A screenshot from L. A Noire.

A screenshot from L. A Noire.

L.A. Noire
RRP: $108
Platform(s): Xbox 360, PS3
Classification: MA15+
Reviewed on: 360
Rating: 9/10

It's 1947, when men were men, women were dames and the cops are as crooked as the crooks. Everybody has something to hide, the cold war has begun, aliens have landed in Roswell and Raytheon releases the first microwave oven. There's a reason this period is associated so strongly with noir film and literature as intrigue, mystery and murder wait around every corner. L.A. Noire throws you into the midst of post-WWII Los Angeles to try and uncover some of these mysteries for yourself. Don't be alarmed if you lose yourself in this engrossing noir-styled world, because that's exactly the point of this game.

This is Team Bondi's, the developer on Noire, first game. The developers are releasing the title under the umbrella of Rockstar games, who have had a guiding hand in the development as well. The game might suffer for comparisons to Rockstar's other, more famous, properties but the game has already begun making a name for itself. L.A. Noire is the first video game to be shown at Tribeca Film Festival. This is solely because of the performances in-game. No other title as come close to achieving this level of realism from their characters and other games should definitely take note.

L.A. Noire drops you in the immaculate shoes of Cole Phelps, played pitch perfectly by Aaron Staton, as a newly minted beat officer in L.A, looking to make a difference. Phelps has just returned from a tour of duty in Japan and soon after the game starts, is promoted to detective. You follow Phelps through his career on the traffic, homicide, vice and arson desks. But this is only the overarching plot that frames the cases on each desk. The story is where L.A. Noire really shines, and while the cases may seem disconnected at first, the beauty of this game is the way each plot-line is interwoven. A case might seem unsatisfactorily closed or unfinished (which is an intriguing approach for a game to take regardless), but it could resurface later as you're teased about the real culprit, who you let escape. L.A. Noire utilises it's mature tone to present a realistic world where the criminals sometimes win, and even better, sometimes come out on top depending on your detecting skills.

The characters, without giving too much away, step right out of a Chandler novel and onto your screen. There are the threatening criminals and sumptuous dames that reoccur regularly in noir, but Phelps is written differently from your classic Marlowe cool. As the newest detective on the force, his unbridled enthusiasm for justice sets him at odds with many of his fellow officers, and even the player. At first, Phelps' paragon of law and order act seems forced and his often abrasive manner is easy to dislike. But as the game progresses, Phelps becomes a more realistic likeable protagonist. This is partly due to Staton's performance and the plot converging with his war-time flashbacks. This is also where the MotionScan technology truly comes into it's own.

Team Bondi developed MotionScan to add realistic performances to L.A. Noire. The technique switches the traditional facial animation for a direct scan of an actor's performance with the help of 32 cameras. Every character you encounter in the game has a real performance.

Not only does this enhance the detective work, the whole story improves when your fellow officers and even incidental characters seem almost real.

This is a huge boon to the game, as much of your time will be spent either hunting for clues or interviewing subjects. The interviews are based upon asking questions from your notebook. These are generated by what you've found in and around a crime scene. After carefully watching the suspects answer it's up to you to decide whether you believe them, doubt them or want to claim an outright lie (which must be backed up by evidence). During the traffic desk, which is the first of the game, the interviews and clues are fairly easy to figure out. But once promoted, you may be surprised to find yourself doing awfully, should you stop concentrating. Once the training wheels come off, the interviews become far more interesting. Suspect performances actually matter and are often hard to read, much like in real life. After possibly putting the wrong man in jail, you gain an appreciation for the subtlety of the technology involved in L.A. Noire.

The other facet of L.A. Noire's core gameplay is searching for clues. The crime scenes will range from all manner of back alleys to glitzy jazz bars and other exciting period styled locations. Meticulously scouring a scene for all the evidence may seem tedious at first, but finding the right hidden clue that breaks the case becomes a fantastic, and addictive, incentive.

In between the paced and considered sections, L.A. Noire is peppered with chase scenes, both in cars and on foot. While they break up the slower sections of the game nicely, the combat is the main flaw in L.A. Noire. While L.A. Noire wasn't developed in-house at Rockstar like the GTA series, considering the publisher's involvement with the game, the combat isn't as refined as it should be.

You can feel strong remnants of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption in both Phelps' movement and the shooting mechanics. The main problem with this is that Rockstar have developed the combat in their games so fantastically since their early days of GTA3 that L.A. Noire feels like a backwards step. The standard was set so high by Rockstar that the lack of locational damage and realistic gun-play is more disappointing than anything else.

But keep in mind, the beauty of L.A. Noire is that the action takes a back seat for once. And the less-than-brilliant combat plays second fiddle to the involving detective work.

The city is a character unto itself. Many of the locations have been precisely recreated from archival footage of L.A at the time. While this makes for a fantastic atmosphere when you have a goal in sight, the city can feel oddly barren at times. Apart from the collectable cars and locations for those especially interested in 100 per cent completion, there really isn't too much reason to explore the city. Luckily, the plot takes you to most of the interesting locations throughout the game. Rotting movie sets, tar pits and creepy churches all make an appearance and are beautifully designed to evoke the beautiful noir atmosphere.

L.A. Noire sets itself up brilliantly for downloadable content. As each case is in a episodic format, and each separately re-playable, the format practically demands additional cases down the line. While several were made available upon pre-order of the game, we will have to wait for them to turn up as downloadable content.

The morally ambiguous tone and dark, mature content is the shining star of L.A. Noire. Because of the motion capture performances and refreshingly original gameplay, Noire takes the free-roaming action game in a direction never explored before.

This is a very smart game, and while technically there are a few flaws, the powerful effect genuine acting will have on the player means these can easily be overlooked. Those looking for a game that takes itself, and its story, seriously and pays off in genuinely satisfying ways should definitely do themselves a favour and buy this game.