Jul 24, 2012
    3
    LA Noire is simply Dragon's Lair for the new Millennium, and I feel for the folk who get suckered into loving "games" like these. LA Noire simply does not have enough interaction, enough repercussions or enough substance on the whole to be anything more than a really boring movie. Also, what little interaction is there in the game is pretty badly done too. The difference between doubting aLA Noire is simply Dragon's Lair for the new Millennium, and I feel for the folk who get suckered into loving "games" like these. LA Noire simply does not have enough interaction, enough repercussions or enough substance on the whole to be anything more than a really boring movie. Also, what little interaction is there in the game is pretty badly done too. The difference between doubting a person's answer and accusing them of lie-ing is often silly, and then it doesn't feel consequential to anyone other than completion-ists; the actual "action" itself feels very linear and very much stuck on a railroad track, the massive LA world contains nothing of note; and the main protagonist is a prick who quickly becomes annoying. There came a point in the game where I was asked to "shadow" a suspect in a cafe - after a few fails the game asked me "would you like to skip this?" - FFS! A key point in the plot and it's treated as if it doesn't matter - it just made things feel cheap and it was as if the game admitted "yeah, this bits a bit crap but we thought we'd chuck it in anyway". Also on the whole the plot seems very disjointed at times and, if you play it out differently to how most would (ie go to a later destination before the obvious one), then the plot often gets a few jumbled up lines thrown in which don't make sense. Other than superb facial animations I really can't see why anyone would be interested in such a pointless game.… Expand
  5. RyanFG
    Jun 12, 2011
    0
    With the logo on the bottom of the box and the extensive hype and advertising you have to wonder what they were boasting about. Okay, the face motion technology is well done and does bring some elements of pleasant suprise but apart from that you really don't have anything else to do. You can play through the whole game and not feel as though you have bought a sandbox, Rockstar game. YouWith the logo on the bottom of the box and the extensive hype and advertising you have to wonder what they were boasting about. Okay, the face motion technology is well done and does bring some elements of pleasant suprise but apart from that you really don't have anything else to do. You can play through the whole game and not feel as though you have bought a sandbox, Rockstar game. You are not allowed to pull your gun where and when you want because that is completely up to the game and thee storyline. When you compare this to a game like Red Dead redemption where you could hog tie a nun to the train tracks if you desired this game seems very, very tame and restrictive. You aren't even allowed to run at more than a jog. For a game with such innovative features it seems as though the creators have focused and been swept along with this new technology and forgot about the reason people are really buying this game which is to be a cop in the 40's in L.A. with your own brand of justice ready to be issued but it feels as though you are really no more than a passenger in a story. There really isn't any refreshing elements of the game after 4 hours of gameplay and certainly lacks any desire for dedicating a whole evening to it. Poor effort all in all and seems like a waste of money and a big disappointment from a big company. If I hadn't played a lot of previous Rockstar titles I would be wondering whether I would invest in new games but hopefully they will learn from this mistake and stick to what they know from now on e.g. Red Dead and GTA.… Expand
  6. Unimatix
    May 22, 2011
    4
    Very disappointed with this game especially as I had been looking forward to it for so long. It's not red dead - it lacks the freedom to go and do as you please and removes the moral choices from the game (well u are a cop after all I suppose). It's very repetitive it's the same thing over and over - go to crime pick stuff up go ask a few questions annnd go do it again! The driving feelsVery disappointed with this game especially as I had been looking forward to it for so long. It's not red dead - it lacks the freedom to go and do as you please and removes the moral choices from the game (well u are a cop after all I suppose). It's very repetitive it's the same thing over and over - go to crime pick stuff up go ask a few questions annnd go do it again! The driving feels poor and lacks any real purpose in the grand scheme. The graphics are not the greatest the environment looks quite plain IMO. There are some shocking frame rate drops, the facial animation is good but looks a bit ott at times. Stay well clear if you are looking for the next red dead or gta - my copy has been traded in already - sorry rockstar!… Expand
