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Six years after its release on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, LA Noire, action-adventure video game developed by Team Bondi, and published by Rockstar Games, has also landed on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. LA Noire is best remembered for its troubled development. Initially it was to be released exclusively on PlayStation 3, then for different platforms, returning to be Sony exclusive again and then again cross-platform. Among the many problems there was also the stormy relationship between Team Bondi and Rockstar Games, the latter, according to some, seems to have saved the project at the last minute, publishing it, after 7 years of development, in May 2011.
LA Noire, still represents a unique title of its kind. An incredible gaming experience, which manages to tell the Los Angeles of 1947 between crime, addiction and drugs. It is not just a videogame experience, but a real point of contact between cinema and video game. Team Bondi has been closed for some time now, yet despite the production defects, which still remain even in the remastered version, LA Noire still manages to amaze, thanks to a masterful narrative style and the excellent facial animation system that faithfully the noir atmosphere on which the game events are based.
We have already been lucky enough to play the original edition on PlayStation 3. Here we will try to give you our impressions of the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions of the game.
From highly decorated war veteran to Detective
Hollywood, California, we are in the midst of the post-war boom that swept the United States of the time and in particular the city of angels, Los Angeles. Cole Phelps is a simple patrol officer of the Los Angeles Police Department, thrown headlong into a city that is sinking into its own success. An honest and righteous man, married and father of two daughters, as well as a highly decorated WWII hero who seeks to elevate his humble job to a mission against the evils of the world and a career in the LAPD.
After a few years of patrolling for Cole it is time to ditch the uniform and start wearing a jacket and tie. In a short time he brought to the attention of the high ranks of the police, and above all to that of James Donnelly the captain of the homicides, a man respected and feared, who does not despise shortcuts and dubious morality to impose his personal vision of justice, a vision more than oriented by its extreme right, racist and deeply Catholic and traditionalist ideology. Cole (still on patrol) with his rampant enthusiasm immediately engages in the investigation of a murder regardless of the hierarchies. And when Phelps finally manages to bring the culprit to justice, Captain Donnelly, recognizing him as an extraordinary talent, decides to take him under his wing and give him the opportunity to become a Detective. Directorate of the Traffic Department.
The good Phelps, accompanied by several partners, will explore the Californian city moving around iconic and other places, investigating the rot and corruption that distinguish Los Angeles in the late 40s. In a short time, case after case, he will be able to become "famous" and to be talked about, but unfortunately, the success will turn against Phelps, who will soon find himself having to face dramatic events and uncomfortable truths.
A perfect mix
LA Noire, a bit like it happened with Red Dead Redemption, abandons the classic elements of the Rockstar Games series, offering an interesting mix of elements, including noir, detective, graphic adventure and action. Brendan McNamara's experiment, perhaps never fully understood, led to solid and satisfying gameplay. The investigator is not a magician and therefore, we will be called to examine the crime scene, sniffing out the clues and evidence, which will be reported to us by the vibration of the controller and by questioning the witnesses who can do for us. Anything useful for the investigation will be noted in Phelps' notebook. Through the notebook, the system of interrogation and collection of testimonies will pass. Here we have the backbone of the entire gaming experience and probably the most successful of the production. In fact, after an initial "cognitive" approach by the witness or any suspect, Phelps will begin to ask questions and it will be up to us to understand if the answer given to us is sincere or given to mislead the investigations.
To understand if they are true or not, we will have to observe them. Thanks to Motion Scan, each witness or suspect, will have different behaviors and facial expressions. A word or a glance can really make a difference for the collection of useful elements for the case. At the testimony or interrogation we will be able to select three different options: support the answer, force the person through a veiled threat or accuse him. It will be necessary to take the right time to evaluate the elements in our possession and select the right option otherwise the witness / suspect will close in a hedgehog and will no longer collaborate with us. In difficult situations, we can use the so-called Points Intuition, which can be earned as you level up. These particular Points will facilitate the interrogations, asking the community for the answer or asking the game to take away one of the three options of choice.
No case will be unsolvable. There is a great deal of freedom of choice, but the production has made sure that each investigation can progress easily. If you make mistakes don't worry, there will be a way to fix it. Among the best elements it is impossible not to mention car or foot chases when the witness runs away or when the attacker is caught in the act of crime. Elements that make the gameplay very lively and that break the more staid rhythm of investigations and interrogations. LA Noire is not an action game, or rather the action is not present in large quantities, especially in the 21 main cases that the game offers us. For those who want some more firefights it is advisable to dedicate themselves to secondary missions that will show up on our Los Angeles tour or through police department radio calls. When we are faced with armed criminals, we will have to exploit the covers and get out of them at the right time to return fire. Also noteworthy is the hand-to-hand combat system, characterized by really convincing fights and dodges.
