La noire review of gambling addiction. Review of the game L.A. noire. Let him be mixed with dirt, but his hands are clean
GTA LA
You have probably already heard about L.A. noire. The first trailer was released almost seven years ago, then the game disappeared from the radar for a long time, but there was still a lot of noise. Everyone knows that this is something very cool. Therefore, no preludes, we must immediately say how it is played. How? Yes, like a normal, modern GTA. There are car chases, fights, shootouts with a cover system and, of course, a bustling city open to exploration. Worth a run L.A. noire and you will feel at home. The movements of the protagonist, the physics of cars, the feeling of the world - everything is native. It makes you want to shout “eh!”, crush some passer-by for the prevention, and then go to fight crime. But it won’t work (we’ll say right away, for a crushed passerby, they can force you to complete the mission again here). Because in fact, GTA is thirty percent here. Or rather, like this: GTA is a form. And the content is a detective thriller. There are thriller books, there are thriller movies. A L.A. noire is a GTA thriller.
The main character's name is Cole Phelps. he had just returned from the battlefields of World War II. and now serves in the police. There will be several major cases (chapters) in the game, and after each case, Cole will be promoted: this is how he will go from a traffic cop to a homicide detective. With each turn of his career, Cole's partners will change, but there will also be cross-cutting characters that we will encounter more than once throughout the game.
Crime scene
Thirty percent is GTA. The remaining seventy (or even more) are investigations. As soon as you learn about the crime committed, you need to go to the place (get comfortable in the city - you will know every nook and cranny even without a map), and there already do operational work.
The first stage is the collection of evidence. You just walk around the crime scene and look for important items. No frills or God forbid, pixel hunting. Cole himself will turn his head towards the evidence, you just have to pick it up (although there will be more complex options, like a note hidden in the exhaust pipe). Didn't find all the clues? No problem, you can move on to the next part of the investigation. True, it will be more difficult for you. Each piece of evidence is "stored" in Phelps's notebook, as if in an inventory, along with the names, places and facts known to him. No evidence - less wiggle room during interrogation.
This is the second part of the investigation. Simply put, it's a dialogue. There may be a conversation with the victim or the suspect - with anyone. The important thing is that this is not a standard RPG routine. not a formal conversation, when you are once again told something. which is already clear. This is a real duel, a verbal duel. We strongly advise you to pay close attention to the following paragraphs, because they will talk about the most amazing, in our opinion, the system of dialogues in the world. Let's say you approached the victim: here is the scene of the accident of her car, doctors and police are walking around, and the lady looks askance at you and barely moves her tongue. She is drunk. However, the conversation starts, you ask what happened. She says. Then you have three answers: I believe; I do not believe and I press; I do not believe and convince with evidence. All! No chatter ahead of time. No hackneyed phrases. Concentrated Psychological Choice. Let's say more: for the entire duration of the London presentation, Phelps believed his interlocutor exactly once, while he said "no" forty times! Instead of unnecessary chatter you. like a scout, "pump" the interlocutor, fight with him in an intellectual duel.
Submit your evidence!
It is important to take a step back here. What are we talking about? Why should we believe or not believe someone? First, context and common sense. Roughly speaking, if the interlocutor has blood on his elbows, and he says that there is no point in doubting his words. Secondly, gestures and facial expressions. Here you will need all the knowledge about conversational psychology that you can collect. Where the interlocutor looks, how he speaks, twitches or behaves confidently - all this will tell you how to behave. It is worth noting that a separate studio was created to record gestures and facial animation and a unique motion scan technology was developed, which makes it possible to convey the speech of the characters in the smallest detail. Its key feature is the realistic reproduction of eye and eyebrow movements. So, we do not trust the interlocutor. We can try to push. Cole will raise his voice, wave his fist or bang it on the table (possibly in the face of the interlocutor). But if you have something significant, then you need to choose the third option, and this is where the fun begins. You are automatically transferred to a notebook, and only now, for the first time, you can choose something from a huge list of collected facts and evidence. In our case, we were able to produce a photo of the suspect. on which her husband was captured just at the scene of the crime, or almost literally poke the interrogated nose into torn underpants.
This has never happened in games. The gameplay is based on the fact that you carefully watch and listen, immerse yourself in the story. The fact that you correctly choose the method of interrogation only proves your adequate perception of history. That is, if you already have evidence in your hands, you don’t need to shout at the interlocutor, he already has nothing to cover up, this is obvious. By introducing such a system of dialogues. Rockstar doesn't push any ridiculous mini-games, they don't stretch the gameplay. They only sharpen our senses, forcing us to follow the investigation more closely.
