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NEW YORK — L.A. Noire is not your average Rockstar game.
On first glance, it might appear to be in the same vein as the company’s acclaimed open-world action games Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption . But L.A. Noire, to be released May 17 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, is a detective story that feels like a big-budget version of Ace Attorney: Investigations.
It’s not about causing havoc or even exploring the world of 1940s Los Angeles. Though a sprinkling of car chases, fisticuffs and gunfights spice it up with action, L.A. Noire is first and foremost about finding clues, interrogating witnesses and solving crimes.
After playing L.A. Noire for an hour at Rockstar Games’ Manhattan offices Thursday afternoon, it seems likely to me that the game will be a unique, engaging experience — a standout among this year’s deluge of sequels and clones.
The case Rockstar showed me, a homicide called “The Silk Stocking Murder,” started off on a morbid note as I was asked to investigate the nude, bloodied corpse of a murder victim. After a few conversations with the other cops at the scene, I could walk around the body, hunting for clues as to what had happened.
New evidence, locations and people of interest were automatically added to my notebook, making for a handy reference as I explored the crime scene. A piano chime sounded whenever I approached a piece of evidence, helping me figure out when to take a closer look at the things around me. A Rockstar rep noted that sometimes the clues turn out to be totally irrelevant, and it would be my task as a detective to flush out the red herrings.
Eventually I found a trail of blood. Eventually I found a trail of blood, which I followed across a series of fire escapes and rooftops, collecting evidence along the way. At the end of the trail, which protagonist Phelps pointed out might have been an intentional setup, I discovered the final piece to this particular puzzle — the second half of a library card containing the victim’s address.
So I headed to the victim’s apartment, where I searched the building for clues and spoke to the neighbors about what they might have heard. I sat down and questioned the landlord, which is where the game’s brilliant facial animations really came into play: As she talked, I had to look at her facial expressions to determine whether she was telling the truth.
Sometimes these conversations don’t seem to flow properly. After I accused a witness of lying, Phelps immediately brought up another topic, which was jarring. Still, developer Team Bondi has created something special with L.A. Noire ‘s motion-captured visuals. I’ve never seen anything like them in a videogame before. The characters’ facial expressions are so nuanced and lifelike that they put Heavy Rain to shame.
The rest of the Silk Stocking investigation led me to a seedy bar, a fruit market and the apartment of the victim’s estranged husband. Along the way, I got into fistfights with two criminals, participated in a car chase and interrogated multiple witnesses.
While I won’t spoil the details, the case’s ending seemed to hint that not everything was as simple as it had seemed: Could Phelps have arrested the wrong man? This murder was similar to several others in the area, but was it part of a serial killing?
Pressing witnesses can range from extremely easy to wildly difficult. The Silk Stocking Murder is one of the game’s 25 cases, which are broken up into five “desks” — patrol, traffic, homicide, vice and arson. Each case is an hour to an hour-and-a-half long, so L.A. Noire ‘s main story is likely to run around 30 hours. (In a move that is sure to irritate many gamers, some retailers like Walmart and GameStop, will sell versions of the game with exclusive cases.)
Phelps can explore all of Los Angeles, driving around and taking random cases as they’re called in on his police radio. These cases typically involve smaller crimes like purse snatching or petty theft, serving mostly as distractions from the game’s main tasks. They’ll sometimes feature characters you’ve met in previous cases.
Though I won’t try to judge the entirety of L.A. Noire based on an hour-long preview, I’m beyond excited about what I’ve played so far.
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