L.A. Noire is an extraordinary piece of work that is as much interactive cinema at times as it is a video game. The now defunct Team Bondi and Rockstar have created a game that uses groundbreaking MotionScan technology to create characters that are so alive with detail that you can see every little animation in their faces. It is 1947 and you will take on the role of Cole Phelps in the LAPD and solve cases in a faithfully recreated downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood. The action, story, and pacing are all methodical. You won’t be running and gunning anyone and everyone down like you could in Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption. You’re a good cop stuck in a seedy, corrupted city. Therefore, you are not given choices for good and evil. You will find clues, interview people, judge their answers in questioning and occasionally get into car chases or firefights. L.A. Noire is open-world sandbox, but there are restrictions. Every character is a unique and individually acted by people you may even recognize from television or movies. You will have to have some patience and a little appreciation for the time period. It is the story and your detective work that drives this game.

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