Don't expect the PS4 anytime soon.

• Next Xbox not coming out in 2012, Sony waiting on Microsoft before announcing PS4:  Microsoft’s French marketing manager Cedrick Delmas recently told French news website Le Point.fr that the next Xbox won’t be released in 2012, noting that “The cycle of the Xbox 360 is by no means complete.”  Meanwhile, in an interview with the same French website, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s Phillipe Cardon says that Sony will be the last to announce its next system.

-Nick’s take:  Games like Battlefield 3prove that current-gen consoles need to be replaced.  With the next Xbox not coming out until at least 2013 and Sony’s PS4 not being released until after the next Xbox, however, it looks like gamers will have to stick to their current systems for now.  Expect Microsoft to at least drop hints about the next Xbox at E3 in June.  All eyes will be on the release of Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U (slated for an end of 2012 release) to see if there is consumer demand for new consoles.

THQ had a very rough week.

• THQ had a very rough week:  After vowing to ditch the family game market in favor of pursuing core gamers with franchises such as Saint’s Row and WWE, THQ had a terrible week that went from bad to worse.  On Tuesday, THQ was issued a warning from the NASDAW global securities market that its stock had been valued at less than $1 for more than 30 days and was now facing a delisting if THQ’s stocks don’t rebound to $1 or more by July 23.  Then, early Wednesday morning, the head of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Mobile Special Interest Group said that THQ had cut 170 employees.  That figure proved to be optimistic, however, as THQ noted later in the day that it had actually lain off 240 employees.  As a result, THQ CEO Brian Farrell will be taking a 50 percent pay cut.  Finally, on Thursday we learned that THQ had a horrible 2011 holiday quarter, with a total net loss of $55.9 million.  In a statement, Mr. Farrell noted that “Sales of the uDraw GameTablet and related software, and other titles in the kids, family and casual category were far weaker than anticipated, substantially reducing our financial results for the quarter.”

-Nick’s take:  Things weren’t all doom and gloom for THQ, as it was revealed that Saint’s Row the Third shipped 3.8 million copies so far and WWE ’12 has shipped more than 2 million copies.  Still, THQ is in trouble right now, and I’m not sure that focusing on the volatile hardcore market is the right way for THQ to rebound.  With solid franchises like Saint’s Row, Darksiders, and WWEunder its belt, however, maybe THQ can turn things around with a bit of luck and a new hit IP or two.

Bungie's website will no longer be updated with players' Halo data come March 31.

• Bungie.net ending Halo updates/features on March 31:  After Bungie officially handed the reins of the Halo franchise that it created to new Microsoft studio 343 Industries last year, fans could at least still go to Bungie.net for updated Halo player stats.  Come March 31, however, that will no longer be the case.  Bungie.net will still store all legacy Halo player data, however.  In addition to Halo player stats, the Bungie Pro service that gave hardcore players unlimited data storage for saving Halo videos and gametypes will no longer function starting March 31.  343 Industries—come March 31—will handle all updated Halo stats via its Halo franchise app, Halo Waypoint (available as a free download on Xbox Live).

 -Nick’s take:  This bit of news affects me personally, as Halo has been my favorite video game franchise ever since I first played Halo:  Combat Evolved back in 2001.  Bungie is working on what I believe to be an MMOFPS for next-gen consoles, so it’s understandable and expected that they would have to pass the burden of stat-tracking on to 343 at some point in time.  Halo seems to be in good hands at 343, but Bungie will always be the main reason Halo has been such a successful franchise.

Due to DRM, many PC/Mac Ubisoft games will be unplayable next week.

• DRM-equipped Ubisoft games to be unplayable on PC next week:  DRM (digital rights management) continues to be a hot-button topic in the PC gaming world.  Publishers and developers use DRM in an effort to combat piracy, while gamers argue that DRM doesn’t work and actually hurts legal customers of those games.  The anti-DRM crowd is getting another reason to hate DRM, as many of notorious DRM supporter Ubisoft’s PC and Mac DRM-equipped games—such as Might & Magic:  Heroes 6 and the Mac version of Assassin’s Creed—will be unavailable for play starting next Tuesday (February 7) due to server updates.  Ubisoft does not yet know when these games will become available for play again, either.

-Nick’s take:  Punishing legal video game purchasers is a big no-no, yet that’s exactly what DRM supporters like Ubisoft do.  It’s not like pirates haven’t already figured out how to crack the DRM and leak copies online before a game’s release, anyway.  This should be a wakeup call for Ubisoft; stop including invasive DRM in your games!