Black Orchid
This fact alone allows L.A. noire to claim the title of the most cinematic game in history - that's where they really put on the plot! And we haven't said a word about the setting yet. Noir on PC is mostly known for Max Payne. Leather coat, impenetrable night, off-screen monologues. eternal rain outside the window ... None of this in L.A. noire no. The gloomy mood here is achieved by completely different means. Here, the contradiction between the luxurious facade of American life and its disgusting underside is very nicely shown.
Jazz, champagne, hats - in the late forties, America is experiencing an economic boom. At the same time, soldiers begin to return from the war, and they have no place in this new world. Uncontrollable fun and acute social tension. Hollywood, a career in films - and all the filth of the film business (the case shown to us was about how a producer raped a girl from the province who dreamed of getting a role in one of his films).
There is no place for boundless pathos, no one laments about eternal values, but there is a lot of cynicism. corruption and truth. Honestly, when the case we are investigating suddenly ended in the most pragmatic way, it just felt relieved from the heart that they finally talk to us like adults, and do not play operetta tragedies.
In general, it's nice to see how Rockstar and Team Bondi work with the structure gameplay. On the one hand, everyone understands that the plot should be at the forefront. On the other hand, you still need to entertain the player with gameplay. And they sew together these two eternally rejected matters.
You need to eavesdrop on the address from a telephone conversation - here's a little stealth episode. Let's go to the place - a little chase. We went into the apartment - a fight. And in the finale of the chapter, the culmination is a shootout! And so we timidly kill a dozen bandits and even blow up, you won’t believe, one (!) Red barrel. It is clear that most of the gameplay episodes are far-fetched. But how touchingly, how tenderly they tried to fit them into the plot, deserves the deepest respect. Where in heavy rain stuffed with unnatural quick time events, L.A. noire includes the familiar GTA.
The world has not yet come up with gameplay. to rock a baby in your arms or cry in the pouring rain. But we have been able to drive through the streets, shoot and fight for a long time. We were taught. All our lives we have been trained to play L.A. noire! The last parts of GTA, Red Dead Redemption, treat them like acting courses. We passed them, and now we can play in a real movie.
Rockstar Games rarely pleases its fans with new game announcements, and therefore many perceive any news from these developers with special interest. So it happened with the announcement of the re-release of the cult detective action in the open world, the original version of which was released in 2011 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Let's see if the game is worth being called a full-fledged re-release and whether it can give new experience in 2017, when games took a major step forward.
Reissue Features
Unlike previous reviews, I would like to start the article with graphics, or rather, with its differences compared to the original. It should be said right away that the magic did not happen and we have only a slightly embellished game in front of us. Terrain draw distance slightly increased on PS4 Pro and Xbox One X added 4K resolution, while PS4 and Xbox One consoles boast full HD (1920x1080).
However, there is no significant increase in the visual component. Even at the time of release, the game was clearly not the most beautiful, and now even more so it looks too outdated. The body models of the characters are somehow plastic, the terrain detail is still limp, and the special effects look too wooden. Compared to L.A. Noire on PS4 with the PS3 version, the difference is more noticeable than trying to find differences with the game on PC. On personal computers, the game looks no worse than on current generation consoles.
The analysis of graphics features can be carried out for a very long time, affecting one or the other element, but in general, the picture is not perceived somehow fresh and modern. However, the visual part of L.A. Noire like her original version still saves the animation of the faces of the characters. Even in 2017, you can only see such a game of actors only in recent games from Quantic Dream, which in turn are interactive cinema. L.A. Noire, for a second, offers the players open world, action-component and quest part, and therefore such well-developed faces can now be considered a technological breakthrough.
A small but rather nice feature of the L.A. Noire is a photo mode that was not in the original. Made this mode quite good, allowing us to press two sticks to stop the game at any point in the gameplay and take a screenshot. It is worth noting that the mode has a fairly extensive functionality. We can not only change the location of the camera, but also focus the picture, add various effects and use all our imagination so that later the picture can be put as a desktop background.
Unfortunately, the re-release runs at 30 FPS on all systems. Considering the rather old age of L.A. Noire, as well as the capabilities of PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, it is very strange that the developers did not add any additional graphic settings to the game, like what is in. This is the main difference between the re-release of L.A. Noire from the original, unfortunately, ends.
Plot
Despite the fact that the game was released about six years ago and many people already know almost everything about it, we could not ignore the story part. The game takes us into the body of a young police officer named Cole Phelps, who is about to return from World War II, received a Silver Star and wants to clean the streets of Los Angeles from crime. Initially, we play as an ordinary patrolman, but literally after a few simple cases we are promoted to a detective. A strict boss, an experienced partner named Stefan Bekowski, and a well-developed police department make us believe that we are in Los Angeles in 1947, trying to do our part in the fight against crime.
