# L.A. Noire



## Goodsport (Nov 9, 2010)

This sandbox game for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games, is expected in stores sometime during the first half of 2011.

Aaron Stanton (who plays Kenneth Cosgrove in AMC's _Mad Men_) even lends his voice and likeness to the main character, Cole Phelps.


-G


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## Goodsport (Nov 9, 2010)




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## Goodsport (Nov 10, 2010)

"L.A. Noire Revealed" (Saturday, 2/6/10)


-G


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## Goodsport (Nov 11, 2010)

You can view the recently-released first trailer to the game here. 


-G


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## Goodsport (Nov 12, 2010)

> _Aaron Staton (who plays Kenneth Cosgrove in AMC's Mad Men) even lends his voice and likeness to the main character, Cole Phelps._




And according to this blog, Mike Uppendahl (one of _Mad Men_'s directors) is directing this game.


-G


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## Mustrum_Ridcully (Nov 13, 2010)

It looks interesting.

Enough to get me to buy a console though? 

Difficult... Difficult..


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## Goodsport (Nov 13, 2010)

Mustrum_Ridcully said:


> It looks interesting.
> 
> Enough to get me to buy a console though?
> 
> Difficult... Difficult..




_Red Dead Redemption_ (another Rockstar Games product) is what finally got me to buy a PS3, my first console system since Imlast had one (a PS2) back in 2002/2003. 


-G


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## Goodsport (Nov 16, 2010)

GameInformer.com has a four-page preview article about the game here.


-G


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## Goodsport (Dec 17, 2010)

""Thrillingly Lifelike" - Latest Press Previews for L.A. Noire from Around the World" (Thursday, 12/2/10)









-G


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## Goodsport (Jan 23, 2011)

Official Trailer #2 is scheduled for release on Monday, 1/24/11.

As for the game's release date: while certain retailers are currently stating April 5th, a leaked trailer instead states May 17th.

Either way, I suppose we'll find out soon enough.


-G


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## Goodsport (Jan 24, 2011)

Official Trailer #2 can be viewed here.

And it seems that the game's release date is May 17th after all.


-G


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## Goodsport (Jan 29, 2011)

The game's official site (linked to in the first post of this thread) has just been revamped and updated with lots of various goodies, including a "Rockstar Recommends" section that currently features two full-length streaming lesser-known film noir movies (with more apparently to be added later): Edgar G. Ulmer's _Detour_ and Fritz Lang's _Scarlet Street_. 


-G


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## Goodsport (Feb 9, 2011)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO0W27D1TrY&feature=player_embedded]L.A. Noire Gameplay Series Video: "Orientation"[/ame]


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## Goodsport (Feb 24, 2011)

*Box art (U.S. version)*







*Box art (E.U. version)*








-G


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## RangerWickett (Feb 24, 2011)

It looks cool. Alas, it seems there won't be a PC version any time soon.


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## Felon (Feb 24, 2011)

Supposedly, it's not actually an open-world game in the same sense as GTA or Read Dead. You proceed in completing objectives in a specific order.


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## Mustrum_Ridcully (Feb 25, 2011)

RangerWickett said:


> It looks cool. Alas, it seems there won't be a PC version any time soon.


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## jasper (Feb 25, 2011)

Rockstar emailed me today.
Depending on where you preorder and what console, you will get different additional content.
Xbox gamestop an vice case and challenge
amazon Detective suit
walmart traffic case
best buy detective suit.


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## Goodsport (Mar 5, 2011)

jasper said:


> Rockstar emailed me today.
> Depending on where you preorder and what console, you will get different additional content.
> Xbox gamestop an vice case and challenge
> amazon Detective suit
> ...





