L.A. noire, most overrated game of 2011? *possible spoiler*

[suxturdman]

So I've played through L.A. Noire and I just realized all the reviews I've watched and read about the game proclaiming this is the future is bullshit. I mean everything but the facial expressions was just bad. The controls sucked ass, except when driving but since I realized the city of L.A. was as boring and empty as my real life then I just skipped every possible driving sequence I could. The characters body-movements were pure ugly. The variety of the cases you had to solve lacked diversity, the street crimes even more so. The games protagonist was impossible to relate to since he basically was an asshole, I mean I felt nothing but relief when he died.

So I guess the only good part was the facial expressions. But in what other game would that be useful? Take some other games with some real dialogue-options (not just true, doubt or lie) like the Mass effect-series. What makes those games so awesome is the game as a whole. I don't need super-accurate facial expressions to feel connected to the dialogue; I just need it to be written in a believable way. And if I at the same time can admire the rest of the graphics when my protagonist for example fire his weapon or just walks around then I'm happy.

Don't you agree with me when I say I rather want everything to be pretty awesome in a game, rather than having one supermegaawesome thing while the rest is bad as hell?

 

[Johnnyallstar]

I'm assuming that you are excluding Madden and Call of Duty from the overrated list?

 

[PettingZOOPONY]

I'm assuming that you are excluding Madden and Call of Duty from the overrated list?

Those are just given at this point.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

I'm assuming that you are excluding Madden and Call of Duty from the overrated list?

Those are just given at this point.

Figured. I actually liked L.A. Noire a ton, and didn't think it was overrated. I can honestly say that Duke Nukem was overhyped well beyond L.A. Noire, but I think that's another assumption.

 

[Argtee]

I mean I felt nothing but relief when he died.

Gee, thanks for the spoiler.
Come on. At least put "Possible Spoilers" in the title.

Anyways: If you don't like it, you don't have to play it.
I, personally, think that it looks pretty fun.

 

[scnj]

No. It was a really good game. The detective gameplay was an excellent spin on the classic adventure genre, and while the faces were an obvious standout, the other graphics still looked nice. And sure, there might not have been all that much to do in LA, but it was faithfully rendered and generally looked nice.

 

[suxturdman]

Thanks for the spoiler warning...

[censor bar]!

Sorry, this was my first post ever, I haven't learned the ropes yet!

As for the Call of duty games I think they are quite overrated although I've enjoyed playing most of them.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

heh...the OP sounds exactly how I felt as I played through Heavy Rain last year. It may not be the most over-rated game of 2011 and I know I'm not going to play it (OP didn't convince me to not play it, I convinced me to not play it) but it looks like LA Noir is this years Heavy Rain for sure.

 

[bob1052]

Gameplay-wise LA Noire was definitely a step backward infinitely. Driving was shit, investigation involved ignoring the 50 beer bottles and picking up the bloody knife, all which can be done by button mashing and listening for audio cues with your eyes closed. Interrogation was just selecting Lie or the much more severe Doubt (when you select Lie you can be apologetic and undue your decision, but selecting Doubt and you irreversibly accuse them of being Hitler reincarnated) or Truth, depending on whether they are able to hold their composition or if they have a seizure right in front of you (that means they are lying).

The only thing LA Noire managed to do was to take a mildly boring time period and turn it into a painfully boring game.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

Thanks for the spoilers, and for not marking them at all.

 

[Condor219]

Personally, I liked the aesthetic of the whole game, the music, the visual atmosphere, the whole noir feel that it had. The gameplay annoys me at times (cover as R1? What is this?) but the progression of the crime and the display of the evidence (if you're willing to take time for it; I turned off the rumble feature right from the get-go, because I knew it'd ruin the game, and I drive from place-to-place because swerving through crowded streets going 80 MPH is more entertaining than you'd think) was enjoyable and immersive (especially with the facial animations) in my opinion.

In the end, is LA Noire overrated? Heck yes it is. Is it far outside the norm for a game that's trying to be innovative being overrated? Don't think so.

 

[Ickorus]

Thanks for the spoiler warning...

[censor bar]!

Hey, at least it's not as the thread the otherday who's title was something along the lines of, and I shit you not, 'Death of the protagonist [CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR L.A. NOIRE]' - C'mon.

 

[razer17]

Don't you agree with me when I say I rather want everything to be pretty awesome in a game, rather than having one supermegaawesome thing while the rest is bad as hell?

No. Because when I played L.A Noire I absolutely loved it. Is is one of my favourite games ever. The controls aren't terrible. They are pretty much the same generic controls used by other, similar games. The shooting isn't exactly innovative, but it was alright. The driving was actually quite good compared to some open world games.

The facial capturing thing was quite cool, and I really enjoyed interrogating suspects. And hey, at least it's trying something new, so even if the game isn't perfect, it's going to be less over-rated than samey shooter number 23.

 

[Lt. Vinciti]

I wont call it great.

It was interesting in an industry of chest high wall fps shooters.

 

[Sean Renaud]

A step backward? Not at all. It's built on the GTA engine so it's not a step in any direction period. I concur that the GTA controls are shit but to call it a step backward is merely to admit you've never played anything by Rockstar. Congratulations some one coaxed you out of your cave.

The game is repetitive and honestly one of the biggest mistakes of this game was that they marketed it as a game (which inevitably would have happened anyway). In a different better world it was released episode by episode once every two weeks as either free or very cheap DLC for GTA IV. One of the biggest drawbacks here is they didn't make a game. They made an interative story. They would have done well to replace most of the gameplay with cool cut scenes cus again the controls are shit. So it's no fun chasing people on foot or in a car. Fighting sucks too. As many of us figured out you can skip all the driving that isn't chase scenes.

The interogations however are outstanding. I'm not sure how much work went into this but I would love to see similar effects in more games with actual consequences. A merging of this and Mass Effect could really create the perfect game that brings everything together. If this is over rated I want it over rated so more people attempt to copy what was done here.

 

[Strain42]

I'm sure someone has already said it, but I'd place my money of Duke Nukem forever being the most overrated game of 2011. People were waiting for this game for 12 years, it's got the history and the legacy behind it, and from most of the reviews I've read...that's about all it has going for it.

All sizzle, no steak.

 

[DustyDrB]

It is a good game. Not one of my favorites, but still good. Where did you see people calling LA Noir the future of gaming? I don't remember seeing that anywhere.