From time to time, we are shown short flashbacks that allow us to find out the past of the protagonist and what he was like during his service. We are immediately made to understand that Cole Phelps is far from being a perfect guy, sometimes acting to please his own ambitions. The plot only benefits from this, forcing the character to come to life in our eyes and listen in more detail to every phrase he said.
As the storyline we will often become witnesses of how deceptive the first impression can be. An honest and principled cop, Phelps will experience problems in his personal life, swear with his wife and sometimes go against legal methods when interrogating witnesses. In the end, we are shown how a person can change who is too firm on his own, not trying to listen to other people.
The storyline really begins to unfold closer to the second half of the game. At the beginning, we see a lot of incomprehensible scenes, for example, flashbacks of newspapers with a psychiatrist and former military personnel. However, after some time, all the questions that arise during the first part of the game are answered. We will meet that very friend Jack Kelso, who constantly becomes the hero of flashbacks about the war, find out what kind of scam some high-ranking people are scrolling in order to cash in on veterans, and we will also witness many murders taking place in the city with some connection.
Serious plot holes that are visible to the naked eye in L.A. Noire no. The game really captivates with its in-game history, but all the development in the narrative falls on the second half of the passage, and therefore a prolonged beginning can scare a little, people who are used to seeing intrigue immediately after pressing the "New Game" button.
Gameplay
Open world cop games with action and investigation can be counted on the fingers, but none of them can offer what is contained in L.A. noire. This product is not just some new part True Crime, but a full-fledged detective with interesting mechanics for investigating crimes. Action and car chases across the open world are just an addition to the quest part of the game.
Each case will be investigated from the very beginning to the end, without missing moments with the interrogation of witnesses, the search for evidence and evidence. In general, each case looks like this: we arrive at the scene of the crime, look around and look for evidence, then interview witnesses, look for evidence again, and after that we try to put everything together into a single picture. The final stage in the investigation is the moment with an attempt to convict a person of a lie or extract the whole truth from him.
At first, such mechanics make the most pleasant impression and make you plunge into the game with your head, but already in the tenth or eleventh case, doing the same thing becomes more and more boring. Due to the fact that we are allowed to feel almost all the mechanics of the game already at the very beginning, towards the end the gameplay fizzles a little. In order to get the most out of the game, we do not recommend completing it in two or three days, but try to stretch the passage over a longer period of time with breaks between tasks.
As described above, key feature games can still be considered the most excellent facial animation of the characters, most of which were played by real actors known from television series and films. The developers made realistic faces for a reason, but supplemented the gameplay part with this feature. The fact is that when interrogating witnesses, we must not only be based on logical facts, but also play the role of a real psychologist. This is done in such a way that when lying, the characters often hide their eyes and behave unnaturally. Thanks to such mechanics, we must carefully monitor all the movements and facial expressions of the characters' faces. In most cases, all this looks very realistic and does not seem to be something secondary and uninteresting.
The problem of the quest part is only that when blaming the characters, the mechanic sometimes fails. For example, we have collected all the evidence, figured out the case to the smallest detail, and are already sure that the character we are interrogating is guilty. However, choosing the most logical accusation in the notebook, it turns out that it is incorrect, as a result of which we need to start over. There are no consequences for incorrect disclosure of the crime, except for fines after the level, which almost do not affect anything. All there is is a loading screen after a failure and a second interrogation. Because of this, some may simply randomly choose charges, not being afraid that something will go wrong in the plot, or the hero will be demoted. Still, this moment could and should have been beaten in a more interesting and varied way.
The second part of the game, in addition to quests and simple puzzles, is action. At first, everything happens like in some Mafia or GTA. We race around the city, exploring the open world and participating in gunfights with opponents. If you dwell on action elements in more detail, you can find many shortcomings in them. The physics of cars is arcade-like even compared to , and shooting causes more irritation than pleasure. For example, we do not see how many cartridges we have, and the control does not allow us to change the layout of the buttons at all, or at least see what action this or that key performs. Enemies in firefights behave very stupidly, not trying to somehow get around us or regroup.
However, all these points could be nitpicked ad infinitum if L.A. Noire was a full blown action game. However, we have a quest in front of us, which is only partially supplemented by gunfights and car chases, albeit implemented very mediocrely.
Results
If you've ever played the game on PC or even past generation consoles, then the re-release of L.A. Noire is unlikely to give you a new experience, because it does not have major innovations. The graphics have not changed much, the frame rate has remained the same, and no new modes have been added, except for the ability to take a photo.
