AI

The AI in L.A is solid enough, there is the occasional pathing problem with your partner now and then but they actually resolve it themselves and take alternate routes. Especially when driving, they’ll reverse and take a different tactic. It would have been nice to see them slap on the siren and just bust through the traffic true 1947 Noir style though. They’re useful in a gunfight and they back you up just like a buddy should, they can scale the same things that Cole can do and each one has their own personality when it comes to action. Rusty Galloway for example is a brawler and a shooter, he will often get you to drive alongside the bad guys and pop their tires.

The enemy AI does a good job of providing a challenge, running, using a little footwork and shooting from cover. It’s much better than both RDR and GTA IV in that respect.

The world AI is good, there’s a lot of interactivity going on around you and it brings L.A. to life as the city goes on about its business. You even get the odd hot-head driver that won’t move regardless of your siren.

Sound

Just as important as graphics are the sounds of L.A. Noire and the city is a different place during the day, compared to the night. It all feeds into the gameplay mechanics well and there are so many elements it’s hard to concentrate on just one. For me though I think it has to be the sounds of the car engines and the sirens, it’s so great, and so Noir. That siren brings back memories of watching Noir movies when I was younger. The sounds of the weapons are great, the staccato rattle of a Tommy gun or the pop pop of a pistol are all recreated meticulously to make you feel as though you’re in a Noir flick.

Music

The score of L.A. Noire is fantastic, not only do they have some great period pieces on the radio, but the overall score itself evokes that Mike Hammer feel, the Maltese Falcon and a dozen Bogart movies all at once. It’s a stalker of a theme; it sneaks around your ears and watches the inside of your brain as you’re concentrating on the evidence. It pumps up to a rising crescendo when a chase is on and dies down when there’s no action. In essence it’s the perfect complement to the game itself. Rockstar and Team Bondi have managed to capture the very nature of Noir with their chosen composer.

Voice

Ah...TV and film actors combined to match with their on-screen faces, you can see the guy from Mad Men as Cole Phelps. The guy who played Matt Parkman in Heroes and many more, this is something else and their performances are stellar. I can’t say that there’s a single duff voice clip in the thousands of voices in L.A. Noire.

Script

It’s cleverly written, it evokes the period perfectly and it is a superb bit of writing. In fact I think L.A. Noire’s story and script is one of the best ones and it deserves to win awards for providing a gritty and sometimes darkly humoured look at 1947’s corrupt and decadent L.A. all the way from the jazz bars, gin soaked patrons and the police procedure of the time. It’s all there. The script pulls no punches and it’s definitely full of various slurs of the time, curse words galore and a few other surprises. Once again it earns that Mature Rating.

Multilplayer

None, this is a single player only game and it would not work with a multiplayer component.

Play it again Sam

Oh yes, I will...again and again, I have OCD in that respect, I have to find every clue and every shred of evidence. I can’t stress this enough, this is a true evolution of gameplay and you owe it to everyone that’s worked on L.A. Noire from the developers to the PR staff and even the guys and gals that made the tea and coffee to play this game. Support a great title, because this one really does push the boundaries of interactive entertainment and even though it does sometimes have graphical slow down in some of the cut-scenes, it’s a keeper and that’s a fact.

“If that game leaves the store and you don’t buy it, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today, Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.”