The weight of the years feels everything
The remastering meant that LA Noire had some technical benefits. The resolution has been increased and while keeping the 30 frames per second fixed, it has undoubtedly “rejuvenated” the title, making the polygons and textures more beautiful to see. We are not talking about miracles as the technical limits are all there. If the city of Los Angeles, in the original edition, seemed alive and rich in elements, six years later, it is far from that magical charm that characterized it. However, it is still fascinating to walk and wander the streets of the Californian city, but you can see many square elements and that angularity that we are no longer used to seeing in today's productions. The PS4 engine does what it can, trying to mask the obvious technical flaws, but boy, let's talk about a product that has several years on its back. The faces made with Motion Scan, on the other hand, have not been modified and are still really beautiful to look at today. In terms of atmosphere and artistic direction the work is flawless, we can define it sublime. The dubbing in English, but with Spanish subtitles, has been studied in detail and the soundtrack, including jazz and other more rhythmic pieces, fully immerses us in the atmosphere of Los Angeles in 1947 and in its “Golden Age” style.
Final comment PS4 version:
The remastered version of LA Noire it is certainly addressed to those who have never had the pleasure of trying the original work by Team Bondi, but it will also make those players who have already worn the role of Detective Phelps equally happy. The investigative component, so many cases to be brought to terms (all the DLC originally released are also included) and the possibility of living an experience that is nothing short of unique, therefore make LA Noire a must have to have at all costs. From a technical point of view, the improvements are there, but unfortunately, also thanks to the troubled development and some obvious shortcomings of the original production, they have meant that LA Noire has not aged very well.
What about the Nintendo Switch version?
We are very happy that third-party titles are finding their place on the Nintendo Switch. If on PS4 and Xbox One, the restyling work was done more from a graphic point of view, on Nintendo Switch instead the work was aimed at optimizing the gaming experience on completely different hardware, also going to take advantage of the different possibilities. of game offered by the hybrid of the great N.
It was necessary to compromise and also the price of about 50 euros, why should they justify the purchase of LA Noire on Switch?
Our hands at the crime scene
The Switch version of LA Noire in TV mode is capable of shooting at 1080p and 30 fps; the resolution drops to 720p in portable mode, maintaining 30 frames per second. The gaming experience flows smoothly for much of the adventure, but it should be noted that in various situations we have witnessed significant drops in frame rates, substantial uploads and a few pop-ups too. These defects depend in part on the Switch hardware but above all on the troubled development that the game has had to undergo in the 7 years it took to bring it to the shelves. The gaming experience, mind you, remains excellent and usable but the real difference of the Nintendo version of the game is given by the control system.
I Joy-Con they can be detached from the console and as if they were our hands, we will be able to collect clues and evidence at the crime scene and rotate them to analyze them. What really impressed us is the Rumble HD integrated into the mini-controllers which makes the experience even more immersive and offering us a more realistic tactile feedback than its counterparts. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a more traditional gaming experience, you can insert the Joy-Con in the appropriate holder, or use the Pro Controller and enjoy the game in a way not unlike what is proposed on PS4 and Xbox One.
Portable is better
If the above features already represent a significant difference compared to the PS4 and Xbox One versions, what could lead to the purchase of LA Noire is the portability factor. We will not only be able to take the game with us wherever we go, but we will also be able to take advantage of the Switch touch screen that brings LA Noire to get very close to a point and click. It will therefore be possible not only to navigate and mark points of interest on the game map, but to manage the investigation sessions and interrogations. The good Phelps will then be able to select the actions directly from the screen, making the overall experience truly unique and particular.
Technically, more could have been done
The Switch version of the game is perhaps characterized by two souls, the portable one behaves well, resulting fluid and truly unique thanks to the help of touch screen controls. However, once the console is inserted in the appropriate Dock, paradoxically all the defects are amplified. Pop-ups, aliasing, obvious and drastic drops, albeit sporadic, in frame rates. All elements that do not positively benefit the gaming experience. The advice therefore is to play LA Noire in a portable version, as it is certainly the best way to better appreciate the conversion work.
Nintendo Switch final comment:
We are first and foremost happy that another third-party title has landed on Nintendo Switch. The real wow factor of this conversion is to be able to live a unique and unrepeatable gaming experience elsewhere. Not only can we enjoy the title in TV mode, unfortunately all the production defects are noted here, but we can take Detective Phelps and his investigations to Los Angeles wherever we want. If from a technical point of view the title does not excel, we must say that all the peculiar characteristics of the Nintendo hybrid have been exploited properly. Rumble HD, touch screen, gyroscope in addition to the aforementioned portability factor, make LA Noire an attractive title for Nintendo Switch owners.