Thus, the game is more like an improved port than a full-fledged re-release. However, if someone once missed this detective story, then even six years after the release, it can give a lot of unforgettable impressions. The game goes a serious way from the television series "Colombo" to the action-packed thriller "Seven", allowing us to participate in the capture serial killer and detection of criminal gangs.
If you are looking for a great detective story with well-developed characters, excellent music and noir stylist, and unusual gameplay, L.A. Noire is still unique in its kind.
Rockstar Games rarely pleases its fans with new game announcements, and therefore many perceive any news from these developers with special interest. So it happened with the announcement of the re-release of the cult detective action in the open world, the original version of which was released in 2011 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Let's see if the game is worth being called a full re-release and if it can give a new experience in 2017, when games have taken a serious step forward.
Reissue Features
Unlike previous reviews, I would like to start the article with graphics, or rather, with its differences compared to the original. It should be said right away that the magic did not happen and we have only a slightly embellished game in front of us. The rendering range of the area has increased slightly, the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X have added 4K resolution, and the PS4 and Xbox One consoles boast full HD (1920x1080).
However, there is no significant increase in the visual component. Even at the time of release, the game was clearly not the most beautiful, and now even more so it looks too outdated. The body models of the characters are somehow plastic, the terrain detail is still limp, and the special effects look too wooden. Compared to L.A. Noire on PS4 with the PS3 version, the difference is more noticeable than trying to find differences with the game on PC. On personal computers, the game looks no worse than on current generation consoles.
The analysis of graphics features can be carried out for a very long time, affecting one or the other element, but in general, the picture is not perceived somehow fresh and modern. However, the visual part of L.A. Noire, like her original version, is still saved by the animation of the characters' faces. Even in 2017, you can only see such a game of actors only in the latest games from Quantic Dream, which in turn are interactive movies. L.A. Noire, for a second, offers players an open world, an action component and a quest part, and therefore such well-developed faces can now be considered a technological breakthrough.
A small but rather nice feature of the L.A. Noire is a photo mode that was not in the original. This mode is done quite well, allowing us to stop the game at any moment of the gameplay and take a screenshot by pressing two sticks. It is worth noting that the mode has a fairly extensive functionality. We can not only change the location of the camera, but also focus the picture, add various effects and use all our imagination so that later the picture can be put as a desktop background.
Unfortunately, the re-release runs at 30 FPS on all systems. Considering the rather old age of L.A. Noire, as well as the capabilities of PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, it is very strange that the developers did not add any additional graphic settings to the game, like what is in. This is the main difference between the re-release of L.A. Noire from the original, unfortunately, ends.
Plot
Despite the fact that the game was released about six years ago and many people already know almost everything about it, we could not ignore the story part. The game takes us into the body of a young police officer named Cole Phelps, who is about to return from World War II, received a Silver Star and wants to clean the streets of Los Angeles from crime. Initially, we play as an ordinary patrolman, but literally after a few simple cases we are promoted to a detective. A strict boss, an experienced partner named Stefan Bekowski, and a well-developed police department make us believe that we are in Los Angeles in 1947, trying to do our part in the fight against crime.
From time to time, we are shown short flashbacks that allow us to find out the past of the protagonist and what he was like during his service. We are immediately made to understand that Cole Phelps is far from being a perfect guy, sometimes acting to please his own ambitions. The plot only benefits from this, forcing the character to come to life in our eyes and listen in more detail to every phrase he said.
As the storyline develops, we will more than once witness how deceptive first impressions can be. An honest and principled cop, Phelps will experience problems in his personal life, swear with his wife and sometimes go against legal methods when interrogating witnesses. In the end, we are shown how a person can change who is too firm on his own, not trying to listen to other people.
The storyline really begins to unfold closer to the second half of the game. At the beginning, we see a lot of incomprehensible scenes, for example, flashbacks of newspapers with a psychiatrist and former military personnel. However, after some time, all the questions that arise during the first part of the game are answered. We will meet that very friend Jack Kelso, who constantly becomes the hero of flashbacks about the war, find out what kind of scam some high-ranking people are scrolling in order to cash in on veterans, and we will also witness many murders taking place in the city with some connection.
Serious plot holes that are visible to the naked eye in L.A. Noire no. The game really captivates with its in-game history, but all the development in the narrative falls on the second half of the passage, and therefore a prolonged beginning can scare a little, people who are used to seeing intrigue immediately after pressing the "New Game" button.