  7. Andy8472
    Jun 8, 2011
    3
    if you thought gta 4 was repetitive, you're about to get blown out of the water. so, you either drive chase someone, on foot chase someone, have a shootout and do an iterview... now, imagine these are always exactly the same, and now imagine every mission is just these 4 things, over and over and over and over again... well, thats la noire
  8. Funkyfoobar
    May 21, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The title, on many fronts, is quite a disappointment. It doesn't quite work as a game due to it's restrictive narrative and the way it forces you to do things in a certain way or order and it doesn't quite work as an interactive movie due to the illogicality of many crimes and the shallowness of the characters. To give a view examples: early on in the game you chase someone on a movie set which crumbles under your feet... really? That completely took me out of the detective feel and made me feel like playing Super Mario instead. After the first couple of homicides I figured out who was probably behind all of them, so when the character finally presented himself after doing tons of more of these boring cases, it was no surprise at all. When he said "Do you know who I am?!" as if it was a great mystery I found myself yawning out who he was. The main problem is: you can't go after this character or investigate him further earlier on in the game. You need to continue working all the other cases first. Endlessly trailing a woman who got money from bookies to have her stabbed in the bathroom of a bus station. Of course. Because although everyone is having a really hard time trying to find her, the shooter knew she'd be in that bus station, and especially that she'd be visiting the toilet where he was hiding out, waiting for her. Fortunately, after trailing the woman through all kinds of alleys my partner arrived at the bus station at the same moment I did, as if he had a GPS tracker on me or as if we had contact over the radio. Illogical things like that really turned me off. Another thing that was a big disappointment is the interrogation system. Instead of being able to confront suspects with evidence, you need to listen to them talk and can only confront them if you think they're lying. This I found to be rather restrictive as well. Besides that, whenever you doubt someone or accuse them of lying, Mr Phelps starts to scream and shout at the suspect like some drill sergeant. The over acting get's so bad it feels like watching a Bollywood movie at times. Accepting a call on the radio means you will arrive somewhere, chase someone (by foot or car) and eventually shoot them. I simply stopped doing them after 10 or so simply because it was always the same. The default police cars drive like crap. So get another one you say? There are tons of cooler cars hidden throughout the city, but getting them and driving those instead is a lot of hassle, especially when 9 out of 10 times you will be confronted with the standard car after a cut scene, the car you were driving simply magically disappeared. Almost run someone over during a car chase and you get a big warning on your screen, you're not supposed to do that as a cop! But you can steal any parked car anywhere without it ever being an issue. After playing more than thirteen hours I simply wonder if anyone actually tested this game, whether no one during the testing was bothered by these glitches and illogical things going on and how on earth this game got such high ratings from the 'professional' reviewers. Isn't there any good? Well, not much in my opinion. The graphics? We've seen them all before in the GTA and Mafia series. The revolutionary motionscan technology? Sure, it looks nice but it doesn't make up for all the other flaws with this game. At least you get to spend a lot of time picking up women, hanging in smokey jazz joints, drive around with your roof down while loud jazz music is blurting from your speakers, right? Nope, not even that. If only they'd hired some real detectives to play the game and point out it's flaws, hired people like James Ellroy to help write the scenario and did some proper testing, it might have been a great title.… Expand
  9. BoabDreeps
    Jun 2, 2011
    1
    It has the Rockstar logo on the box, so I was expecting great things. But...It's just...boring.