In Oklahoma, games with this sticker may soon be taxed.

• Oklahoma representative proposes new tax on violent video games:  Oklahoma state representative William Fourkiller wants to place a one-percent tax on any game rated “T” for Teen or higher by the ESRB.  The tax money would go towards programs aimed at preventing bullying and childhood obesity.

-Nick’s take:  “Violent video games contribute to some of our societal problems like obesity and bullying,” according to Mr. Fourkiller.  In other words, this tax is based upon one man’s opinion that is backed by very little (often contradictory) scientific data.  Preventing bullying and childhood obesity are noble goals, but they seem like red herrings meant to distract people from the shoddy science that is the very reason for this tax.  Taxing video games doesn’t make sense and always seems like a money grab, especially in this case where Teen rated games would be taxed.

New Sony president/CEO Kaz Hirai

• Kaz Hirai named president and CEO of Sony:  Current president of Sony Computer Entertainment International Kaz Hirai will replace current Sony president Howard Stringer as president and CEO of Sony on April 1.  Hirai was instrumental in launching the PS2 and PS3 for Sony, as well as infamous for giving the world the “Rrriiiidddge Racer!” meme at E3 a few years back.

-Nick’s take:   Congratulations to Mr. Hirai for his big promotion.  He’s been instrumental in the PlayStation brand’s success at Sony and will surely put video games near the top of Sony’s priorities going forward.

The star of NBC’s show Chuck, Zachary Levi, was the host of the VGAs this year.  He proved to be a decent choice; he seemed to know what he was talking about and even cracked a few funny jokes.  Sure, his opening video sketch was terrible, but these things usually are, right?  At least Spike didn’t go with some completely random host like they sometimes have in the past.  Artist Deadmau5 was on hand–complete with goofy mouse headgear–to provide some techno music (I think it’s techno?) to fade to commercials with.

The first award of the night went to Batman:  Arkham City.  The game won for best action/adventure against stiff competition from the sequel to 2009′s game of the year, Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception.  Next up was a big reveal trailer for PS3 exclusive The Last of Us.  When I first heard of the game’s existence, I was praying it wasn’t just another zombie game.  Well, it is another zombie game…from developer Naughty Dog (the Uncharted series).  No actual gameplay footage or details were shown, but judging by the CG trailer, the game appears to be heavily inspired by the Will Smith movie I Am Legend.  The Last of Us seems to focus on survival in a world overrun by the undead (hence the movie similarities) and is being developed by one of the best video game developers in the world, but do we really need another zombie game?

Mass Effect 3 was announced as the winner of the viewer’s choice most anticipated game award (not BioShock Infinite?).  A new trailer was shown featuring in-game footage that focused on a Reaper–the giant alien/machine hybrids that are the main threat in the Mass Effect series–fighting a giant worm reminiscent of the sand worms from Dune.  The game looked action-packed, but Mass Effect 3 is supposed to be an RPG–where are the role-playing elements, BioWare?  BioWare also revealed its new project to be Command and Conquer Generals 2.  A very brief CG trailer was shown that revealed the game will use the Frostbite 2 engine that powers Battlefield 3 and that Generals 2 won’t be releasing until 2013.  No other details were announced.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6:  Patriots was also given a brief CG trailer with no gameplay footage.  I feel bad for anyone watching the VGAs just to see Rainbow 6 footage–what a complete letdown.  A new game that we got a much more intriguing glimpse of is Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, an upcoming downloadable Xbox Live Arcade game.  Incorrectly rumored to be named “Alan Wake:  Night Springs,” American Nightmare looks like a full-blown sequel to the underrated Xbox 360 exclusive horror/thriller Alan Wake, no matter what developer Remedy Entertainment has said.  If you haven’t played the original game, I suggest you do so; it plays like a Stephen King novel with third-person shooter gameplay.  Maybe American Nightmare won’t be as long or as in-depth as the original Alan Wake game, hence it not being called a direct sequel?  Regardless, I’m really excited about Alan Wake’s American Nightmare and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the gameplay footage shown at the VGAs.

Legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto (The Legend of Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong, Pikmin–how’s that for a resume?) walked on-stage to induct the Legend of Zelda series into the “Video Game Hall of Fame.”  I’m fairly certain that other video game halls of fame exist, but Zelda is apparently the first inductee into the VGA Hall of Fame (?).  Despite my confusion, it was great to see Miyamoto-san on-stage, especially in light of all of the rumors concerning his position at Nintendo this past week.  A trailer for open-world movie game The Amazing Spider-Man was next.  It….looked like a Spider-Man game.

