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 In 2011, Rockstar Games published an ambitious little title called L.A. Noire. L.A. Noire was the baby of an Australian company named Team Bondi, and its main draw was a technology called MotionScan, which uses a 32-camera array similar to the ones used by The Matrix to create a detailed three-dimensional picture of an actor's face--you might say it's a sort of three-dimensional rotoscoping. Thanks to this technology, the game has by far the best facial detail of any title in the 360/PS3 generation, though it can still look awkward at times when it uses a transform effect to transition between frames, plus the face model tends to have more details than polygons. Unfortunately (at least according to what little information has reached the public ear), Team Bondi was not exactly a well-oiled machine of a company, to the point where Rockstar had to interfere quite a bit in order for L.A. Noire to be any good and even to make sure the game would eventually hit store shelves instead of vanishing like some overreaching piece of vaporware. Regardless of the truth, Team Bondi would wind up self-destructing soon after L.A. Noire's release despite it being a critical and commerical success. Rockstar Games holds the rights to the franchise, so we could eventually see a sequel developed by a different team, but so far Rockstar hasn't been in any hurry. As for the game itself, L.A. Noire is an episodic title which (mostly) follows a man named Cole Phelps as he first rises and then falls through the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department during the years 1946-47. Players search crime scenes and houses for clues, chase cars and people, get into fistfights and gunfights, and most particularly interview suspects and witnesses (easily the game's centerpiece thanks to the whole MotionScan tech). It's an action-adventure game in the most literal sense, and depending on how well you interview people, how many clues you pick up, and how much damage you deal to the city in the process, you'll earn a rating of between 1-5 stars. You'll also earn experience and gain ranks over time, but since I've already maxed that out on my Rockstar Social Club profile we'll just be ignoring it. Cole Phelps is an unusual protagonist in that he is what a cipher personality would be like in real life: ambitious, goal-driven, calculating, quite often difficult to work with, and enough of a bully that the Doubt and Lie choices don't sound strange coming out of his mouth even when the player picks incorrectly. The stick up Cole's rear end is so huge that he's not the sort of person you can easily identify with, but I choose to take this as a commentary on video game protagonists. On top of that, Cole does grow and develop as the game progresses, so it's not a total loss. Also, I'm going to be spotlighting a different classic film at the end of each episode. You don't need to offer me suggestions since my list is pretty much set at this point, but you're free to guess at what's coming up, offer viewing suggestions to other posters, and provide additional trivia for the films I've reviewed (and even those I haven't). In addition, this thread is a full spoilers allowed environment regarding both L.A. Noire and any film plotlines. You may discuss any and all future events without using spoiler tags, and I will explain the reason why I'm encouraging this in my first video. Bobbin Threadbare fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Mar 29, 2016 |
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Mar 28, 2016 17:03
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Bobbin Threadbare fucked around with this message at 17:00 on Sep 19, 2016 |
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Mar 28, 2016 17:03
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I've already fielded some questions regarding Columbo episodes, so here are a few resources to get you started. http://www.columbo-site.freeuk.com This site has every episode synopsis, including the specials that take place after the series ended. The episodes I mentioned in the video are, in order, "Death Lends a Hand," "By Dawn's Early Light," "Forgotten Lady," and "No Time to Die." If you're looking for stand-out guest stars, there's "A Stitch in Crime" with Leonard Nimoy, "Swan Song" with Johnny Cash, "Lady in Waiting" with Leslie Nielsen, and "Short Fuse" with Roddy McDowall.
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Mar 28, 2016 17:04
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Having just finished this game for the first time recently myself, I'm glad that you're doing it. You'll point out all the plot holes I glossed over and I'll learn about cool Noir flicks.
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Mar 28, 2016 17:09
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Hell loving yeah. This could be my favorite project of yours yet.
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Mar 28, 2016 17:09
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Anoia posted:Hell loving yeah. This could be my favorite project of yours yet. Seconded so hard. I was so hyped for LA Noire when it came out, and despite the obvious flaws and shortcomings, there was a definite glimmer of the truly groundbreaking and amazing game it could have been. It's not a great game, but I still think it's better than what Metacritic would lead you to believe, and it could be the best noir game since Grim Fandango and Discworld Noir. Of course, my unconditional love of everything that has John Noble in it may be coloring my perceptions.
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Mar 28, 2016 17:44
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I was wondering what Bobbin would do after the slog of Bioshock infinite. Now I know.   
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Mar 28, 2016 17:49
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For all its flaws, I loved all the historical landmarks in this game. I spent a lot of time ignoring the plot and driving around just to find them all so I could read up on the included notes, and then I'd quit the game and read more.
