As I get to the gym and head to the locker room, I start going over the evidence in my head. Three women murdered, all with ideal suspects, but something just doesn't add up. I'm mid-changing into swimming gear when I start to consider the possibility of a serial killer, and looking back at the common points in each case. But how? The murder weapons were found in each suspect's home, they all had intent... how could I be missing something?
I take my swim, mulling it over all the while, and I skip the sauna, because I know it's time to get back to work. And that's when it hit me that it had finally happened; Rockstar finally captured my heart. They've finally made a game that I'm head over heels in love with. And they didn't do it by letting me dive out of helicopters or riding out on horse back, no, they achieved the feat I never thought they would achieve with a stuck-up police detective and his trusty notebook.
Broken down piece by piece L.A. Noire is Rockstar's least impressive game; the 20+ hour campaign isn't bolstered by a whole range of free roam options, it's structure is linear, it's open world is - for the most part - just for show, it's arsenal is bare, and glitches are more prominent here than in previous titles from the developer. Clearly Team Bondi doesn't hold all the technical wizardry that an in-house Rockstar team can produce.
But they've got something else, their sorcery lies in recreating a world to lose yourself in. As much as GTA and Red Dead flex their free roam muscles, you're always on the outside looking in. In both of their respective game worlds, your character is seemingly the only sane person. Every mission giver, every ally or enemy, they all seem to have some mental disability. Every Brucie, Seth, Irish, cousin, revolutionist; they've all got something slightly off about them. And for me, that always shatters the world Rockstar is trying to sell me on.
But here comes Cole Phelps, and he's the one with a rod up his butt. L.A. Noire, more than any Rockstar game before it, is serious business. It's the first time in a Rockstar game I've been able to place faith and trust in a character other than the protagonist. No longer am I a spectator, but I'm trying to earn the respect of my peers and find out more about them. I'm developing a relationship with my partner instead of simply thinking "here's another crazy guy". It's finally a world I can believe in.
Even better is that once it's sold you on that world, it runs with it. Every car chase, shoot out and fist fight is a love letter to the 1940s. From flying through the back alleys with your partner hanging out the window hopelessly trading shots with a fleeing suspect to taking several small leaps of faith over rooftops as another one tries to get away, its commitment and fan-service to its genre is unflinching. The damsel in distress, the music, the costumes, it's all drenched in the period. Just as a game, Nore is a triumph, but it goes on to be more.
If there's any element missing, it's L.A.'s social life. Fleeting glimpses of nightclubs and eavesdropping on others are all you'll experience of the non-working life, and that's where my opening story comes in. Cole wasn't getting any downtime as I walked him through each case. He didn't have time to grab a bite to eat and think over the evidence, so I was doing it for the both of us. When I wasn't playing, Cole wasn't working, he was having his time off.
I might sound like I've gone off the deep end, but that's what made me treat L.A. Norie one case at a time, with none of the usual 5+ hour sessions. My time with Cole was some of the most enjoyable time I've spent simply 'being' in a game. It's so good that, because it doesn't go the extra mile of sandbox gameplay, I'm doing it for it. I'm going to work out or see friends, and then I'm coming back to do my duty.
Playing L.A. Noire is your 9am - 5pm, and stepping away from it is your weekend, your day off, those precious few evening hours of TV before you get back to it. As a game, it's my favourite Rockstar title. As a world, it's perhaps the most immersive and well-realised that gaming's seen yet.
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