L.A. Noire 360/PS3

[Family Fry]

Why do people keep saying this is a Rockstar game?

It's NOT a Rockstar game!

(EDIT: this outburst of mine is based on about 3 different forums I've read, plus twitter and other online sources, not just NTSC-uk)

Unless Wikipedia is wrong, and they often are, it's by Team Bondi.

It's the year 2011 and people still mix up publishers and developers? Why?!

I wrote this article back in 2006 and half a decade later things are no different. Ay carrumba!

Dare I say because nowadays a LOT of published stuff the publishing house owns the dev in some form, just you wait for it Rockstar Bondi will happen. The game is as good as a rockstar branded game, look at the front cover for instance full rockstar branding on there, no dev logo. That happens a lot not just rockstar to blame for that, most likely this is the reason why people get dev publishers mixed up for credit, front box branding that and most people think Rockstar are the second coming.

[rmoxon]

Played a few hours of this and have to say while its enjoyable it doesnt feel as good, or indeed as important, as we have really been lead to belive.

The tech behind it is obviously impressive, but thats pretty much where the really good stuff ends. Although it may end up being more than the sum of its parts, the parts that are there are not great.

The structure is disjointed, the gameplay is not focused enough for the developers to ever really nail it in any one area (so as a result all the seperate elements are average at best) and the story so far seems relativley none existant. You just dont actualy care about anything that happens.

Maybe it just takes a heck of a long time to get going properly, but so far I'm less than impressed.

Also its worth pointing out that the 360 version is a bit rubbish, it has really poor frame rate drops whenever theres any action in the game. If youre still on the fence about which version to get, pick the PS3 one.

[MrMarbles]

So far, it feels like Assassin's Creed 1 - the groundwork is there for a great game, but this isn't it. Early days though, and I look forward to jumping back in again later.

Spot on.

I've got to say, there are a lot of niggles in this that detract from the overall enjoyment. Inconsistencies in outcomes that are impossible to predict (Will I fail this street call mission immediately for shooting the suspect? If I don't try shooting and killing the suspect immediately for fear of getting an instant fail and try to chase him instead, will he just shoot and kill me?)

I've also been caught out by a case (

->Open Spoiler<-

Lipstick Killer

) being cut short before I'd had the chance to do everything I'd wanted to, purely because I was visiting Locations in my notebook in the order they were appearing in my notebook. The options I had?

->Open Spoiler<-

Either search a suspect's apartment, or interrogate another suspect at the station. Naturally, I felt inclined to search the apartment in order to get more evidence to use in the interrogation, never for one moment thinking it'd initiate the conclusion... alas, it resulted in the suspect returning, getting arrested and ending the case completely. Nice.

Being a good hour into the case, needless to say I was more than a little miffed at feeling cheated out of a proper conclusion, made all the more irritating because,

->Open Spoiler<-

moments before the suspect returned in the same cutscene, Phelps was voicing his suspicions as to why the lipstick and murder weapon were just sat in open sight in the suspect's bedroom, implying they were planted and thus suggesting another twist in the case. Sadly not it seems. I can only hope that this is something that'll crop up in a later case as some big evidence-planting conspiracy or something.

I'm still kind of enjoying it, and I'll play it through to the end, but... y'know... I'm not gonna gush about it or anything like that. Heavy Rain did the whole game noir thing much better in my humble opinion.

[toythatkills]

I'm really enjoying Rockstar's L.A. Noire. I really like what Rockstar did with the facial animation, mainly. I've never ever felt so immersed in a game before as I am in Rockstar's L.A. Noire simply because the faces are so real, and it's just so convincing that you're there in Rockstar's world and not Uncanny Valley.

Great job, Rockstar!

Also its worth pointing out that the 360 version is a bit rubbish, it has really poor frame rate drops whenever theres any action in the game. If youre still on the fence about which version to get, pick the PS3 one.

Is the 360 version of Rockstar's L.A. Noire really worse than the PS3 version of Rockstar's L.A. Noire? I've heard they're almost identical so if the 360 version of Rockstar's L.A. Noire is suffering, the PS3 version of Rockstar's L.A. Noire is probably the same. Unless you've played both versions of Rockstar's L.A. Noire and have seen the difference.

[HIDE][/HIDE]

[EvilBoris]

EvilBoris said: "I'm usually quite cautious of Rockstar free-roaming games"

Maybe he meant "Rockstar-styled" games. But still, I've seen it on other parts of the internet and suddenly felt the need to say something. Perhaps I'm preaching to the wrong people (specifically those who already know the difference). Rockstar's publishing of the game will inevitably confuse the masses on this subject.

