10 Video Games Impossible To Beat Without A Guide

2. L.A. Noire

LA Noire Interrogation
Team Bondi

The problem with doing something no one else in your industry has quite done before is that you'd better make sure your mechanics are rock solid at conveying information, or everyone is going to be confused.

L.A. Noire's claim to fame when it first hit shelves was its revolutionary mocap system that captured every detail on the faces of its characters. Which was meant to come in handy when you, a hard boiled L.A. detective named Cole Phelps, had to interrogate them for the crime of the week.

To the game's credit, the mocap tech really is very good at helping keen eyed players discern whether or not you're talking to a liar. However, where the need for a guide comes in is how you should respond.

It doesn't help that Cole has the temperament of a Chihuahua on cocaine, getting in people's faces and insulting them when you were sincerely trying to play it cool. The choice of three responses is just too vague for you to properly gauge how Phelps is going to respond. The recent remake does address this and it helps, but not by much.

If you'd rather not come off as a psychotic, loose cannon thug looking for an excuse to shoot a grandma in the head, best to just consult the almighty game guide.

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L.A. Noire
 
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John Tibbetts is a novelist in theory, a Whatculture contributor in practice, and a nerd all around who loves talking about movies, TV, anime, and video games more than he loves breathing. Which might be a problem in the long term, but eh, who can think that far ahead?