L.A. Noire review

I feel enough has been said about Team Bondi's immaculate attention to detail. I won't be talking about that. I want to talk about the story and how fantastic a job I feel they did.

What amazed me about the game was how much of the human story Team Bondi was able to convey. There are no moments of fantastical heroism. You aren't a super powerful guy wielding justice with a rocket launcher. This is very much a point and click adventure game with a heavy focus on human interaction and emotion.

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For those of you who don't know, the game takes place in 1947 L.A. It's a time when a lot of GIs are returning from the war and our country is progressing full steam ahead. Your story is that of a man earning his way through the ranks of the LAPD. You start out as a traffic cop, try your hand at homicide and vice, and end up on the arson desk.

In his TEDTalk, JJ Abrams talks about story and the vehicle used to deliver said story. Take Jaws for example, the movie wasn't about sharks. It was about a man trying to find his place in the town and within his family. If you ask someone about Jaws, 9 times out of 10 they talk about the shark. Nobody ever says, "Yeah, that was a fantastic film about a man finding his place in the world."

Another good example is E.T. the movie: It isn't about aliens; it is about a child dealing with his divorced parents and an alien. They are both lost and trying to find their way.

That's the way I feel about L.A. Noire. Team Bondi put together (mostly from non-fiction) a story about a man and his country trying to figure themselves out, and used the time period and location as a vehicle to progress the story. That might seem like a "no shit" kind of thing to point out, but it's something a lot of games and movies don't do. Decide on a story. Who is involved, what is their problem, and how is the problem resolved, if at all? Only after you've decided those details can you start in on gameplay and pretty graphics.

So there you are, Cole Phelps. A man working for the LAPD at a time when GIs are returning home and finding it hard to re-acclimate themselves to normal life. You have to turn off your brain in such a way that you forget about modern times and what is socially acceptable. This is the '40s, a time when it was normal for a man to slap a women down and not worry about a domestic violence lawsuit. This is a time when officers of all walks were given the agency to do what was necessary to solve a case. You shot a man while he ran from you? He must have been guilty. You try that now and you're looking at suspension and possible lawsuits.

It's a fascinating look at a period in our country's history where anything could be done. That was the thought. We've been on the winning side in two world wars, survived a financial meltdown, and we're still here. We were unstoppable. It was a time of opportunity. L.A. Noire should be regarded as a shining beacon for video-game narratives hereafter.