    During one case, I had to chase this bloke who had a shot gun, so I was looking forward to a bit of gun play. He hid behind a wall, so I took cover too. He popped out and I took aim and shot him in the arm. He flopped down dead, action over. Booo! Car chase sequence. The cars handle just a    It has the Rockstar logo on the box, so I was expecting great things. But...It's just...boring.

    During one case, I had to chase this bloke who had a shot gun, so I was looking forward to a bit of gun play. He hid behind a wall, so I took cover too. He popped out and I took aim and shot him in the arm. He flopped down dead, action over. Booo!

    Car chase sequence. The cars handle just a bit too well. I'm expecting some over steer from a big old American car, but they corner like they're on rails. This caused me to mount the kerb at high speed. Wouldn't have looked good, me a Police detective, smearing some innocents along the pavement. Fortunately for them, they just bounced off the car like they were made of rubber. Boooo!

    That's as far as it goes for the good bits.

    The rest was the usual:
    Wander around looking for clues. Pick things up. Look at them. If it's relevant it goes in the note book. Dull, dull, dull.

    Pre-scripted witness/suspect questions and the Truth/Doubt/Lie option following the answer. That gets really boring after the first two Q&A sessions.

    Why is this game getting such high scores?
    The face animation does look good. But it doesn't make for a good game. It's a gimmick. This is the gaming equivalent of the Emperor's New Clothes.    … Expand
  10. TheSoup
    Jul 12, 2011
    3
    The facial movements are excellent, however, that is pretty much all this game brings to the table. It would have been a lot better had it not been so repetitive. Every "chase" is just following a guy until a scripted event happens. Because of that, you never really feel the thrill of the chase, you only end up waiting for it to be over. Also, why is it that everytime you get called toThe facial movements are excellent, however, that is pretty much all this game brings to the table. It would have been a lot better had it not been so repetitive. Every "chase" is just following a guy until a scripted event happens. Because of that, you never really feel the thrill of the chase, you only end up waiting for it to be over. Also, why is it that everytime you get called to respond to a street crime, you have to drive to the complete opposite side of the map (about 15 minutes of drive time for about 45 seconds of action)? There's nothing fun about that. I'm a huge fan of Red Dead and the whole GTA series but I got bored with this game halfway through and haven't picked it up since.… Expand
  11. HWAS
    Jul 22, 2011
    3
    More proof that Rockstar needs to stick to GTA and thats it. Never have they made a game even resembling something enjoyable outside of their roaming sandbox super hit and this game only further proves it. The plot is completely disconnected, the gameplay is simple and boring, its literally the most repetitive game ive played so far on the next generation consoles. The characters areMore proof that Rockstar needs to stick to GTA and thats it. Never have they made a game even resembling something enjoyable outside of their roaming sandbox super hit and this game only further proves it. The plot is completely disconnected, the gameplay is simple and boring, its literally the most repetitive game ive played so far on the next generation consoles. The characters are annoying beyond belief and whats more is that this game was hailed as amazing when it doesnt even live up to half-ass. Not even worth renting.… Expand
  12. Logicle
    May 20, 2011
    2
    Pros:
    - Great facial motion capture technology
    - Same control and feel of other GTA games - Good voice acting Cons: - 6 hours in and I still haven't found any fun in the game. - Very short on a variety of game mechanics - Boring play cycle: 1) Play "Where's Waldo" with clues until the music stops. 2) Interview person of interest. 3) Make an arrest (chase). 4) Interrogate and convict. -    Pros:
    - Great facial motion capture technology
    - Same control and feel of other GTA games
    - Good voice acting

    Cons:
    - 6 hours in and I still haven't found any fun in the game.
    - Very short on a variety of game mechanics
    - Boring play cycle: 1) Play "Where's Waldo" with clues until the music stops. 2) Interview person of interest. 3) Make an arrest (chase). 4) Interrogate and convict.
    - painfully linear progression through the story with inconsequential radio missions on the side.

    Overall, this game is terribly disappointing.

    There are so many opportunities for this game to be great that were wasted. The game tracks experience and will "level up" the main character, but none of the improvements make the player's character inherently better at solving crimes, making arrests or interrogation. It feels like an ambitious screen writer wanted to take a crack at bringing the silver screen to the console, but forgot that to be a great console experience requires more than being a film production. Buying a video game is buying fun, in a box, not just a passive entertainment experience. $60 later and I am still searching for the fun and trying to understand why the "professional" metacritic rating is so high while user's are panning the game as mediocre.