Maybe I should of been clearer (I was talking about the transfer of the IP from Sony to Rockstar in the headlines thread)

All games that have been made by R* in recent years have followed the same basic structure , whether it was Bully,GTA or Red Dead.
It's clear that R* as the publisher will of had a big input in the game and I'm sure there will of been non-bondi production within the game aren't even R* North Games only partly produced by the actual North Studio?

L.A. Noire, even if it didn't have anything to do with RockStar during the production, it's a derivative of a genre that R* pioneered, a genre I'm not overly keen on.

RockStar have done everything to make people think that it's them who have made it, people buy into brands. None of the adverts say it was made by team bondi and even the front of the box doesn't have team bondi on it.

[mekanor]

Sketcz, you must love that after all this time, the Brink headline thread still says "bethesda's new shooter" or something in the title

[Sketcz]

I missed that thread entirely Mekanor.

[rmoxon]

I'm really enjoying Rockstar's L.A. Noire. I really like what Rockstar did with the facial animation, mainly. I've never ever felt so immersed in a game before as I am in Rockstar's L.A. Noire simply because the faces are so real, and it's just so convincing that you're there in Rockstar's world and not Uncanny Valley.

Great job, Rockstar!



Is the 360 version of Rockstar's L.A. Noire really worse than the PS3 version of Rockstar's L.A. Noire? I've heard they're almost identical so if the 360 version of Rockstar's L.A. Noire is suffering, the PS3 version of Rockstar's L.A. Noire is probably the same. Unless you've played both versions of Rockstar's L.A. Noire and have seen the difference.

[HIDE][/HIDE]

To answer your question, the comparisons i have seen online show the PS3 to be superior graphicaly and the framerate alot better.

However I have only played the 360 one and its really bad as far as the framerate goes, so I was simply saying that that peoples best bet is no doubt the PS3 version, as I dont think it really could be any worse (and i have read that its alot better).

[Jebus]

"Really bad"?

Goodness me.

[rmoxon]

"Really bad"?

Goodness me.

Yeah it is, basicaly every time you chase someone the game stutters quite noticeabley. I wouldnt call the gunfights particuarly smooth either, though that could be in large part down to the fact that the shooting mechanics are simply not that good.

[SuperBeatBoy]

I agree with all the faults that have been raised in this thread. I have been speeding through it, sometimes the game makes you think of your amazing detective skills and then you hit a huge fault because some of the looks you are getting and answers are too unambiguous. Loving the story and dialogue though.

[MartyG]

Yeah it is, basicaly every time you chase someone the game stutters quite noticeabley. I wouldnt call the gunfights particuarly smooth either, though that could be in large part down to the fact that the shooting mechanics are simply not that good.

Hmm - maybe that's an issue with the drive read speed? I installed it to memory stick and I'm not getting that at all. There are frame drops for sure, but I wouldn't describe it as bad as stuttering.

[BIG EDD]

Hmm - maybe that's an issue with the drive read speed? I installed it to memory stick and I'm not getting that at all. There are frame drops for sure, but I wouldn't describe it as bad as stuttering.

I've installed the three discs and the framerate is nowhere near as bad as claimed????

[Neon Ignition]

With Team Bondi being founded by one of the guys behind The Getaway it was probably always going to feel like a Rockstar title, crappy side angled driving camera and all, lol

[rmoxon]

I've installed the three discs and the framerate is nowhere near as bad as claimed????

He means if you play it from the DVD drive I think, and he could be right, Im too lazy to install 3 disks so im playing without installing. The framerate is really bad in places and I'm not even someone whos usualy too fussed about such things, so its obviously pretty bad.

The 3 hours or so that Ive played so far havent exactly been packed with action though, so at least it hasnt been game breaking as yet.

I would have played more, but it just hasnt really captivated me enough to get me back to it in a hurry really.

With Team Bondi being founded by one of the guys behind The Getaway it was probably always going to feel like a Rockstar title, crappy side angled driving camera and all, lol

It does actualy feel alot like the Getaway so far, that was also a game that had alot more potential than worth when all was said and done.

I'm probabaly being too harsh on it now, its not a bad game really, it just doesnt seem like its a very interesting one. You have already seen all the mechanics after half an hour and they dont appear to becoming any more complex as the game progresses. Also on paper it sounds like somthing that would not hold your hand, but the hand holding seems to be a major part of the whole thing in reality.