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

7. Side Quests Actually Mean Something

Although LA Noire is a sandbox game, it's not really a sandbox game. Sure, you can freely explore an open world, but a lot like Mafia II the openness of the environment is purely to deliver a specific sense of space and time, rather than to act as a playground full of extra content for players to seek out and accomplish.

With that said, Rockstar's title still includes 40 main side missions to pursue throughout Cole Phelps' journey, with a set amount that crop up depending on which criminal desk you're currently working at. These in-the-moment dispatches aren't that substantial - usually seeing Cole in shootouts with a bunch of bank robbers, chasing down petty criminals or stopping domestic disputes - but the way they're implemented in the game is impeccable.

Because while the main cases themselves are pretty light on action in the sense that they rarely involve shootouts or fistfights, these side quests give players the rush of adrenaline needed to punctuate the slower burn of the main missions.

Each one, despite their brief length, feels essential and adds something to the flow of the game without taking away its urgency, giving players the open world madness they expect to see while not having to sacrifice the immediacy of the main story.