Cert: 18+
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360
Genre: Adventure, Sandbox
After being in development for what seems an immeasurable amount of time, Rockstar Games, the minds behind the GTA series, have finally released LA Noire, a game that first caught the minds of many due to a combination of two things - for a studio whose games based themselves on the wrong side of the law, here was a title that instead but that golden badge in the gamers hand; and, perhaps most notably of all, took place in 1940's Los Angeles.
Taking the role of Cole Phelps, its your job to solve cases, interrogate suspects and, being a game from the same family of Grand Theft Auto, is an open sandbox experience, in which you can simply drive around and wait for a call from dispatch to prevent a crime in progress. But it's the interrogations that are at the heart of LA Noire. Thanks to a new motionscan technology, never before have faces looked and acted in such a realistic way. Its impressive to say the least, so its just unfortunate the looks haven't been as carefully crafted for 1940's Hollywood. It doesn't look bad, it just could have been that bit better.
Ultimately, LA Noire will be judged as a title that's both impressive yet at times uninspired – there are moments where you simply scroll through a series of questions before getting the right answer and its the small things like this that hint at a game that maybe just falls short of being the gem many had promised.
Rent or Buy: Buy
Graphics: 4/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Replay Value: 3/5
Overall: 4/5
Reviewed By: Simon Rubbathan