Pro wrestler Hulk Hogan was on-hand to introduce a video package showcasing a whole bunch of awards that were quickly glossed over.  Among these,  Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception won for best PS3 game and best graphics–apparently, no one voting on these things has played Battlefield 3 on a decent computer yet.  In fact, Battlefield 3 also lost the coveted multiplayer game of the year award–seemingly a shoo-in for Battlefield 3–to….Portal 2?  What the…?  Rock band The Black Keys (who?) then performed a song.  The best part of the performance was the reaction shots of Miyamoto-san and actor/comedian Seth Green, who looked confused as to why a video game awards show had a rock band performing who have nothing to do with video games.

The 2011 Video Game Awards were broadcast live on Spike from 8-10 p.m. Eastern on 12/10/2011

Leggy ex-WWE Diva Stacy Keibler (I’m a big wrestling fan, so I know who these people are) was on stage next to show off a CG trailer for the upcoming game Transformers:  Fall of Cybertron.  The game is being billed as the sequel to last year’s third-person shooter Transformers:  War for Cybertron and is unrelated to the Michael Bay films.  Completing the VGA shutout of excellent first-person shooter Battlefield 3, Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3 took home the award for best shooter.  Look, I know that video game tastes are subjective, but Modern Warfare 3 is almost identical to Modern Warfare 2, whereas Battlefield 3 brings multiplayer shooters to a whole new level.  Battlefield 3 is generally considered to be the far-better game by those who’ve played it, especially the PC version; maybe it lost due to it’s polarizing campaign?

Infamous developer Cliff “CliffyB” Bleszinski (Gears of War) took the stage to show off Epic Games’ new IP Fortnite.  In stark contrast to the gory shooters like Gears of War and Unreal that Epic is best known for, Fortnite looks cartoony and less violent.  Epic didn’t share many concrete details about the game, but CliffyB made Fortnite sound similar to PC indie sensation Minecraft.  Next up was the oddly named Gamer God award, presented to Blizzard Entertainment.  A montage video showed off the developer’s many successful franchises–World of WarCraft, StarCraft, and Diablo.  A few members of Blizzard then took the stage to show off the stunning CG opening cinematic for Diablo III.  I was never a big fan of Diablo or Blizzard’s other franchises, but the Diablo III cinematic was stunning.

Stunning female video gamer/celebrity Felicia Day next went on-stage to show off an amazing trailer for Irrational’s highly-anticipated BioShock Infinite.  The game wowed critics at E3 with its amazing demo, and it wowed the VGA audience tonight, as well.  After BioShock Infinite, the publicly voted award for character of the year went to Mark Hamill’s gleefully sadistic portrayal of The Joker in Batman:  Arkham City.  I think the absolutely hilarious robot Wheatley from Valve’s first-person puzzle game Portal 2 (voiced by British comedian Stephen Merchant) should have taken the award, but The Joker’s win video showed a teaser for Arkham City‘s possible sequel, Batman:  Arkham World.  Is this merely a joke from developer Rocksteady Studios or a hint at what’s next for Batman?

The last–and biggest–award of the night was Game of the Year.  There were five nominees, all great games:  Batman:  Arkham City,  The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda:  Skyward Sword, Portal 2, and Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception.  Only one game could win the award, and Bethesda’s massive open world RPG The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim was that game.  While I haven’t played it yet, Skyrim has become an addiction for millions of gamers and has even managed to best big-name FPS games Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 in a number of key areas relating to popularity.  The game is selling like hotcakes at retailers and is the talk of the gaming world right now.  I predicted that Skyrim had the greatest chance of winning game of the year, but I also thought that Batman and Uncharted had legitimate shots, as well.

The VGAs wrapped up with a new look at the renamed Metal Gear Rising:  Revengeance.  Kojima Productions’ head honcho and namesake Hideo Kojima took the stage to awkwardly introduce the trailer.  Kojima-san doesn’t speak English very well and seemed nervous, but the trailer was awesome.  Developed by Platinum Games (Bayonetta, Shadows of the Damned, Vanquish), Metal Gear Rising is an extremely violent and over-the-top action game that seems to have shades of Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden franchise.  I’m not a fan of previous Metal Gear Solid games, but Metal Gear Rising looks like a ton of fun.  It’s too bad that the Metal Gear Rising trailer leaked online hours before the VGAs started, as it was supposed to be the night’s biggest reveal.