Gameplay
Open world cop games with action and investigation can be counted on the fingers, but none of them can offer what is contained in L.A. noire. This product is not just some new part of True Crime, but a full-fledged detective with interesting crime investigation mechanics. Action and car chases across the open world are just an addition to the quest part of the game.
Each case will be investigated from the very beginning to the end, without missing moments with the interrogation of witnesses, the search for evidence and evidence. In general, each case looks like this: we arrive at the scene of the crime, look around and look for evidence, then interview witnesses, look for evidence again, and after that we try to put everything together into a single picture. The final stage in the investigation is the moment with an attempt to convict a person of a lie or extract the whole truth from him.
At first, such mechanics make the most pleasant impression and make you plunge into the game with your head, but already in the tenth or eleventh case, doing the same thing becomes more and more boring. Due to the fact that we are allowed to feel almost all the mechanics of the game already at the very beginning, towards the end the gameplay fizzles a little. In order to get the most out of the game, we do not recommend completing it in two or three days, but try to stretch the passage over a longer period of time with breaks between tasks.
As described above, the key feature of the game can still be considered the excellent animation of the faces of the characters, most of which were played by real actors known from television series and films. The developers made realistic faces for a reason, but supplemented the gameplay part with this feature. The fact is that when interrogating witnesses, we must not only be based on logical facts, but also play the role of a real psychologist. This is done in such a way that when lying, the characters often hide their eyes and behave unnaturally. Thanks to such mechanics, we must carefully monitor all the movements and facial expressions of the characters' faces. In most cases, all this looks very realistic and does not seem to be something secondary and uninteresting.
The problem of the quest part is only that when blaming the characters, the mechanic sometimes fails. For example, we have collected all the evidence, figured out the case to the smallest detail, and are already sure that the character we are interrogating is guilty. However, choosing the most logical accusation in the notebook, it turns out that it is incorrect, as a result of which we need to start over. There are no consequences for incorrect disclosure of the crime, except for fines after the level, which almost do not affect anything. All there is is a loading screen after a failure and a second interrogation. Because of this, some may simply randomly choose charges, not being afraid that something will go wrong in the plot, or the hero will be demoted. Still, this moment could and should have been beaten in a more interesting and varied way.
The second part of the game, in addition to quests and simple puzzles, is action. At first, everything happens like in some Mafia or GTA. We race around the city, exploring the open world and participating in gunfights with opponents. If you dwell on action elements in more detail, you can find many shortcomings in them. The physics of cars is arcade-like even compared to , and shooting causes more irritation than pleasure. For example, we do not see how many cartridges we have, and the control does not allow us to change the layout of the buttons at all, or at least see what action this or that key performs. Enemies in firefights behave very stupidly, not trying to somehow get around us or regroup.
However, all these points could be nitpicked ad infinitum if L.A. Noire was a full blown action game. However, we have a quest in front of us, which is only partially supplemented by gunfights and car chases, albeit implemented very mediocrely.
Results
If you've ever played the game on PC or even past generation consoles, then the re-release of L.A. Noire is unlikely to give you a new experience, because it does not have major innovations. The graphics have not changed much, the frame rate has remained the same, and no new modes have been added, except for the ability to take a photo.
Thus, the game is more like an improved port than a full-fledged re-release. However, if someone once missed this detective story, then even six years after the release, it can give a lot of unforgettable impressions. The game goes a serious way from the television series "Colombo" to the action-packed thriller "Seven", allowing us to participate in the capture of a serial killer and the disclosure of criminal gangs.
If you are looking for a great detective story with well-developed characters, excellent music and noir stylist, and unusual gameplay, L.A. Noire is still unique in its kind.
Originally a detective action L.A. noire was developed by an Australian team Team Bondi and released by Rockstar Games for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in May 2011. Unfortunately, despite the success of the project, it became the first and last completed game of this studio, because in the same year it went bankrupt, after which its assets were acquired by the multimedia company Kennedy Miller Mitchell, where most of the employees moved. In addition, some of its former members got jobs in various studios. Rockstar. In November 2011, a port of the game was released for PC, which was handled by the English branch Rockstar Leeds, and six years later it came to a reissue entrusted to the studio Virtuos, for modern consoles PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. It would seem that a copy of the project for a hybrid platform looks the most promising, but for sure the versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One also have their advantages, and Switch disadvantages, so it's worth considering them in detail.