    Save some money and pass this title.    … Expand
  13. Richie
    Jun 30, 2011
    2
    You will totally forget that you are playing a video game! You will totally forget you are having fun! Intrigued?

    Okay! Do you like "Murder She Wrote"? Do you enjoy choose your own adventure books? Do you enjoy watching games instead of playing them? Are you bad at traditional video games? Well if you answered yes you SHOULD definitely buy L.A. Noire, a game that focuses on facial    You will totally forget that you are playing a video game! You will totally forget you are having fun! Intrigued?

    Okay!

    Do you like "Murder She Wrote"? Do you enjoy choose your own adventure books? Do you enjoy watching games instead of playing them? Are you bad at traditional video games? Well if you answered yes you SHOULD definitely buy L.A. Noire, a game that focuses on facial animation, voice acting, and the boring life of a wimpy little detective. It's so fun I forgot I was having any, wait a minute?    … Expand
  14. Miz3k
    May 18, 2011
    2
    I really don't see what all the positive buzz for this game is all about. I have never purchased a game and been so compelled to return it the very next day, and I've been gaming for decades now. I at least played Dragon Age 2 until the 3rd act just in case it did offer something to redeem itself, I couldn't make it that far through this one. I knew what I was getting into when I pickedI really don't see what all the positive buzz for this game is all about. I have never purchased a game and been so compelled to return it the very next day, and I've been gaming for decades now. I at least played Dragon Age 2 until the 3rd act just in case it did offer something to redeem itself, I couldn't make it that far through this one. I knew what I was getting into when I picked this up, that this would be a new experience and not something like GTA, so people can't use that excuse for why i didn't like this game. What I didn't expect, however, was how mediocre and boring an attempt Team Bondi had crafted. For starters, there are some major issues with this game that most people seem to ignore. Before the game even gets started good I'm hit by crushing drops in frame-rate, and these continue for the entire time I played the game. Weird, because this game doesn't look all that great. Aside from the facial-work (which was fine but looked like actors acting way too hard to convey emotion, it is unique, but to me doesn't look natural), I'd say this game graphically is average at best, Mafia 2, GTA 4, and Red Dead Redemption all look much better. Driving is a hassle. There is no compass or arrow so you have to rely on another worthless Rockstar mini-map or your partner, he's no use however because he never shuts up long enough to give you any assistance. NPC cars drive like maniacs, not following driving laws, they don't stop when they should, they speed and plow into you like you aren't even there, and they end up causing traffic jams that cause you to have to find an alternate route to get where you are going. The handling is also way too twitchy. The gunfights are ridiculous, as any shot an enemy receives is fatal, it is far too simplistic. Chasing criminals on foot is as simple as holding down the run button and pointing the camera where you want to go, the game does all the platforming for you, lame. The rest of the game boils down to being a "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" mini-game (you're given lifelines like "poll the audience" and "remove one answer") wrapped inside a boring point and click adventure. You wander around a crime scene and look for obviously placed evidence, point to which one you want to look at and then relevant info is put into your notepad. Music plays and the controller vibrates when you're near a clue. Wowee! That's revolutionary! Then to the worst part of the game, interrogation. You shift from looking at your notebook and the person you're interviewing and select words, phrases, and evidence. The person reacts, problem is you really can't tell if they're telling the truth or not. They could look like they're lying and be telling the truth and vice versa. You can either believe them, doubt them, or call them a liar. Sometimes if you doubt them they confess something, but if you accuse them flat-out they refuse to answer anymore questions, there really isn't any rhyme or reason to anything they say or do, leading to multiple retries to get the desired result. This leads to the biggest problem with the game, the save feature. I thought games couldn't have a more arbitrary and fun-sapping save feature than those in the Dead Rising series, wrong. There is only one save file, and although there are saves at checkpoints, if you restart, you have to go all the way back to the beginning of the case, not where the game