Give us an open-world adventure, slap a Rockstar logo on the box, and we'll come running. Throw in a properly captivating plot, generation-defining facial animation technology and set us free in an authentic recreation of 1940s Los Angeles, and we'll practically throw our money at it. And so we did when Team Bondi dished up the stylish crime saga, L.A. Noire, bolstered by a critical response which the developer would have been rightly proud of. But all was not well in the city of angels. For every group of L.A. Noire fanatics unable to tear themselves away from the amazingly realistic characters and silky-smooth storytelling, there was a handful of aspiring detectives who couldn't overlook the games' underlying flaws. Flaws which unshakable fans chose to bury under a thick layer of enthusiasm for this astounding achievement in immersive narrative and mould-breaking design. Many saw weaknesses where others saw innovation, especially centred around the headline feature of the game - the interrogation and investigation mechanic. Nay-sayers called it limited and stifling, when we had been assured of a dynamic investigative procedure unlike anything we had experienced before. Visually, and in terms of delivering an unforgettable cinematic experience, Team Bondi exceeded expectations. Even the cover-based gunplay was well above average for a third-person adventure game. But criticisms aimed at the cardboard cut-out feel of Los Angeles and a disconnect between player and certain game mechanics, being funnelled in a scripted direction instead of given the freedom hoped for, left some as cold as a body found in the trunk of an abandoned Cadillac Series 62. Oh, and a quick sidebar: Lead protagonist Cole Phelps was (possibly intentionally) an unrelatable, obnoxious twit.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
