Life of Kika Collage

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

LA Noire 2: When will it be released?



I don't think there is any other video game I can categorize as being refined and mature as Rock star's LA Noire. Commercially a huge success, LA Noire was based off of the actual cases and murder trials and its infamously known for the strategized gameplay with witty investigations and meticulous questioning from potential witnesses and victims. The overall game was a dynamic gaming experience of realistic detective role play set in 1940's Los Angeles. And it would be a shame if Rock star would discontinue the series because it one of their most sophisticated games to date.
 
   The complex character development and motion capture of real actors give off high standards when it comes to interaction and problem solving.
 I was always excited to question suspects and prove them wrong and at times, I became arrogant and I fooled to believe that I had all the evidence. The one thing that strikes me about the questioning sequences was that it got gradually harder and more complicated. You really had to think and judge a situation carefully in order to solve a case. As much as this was important in gameplay, its unfortunate that it didn't involve the character's story. In the end, whether you solved the case or not, you ended up getting promoted after a few cases. But I still found my motivation to get all the clues and crake the cases. In the sequel, there should be multiple endings to prove to the player that all choices are crucial in gameplay and the character's story.
  
The open world was more of a tourist location or attraction like Disneyland except there wasn't much to do, but drive to locations of murder victims. Yes you could spot famous landmarks once in a while, but you were never given a chance to interact with stores, buy clothes or go to lounges. And even the people walking around the street were rarely given any personalities. Because you were playing as a detective, you were  not allowed to harm any Samaritans outside of the police station or crime scene. So running over people from time to time was somewhat of a bore. Rock star knows open world games. They have recreated so many beautiful cities in Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, at least put in some interactive places, an apartment and maybe a gentlemen's lounge. Just so that when you are too clouded with stress from the main story, you can drive off to the jazz bar, spend money on hookers with scabies, beat up trendy cars with baseball bats and get drunk with the fellas.
 
The gun play in LA Noire was stale. Simple generated gun-aim-shoot interaction just like any modern game and you were only given one weapon at a time to use. I'm all about realistic features in new games, but I am also all about fantasy. Weaponry is essential to any action based sequence and it's a shame that you are limited with the variety of guns you can use. I also have to mention this with the driving features as well. Stale and slow. I know the cars in the 40s didn't have as much horse power as the obnoxious sport cars used in Grand Theft Auto, but I feel like I'm riding on a shopping cart when I'm chasing a bad guy down. It was defiantly frustrating to loose a guy after a bad turn.

 
Okay so the story of the main character Cole Phelps was somewhat overshadowed and not really explained. Yes we knew he was a war veteran and he was messing with some German singer, but we knew nothing of his personal life. If I am going to involve empathy with the protagonist, I need to relate to him/her in some way. Since he died at the end of the game, we have no clue of who could be the sequel. I wouldn't mind someone who was mentally unstable or had more issues than any one else. I just need complexity in the game. If Rock star could take time to actually renew LA Noire, I would have less things to bitch about in this world.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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