Welcome to 1940s Los Angeles, where the hard work of a guardian of justice awaits you. As former US Marine Cole Phelps, you'll have to investigate a wide variety of cases from your start as an ordinary patrol officer and climb the police career ladder with enviable speed to shed light on the leading disturbing truth. Naturally, following the increase, the investigated crimes become more and more intricate, but their set is not the main element of the story. As the cases are completed, the player is shown the memories of the protagonist, which are eventually associated with what is happening in the present, thereby answering many questions. However, the main development of the plot component takes place only in the second half of the game, and the first part accounts for the disclosure of largely uncomplicated cases and a torn backstory. Nevertheless, Cole is not at all an ordinary person, and certainly not an ideal person, as it might seem at first glance, and therefore it becomes interesting to follow his behavior from the very beginning. However, this does not change the fact that the story develops slowly, and therefore especially impatient players can get bored before he starts to accelerate.
Let L.A. noire and is not a sandbox in the usual sense, as it is extremely story-oriented, there is an open world in which you can engage in street crime, sightseeing, or in a pinch, search for collectibles. However, these activities are not quite enough for a full-fledged live entertainment space, but here, to be honest, the freedom of movement around the big city seems superfluous.
The work of a police officer is not only dangerous and difficult, but also quite interesting. Indeed, at the beginning of the investigation, it is sometimes impossible to guess where the evidence found will eventually lead.
Detective Tools
Almost all the main gameplay elements are revealed even in the very first cases, so in the future the game can hardly surprise in this regard. However, all missions are carefully designed and provide a detailed investigation process, including arriving at the scene, searching for clues, interrogating witnesses, and then identifying the perpetrator, which is not limited to any one scenario.
Interaction with the defendants in the case is a mechanic that deserves special mention. Thanks to impressive facial animation, you can determine for yourself when, for example, the interlocutor does not say something, lies, is worried or is in a mood to talk. Then, according to the behavior, take one of three permanent courses of action. Here, the original Truth, Doubt, and Falsehood system has been redesigned, reissued as Good Cop, Bad Cop, Blame. I cannot say with certainty that the choice has become more transparent in this way. In my opinion, it was worth bringing at least Phelps' abbreviated lines to the screen, so as not to get confused in the behavior of the main character.
But the main disadvantage in investigations is that you cannot influence the outcome of the case, and let's say put an innocent person behind bars, because despite the variation in the choice during interrogations, the result is always the same. He will not be able to influence the further plot, and the maximum will lead to a reprimand from his superiors. The only thing that is subject to change is the final stats, so you have to try to complete things perfectly if you want to get a platinum prize. But you should not try to do everything in one playthrough, because it is possible to replay any case if necessary by selecting it in the main menu.
The answer to this question cannot be unambiguous. Everyone will decide for himself whether he wants to go through the game again, but on a new generation console, or even do it for the first time. However, to make it easier for you to decide on a decision, you need to talk about the features of the reissue L.A. noire. Naturally, the new edition includes all previously released additional materials, as well as a bonus in the form of a set of collectible items "New Collections". Graphically, the game is not much prettier compared to the PC version. In addition, even though it works in 4K resolution on the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X, the number of frames is still thirty, while on PC you can achieve sixty. In turn, on standard versions of consoles, the project runs in native 1080p resolution and at thirty frames per second. Despite the excellent facial animation already mentioned earlier, the visual action-adventure was not a breakthrough even at the time of the original, and now against the backdrop of more beautiful games, like Horizon: Zero Dawn, it looks completely nondescript. Yes, a number of technical graphics improvements have been made, such as an updated lighting system and clouds, adding textures high definition, but this was not enough to make the product look fresh.
Let me remind you that in the original console versions there was no translation into Russian, while a localized version with subtitles was already released on the PC. This unpleasant moment scared away many players who do not know English properly, but this will definitely not happen with new editions. Russian dubbing, unfortunately, was not added, but the translation of the text is available. Although it is not without errors, but overall it is not bad.
Another small new detail is the photo mode, which does not have rich functionality, but can cope with creating beautiful screenshots.
The mechanics of shooting and the physics of driving in the game are far from ideal, but meanwhile they do not cause discomfort, and even more so they do not interfere with immersing yourself in a mysterious atmosphere created, among other things, thanks to the musical accompaniment of composers Andrew Hale and Simon Hale. On the PlayStation 4 Slim, the game runs stably, without crashes or drops in frame rate. There are no problems with subtitle timing either. To feel like watching a film noir, a black and white mode is available in the screen settings, which, by the way, was also in the original.
Yet, despite all its shortcomings, L.A. noire to this day is one of the most spectacular and bewitching detective games that can captivate up to end credits, however, provided that you do not expect endless action from her.
