10 Reasons L.A. Noire Is Rockstar's Most Underrated Game

9. It's More Than A Pastiche

While Rockstar always riff on iconic American genres and settings, more often than not these influences end up making the releases themselves come across as straight-up pastiche - sometimes a loving one, sometimes not - that are content to mimic iconography and expected beats rather than bringing anything new to the table.

While LA Noire may initially appear like a simple love letter to noir fiction, it doesn't just use these conventions as a way to mask its lack of ideas. Sure, there are plenty of conspiracies, shootouts and last-minute twists to sink your teeth into, but the title uses these familiar features of the genre to modernise it just as much as it pays homage to it.

Rockstar's title isn't a slave to its genre, and although it hits many of the beats fans know and love, it's always prepared to subvert expectations to keep things interesting.