auto-saved, pointless. Some of these cases are very long and all of your progress up to the restart point is lost. The game is all about trial and error, and punishes you if you don't get a desired result. Making matters worse is the fact that if you mess up you could miss out on clues for upcoming or connected cases. Why punish the player? I should have the option to retry a section I wasn't happy with without having to start the case all over. There are also long cutscenes you can't skip through. On top of all this the story is disjointed and boring, there are plenty of poor attempts at humor, and I didn't particularly like any of the characters either. This game is an almost-broken, repetitious mess. I will be staying away from Team Bondi's future attempts like the plague. I'm all for new experiences, they do need to be fun though. Heck, Heavy Rain was one big quick-time event, but at least it was fun and had a good story.… Expand
  15. Rosenzweigjcb
    May 17, 2011
    4
    I'll start with the game mechanics. They basically ripped the whole feel of the game including driving, walking, brawls, shooting, etcetera from the GTA engine. While this is okay, they didn't add anything new in innovative gameplay. Unless you count having your camera locked in a specific action as your character does something (searching a dead body for evidence). The cases themselvesI'll start with the game mechanics. They basically ripped the whole feel of the game including driving, walking, brawls, shooting, etcetera from the GTA engine. While this is okay, they didn't add anything new in innovative gameplay. Unless you count having your camera locked in a specific action as your character does something (searching a dead body for evidence). The cases themselves simply aren't very tough. Having played 5 hours on my 360 and 3 hours on the PS3, I can safely assume that I am out of the tutorial section of the game and that this is the difficulty the cases have. You simply gather evidence, and at first I thought this was nice, there was some dummy evidence that was useless and only meant to throw you off, but it was all scripted. It's not like they just littered the scene with things you'd find at a crime scene or a house, they made everything you can pick up there for a reason. So instead of having to cycle through hundreds of pieces of evidence or objects that I could use to extract information out of people, I basically had maybe a dozen or so items that would appear in my notebook when questioning people. I was hoping for the ability to collect thousands of useless things with only a few being of any relevance to the case and leaving me to sit down and actually THINK which piece of evidence I should use for my situation, rather it be questioning a witness or interrogating someone. The consequences are pretty limited too... I know I'm nitpicking, but this is a serious issue. What happens when you fail a case? You get thrown back to the closest check point before you messed up and failed the case. I was hoping failing a case would simply never let you replay it again in that campaign, thus making people be cautious with their actions before making sudden moves. That or they could have at least have you start over again at the beginning of the case. The witnesses and suspects are way too obvious in their emotions. It basically rolls out like this: Is he innocent? Then he'll be rational when you ask him questions. Is he not innocent? Then he'll act hostile and irrational to the slightest question you ask him. There are times when this isn't the case, but it seemed like it was too easy. Intuition points... I am nit picking now, I admit it. They're basically hint cards, and there is nothing wrong with it, but it's just that... the game is so easy. If you have any critical thinking skills, then you won't need the intuition points hardly if at all. The graphics. I know this is the icing on the cake and not anything you should grade the game on (unless it's obviously bad), but the graphics are mediocre. It looks like a game from late 2006. The cut scenes were obsessive. I simply hate cut scenes in games. They remove gameplay and any interaction you have with the scene at all. They could have at least had it scripted, because it was completely unnecessary to take ALL control away from you without letting you at least experience through your controller. They need to stop this, period.

    The sounds were pretty good. There are times in the game where I noticed the sound engineering at work, and I applaud them for it. It's not the greatest in terms of sound engineering, but there is clearly talent in that sector.

    The environment however is lacking. It's very non responsive in general. The civilians don't look up at you when you're chasing a criminal, they don't even make any acknowledgement of you unless you near run them over.