"Presenting Pre-Order Exclusive Unlockable Bonus Content when You Pre-Order L.A. Noire: Cases, Challenges, Suits & More" (Thursday, 2/24/11)


-G


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## Goodsport (Mar 10, 2011)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDXXQORXXTQ]L.A. Noire Gameplay Series: Investigation and Interrogation[/ame]


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## Goodsport (Mar 29, 2011)

> _"Presenting Pre-Order Exclusive Unlockable Bonus Content when You Pre-Order L.A. Noire: Cases, Challenges, Suits & More"_ _(Thursday, 2/24/11)_




It turns out that all of the pre-order bonus content from the various stores will eventually be available as downloadable content on both Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network sometime after the game's release.  This news definitely allays a worry I had that by buying the game at one of the participating stores, the bonus content from the other stores would be unavailable to me. 

With money still tight, I don't currently have a lot of PS3 games.  But I like to have _all_ of the content available for each game that I _do_ have. 


-G


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## Goodsport (Apr 11, 2011)

All three official trailers are now on YouTube.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3pxaZq1t_w]L.A. Noire First Trailer[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7NTSfYpJkw]L.A. Noire Official Trailer #2 [/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu3T-TBdCGM]L.A. Noire Official Trailer 3[/ame]


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## Goodsport (Apr 26, 2011)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm2PqSuVYU4]L.A. Noire: Gameplay Series Video "Rising through The Ranks"[/ame]


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## Goodsport (May 2, 2011)

Fan-made trailer by TacticProductionz with scenes collected from all the previous trailers and with the musical score from _Inception_ added.  

It was even featured on the game's official website here.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRwnJ0EX9Ko]La Noire Trailer [HD][/ame]


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## Goodsport (May 4, 2011)

"Announcing an Original Short Fiction Series in Honor of L.A. Noire" (Tuesday, 5/3/11)







_Original cover art illustrated specially for the short fiction series. Left: L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories, the full anthology of all eight tales in one eBook compilation which will be available for download June 6th. Right: Read an excerpt from the first story to be released, Megan Abbott's "The Girl", available today for your reading pleasure._



-G


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## Goodsport (May 5, 2011)

"The L.A. Times & Rockstar Games Present: The 1947 Edition Los Angeles Crime Map" (Thursday, 5/5/11)









-G


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## Goodsport (May 6, 2011)

"Rockstar Made L.A. Noire So Big, They Could Barely Fit It On One Disc (or Three)" (Thursday, 5/5/11)


-G


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## Goodsport (May 9, 2011)

""A New Era for Interactive Entertainment" - Latest L.A. Noire Previews from The New York Times, The Guardian and More" (Monday, 5/9/11)









-G


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## Goodsport (May 9, 2011)

Is _L.A. Noire_ the spiritual successor to Sierra's _Police Quest_ series (albeit set in 1947 rather than in the present day)? 


-G


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## Goodsport (May 11, 2011)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk69qfTRIgY]L.A. Noire - Official Launch Trailer[/ame]


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## Goodsport (May 13, 2011)

"Street Crimes of L.A. Noire: New Screenshots & Info" (Friday, 5/13/11)









-G


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## Goodsport (May 13, 2011)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAFpxEi4Rqg]L.A. Noire - Official Launch TV Commercial[/ame]


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## jonesy (May 13, 2011)

I've been kind of hoping that the previews would have been just that, and that they would have done something about the faces. I guess not. It's uncanny valley for me.


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## Goodsport (May 14, 2011)

jonesy said:


> I've been kind of hoping that the previews would have been just that, and that they would have done something about the faces. I guess not. It's uncanny valley for me.




Sorry about that. 


-G


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## Krug (May 14, 2011)

I liked *Red Dead Redemption* quite a bit, so probably will give this a go.


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## fba827 (May 27, 2011)

Okay... I just finished playing through this game...

Positives:
I was expecting a bunch of self-contained cases to solve. But there did turn out to be quite a bit of overlap making for much stronger continuity and story.

I sucked at the action parts (but I suck at all action games) but there is a nice setting that let's you bypass an action segment if you fail it three times in a row.


Negative point:
It can feel repetitive... so it actually feels "freshest" if you do no more than one case scenario in a single sitting.  On the flip side, if you try and stop halfway through a case file and continue the second half at the next sitting, well, hopefully your memory is better than mine for little things ....

