9. L.A. Noire
If You Like... The Big Sleep, Chinatown In post-war 1947 Los Angeles, Cole Phelps is a war veteran who has found employment as a police detective. In this period of economic boom, z string of arson fires puts Cole into the middle of conspiracy and intrigue as the powers that be struggle for a large share of the profitable pie. As with any good noir mystery, corruption runs amok at every turn and morality is a muddled shade of gray. It's up to Cole to uncover the truth before it's too late. L.A. Noire itself is a homage to film history. The term film noir was a term created to describe the dark gritty crime dramas of the 1940s, many of which were produced in Hollywood. These films prominently featured hard-boiled detectives navigating the dark edges of society only to find themselves ensnared in the underworld without escape. Much of L.A. Noire consists of detective work. The main play mechanic of the game involves interviewing those surrounding a crime scene. A new kind of motion capture technology called Motionscan was developed to map the intricacies of an actor's face. Using this, you learn to read facial expressions and adapt your questioning technique to delve further beneath the surface and acquire information. The writing in the game is sharp and characters are well-drawn. All of the characters - including Cole - have a duality to them that makes them interesting and unique. Questioning suspects and talking to your work partners adds a great deal of depth to the characters and storyline. The story itself - while not wholly original and a bit predictable - is intriguing enough to keep you constantly pushing forward.