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Mar 28, 2016 18:06
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I love noir, so I am really looking forward to this  . I hope to learn about some good noir movies I haven't seen yet.
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Mar 28, 2016 18:22
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This looks good so far! I haven't played L.A. Noire myself, so it'll be nice seeing it in action. Plus, I can learn about cool noire films. I remember liking the episodes of Columbo I watched when I was (rather) younger. I wonder if it's on netflix...
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Mar 28, 2016 19:19
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Awesome. I loved your Bioshock Infinite LP. I really enjoyed L.A. Noire so I'm looking forward to seeing your take on it. Especially some of the later cases since I played this game almost exclusively in black and white so most of the later cases, I've never seen in color.
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Mar 28, 2016 19:29
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Me and my friend enjoyed this when it first came out, even if the Abridged dialogue choice options didn't always explain context very well (using doubt on a little girl ends up with you threatening her If I remember correctly) but it was an enjoyable game especially to play with a friend.
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Mar 28, 2016 19:42
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I love Cole for the fact that he's an rear end in a top hat, but not in a cartoonish way. He, and the PC from Black Ops 3, are a few of the only characters in a game I could outright enjoy even though they aren't particularly engaging. Also Murder By Death is the best noir movie, even if it is a parody.
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Mar 28, 2016 19:49
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oh man, la noire is such a fun game. are you going to try to 100% the game? like getting all the iconic places and stuff? either way, i'm stoked.
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Mar 28, 2016 20:06
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I love classic movies, though unfortunately I'm not very knowledgeable about them. Really looking forward to this.
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Mar 28, 2016 20:23
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you know when I started to play Until Dawn, Dr. Hill reminded my of Dr. Fontaine from this game.
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Mar 28, 2016 21:25
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Ah, Columbo. Falk's second best role, I would say.
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Mar 28, 2016 21:31
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LA Noire was a great experience, but it left me wanting so much more. The technology and polish made the game enthralling, if only they could've gone that extra mile... Definitely going to be following this.
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Mar 28, 2016 23:07
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The one part I loved/hated about L.A. Noire is how pressing someone in a lie could mean either "I don't believe you and I have this proof to back me up" or a stream of profanity, depending on how Phelps is feeling that day.
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Mar 28, 2016 23:14
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Kurieg posted:The one part I loved/hated about L.A. Noire is how pressing someone in a lie could mean either "I don't believe you and I have this proof to back me up" or a stream of profanity, depending on how Phelps is feeling that day. Even better/worse is trying a different tactic from the unexpected shouting could end up making him look like the king of mood swings.
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Mar 28, 2016 23:33
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In reply to Bobbin's L.A. Law (I now wonder if you're going to cover that series at some point) Corner, I would like to point out that Columbo's style of story - the "Whodunnit?", but was part of a larger style called the "Inverted Detective Story", or "Howcatchem?". Also, his famous catchphrase, "Just one more thing" is often attributed to the result of Peter Falk forgetting his lines, moving to leave the scene, then remembering and picking up with the last line, improvising that line to justify his final question. But I can't verify that. I watched that show on A&E quite a bit while growing up, so seeing Bobbin address it here, and first, brings a smile to my face.
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Mar 28, 2016 23:48
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Stormgale posted:Me and my friend enjoyed this when it first came out, even if the Abridged dialogue choice options didn't always explain context very well (using doubt on a little girl ends up with you threatening her If I remember correctly) but it was an enjoyable game especially to play with a friend. Given that spoilers are okay per Bobbin, I'll expand on this. Using Doubt on the young girl in question, in an attempt to get her to confirm that she was raped, results in Cole yelling at, and threatening, a rape victim. I had to restart the case right after I threw Cole into traffic for being a massive rear end in a top hat. Anoia posted:Even better/worse is trying a different tactic from the unexpected shouting could end up making him look like the king of mood swings. Cole playing both Good and Bad Cop at the same time was honestly the highlight of the game for me.
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Mar 28, 2016 23:51
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berryjon posted:In reply to Bobbin's L.A. Law (I now wonder if you're going to cover that series at some point) Corner, I would like to point out that Columbo's style of story - the "Whodunnit?", but was part of a larger style called the "Inverted Detective Story", or "Howcatchem?". That kind of story was used a lot in Law and Order: Criminal Intent and is used in some Criminal Minds episodes. RickVoid posted:Cole playing both Good and Bad Cop at the same time was honestly the highlight of the game for me. Mine is recognizing the Mocap actors and then finding my glee replaced with horror as their faces dive right into the Valley.
