L.A. Noire (PS3)

I bought this only on the opinion that I love crime-thrillers whether it be there on telly, games, books or whatever. Also the setting was interesting to me so I went ahead. I'm glad I did as it's the perfect game to satisfy any 'detective' urges as you'll be examining the evidence, questioning the suspects and following up leads to try and complete the case. The storyline consists of four sections that take the form of desks which you'll solve crimes under. These are; Patrol, Homicide, Arson, Burgalry and a car one. There are approx four/five cases on each desk that adds up about 20 cases. That's not including the 40 something street crimes. There is a ranking system that awards points for interrogation success and some levels unlock bonuses such as a new suit or car to drive. There is a slight annoyance though and that is most suspects seem to want to run which triggers a chase scene in which is sometimes difficult. Graphics especially the new face capturing technology is excellent, it actually makes you want to find the 50 film reels and complete the postcard sidequest so you can explore the richly-detailed city. Voice acting and the sound is near perfect so no complaints. The only real annoying thing is that some of the partners on the desks are douches but it shouldn't take away from the experiance. Even if you're remotely interested in the crime genre you should have fun with this as it really is a excellent game.

Great game - the soundtrack is fantastic and I am now hooked on 40's jazz. I've played through the game two or three times now. You play as Col Phelps, a guy who's just back from fighting in Okinawa and he's now a beat cop trying to work his way up, and you have to solve cases with him. Depending on your choices in the game and how you interrogate suspects, you either solve or lose the cases presented to you. There are some cases which just last for one mission, and some which span out over several. There is also a main story which is fantastic, where Col finds out that his war comrades have went awry since their time in Okinawa, and some have got into serious trouble - which builds to an ending which I won't spoil. Only slightly irritating thing is you're in the city and if you travel so far in any given direction on the map you will eventually hit a road block and not be able to go any further. I don't know why I hate this so much, the world just feels enclosed and it makes free playing in the game quite dull as there isn't anywhere to go beyond the town. However the map is quite big and takes a bit of time to explore. All in all, great game.

I'd probably still recommend this product. It's an interesting concept, and if you haven't seen it, it's worth a look. It's very much like GTA, Bully, or Red Dead Redemption in playing style/controls. Much the same as Rockstar's other games. The control is a bit annoying, in that when looking for clues, you wander past something and the controller vibrates. Hit X, and.. oh.. no you're not quite in -exactly- the right spot. I seem to find myself walking round in circles slowly trying to get in the exact bit to then hit X, and finally look at the clue. It has a clever facial-recognition type system, where you have to guess if people are lying by the placement of their eyes, if they look distracted, etc. Clever stuff. The game has interestingly rendered streets, cars, and people. I wouldn't call it 'nice' though. It's quite grey/dull. This is meant to add to the dullness of the 1940s, I imagine, but in some parts, you might as well be playing in black and white. It's not as open-worldly as some of Rockstar's other games either. You can't go in as many places. Every car you get in has the radio on (even police cars), and you don't seem to be able to turn the horrible AM-sounding old-style radio off, annoyingly, although it doesn't prevent you from having increasingly dull and seemingly-meaningless conversations with your various work partners. The map is enormous and it takes a while to get anywhere. When you get a call on the radio that an officer needs help somewhere else (you don't have to take it), they are inevitably miles away from you, and driving back and forth down similar-looking streets is really quite boring. You can at least force your partner to drive, so you don't have the monotony of it. The thing they need help with is almost always someone with a gun robbing somewhere and then running off. Thankfully, the police radio can be ignored and you don't have the constant interruptions by other characters, as you might with say, phone calls/texts on GTA4. Earlier in the game, you get to look at things like car crashes, hit and runs, mini-fraud cases, but after a while, it seems to get quite repetitive. I got promoted to homicide, but it became tiresome having very similar cases. A woman murdered, in similar way to the last one. Solve that, another woman murdered, similar to last. Solve that? Yes - another similar murder. All women. No men get murdered in the 1940s from the looks of it. It's to highlight serial killers vs copycats, but it doesn't half get boring after a while looking at case after similar case. And then when you get promoted to ad vice, first thing is 2 people dead (as part of a drug dealing case). Then after that, more dead people. I don't think I've had a case that didn't involve a body at the start, in quite a number of missions now. I find myself longing for some car theft. Or burglary? A nice bit of arson, perhaps? Wasn't there anyone knocking off fake Nike trainers in the 1940s? Scam chain letters? I'll probably persist with it, but this might not be a game I complete.

The story is incredible and Rockstar lend their name to another brilliant project. Not as open ended as you'd like so replayability isn't the best but playing the game the first time is brilliant. Brilliant story, believable characters, and good graphics. My only complaints are the size of the map, it's huge, leading you to prompt your partner to drive. The other being that even though you feel as though you influence parts of the story based on your success in the cases, you don't actually quite so much. Still, an excellent game I thoroughly enjoyed playing. It would make and excellent film in the right hands as well I think.

You play a computer generated police officer in the 19...old times. You start off at the bottom, like Drake, and then end up at the top of the police-ing chain. Prepare yourself for dead females, dead males, lying females, lying males, abusive males and abused females...ahh the good old times. You have to solve stuff by moving the dead guys head left and right, who would of thought detective work is that easy? great stuff. Despite this 'super engaging story', you cannot run over pedestrians..yet you can steal their cars. hmm. I just wanna be the bad cop but this game doesn't allow that. GTA V it is.

Described as brand new sealed. Some sort of aftermarket case used. Makes me wonder if artwork/manual is original or reprint.

im not really into other games than fifa and pes so i wanted something new and this certainly was something new and it was really enjoyable the first few missions really gets you into it if youve got the cash and looking for a different tpye of game id buy it its not like the other rockstar games like gta this one is really more like an actual murder mystery game

I had high expectations for this game, and let me tell you, they have definitely been exceeded (for the most part). The game looks STUNNING and the technology used to make movement in the characters realistic shows 100%. The story is interesting and sophisticated but is very repetitive. The game can be hard at parts but that's what makes it such a strong, playable game. The character development, voice acting, story, graphics and the recreation of 1947 L.A. helps the game become an immersive, interactive, movie like experience. There is this assumption that Rockstar games will be only being good at making criminal based games, but this one proves that WRONG. You just get so lost in playing the game, that you find yourself playing for hours in end everyday. You have to get this game, even if it may be a little old now. The investigations make you feel like a real detective as it makes you thing about every possibility, search the whole area, and finally convict the right person.