At the time I missed L.A. noire on PlayStation 3 and caught up with local detectives already on PC, having bought an official copy of the ID on Steam at one of the big discounts, for only $ 2.5, I think. I went through the game quickly, but did not really like it and moved on to another project. In November, when the detective story appeared on the Nintendo Switch, I understood. What the hell want to return to this entertaining and very realistic world, where we are sent in the form of a policeman.
On the Nintendo Switch, the game looks weaker than on the PlayStation 4, which is quite predictable. However, this does not prevent her from looking modern and good. Coming out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, she was noticeably ahead of her time, so her modern look in 2017 is not surprising. Of course, there is something to complain about here - the dubious physics of cars, not always smooth animation, and on the Nintendo Swtich there is also a city that is drawn before our eyes. Once again, someone might say, “Hey man, buy a super-fast memory card for 50 euros and it will draw faster” - maybe, but if the developers cannot optimize the game to work with maps supported by the device, then this is not a player’s cant .
Appearance aside. What is impossible not to notice in L.A. Noire, so it's her great health in portable mode Nintendo consoles. And even though there are also technical problems here, such as rare subsidence of frames and objects that appear before our eyes, the very structure of the project seems to have been originally created for pocket gaming. Short detective episodes, the viscosity of everything that happens and the lack of a particular rush in most game chapters - all this is conducive to passing in line to the doctor, on the subway or other public transport, during a lunch break and walking in the park.
My biggest complaint is the quality of the translation. I am sure that it is identical on all systems and is unlikely to be subject to post-release adjustments, given that the game came out three weeks ago, and there were no changes. There are quite a lot of non-professional terms and the use of some simplifications instead of just professional terminology. For example, the game still pulls the trigger, and the radio message in the style of "we need some uniforms here" is translated as "we need patrolmen in uniform." What?! Who?! In what?! Uniforms is just police slang, as they called patrol policemen, who, unlike plainclothes detectives, wore uniforms. It doesn't need to be explained in the dialogue and make it silly. And this happens throughout the game.
The review is based on the digital versions of the game for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch provided by the publisher. All screenshots used in the material are taken directly by the author of the article on the specified platform.
We understand that we are late with the review of such a game, but we would like to improve. Yes, and before the upcoming release of the game on PC, it is desirable to get acquainted with the game. Especially on PC she'll be a little better (with some graphic details).
Others believed that we were waiting for a detective story in the style of Quantic Dreams- the authors of the great heavy rain, which set the tone and the bar for everyone else. Their argument was the system motion scan , specially designed to record the facial expressions of the actors, which hinted at the strongest dialogue component of the game, close-ups of the characters and the emotionality of what is happening.
Graphic arts:
The game takes place in Los Angeles 1947, the authors of the game specifically went for the record and made the largest, open city available for the main character - a police department detective Los Angeles Cole Phelps (English Cole Phelps ). As befits that time, huge Buicks drive around the city, men walk in suits and hats with a short side. And the ladies defile in bright outfits. If you walk around the city or go on investigations during the day, then there is no smell of noir at all - the colors are very bright, everything is as it was at that time. For those who are confused by this, there is a B&W setting in the menu and the game turns into a black and white detective with all the ensuing noir emotions and images.
Picture quality on high level. engine in-house engine handles shadows and animation well. Renders great textures for story objects. But everything that is connected with the background and extras no longer has such a gloss. Therefore, be prepared for the fact that cars have much less detail than in the same one, passers-by have more modest animation. But as soon as you reach the plot place, you find yourself in a completely different world. There are already a huge number of objects, strong detail, clear textures, background conversations NPC and an atmosphere of crime.
Since the city itself does not beckon to explore its streets, and the plot is SO addictive, you may not notice any indulgences at all. Therefore, most of the time after the game we are waiting for a great picture.
MotionScan System:
A huge development time, a terrible number of actors and hundreds of hours of recording their faces - all this motion scan . What is the output. And the result is a very interesting effect. Someone wrote that the heads seem to live separately from the rest of the body due to the difference in animation quality. You can calm down, it's not like that.
It looks like this: there is a scripted scene, we are shown close-ups of the faces of the characters and we seem to be watching a series about cops. The gameplay begins and with a third-person view everything comes to a common denominator, but! with the only difference that when someone is talking or our detective Cole Phelps gets involved in street conflicts, we see this vivid facial expressions. In places it looks forced, as if the actors are overacting. They express their emotions too strongly, but everything is done correctly. Nevertheless, we see everything from afar, and in order not to miss significant differences, our attention is focused on these little things. Therefore, we can say that this system favorably distinguishes the game from the rest and everything turned out perfectly.
