L.A. Noire and Heavy Rain

Let's be honest about L.A. Noire.



I really don't see why L.A. Noire is praised as groundbreaking whereas Heavy Rain is criticized for "not being much of a game." Yes, that is a valid complaint to be laid against Heavy Rain (To an extent, however; the game isn't supposed to be an action game, and I feel as if a large amount of the people who criticize the game don't realize or understand that (Criticisms should be regarding how the game handles the important aspect that I'll mention at the end of this paragraph instead)), but it's even moreso for L.A. Noire. The bulk of both of these games are conversation and investigative sequences, yet in L.A. Noire, everything is scripted to a ridiculous extent; at least you have a bit of control over what goes on, as well as (And this is incredibly important for these kinds of games) choice and consequence in Heavy Rain.

I'm convinced the only reason L.A. Noire is loved and Heavy Rain isn't is because of the cookie-cutter poor man's GTA action sequenced spliced between the interviews to break up the game's pace ("Maybe if we dumb down this game even more, people will love it"). And that's not even mentioning the exterior elements; L.A. Noire was created as a tribute to film noir, but Heavy Rain does a much better job at being a neo-noir than L.A. Noire could ever hope to be (Especially in terms of lighting and visuals, but also in terms of the narrative and morally ambiguous and complex characterization).

Honestly, I don't see any reason why this game should be praised, or even played. If you want a game that is almost entirely choice and consequence-backed conversation with a noir atmosphere, play Heavy Rain; if you want an open-world action game, play GTA (Or Read Dead Redemption).

I enjoy L.A. Noire more because I really like its setting, characters, and soundtrack. I think of it more as a movie than I do a game, but that's not really a bad thing in my opinion.

Would you like to crucify me for my opinion? I can buy the cross if you want. I won't be needing the money anymore, obviously.

Originally Posted by Great Gibdo

I enjoy L.A. Noire more because I really like its setting, characters, and soundtrack. I think of it more as a movie than I do a game, but that's not really a bad thing in my opinion.

Have you seen any three of these films?

The Third Man
Out of the Past
Touch of Evil
The Maltese Falcon
Strangers on a Train
Murder, My Sweet

Heavy Rain was a better game for sure. Both were flawed games but the formula for solving cases in LA Noire was identical for each of them. It was repetitive to the point where it was not really worth playing after a few hours. The stories weren't interesting either which gave me even less motivation to plow through the repetitive cases.

Heavy Rain kept me interested for most of the game at least. I was willing to suffer through the "gameplay" so I could see what would happen next.

L.A Noire was a lame game. No, I'll say it was pretty mediocre, at best. The facial reading concept was not very clear at all, I found that suspects either looked like they were in pain or just sad all the time. Besides that, the investigation methods got old pretty fast; it should've been a shorter game, imo.

I've never played Heavy Rain, but I have a feeling it'll probably be more enjoyable.

I never saw anything "Noir" about the game, to be honest. It was always bright and sunny, as opposed to the dark and dreary visuals characteristic of the genre. And the main character lacks any moral ambiguity (also a mainstay of Film Noir). His WWII hero supercop persona seemed to me like something out of a fantasy novel than film noir.

But I haven't played the game so I won't make any judgments or assessments about it. I just think it's funny that this game calls itself "Noir" when I've seen Star Wars games more Noir than it.

LA Noire was an absolute disappointment. It felt like an extremely limited version of GTA with some of the most repetitive missions I've ever played in a game. I expected it to feel similar to GTA like all Rockstar games do, but this was just sad.

The story failed to invest me from the start, and the WW2 flashbacks were just cheese added to give minimal context to what was seriously flawed and lacking ending. The concept of the evidence gathering and interrogation sequences intrigued me at first but in the end, the evidence gathering became tedious and felt like a chore, and the interrogation was ridiculously biased.

Ultimately the games worst flaw is its title. L.A. NOIRE. There is no sense of noir in the entire game. It feels as if you're roaming in a bland city where everything is stiff and doesn't have any life to it.

In the end, my opinion may be biased because I went into the game with "astronomical" high hopes and came out extremely disappointed, so.. yeah. Forgive me if I sound too harsh.

If you want to play a fun version of L.A. Noire I suggest Mafia II.

However, Heavy Rain didn't totally impress me either. It was a good game, and I'm all for a game that is based around story rather than much gameplay, but, again, I didn't really feel invested.

For me I started playing LA Noire expecting it to have really detailed and unique investigations, hopefully creating an experience that'd blow Phoenix Wright out of the water due to its more serious nature and more interesting setting.

In the end it actually felt like a really dumbed down and repetitive take on that style of game with fancy graphics and an open world with action sequences thrown together as a desperate attempt to keep you interested and make you forget how bad the actual game is. Hugely disappointing.

To make things worse the driving physics are laughably horrible. :/

I hope they make a 2nd one. LA Noire feels like Assassin's Creed I in a way. Great concept, awful execution. ACII was awesome because they kept the positive aspects of the previous game and fixed most of the flaws (particularly the repetition). A 2nd LA Noire game could do the same thing and I'd love it. There is potential there.

L.A. Noire was just... just so terrible. I haven't played Heavy Rain, but L.A. Noire was basically a collection of poorly written investigation/interrogation minigames with a meaningless world that connected them. I started to get really bored and frustrated with the game in general about 15 hours in. I didn't even bother driving at that point, I just had my partner warp us so I could get through the game faster. The main character's dialogue doesn't even reflect the choice you've made in an interrogation (lie, doubt, truth), which leads to some interrogations going straight downhill.