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Mar 28, 2016 23:54
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I'm waiting for us to get far enough into the LP that we can safely post the blooper reel. It's the 3D models in the game acting out the messed up takes. Aaron Staton can't stop sneezing.
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Mar 29, 2016 00:24
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Hated this game when I played it, but maybe I'll like it more looking back on it. It probably didn't help that I'm not a huge noir fan.
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Mar 29, 2016 00:41
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Do you have the huge number of DLC cases Bobbin?
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Mar 29, 2016 00:57
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paragon1 posted:Do you have the huge number of DLC cases Bobbin? I have the PC edition, which comes with every DLC mission. Counting the two patrol desk episodes plus one episode for street crimes, this means this LP will be 25 parts long.
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Mar 29, 2016 01:08
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L.A Noire seemed to be very much a game you loved or hated and once I could actually get the game to work I loved the hell out of it. I loved the setting (mid-century America, in LA during the golden age of the automobile, hell yes) and the considerable level of detail, it's almost a shame that the game doesn't cover more of the map. There's plenty of spots that just seem to be dead space and with the game always giving you a sense of urgency to do your job instead of strolling around you never get much of an opportunity to visit everything. The banter and conversations between Cole and his partners is also pretty well done and most of the characters grow on you after a few missions together.
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Mar 29, 2016 01:40
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Phelps' bad cop can be REALLY bad sometimes. At some point he threatens to throw a suspect in jail and yell very loudly that he's a child molester.
kalonZombie fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Mar 29, 2016 |
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Mar 29, 2016 02:18
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What do you mean, Sergent York was just a movie, that actually happened to Alvin. C. York! 
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Mar 29, 2016 02:19
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Incredibly excited for this series! The whole Noir genre is just quite fascinating.
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Mar 29, 2016 02:29
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Aside from having a fairly realistic shotgun compared to other video games doesn't this also have a realistic flamethrower? One that only has five seconds of fuel and acts like a napalm super-soaker.
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Mar 29, 2016 02:48
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Klaus88 posted:What do you mean, Sergent York was just a movie, that actually happened to Alvin. C. York! I never said it was just a movie. I simply didn't have enough time to say that it was also based on a true story.
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Mar 29, 2016 03:20
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If you actually present the movie i was thinking of when you said noir bobbin... I'll know you're really a witch.
Kharn_The_Betrayer fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Mar 29, 2016 |
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Mar 29, 2016 03:22
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It almost certainly is going to be the Maltese Falcon. That's going to be the most common movie to pop into most people's heads. Interesting game. I've never played anything in the GTA series, but this one did seem to be more up my alley than the main line. I'll be interested to see how the game unfolds.
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Mar 29, 2016 03:30
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I am looking forward to this because I won't be shouting at my computer if you screw up something because...well you probably won't make big mistakes like loving up interviews or missing clues 
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Mar 29, 2016 03:37
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The face models were super offputting for me when I tried to get into this game, like everyone is Clayface slowly morphing their face to make expressions rather than having a functioning face. I love the idea, but every character creeped me out with their weird clay faces. Also because when Cole does his bad-cop thing, he goes full-tilt and it gets weird. I'm hella looking forward to the extras for this series, though; noir media is some of the neatest stuff around. Thanks to a special event for its 75th anniversary, I got to see The Maltese Falcon in an actual theater. That was a really neat experience, even when I prefer Casa Blanca over it. I'm especially looking forward to any contemporary or pulp noir, most of the noir I know of is more classical: stuff like Jessica Jones being a pulp-noir series that happens to have superheroes and such.
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Mar 29, 2016 03:39
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I appreciated this game more than a lot of people seemed to, but I kind of stalled out partway through (I think I was having technical issues, for one thing, and it's a large install), so I suspect I'm not going to finish it myself. Might as well watch you do it and get film recs along the way.
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Mar 29, 2016 04:09
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Coooooool I wanted to be a Maltese Falcon when I grew up. I really sincerely wanted to enjoy this game but I'm a terrible detective and I got a little bit gunshy when I yelled at the old lady in the prologue by mistake. Oh Cole, you goddamn sociopath. You're probably going to talk about the ur-LA Noir, Chinatown at some point so I'll leave it be (but it's my favourite movie of all time so eeeeee) This is a pretty rad little flick in its own right. Trigger warning: Young handsome Frank Sinatra.
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Mar 29, 2016 04:49
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Using the height of technology and utilizing hundreds of top of the line cameras, now you too can experience crappy dinner theater from the comfort of your living room.
bhlaab fucked around with this message at 05:07 on Mar 29, 2016 |
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Mar 29, 2016 05:01
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