I'm so tired of seeing this "it's not a game" topic being raised. The fact is, Most people don't see a game as what it's meant to be. An interactive story. 99% of all games are simply "Call of duty 24: shoot as many russians as you can for 10 hours". The idea of having a game where story is emphasised over gameplay seems to be foreign to most people. But then there's that 1% of games - games like LA Noire where story IS emphasised. So it's still a game. What defines it from others is that it has an emphasis on plot over lining a crosshair with a forehead.
But if what you're asking is "Why wasn't LA Noire made as a movie?" then there's a few answers to choose from.
First off: My playthrough of the game took me around 16 hours. Maybe more, maybe slightly less. Either way I find that movie seats get uncomfortable after about 1 hour. "They could have just trimmed out maybe 15 of the cases though, yeah"? Well yes but there'd be less story and character development. Think of all those newspapers, those scenes of Phelps' time in Okinawa and how these moments are drip-fed to the player to help build character backgrounds. Now consider how easily this level of exposition can be done in a 2 hour movie.
Secondly: It's, quite frankly, not trying to be an action oriented game. There's a lot of chases, driving and shooting but, really, it's in that blurry grey area of being "A cinematic game" or "An interactive movie".
Lastly: Yes, there's a lot of driving from scene to scene. And there's a lot of cutscenes too. But anyone who enjoys a good detective/murder mystery story, a fun mechanic (the mo-cap interviews) and even those who liked figuring something out for themselves in a point and click game should find plenty to love here. Call of Duty X, Burnout, Tekken or Singstar fans? Maybe not so much.
I realise I typed a helluva lot and you are the kind of person who doesn't like to watch more than 1 cutscene without getting frustrated so you probably didn't read it all (I kid. Don't get angry.) but that's my view. I enjoyed it. I felt it was exciting. Yeah there was a lot of cutscenes and stuff but, once you get into the swing of it, it becomes pretty damn fun I think.
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myhairsucks
14 years ago
Personally I can't stand Call of Duty, or any game of a similar mechanic. First person shooters? Button bashing "beat 'em ups"? No thanks. In fact, I rarely play any game which isn't an open world where I can immersed in it and take the story at my leisure.
So yes, I wen't into LA Noire expecting another Red Dead Redemption. I quickly understood it was not that type of game. My mistake. But I look at Noire and see 1940's LA modelled in quite a lot of detail and wish I had a second to enjoy it, but instead one case ends and another starts, and within each case you're given a very simple set of objectives and aren't given much freedom when following them through. And no, forgive me, but when it comes to games I don't want to watch an endless array of cutscenes, especially not when I've just paid £40 for said game. Interactive story games may be, but an interactive story with precious little interactivity??
"You fill your days with creating worlds which have meaning and order because ours doesn't."
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Pandemonium85
14 years ago
Dont worry OP. [IMO]You get this from every poster who wishes to defend this game for its lack of replay value. I can understand people thinking that going back to the cases make it replayable but they are quite wrong. I think this game could have been much better if there were different outcomes to the cases and an alternative ending to boot. In general, i just find the game to be incomplete when you consider its unnecessary large map. Overall, you have to give the game credit for its well polished environments albeit one which provides little interactivity. I think this is a good first attempt, and had i not been spoilt by CSI (fatal conspiracy) games, i'd be more than impressed with the investigative aspect of the game. I kept wishing the game had DNA labs because of my experience with CSI games. Makes you appreciate how far crime scene investigations have come this gen. Anyway, great game, but boring in my opinion because you have very little to do. [IMO] Hate is baggage, life's too short to be pissed off all the time
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bropepe2
14 years ago
Okay, I never said anything about replay value. And I'm not "defending" it. LA Noire has the same problems as every point and click/ detective game in that it has pretty much no replay value. More than likely I'll be selling this game along since I have no intention of ever playing it again. It doesn't detract from the fact that the game is pretty damn good.
All I was saying was that there's several reasons it worked better as a game than it would have as a movie. That was the OP's point, that was my argument and this is pointless since even if I laid down all my points for why the game is good and you laid down yours for why it isn't, the fact is that none of us are going to change our minds.
In the end: if you liked it, great. If you didn't, sell it, grumble about the trade in value and move on.
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Pandemonium85
14 years ago
You are quite right. I did lose the point of the OP posts. I guess i got tired of people defending the game too much. They act as though the game is flawless and that those who didn't enjoy it are stupid. Anyway, just thought i'd admit that i was off point there. Hate is baggage, life's too short to be pissed off all the time
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jan1649
14 years ago
I don't like video games, but I loved this game. I went out and bought this game. Maybe, just maybe, the creators of the game had people like me in mind when they made it -- someone who sees no point in killing endless zombie nazis, cowboys, fill-in-the-blank, but jumped at the chance to take part in a richly conceived noire-style detective story! I'm waiting for the Sherlock Holmes version with a 97% accurate 19th Century London! I could hunt Jack the Ripper and be the Great Detective.
Point is: this game held my interest because of its human story and attention to detail. It was both gripping and emotional. Perhaps this is a way to get people, like myself, who find video games pointless and redundant to buy their product. And if the quality of the experience only grows from this point, I will continue to do so. So, whoever says this game is boring, go shoot some zombies, I've got cases to solve.
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simian_ninja
14 years ago
I'm not surprised about this. Writing video games is supposed to be the latest thing for Hollywood screen writers simply because Hollywood has a major tendency to re-write or adapt films rather than produce original ideas, so more writers are going towards gaming.
Personally, I'm a fan of it. Rather than simply watching something unfold on screen I can play and be apart of it? That was my overall impression with GTA IV and RDR as well.
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skoobaba
13 years ago
I liked it, but I also got the feeling that the game was playing me, and not the other way around.
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