I guess we know what the cast of Mad Men get up to when they’re on hiatus then! I picked up L.A. Noire a few weeks ago and got time to play it recently. I was expecting just another Grand Theft Auto in old threads, but what I got was the first proper plot driven, well scripted and well voice acted games I think I’ve ever played.
Many people put would Hard Rain into the same category but for me it just felt too forced. I never felt any empathy for the lead character and so never cared much what happened to him either way. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say I liked the main character Cole Phelps, voice acted by Mad Men’s Aaron Staton, I did enjoy guiding him through his roundabout career in the LAPD.
There is one case in particular in which the tension is wound up just like the climax of a good movie. Unfortunately, the climax of the game itself isn’t quite up to that standard, but it wraps it up nicely none the less. By the way, don’t type “cole phelps” into Google if you don’t want to be spoiled. The first auto suggestion kind of gives things away!
The game isn’t perfect though, suffering from some of the same frustrations experienced in the GTA series. Driving around stops being fun very quickly, as do the side missions and finding hidden cars. Really it is just a race to the end of the plot driven main storyline, and if you stick to that and ignore much of the rest it still stands head and shoulders above most other games out today.
I’d definitely recommend it.