Overall, I’d say the VGAs were a mixed bag this year.  I like Skyrim as Game of the Year, but why shut out Battlefield 3 and have celebrities that have nothing to do with gaming taking up so much air time?  A few stupid skits went on far too long, too; this time would have been better spent focusing on the smaller awards.  Some games’ reveals really disappointed, as well.  It could have been better, but the 2011 Video Game Awards also could have been much worse (as it has been in previous years).  If you haven’t seen it yet on TV, I’d say don’t bother–now that you’ve read my thoughts on the event, look up the reveal trailers online and skip all the filler stuff in-between.

*list of 2011 VGA (Video Game Awards) winners:

• Game of the Year:  The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim
• Studio of the Year:  Bethesda Game Studios (The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim)
• Best Xbox 360 Game:  Batman:  Arkham City
• Best PS3 Game:  Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception
• Best Wii Game:  The Legend of Zelda:  Skyward Sword
• Best PC Game:  Portal 2
• Best Handheld/Mobile Game:  Super Mario 3D Land
• Best Shooter:  Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3
• Best Action/Adventure Game:  Batman:  Arkham City
• Best RPG:  The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim
• Best Multiplayer:  Portal 2
• Best Individual Sports Game:  Fight Night Champion
• Best Team Sports Game:  NBA 2K12
• Best Driving Game:  Forza Motorsport 4
• Best Fighting Game:  Mortal Kombat
• Best Motion Game:  The Legend of Zelda:  Skyward Sword
• Best Independent Game:  Minecraft
• Best Adapted Video Game:  Batman:  Arkham City
• Best Song in a Game:  “Build that Wall (Zia’s Theme)” from Bastion
• Best Original Score:  Bastion
• Best Graphics:  Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception
• Best Performance by a Human Male:  Stephen Merchant as Wheatley in Portal 2
• Best Performance by a Human Female:  Ellen McLain as GlaDOS in Portal 2
• Best Downloadable Game:  Bastion
• Best DLC:  “Peer Review” for Portal 2
• Cover Athlete for EA Sports’ NFL Blitz:  Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens (public vote)
• Character of the Year:  The Joker in Batman:  Arkham City (public vote)
• Most Anticipated Game:  Mass Effect 3 (public vote)
• GameTrailers.com’s Trailer of the Year:  Assassin’s Creed:  Revelations E3 2011 Trailer

Blizzard recently announced information about their upcoming blockbuster Diablo 3, they talked about the beta that is now out, and the game is strictly online (the same as Starcraft 2). The big news is they will have a real money auction house.  There will also be a separate auction house were in-game gold is the currency.  This has some gamers enraged and others thinking how they can make some quick cash. Was this a good move by Blizzard or a way for them to make more money off a game without charging a monthly fee?

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Platforms: 

Developer:  Team Bondi

Publisher:  Rockstar Games

Rating:  “M” for Mature

Review by Nick Cohen

Platform Reviewed on:  Xbox 360

Every once in a while, a game comes out that is so wholly unique, so unlike anything else, that it immediately grabs your attention.  A lot of them are smaller indie games–games like Limbo or Journey.  While small indie studios making unique games is great, what’s even better is when a large publisher/developer thinks of a wholly unique idea for a videogame and then is actually allowed to develop it into a retail product.  L. A. Noire is such a game; one that is so unique and such a huge risk for publisher Rockstar Games and developer Team Bondi that it’s a big surprise the game has seen a release.  What’s even more surprising, however, is just how good L. A. Noire is—this is without a doubt the best game released so far this year.

L. A. Noire is set in 1947 Los Angeles and tells the story of LAPD detective Cole Phelps.  Phelps is a medal recipient in World War II who is trying to clean up the often dangerous streets of L.A.  He doesn’t make for the most intriguing protagonist right away—he’s no Niko Bellic or John Marston—but, as the game goes on, you learn a lot about Phelps…and not all of it is good.

Phelps’ stint as a detective begins as a lowly patrolman, but players will guide him through the more interesting traffic, homicide, vice, and arson desks.  The patrol missions are simply quick tutorials meant to ease the player into the setting and gameplay mechanics of L. A. Noire.  Once you reach the traffic desk, however, the game begins in earnest.  Each desk has a number of cases, some of which are as short as a half-hour and some of which can take up to two hours, depending on a player’s skill at finding clues and interrogating witnesses (more on those later).  Each case feels like it could be its own self-contained movie, but over the course of the roughly 20 hours or so it takes to complete a single play through of L. A. Noire, players will experience an overarching story that slowly unravels its twists and turns.