    This is all I can think of for this review, so I'll draw this to an end. The game was certainly a change of heart for Rockstar (they co-developed it and published it, don't you dare tell me this wasn't heavily influenced by Rockstar) and they tried venturing out into unknown territory. I'll give them a "bravo" for going beyond the medium and not simply rehasing GTA over and over, like with GTA 1911, or other wise known as Red Dead Redemption. However, they did not deliver it very well. The cases are too easy, the gameplay mechanics seem very old and not very improved upon, and it just doesn't feel like it's own game. It feels more like an expansion pack or a developers mod for GTA IV. This game will receive 10/10s from many 14 year olds, I assure you, just because it's a Rockstar publication and co-development. I almost feel like giving it a 0 to counteract the perfect scores, but I will not. A 4 seems like an appropriate grade, albeit may be viewed as a bit harsh, for this game. There was so much potential with this game, but it simply failed to bring it out.    … Expand
  16. Chopper1957
    May 18, 2011
    1
    This game has good acting, but it's really not my taste. I like a little action in my games, and design that isn't so static. I guess I'm just not into this genre in games. I'd rather watch a good crime movie and play something with teeth. Can't wait for the next Gears. :)
  17. sdwillie
    Sep 23, 2011
    0
    I really wish I knew what happened to Rockstar, because GTA3 was as much fun as I've had playing a video game. it's also the last time I nad fun playing a game put out by Rockstar. Their 'games' are technically brilliant. The graphics are outstanding, the sounds are spot on they do a solid job creating environments and mood, but their games don't have the tiniest bit of fun in them.
  18. Gargus
    Mar 8, 2013
    1
    I grew up loving the hardboiled detective film noire types of movies so when I heard about this I was quite excited since it was right up my alley.

    Sadly though the end product is nothing like it could have been. This is basically a snooze fest disguised as a game. Honestly, if it didn't have Rockstar's name on the box it wouldn't be rated highly as it is or sold as well despite the    I grew up loving the hardboiled detective film noire types of movies so when I heard about this I was quite excited since it was right up my alley.

    Sadly though the end product is nothing like it could have been. This is basically a snooze fest disguised as a game. Honestly, if it didn't have Rockstar's name on the box it wouldn't be rated highly as it is or sold as well despite the fact Rockstar did not make this game.

    My main dislikes with the game are.......

    1- You never really detect anything. You walk around till you get a little chime meaning you press the x button and pickup the clue. If the clue needs to be examined further the game will tell you so. Once you have the clues your partner will signal you it's time to go somewhere else. The game basically walks you through detecting everything and finding clues. It tells you when you need to hit what buttons and where.

    2- You can't mess up interrogations. This was lauded as a big feature for the game. If you blow the interrogation then you just do it again. Even if you guess wrong when your judging a person's true intentions you can still win the game without ever getting one right. You can go right through the game by guessing everything wrong when its decision time while interviewing someone. The game basically won't let you make mistakes that stop the game play and there are no consequences for anything during interrogations. There is no need to study a person's facial reactions or what they say because it doesn't matter. Guess right? No advantage. Guess wrong? No punishment.

    3- The facial animations while good are just a gimmick. Another big selling point for the game is just a gimmick. Again looking at people's faces during interrogation to guess if they are lying or not doesn't matter since you don't have to be right. The facial animations are nice but it doesn't matter aesthetically because their bodies still move like stiff puppets. And they still aren't lifelike because they are over exaggerated to be noticeable. I personally wish they hadn't wasted all the money on filming actors in a fancy studio with all this high tech equipment and instead used the money to hire better writers for the game and work on making it more fun instead of just being a gateway for their facial animation tech. Honestly the animations felt more like a tech demo they were hoping to get other developers to license the tech for their games.

    4- The game is incredibly linear. Yes a couple times you can chose to shake down a bartender instead of checking up on a drug addict but you never really get to chose anything. The game firmly holds your hand from the start to the finish and never let's go. I felt more like a errand boy out driving from point A to point B and then from C to D.

