Few games have managed to have such unique mechanics as their primary focus of gameplay. Perhaps that’s what makes L.A. Noire so incredibly special, and simultaneously so frustrating.

It’s a games that never quite reaches the heights of its potential both through its narrative and its gameplay… but it consistently tows the line of becoming something truly great.

It manages to immerse you in its 40s noire-esque atmosphere through the well executed use of music choice, dialect, automobiles, clothing, and set design. And that score… oh wow that score. I would have loved to have more to do in this open world. I’d love to get lost in it.

Rockstar managed to create a truly living and breathing world through Red Dead 2 with its over abundance of interactivity and detail. Something similar can be said with the approach to the grand theft auto games as the combat mechanics open them up to so much excitement and possibility.

The problem with L.A. Noire’s open world is that it feels so empty… there’s some stark limitations on what you can and cannot do, and there’s not a lot of interactivity with the world. I would have loved to stumble upon active crimes, or random NPC exchanges. I recognize that changes such as these have only blossomed at Rockstar over the last decade, so this game predates those lovely inclusions… but I can’t help but think about how much this game might have benefited otherwise.

The game gets a lot of slack for its narrative, as it just isn’t quite as interesting or strong as it should be for a detective game developed by Rockstar. The first half’s pacing feels fragmented with most cases lacking a strong overarching narrative structure. It certainly feels like some cases are only their to pad out the run time.

It isn’t until the back half of the game that pieces begin falling in place and dots begin connecting. I really liked the way certain pieces of information came together for me as I was playing. It was almost as if I had solved some big case of my own, as they deliberately don’t spoon feed the player. I think if they had trimmed off some fat in the first couple of departments, it would have benefitted the story they were trying to tell.

I don’t like that I can’t jump!!! Aughjhh. I don’t like when games don’t allow me to traverse wherever I want to. I mean sure, I’ll probably do something stupid and pointless. But that’s my right dammit! I want to jump off of that building or climb up the side of it! Let me have what I want!

Anyways, I mostly really liked the gameplay otherwise. You were limited to what you could and couldn’t do at times, but it all felt organic to the story flowing through each scenario you were in. I think trying to determine whether or not someone was telling the truth was a really awesome idea in theory… but never quite worked the way it was supposed to. It’s a mechanic that probably would work better today, as the technology for it is likely more ready for something so ambitious… but I think here, it was perhaps- too ahead of it’s time.

The alter in protagonists was a lovely little surprise. Especially since Kelso is an awesome character. I’m beginning to really love games that do it.

Overall, I came pretty close to loving L.A. Noire. If the elements I took issue with were refined, I probably would have. But liking it a lot isn’t too bad either.