In most games like this, players are limited to shooting enemies and driving around the environment.  L. A. Noire, on the other hand, places the emphasis on doing actual police work.  Sure, there are action sequences (all of which can be skipped if the player fails enough times at them):  there are extremely basic Grand Theft Auto 4-style shootouts and fistfights, there are exciting car and on-foot chases, there are boring car tailing segments, and there are a few extremely frustrating ‘tail suspect X’ on-foot segments—thankfully, the latter only show up a few times during the game.  The actual meat of the gameplay, however, consists of three main elements—driving, scouring crime scenes for clues, and the incredible interrogations that are the hallmark of L. A. Noire.

Meet Cole Phelps, L. A. Noire's protagonist.

You can choose to spend a lot of your time in L. A. Noire driving around the city.  I say “choose” because you can have your partner drive you from location to location if you don’t want to do so yourself, but you’d be missing out on a lot of the game’s content.  While there aren’t a ton of side missions to keep players busy like in Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption, L. A. Noire does feature 40 short “street crimes”.  Street crimes are essentially short action sequences that you’ll pick up by answering your police radio while driving around the city.  They’re short and aren’t very varied, but they do earn you experience points that level Phelps up.  As you level up, you’ll unlock things like extra outfits or intuition points that can be used in interrogations and to help find clues.  There are also plenty of hidden/rare vehicles to find around Los Angeles, though they’re not much of an incentive to explore since your basic police cars work just fine as transportation.

The real reason to drive around Los Angeles is to take in all of the meticulously recreated sights of the city.  You’ll discover tons of historic landmarks—such as the Hollywoodland sign (remember, this is 1947) and the Hall of Records—in exactly the spot you’d expect them to be.  You’ll also have a blast just cruising the streets and taking in the sights—the city exudes a ton of period-correct atmosphere and everything looks beautiful, despite the pop-up and graphical glitches that sometimes break the illusion.  Cruising down Vine Street or taking in the sights and sounds of the downtown area are some of the greatest thrills to be had in L. A. Noire.  Let your partner drive you everywhere and you’re missing out on a lot of what makes the game so great.

Of course, driving isn’t all you do in L. A. Noire.  You’ll do a lot of poking around crime scenes for clues that will help you in your investigation.  This is sure to be the most divisive element of L. A. Noire for many people, but I thoroughly enjoyed them.  You’ll spend most of your time during these sequences walking around and inspecting every object you come across.  By default, controller rumble and musical chimes kick in to let you know when you’ve walked over or near something of interest, though these can be disabled for those who so choose.  It’s a bit too easy to find every clue at a crime scene right away—especially since the music swells and then fades away once you’ve found every noteworthy clue—but the alternative is to spend hours looking for tiny objects on the screen, basically turning the whole ordeal into a glorified pixel hunt.  You can use an intuition point to highlight all clues at a crime scene, but I recommend saving them for the tougher interrogations unless you’re really stuck.

Once you find something of interest, you can have Phelps inspect whatever it is more closely.  If it’s a dead body, you can check the face, arms, and shirt/jacket pockets for clues using the right-analog stick to rotate the selected body part.  If it’s something like a can or a note, you can press A on the 360 controller to inspect the object further.  If you’re trying to find a particular detail on a larger clue, you have to move the right analog stick around until the controller shakes, at which point you hold the analog stick in the required direction until Phelps inspects the detail more closely.  It’s all very simple and engrossing, though Phelps’ animations can look a bit wooden as he bends over to look at a few objects on the ground and points at each until you decide which one to inspect more closely. A lot of times, you’ll just find something that isn’t helpful, which may or may not be indicated by a quip from Phelps.

The third and final major aspect of L. A. Noire’s gameplay is the interrogations.  The interrogations are the most impressive aspect of L. A. Noire and a huge part of why the game is so amazing.  You’ll be interrogating a witness/suspect whose face isn’t animated in the traditional sense; rather, each face belongs to an actual human being whom Team Bondi has recorded using innovative motion capture technology.  Each subtle movement and facial expression of the actor has found its way into the game, meaning you’ll be studying a freakishly-real character’s face in the hope of determining whether they’re lying to you or not.