But as always, there are also disadvantages, though they concern those who do not know English. language. So, when playing with subtitles, you automatically skip past all these emotions and the game of actors, because. you just don't have time to look at them and the credits. (Subtitles are also in English)
Sound and voice acting:
If this is noir detective then musical accompaniment here to match. While driving, we hear light, muffled music from the 30s and 40s. During investigations.. more on that later. The most important thing here is the impeccable recording of the voices of the actors. Even just walking through the police station and hearing the conversation of the secretary, you involuntarily stop to listen. And perishing conversations on interrogations. Impeccable dialogue sound quality.
Gameplay and story:
I’ll start with the plot, but I won’t develop the idea much so as not to spoil the impression for people - so without spoilers. I will say very briefly - we play as Cole Phelps, a former diligent military man with a silver star (Silver Star is a personal military award of the United States, the basis for which is the courage and bravery shown in battle). We start with an ordinary patrol cop and grow in a career with rapid steps. Ridiculous, cruel, complicated cases await us, showdowns with kindred federals in the style of -" Who is charged? -I do! -Not any more". But the key point is the inquisitiveness of our detective.
Each case looks like a separate chapter. As in the good old series about Colombo - we are shown the moment of the crime in such a way that nothing is clear, then we get a briefing and the first clues, take a partner and go to work. Arriving at the crime scene, we see a cordoned off area, police driving away onlookers. Criminologists describing clues and traces, importunate reporters.
Light disturbing music begins in the background and we begin the investigation. First, you can go through all the marks marked by forensics. View, rotate objects. Actually, it looks really cool. A huge city, you reach a square. There lies a corpse, go to the forensics mark, pick up a tiny matchbox - and it's just perfectly detailed. Moreover, you see it in full screen, open it - you can easily read the inscription of the bar from which they were taken. All clues, locations and suspects automatically go into our detective's notebook. Therefore, you can always sit and think about how it fits with what. We will have to examine the bodies, go to addresses, work out various versions.
Now about interrogations. It all comes down to the fact that we ask suspects or witnesses questions about the case and monitor their reactions to them. You need to put pressure on someone to intimidate or push them into dialogue from shock, to simply agree with something, and to catch someone in a lie. But in order to do this, refer to what was found. Those. to prove that a person is lying - you must select from the list of evidence in the notebook the one on which he screwed up. I must say that the actors are just brilliant. There are those who do not show any signs at all and lie at every step, there are those who immediately inject, there are those who themselves threaten us. Therefore, every time it is interesting to look at their reactions.
The game has a hint system. At the crime scene, if you find all possible evidence, the music will stop playing. The evidence itself is marked by a slight vibration of the joystick. And correctly asked questions during interrogation are light notes of the piano. But if you're in doubt or can't find a needle in a haystack, you can use your intuition glasses. What will help to find evidence or remove unnecessary dialogue options with the suspect. When the network is connected - you can ask how the society should be Rockstar Social Club and see what percentage of the players correctly passed this moment.
For those who think that all this is easy for puppies, you can turn off all these tips altogether and do hardcore investigation.
It would seem that the game is a dream - a strong plot, good graphics, great animation, decent sound, but there is still a weak moment.
And this is city driving. How it happened is not clear. But the driving here is the most disgusting thing there is. The physics of the machines just tear out your eyes. They accelerate briskly, slow down badly, but most importantly, they turn sharply unrealistically. You are driving a huge car - and it can turn 90 degrees at a crossroads at full speed without skidding. A very sharp steering wheel and an absolutely glued car annoy the whole game. The collision system is here for show, and it’s as if it’s just there. You can’t crush people - you run into them and see an inscription that it’s not good for detectives to crush people like that and that this will all affect your final reputation. (I somehow rarely ran into them, I don’t know what will happen if I only do this)
During the chase, everything comes to life - we go along the scripted rails - the partner shoots, the city traffic intrigues - and more or less, except for the steering wheel.
In general, we are waiting for investigations of major cases, calls for crimes (minor ones) that help to get intuition points that can be used, but it is important to understand that if you are going to interrogate a suspect and are distracted by another call, you may not catch a spicy thread moment and arrive when you are already expected at the parade, and not unprepared.
Outcome:
An excellent atmospheric detective story with a powerful plot from the Australian Team Bondi, innovative facial expressions of heroes, fascinating system investigations, chases, shootouts, beautiful detailed locations, cool voice acting and cool DLC! Definitely the best buy of the summer season. At least only by the fact that a titanic work has been done. It's like games Remedy Entertainment- we go into the rooms, fly there in a couple of minutes, and they worked on it for tens of hours placing hundreds of objects. There are even more of them, even deeper, and all of them, even those that cannot be picked up, carry a semantic load, and help us make the right decision.
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