A couple parts you are unrealistically forced to do something for the sake of the game (i.e. you must drive at certain times even though you can otherwise have your partner drive other times)... and, as said above, i suck at action parts, and when you're being forced to drive, well, it's usually because a car chase is coming.

I'm also not completely sold on some characterization choices of the main character.  He goes through case after case with "modern" (2010) sensibilities on race and gender etc. when others in the force don't.  And yet he makes a rather ....... "interesting" choice at one point that goes against the type of character that he is built up to be.  They do try and explain it as a choice he made due to pressure... but, i just don't buy the explanation as it was done.   having said that, the consequences were interesting so it did add to the story so i can let the infraction slide.


don't expect an action-y game. it's really a story - you spend most of the time investigating an area, or interrogating suspects which in turn reveals more about the story and background of the situation involved - with some action parts sprinkled in.


i'll probably replay it once at some point in a month or two.


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## Sombalance (May 27, 2011)

I'm about half way through the game, and for the most part I'm enjoying it.  But, it is more like a movie than a game.  It seems that the game will move on regardless of how well or poorly you do.

The action scenes can be a little tough.  Using different cars for the chase scenes seem to help.


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## frankthedm (May 28, 2011)

Sombalance said:


> But, it is more like a movie than a game.  It seems that the game will move on regardless of how well or poorly you do.



Thanks for that bit of info.


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## Goodsport (Jun 1, 2011)

"Announcing L.A. Noire Downloadable Content Details" (Tuesday, 5/31/11)









-G


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## Goodsport (Jun 1, 2011)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vijdHMnAKs]L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass Video[/ame]


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## WanderingMonster (Jun 2, 2011)

I liked it, with caveats.

1st) The story is excellent.  The dialogue is authentic.  Full of noire tropes.  However I felt very much like I was just along for the ride in the story that the game was telling.  Success or failure has little impact.  There are no real choices to be made.

2nd) Repetitive action.  Some of the action sequences that players may choose to undertake (because you can opt out of them), seem contrived and plopped in just to break up the story.

3rd) Little replay value.  Unless you want to chase achievements.  Which I didn't.  I didn't want to drive around the city hunting locations.  Although, 1947 L.A. is BEAUTIFULLY recreated.  I can see why someone might want to just roam.

4th) **SPOILERS** 



Spoiler



There was no payoff for success.  The Homicide Desk was by far the best and most compelling storyline.  Once you link all the pieces...*fizzle*  No payoff.  And the ending was just irritating.  Rockstar is starting a trend where they kill off their protagonists.  Maybe those things make good noire, but they make lousy games.  I just invested 20 hours+ in gameplay.  You had better make it pay off.



If sounds like I didn't like the game, I didn't.  I loved the story.  I loved the characters. I love love LOVED the visuals and the facial animation. But the gamey part was only okay.  I don't regret buying it, but I won't replay.  I will be trading it in.  



Spoiler



I will also be hesitant to emotionally invest in any of Rockstar's future properties.


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## Goodsport (Jun 21, 2011)

"L.A. Noire "Nicholson Electroplating" DLC Case Now Available for Download" (Tuesday, 6/21/11)


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oMcD7nAxD4]"L.A. Noire "Nicholson Electroplating" DLC Case Trailer"[/ame]



-G


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## Goodsport (Jul 7, 2011)

The "Reefer Madness" Vice Case DLC is scheduled for download on Tuesday, 7/12/11.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzJcZrDEZ5M]L.A. Noire "Reefer Madness" DLC Case Trailer[/ame]



-G


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## Goodsport (Jul 12, 2011)

"L.A. Noire "Reefer Madness" DLC Case Now Available for Download" (Tuesday, 7/12/11)


-G


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## Goodsport (Apr 3, 2012)

About halfway though playing this game a while back, things got really busy in real life, so I've only recently had the chance to resume playing it and am once again having fun doing so. 

However, in my time away, I somehow missed the fact that developer Team Bondi was shut down late last year.  Though publisher Rockstar Games undoubtedly still owns the rights to the game and to any potential sequels, how slim are the odds that there'll actually be any more sequels? 


-G


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