Yeah, bad game.

I haven't played Heavy Rain, but I watched a playthrough, and HR is clearly the better game.

I'm playing L.A. Noire right now, for the second time. Why would I do this? Because I thought I didn't give it enough of a chance the first time around. I beat it and it left a bitter taste.

L.A. Noire is just... frustrating. I realize how much I lOVE the investigation aspect, but the interrogation/Truth/Doubt/Lie system is one of the worst things I've ever seen in a game. Ever.

It just makes every witness and interrogation so problematic and frustrating. The looping face animations don't help either, especially when someone is lying and staring right at you, not moving or twitching at all. Their face expressionless, just straight.

How does the game expect you to read faces when they pull ♥♥♥♥ like that (and most people playing know nothing about reading faces in the first place)?

It comes down to a guessing game rather than any thinking at all. Not to mention that the game "lies". It tells you that the investigation music ends when you investigate all the clues. I stuck with this, picked up everything I can, investigated everything, making sure that the music ended each time, yet I'd still get a missing clue or two from the tally at the end of the case.

The driving and facial animations that are out of synch with the dialogue are problems, but overall I'm enjoying the game so far. Its not the best thing ever, but not every game has to be.

Originally Posted by King

L.A. Noire was just... just so terrible. I haven't played Heavy Rain, but L.A. Noire was basically a collection of poorly written investigation/interrogation minigames with a meaningless world that connected them. I started to get really bored and frustrated with the game in general about 15 hours in. I didn't even bother driving at that point, I just had my partner warp us so I could get through the game faster. The main character's dialogue doesn't even reflect the choice you've made in an interrogation (lie, doubt, truth), which leads to some interrogations going straight downhill.

Yeah, bad game.

I love when you choose "doubt" and Phelps inappropriately yells at witnesses like they were Nazi Generals who were hiding critical information or something.

Calm down man, she only witnessed a kid stealing a popsicle.

It's really odd that "doubt" isn't questioning, it's accusing. And it's something you can't back out of.

"Lie" you can back out off, okay. But you choose Doubt or Truth on the wrong thing and you're ♥♥♥♥ed, there's no way to make up for that mistake.

When you choose "Lie" Cole accuses the witness, and the witness asks for proof. It's usually not related to the previous statement (the one before the lie/doubt/truth options appear) most times. And when Cole accuses the witness of "this and that" sometimes the witness will ask for evidence for "so and so" instead of "this and that". It's really crazy and just... I can't find the word for it. Like it leads you around and just messes with you. Of course, it gives you the grace of backing out if you find that you don't have the evidence, which is great.

The interrogation system is the mainmainmain problem I have with the game. Every other small thing I can overlook, but that system is really just bad. From the facial animations and supposed "tics" to the options of lie/doubt/truth, which could be renamed to defy/accuse/accept.

Seriously, I'm playing through the third case in Traffic right now. Witness gives me a statement, and I'm supposed to judge based on her facial expression. She isn't looking at Cole, she's looking around/looking down. Doesn't even glance at Cole once in the loop. I don't have the evidence to say her statement is a Lie so I go with Doubt.

I was wrong, she was telling the Truth.

The next thing is "what evidence goes with what statement". And especially how they word "Well prove I did/was at/was doing this" can really throw you off. Some clues you pick up are really, exceptionally unclear and not detailed at all, leaving you to guess at most things. Most times the clues you pick up are just literally trash. You don't use them for ANYTHING. Most times you have a clue that fits a statement and proves something, but it's wrong.

I liked LA Noire. It had its flaws - from what I can tell, the directions must have been like "okay, make a face that looks like you're lying" and it's so easy to tell, and sometimes Cole will say things that really weren't what you intended to (although from memory you can back out of that, right?), but I still enjoyed it. It reminded me of Phoenix Wright and Mafia mashed together.

I wish it was like Phoenix Wright. It tried to be at least :|

You can only back out of "Lie". "Doubt" is accusing with no basis, and "Truth" is just accepting it.

If it were like PW, the doubt button should've been turned into a "Press" option. I might've liked that.

It comes down to a guessing game rather than any thinking at all. Not to mention that the game "lies". It tells you that the investigation music ends when you investigate all the clues. I stuck with this, picked up everything I can, investigated everything, making sure that the music ended each time, yet I'd still get a missing clue or two from the tally at the end of the case.

Some of the clues come from interrogation, so you can pick up everything in the environment and still miss clues if you make mistakes in questioning.

I think I'm the only one who didn't really have problems with the interrogation system. I occasionally made mistakes, but so what? I don't need to 100% it. If you pay attention to their face and what they're saying in relation to the clues its obvious most of the time.

I understand what you're saying about interrogation clues. I missed that. So, thanks.

Maybe I'm being too close minded/critical/harsh. But I've had one interrogation run like this

Looking down/looking away - Lie
Looking away/wandering eyes - Lie
Looking down/looking away - Truth

The first two were easy because the statements were false. But the third one was just: "I can't remember what happened yesterday".

Don't have evidence to disprove that she doesn't remember, so I go with doubt. But of course it isn't that. It's the truth.

Stuff like that really bothers me. It feels inconsistent. And makes me not trust the "face reading" system.