What Games Are You Playing?

I was misled by the developers saying you have to read people's expressions to solve crimes. You don't have to do any such thing. You can only back up a claim if you have evidence so even if they look like they're lying through their teeth you can't pin it on them unless you already have a damn good reason to suspect they're lying in the first place. Also it's hard to tell when they're trying to act like they just told a lie and when they just plain overact.

 

Sir the 'last movie you watched' thread is in the Movies and TV section.

 

I know what you guys are saying and I agree: that L.A. Noire could have been made without the sandbox element. However, I disagree that the open world and driving wasn't an effective part of the game. It provided a change of pace from the crime scenes and interviews, and it also provided an extra level of atmosphere and immersion. The conversations that would occur with your partner while driving are one example of that.

And I found the driving missions and shoot out missions enjoyable enough compared to most sandbox games that have them. It had enough traditional "game" elements and they were solidly done.

 

Mass Effect 3.

I'm really enjoying it. It's simpler and dumber than the 2nd or 1st but that's okay.

 

I didn't think the driving or shooting segments in LA Noire were very good at all. The cars drive like boats, and your character moves too awkwardly for the shooting to be very enjoyable.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the game. But I was mostly impressed with the voice acting, facial animations, and return to 90s adventure style gameplay.

 

Don't read any spoilers. I'm curious how you react to the ending.

 

I've avoided everything that talks about it.

 

I thought it was generally on par with the missions for games like Red Dead Redemption. Shooting was fairly well done in my opinion with easy targeting, but the overall mission difficulty could have been ramped up a bit for the shoot outs. Driving was about what I expect from a Rockstar game...it leaves something to be desired for control, but the mayhem that results from that approach is usually entertaining.

 

I just got around to try LA noire, prompted by chat here. Hmmmm, it's ok so far. I don't think the setting has hooked me like Red Dead and the detective stuff seems a bit lacking. Shooting and driving seem fine but I'm wondering if this has enough to it.

 

Everything that occurs prior to being assigned to Homicide is pretty much an intro to the game mechanics. You get your feet wet with the interviews and crime scenes etc., so it's Rockstar's way of giving you the "rookie" cop experience before the proper game begins.

 

So it there's more depth later? I'll carry on and see how I get on then; seems very linear on the early cases but if it's just training then I can see why.

 

The cases do get more interesting, but I wouldn't say that it gets any less linear. As I said before, you can bomb interviews and the game will still find ways to keep the case going. It's very hard to actually fail a case.

 

I think it's right in line with Rockstar's typical formula, i.e., it's not significantly more linear than Red Dead Redemption was. Once you enter a specific case, there is definitely linearity when you're following the path of the case missions. However, you're not required to just run through those bang-bang-bang. You can complete a case mission, then free roam for side missions or achievements, then return to the case mission path later.

The environment of L.A. Noire isn't as interactive as a game like Red Dead (where you have the game hunting/horse roping etc. aspect in addition to side missions), so I think that may lead to the impression that it's more linear. But really, the overall structure is typical Rockstar.

 

Yeah, they weren't trying to baffle people in terms of closing cases and moving forward in the game, but the inclusion of the star rating system for how well you performed seemed like a fair trade-off. Five star ratings are not that easy to get.

 

True. I've only gotten five stars a few times. But you can easily get three or four stars on most cases.

I thought the game really picked up when you got to homicide and started to see all of the Black Dahlia stuff. Traffic was more like a tutorial as you said.

Also, a word of advice, when you have no real evidence or motive, and think something might actually be the work of a serial killer, just pin it on some random deranged homeless guy. That's 1940s justice for you!

 

*Mild Spoiler Below*

That's one of the things that I found interesting about the game. Some of the cases that you close earlier in the game and feel satisfied about in terms of the evidence and questioning can turn out to be wrongful convictions...and that's a more realistic approach to how law enforcement works. Building a successful case against someone isn't necessarily the same thing as really solving the case.

 

I decided to finally get on with Zelda: Skyward Sword and I am really enjoying it. As my sofa is too far away for the sensor bar to work I am having to sit on a dining table chair which is a bit of an annoyance but I still seem to be enjoying it.

Wish I hadn't put it off for so long, tis good to be playing a Zelda game again.

 

I played the beginning of this and found it really annoying, not sure why. The dash stamina bar felt a bit tacked on and that bird flying thing. Christ on a bike annoying.

 

At first it was annoying but you get the hang of it quite quickly and it becomes second nature.

 

To me it just seems like an odd feature to include in a game that doesn't have a jump button.