Interrogations can be very intense in L. A. Noire.

You have a notebook that keeps track of all the clues you’ve found at crime scenes or coerced out of other suspects/witnesses.  This notebook also contains a list of questions you can ask each person during an interview.  You select a question, Phelps asks it, then the witness/suspect responds and it’s up to you whether to believe what that person says or not based upon that person’s face, the clues you’ve found, and your own instincts.  If you do believe what he/she has said, you select “Truth” and that person responds in an appropriate manner.  Select “Doubt” if you don’t believe what that person has told you and you’ll get a response in a similar way.  If you guessed correctly, the person may give up an important clue; if not, that person won’t give you anything and may even end the interrogation.  The last possible choice is to select “Lie,” in which case you have to choose the correct clue from your notebook that proves the person was lying.  If you select the wrong one, you won’t get anything out of that person.

Interrogations may sound simple, but they’re often extremely tough.  A little girl may not be hard to coerce information out of, but real-life mob boss Mickey Cohen certainly isn’t going to give up information so easily.  It doesn’t help that the game is sometimes unclear as to what you’re supposed to be responding to.  A person’s response to a question may be long and detailed, and then you’ll have to accuse that person of lying based upon an unclear element of that response.  It can be a little frustrating to think you’re accusing someone of lying about one thing only to have Phelps accuse him/her of lying based upon another piece of dialogue entirely.  If you get stuck, you can always use an intuition point to either remove a wrong selection or ask the Rockstar community (the latter requiring an Internet connection), but these intuition points never regenerate and you don’t get a ton of them, so they are best used wisely.

L. A. Noire represents a landmark achievement in videogame design.  Never before has a game made players feel like they’re doing actual police work instead of just shooting everything in sight.  The game’s innovative facial capture technology and Team Bondi’s incredibly detailed recreation of 1947 Los Angeles combine with innovative gameplay to create a game unlike any other.  While it won’t be for everyone, L. A. Noire is an innovative and incredibly fun game that represents a huge risk for Rockstar and Team Bondi.  What better way is there to reward them for their creativity and willingness to take risks than by purchasing L. A. Noire?  If you do, you’ll quickly discover that L. A. Noire is the best game of the year so far and one of the best games in years.  Don’t miss it.

Final score:  10/10

Breakdown:

Sound:  8 (The voice acting is superb and there are a ton of licensed music tracks from the 1940s.  Not all voice-acting is equally top notch, though, and the constant sound of police sirens can get on your nerves after a while.)

Storyline:  9 (While not immediately engrossing, the story is anchored by a cast of interesting support characters and reveals its depth slowly over time as the game unfolds.  There are plenty of twists to keep players interested in Cole Phelps’ rise through the LAPD.)

Gameplay:  10 (L. A. Noire is considerably slower-paced than most action games, but its three core elements—driving, searching for clues, and the amazing interrogations—provide a wholly unique and extremely entertaining gameplay package.  You’ve never played anything like L. A. Noire before.)

Graphics:  8 (Team Bondi’s amazing facial capture software means that people’s faces emote just like they do in real life, even if the rest of the character models aren’t as impressive.  The city of 1947 Los Angeles is extremely detailed—no expense was spared in recreating the city.  A black-and-white filter is available for those who prefer the visual style of early 20^th century noire films.  A few visual glitches, some stiff animations, and pop-up detract from the immersion somewhat.)

Overall Fun Factor/Replay Value:  9 (It won’t be for everyone, but those who get sucked into     L. A. Noire’s world won’t want to leave.  There’s no multiplayer, but 40 optional street crimes, hidden vehicles, and landmarks help add to the main game’s roughly 20 hours of playtime.)

Final Thoughts

If reading this review still hasn’t convinced you to buy L. A. Noire, you should at least rent it to see if it’s right for you.  L. A. Noire won’t be for everyone due to its slow pace and unique gameplay, but those who are at all interested in it for any reason are going to fall in love.  After playing through it, all I wanted to do was spend more time in the game’s world.  You won’t be able to stop thinking about it long after you put down the controller.  L. A. Noire is a great example of why more large publishers/developers need to take creative risks.  It’s the best game yet released in 2011.

Read what J-Dub and Alejandro Gustafar have to say about the recent news from Nintendo.

Duke's about to serve a hot dish of "Kick Ass"

It’s time to prepare for some new DLC! In the next two weeks there will be two new content downloads coming out!

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