    5- The storyline while not bad isn't that great. The main storyline starting out builds and builds and builds then suddenly it just stops and comes to a half with a very paper thin plot excuse and then suddenly you thrust off in another direction with no looking back. They just go to all this trouble of building up to something and then suddenly pull the rug out and leave you unsatisfied. The ending is very, very unsatisfying as well.

    6- Team bondi has been saying the game isn't finished and that's easily noticeable just playing through it. They left the game kind of shallow in order to sell more DLC to gamers and that's obvious since they have been releasing DLC since its release and have recently announced more. It's just a shame they would release a 60 dollar game partially gutted so they can sell DLC and turn it into a 100 dollar game.

    7- 60% of the game is still just grand theft auto. Just like in grand theft auto you have to drive a car for hours and hours and hours while you playing doing absolutely nothing but going up and down the same boring streets as a time sink. You can take any car you want like in GTA, you'll waste hours of time driving just like GTA, when you run it's just like in GTA, when you shoot or fight it's just like GTA, in fact everything that isn't investigating or interrogating is just like GTA.

    In the end this game is wasted potential. I really wish I had waited till it eventually drops to 5 bucks or less because that's all it's worth. I had a lot of fun for about 6 hours and after that I find myself playing it just to finish it since I paid for it. I was really disappointed in this game.    … Expand
  19. Keeny
    Nov 17, 2011
    3
    Never in my life have I felt the impulse to return a video game within the first hour of playing it. Where do I start? Yes, the facial rendering technology is amazing. Yes, I realize that L.A. Noire is more a refined, interactive story than a fast-paced video game. I bought the game knowing all these things. However, upon execution, it never lived up to the hype. The "last straw" of myNever in my life have I felt the impulse to return a video game within the first hour of playing it. Where do I start? Yes, the facial rendering technology is amazing. Yes, I realize that L.A. Noire is more a refined, interactive story than a fast-paced video game. I bought the game knowing all these things. However, upon execution, it never lived up to the hype. The "last straw" of my experience was the sluggishness of the controls. They felt slow, burdened, as if the lead character was walking through jelly. All of this is coupled with a repetitive set of investigations that failed to leave any lasting impression. At the end of the day L.A. Noire was a real disappointment.… Expand
  20. Jbrizzy
    Feb 24, 2012
    4
    This game was just boring as hell, AS HELL!! I was very disappointed as i was somewhat hyped about this ,but after a good hour worth of gameplay ,I just wanted to go back to my bed and take a nap. This game doesn't even get interesting until the last chapter, but by then you would have most likely given up playing this repetitve mess overall. And there is Absoulutely no build up too theThis game was just boring as hell, AS HELL!! I was very disappointed as i was somewhat hyped about this ,but after a good hour worth of gameplay ,I just wanted to go back to my bed and take a nap. This game doesn't even get interesting until the last chapter, but by then you would have most likely given up playing this repetitve mess overall. And there is Absoulutely no build up too the ending, so if you don't pay close attention, you wont know what the hell is going on torwards the end. Rockstar has already proven that a Logo on a box is not a game make with that crappy State of emergency game, so idk why people blame it on Rockstar, Blame the developers. this game was just too overhyped and idk why anyone would even consider buying the DLC for this Just to play more generic, repetitve, boring point and click missions.… Expand
  21. Sidders
    Feb 7, 2012
    4
    When i first got this i was really excited about it!. But it was one of the biggest disappointments of the year for me!. The graphics are absolutely beautiful, and the way it plays it great! same as the GTA franchis, it was the story that let me down the most. Too say the least i hated it! i have never played a game which has been as repetitive as this one (and i've played AssassinsWhen i first got this i was really excited about it!. But it was one of the biggest disappointments of the year for me!. The graphics are absolutely beautiful, and the way it plays it great! same as the GTA franchis, it was the story that let me down the most. Too say the least i hated it! i have never played a game which has been as repetitive as this one (and i've played Assassins Creed). 1st mission - investigate the crime scene, find evidence, interview some suspects, chase somebody, find out who done it...RINSE AND REPEAT!. This is basically it for each mission throughout the game. 4/10 purely because of the graphics.… Expand
  22. BudMan
    Nov 23, 2012
    1
    I would call this game L.A. Bore. This game is worse then GTA 4 and im not even sure how thats possable. I was so bored playing this game. What good is an open world you can do nothing in. Plus the story is lame.
  23. Calebd2
    Dec 11, 2014
    4
    First off, the design and graphics in this game are very impressive. Everything about it looks good. However, that is about all I can say positive for this title. Once you get past that there is very little holding this game up. The story and characters are incredibly boring. The mechanics are sloppy and slow. Tasks become very repetitive and unrewarding after just a few hours. One canFirst off, the design and graphics in this game are very impressive. Everything about it looks good. However, that is about all I can say positive for this title. Once you get past that there is very little holding this game up. The story and characters are incredibly boring. The mechanics are sloppy and slow. Tasks become very repetitive and unrewarding after just a few hours. One can quickly decipher the formula for the correct responses to character interactions.… Expand
  24. InkstaindWretch
    Jan 6, 2016
    3
    I wanted to enjoy this game. I really, really did. I absolutely love film noir flicks and hard-boiled detective novels, so a game inspired by them was right up my alley, I thought. Play a tough cop in post-World War II Los Angeles solving mysteries? Sign me up! But dear god was this game frustrating to play. Eventually I just had to give it up.

