L.A. Noire

So let's talk about LA Noire, better yet, lets not. I have never been so turned off by a game in the first five minutes in my entire gaming life. I understand that most games give you a bit of game play to figure out how the world works but at a certain point I expect them to cut the strings and let me go. It was like GTA with railroad tracks going through the middle. It hurt to play.

Maybe I need to explain. I love the Grand Theft Auto series because when they put me behind the wheel of a vehicle they aren't going to auto fail whatever I am doing because I happened to strike a few jay walking pedestrians. In L.A Noire one of the first things they teach me to do is drive the car that has all the maneuverability of the Titanic. Well whatever says I. How much driving could there be? Apparently a lot. I either have to run to where I am going or drive the car. If I hit to many people I fail whatever it is I am doing and yet even with the siren on no one really seems motivated to get out of may way. I had fun testing this when driving at the speed of a steamroller toward a pedestrian in the road. I have to say the most fun I've had with the car is jumping in and letting my partner chase me around the city.

So fine whatever, driving sucks, nothing new here. So I am going along doing my police officer thing when I fail my first interrogation. Oh no! I leave the room my boss chews me out and then I get to start over. Again, again, and again. At no point are there any consequences for failing other than I'm not allowed to skip the cut scenes. I thought this was a fluke so later on I get it right and move on about my life. I decide to catch a random criminal whose decided to run off in the same direction I am going anyway. Oops the guy gets away, whatever. No wait. Now I'm back in the car having to decide if I really wanted to go get him. I once again don't have the option to fail. Lucky me this time I have the option to ignore.

It seems like everything I do in this game turns into some tedious task. I'm playing a game to have fun not do it til I get it right. There are times when I want to fail because I don't want to do things a certain way. Don't imply there will be consequences then say I can't actually chose to take them. It's irritating.

Moving on. As far as looks, the game is pretty. I found Heavy Rain to be prettier but L.A Noire is more cute. They have old fashioned music that really tries to bring you into the world (before game play makes you hate it) and some cut scenes about the guys past that make you feel for the character. Even logging in you get to choose your menu option and it flashes on the wall like a shadow. One thing I found hysterical was that when you get close to a clue you get special music and the remote starts to vibrate but it also gave me the vibe of skill not required. I don't like having my hand held in games. Don't give me a mystery then solve it for me. Once again, it's aggravating.

Now I'm not saying there are no redeeming values in the game I'm just having trouble finding enough of them for me to keep playing. I found the driving to distracting from the game play for me to get very involved. It seems every other moment I'm back in the car or running after someone. Long story short this game doesn't float my boat and will probably be going back to the store as a down payment on one of the games coming out in the near future. We'll see.

Corset moving back to fantasy games,
Signing off.