Tag Archives: L.A. Noire

I called it. Detective Cole Phelps, the lovable straight-laced boy-scout who was destroying my noir definition by refusing to be an anti-hero, finally fell to temptation! The L.A. Noire “Vice Desk” chapter was my absolute favorite to date. Detective Phelps new beat is Hollywood, and finally some African American characters make their appearance. The music is dark jazz with a heavy blues influence, and the laid-back tunes perfectly match the rhythm of the unfolding story. My only complaint is that the “Vice Desk” chapter was the shortest so far, being comprised of only three interlinking story arcs:

1) The Black Caesar (a nod to a 1973 blaxploitation film)

2) The Set Up

3) Manifest Destiny

I really don’t want to write a full synopsis (mostly because I’m feeling lazy), but here is a run-down from wikipedia:

Phelps is then promoted to the Vice Department, also known as Administrative or Ad Vice. He and his new partner Roy Earle, who is himself corrupt, succeed in halting LA’s drug trade, government-issued morphine in particular and bringing down several big time drug dealers, including associates of mobster, Mickey Cohen, an associate of Al Capone. However, Phelps’s past comes back to haunt him when a Marine from his former unit is found shot dead. Phelps then discovers many of his former squad members are being targeted for assassination as well, and after meeting with his old comrade, Jack Kelso, who has now become an insurance claims investigator, Phelps deduces the men who will be assassinated, but unfortunately is unable to save most of them. He slowly uncovers that the U.S.S Coolridge, which transported his platoon home at the end of the war, was also carrying a large supply of surplus morphine. Phelps then comes to the conclusion that the deaths of his old comrades are linked to the ship; and the morphine, realising that the men made a pact to sell the morphine on the street. This caused their assassinations by other drug traffickers, including the mob. Phelps also begins an affair outside of his marriage with a German club singer named Elsa Lichtmann, who Earle constantly berates. Phelps is eventually demoted when Earle discloses his affair as a distraction from the other corrupt activities of several city leaders, including himself.

everyone squints in this game, I should add that to my noir definition

The double-cross from Earle was amazing, and I am so pumped to see where it goes from here.  I have a hunch that there is more to the affair with Elsa than meets the eye, because we never actually see any indiscretions other than Phelps entering her apartment on several occasions. We don’t even see him kiss her. And when the “adultery” accusations begin to fly his way, he never denies the affair, but he is never allowed to explain himself. I was wondering when a true femme fatale was going to enter and with Elsa causing the downfall of our anti-hero, finally the stage is set with all the players outlined in our noir definition. L.A. Noire is shaping up to be a most incredible video game noir.

Sorry Cats and Kittens, it’s been far too long since I put something up. Chalk it up to a holiday weekend and Minecraft. Back to the business at hand, I promised that I would be reviewing each of the “desks” that Cole Phelps is assigned to in the video game noir: L.A. Noire. Here is my second installment/fulfillment of that promise.

everyone squints in this game, I should add that to my noir definition

The second desk in L.A. Noire started with a bang. Suddenly we were thrust into a whirlwind of dead naked bodies (all of them women, mind you (MISOGYNY)) and a hint of a serial killer called “the werewolf.” The women were found with obscenities painted on their bruised and strangled forms with lipstick, and each had a man in her life with motive enough for the harsh treatment. I will say that the nudity as done in a very classy way, and I never felt uncomfortable as I investigated the bodies. As each case unfolded with similar scenarios and culprits for the crime, I began to be really discouraged. I believe this stemmed from the fact that I didn’t believe we were catching the actual killers in each case, we were simply locking up the most reasonable suspect. Understandably, this was all a noir plot build-up to the final case where the player faces off against the Black Dahlia Killer, but these slowly unfolding semi-fulfilling cases were still fuel for frustration.

one of the victims

I felt the sting of video game limitation, my back fully against the wall of what I would do vs. what the character was able to do. It felt ridiculous to continually put away individuals who were obviously being set up by the real killer, but Phelps’ script would not allow for anything else. So basically, the first few murders are genuinely fun to solve, but once you hit the fourth repeat you’ll be ready to ditch the whole thing. I will say that once you get to the end of the line, and Cole is actually trying to find the true murderer, the game begins to shine once more. The developers allow you to solve the riddles given to Officer Phelps based upon how closely you have been paying attention to the historical landmarks in the city. Really fun stuff.

At the end of the day, the Homicide Desk in the video game noir L.A. Noire was excellent in part, but was bogged down by the limitations of the script. We’ll see what the Vice Desk has in store for Detective Phelps.

I don’t have time for a full post today, but you should all know that I have ordered L.A. Noire for XBOX 360 (it came out today). I should receive it in the mail by this weekend. That should provide some juicy video game noir posts I hope!

Keep whaling. (I got my copy from Newegg.com)