    The central mechanic in solving mysteries    I wanted to enjoy this game. I really, really did. I absolutely love film noir flicks and hard-boiled detective novels, so a game inspired by them was right up my alley, I thought. Play a tough cop in post-World War II Los Angeles solving mysteries? Sign me up! But dear god was this game frustrating to play. Eventually I just had to give it up.

    The central mechanic in solving mysteries -- a mini-game of reading non-player characters' reactions during interviews and interrogations to determine if they are lying -- just doesn't work. The game's supposedly innovative animation just cannot mimic a real-life person's face accurately enough to make this possible and so trying to "read" the animations is endlessly frustrating.

    Similarly, the mechanic to find "clues" -- making the controller vibrate when the player gets close to them -- is actually less realistic than the usual video game method of highlighting objects the player can interact with so they stand out from the backgrounds. At least then you do have to pay attention and look around.

    Couple all that with the clunkiest, least intuitive driving system I have ever played and the game's insistence that you continually use it and you have a perfect recipe for aggravation, not enjoyment. It really undermines the immersiveness too. It's hard to view the game's protagonist as the stalwart law enforcement officer the designers want you to see him as when you cannot travel anywhere without him repeatedly smashing into other cars or running over pedestrians.

    It's a shame too because the designers clearly put a lot of work into re-creating the L.A. of the 1940s and genuinely tried to create something new and unique that would stretch the boundaries for future video games. But it just doesn't work.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2011
9
#9 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2011
7
#7 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 83 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 78 out of 83
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 83
  3. Negative: 0 out of 83
  1. Absolute Games
    Jul 26, 2011
    66
    Look past the glitz of technical achievements, richly designed sets, ostensibly interactive environments, and you will see the real L.A. Noire – a vapid adventure with a hole-ridden plot, a boring unsympathetic hero, and rough stitches in places where content should be.
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  2. Play.tm
    Jul 13, 2011
    75
    In attempting to ape the triumphs of another medium, it overlooks the triumphs of its own. The result is disappointing game, but an impressive interactive experience.
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  3. CD-Action
    Jul 1, 2011
    85
    L.A. Noire is a new breed of adventure game. It's quality and scale completely eclipse even the most important achievements in this genre and I strongly recommend it as the best interactive detective story of all time. [June 2011, p.52]
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