L.A Noire Ps3 Review

After finishing the game for quite some time here are my review for Rockstar's latest L.A Noire.

We will look at five categories to review which are the presentation, graphics, sound, gameplay and the lasting appeal of the game.

Presentation

The first thing you'll notice from playing the game will be: The characters. Well, the main characters to be exact. Since the developers spent a lot of time to scanned the actors' lines and motions you will feel like you are 'playing' a movie story with a noir feeling (hence the title). The background characters however, are generic. I saw one guy drunken outside a bar, then he's in an office and then in the prison (maybe something happened off the story, but I didn't notice). Too bad we couldn't really interact with the background characters like we did in GTA: SA last time. The look and feel of the characters are so natural unlike some cg made characters who have the stiffness in their motions and such. The main story consist of the progression of a young war hero rookie cop who's slowly becoming a hotshot in crime solving named Cole Phelps. Phelps is probably the only goody two shoes character in Rockstar's world (although not entirely an angel). The setting were created quite accurately they said to resemble the City of Angels in the 40's. The city is quite big, however it didn't entice me to explore all the parts of the city. Additionally, if you want you could even play the game in black and white so as to experience the proper 40's story.

Presentation: 8/10

Graphics
The graphics in L.A Noire are very good. The characters are well made (however some of the hairs looked stiff and not natural), the city, the cars, the evidences, the building are all good looking. Other than some of the hairs of the characters I have no complaints about the graphics of L.A Noire. I noticed some small bugs with the Ai but luckily it was just the background characters so it didn't matter much.

Graphics 8/10

Gameplay

Although Rockstars games are usually well known for its free-roaming, guns shooting, driving game, the usual formula took a little turn in this game. Although you are free to roam the cities (it even give you easter eggs to collect scattered around the city), the game is quite linear. It'll take you 20+ hours to finish the main story. Every case you finished will be marked according to your performance in the case, how many evidences you gathered, the statements you got right, the damages you did to the city (yes, it matters now! you'll be playing as a cop after all). You're still free to hijack any car you please (or commandeer in this case) and drive to the missions, but if you don't feel like it just ask your partner to drive it! You'll be assigned to your default car based on your rank in the police force. Yes you'll be assigned to a partner in every rank, and you'll be able to interact with them and even becoming your own GPS in case you get lost in the big city of Los Angeles (or again, ask them to drive the car for you!). In other words, quite useful your partner (not much when the shooting situation arises). You could even skip the shooting and fighting parts if you wish.

The main things you're going to do in the game is investigating by getting the right answers from suspects or witness. Call on them when they're lying, hiding something from you or telling the truth. You do this from looking at the witness/suspects face, their cues or the way they talk and getting the evidence to back up your actions. Fail to do this and the game moves on. It would just make it a bit harder for you to finish the case and probably earned you some bad ratings when the case does finish (you could re-play the finished case if you wish).

During evidence gathering you will be helped with some vibrations and music to tell you if you've got the right ones. However, these features could be turned off if you're confident in your sleuthing skills. You could also use intuition points to help you get something you want. If you're online, you could ask the community to help you as well. However, since the PSN was down in the time of my playing I didn't get to try this feature. So, give it a go and let me know how it goes. You will be assigned five intuition point. To recover them, you need to do some side mission which consists of gunning, chasing, and fighting suspects which will add your experience points.

There is one thing that bugs me in L.A Noire. It feels disjointed every time I drive to the allocated location with a car. When we reach our destination, it usually followed with a cut scene when we are suddenly out of the car. It wasn't as smooth as the latest Episodes of Liberty City GTA or Red Dead Redemption where we get off of our vehicles (or horses) and walk down to the destination and then we take control. Also the way we never bag the evidences we found. But these are minor problems and it didn't distract me much from enjoying the game.

Gameplay 8.5/10

Lasting Appeal
You could re-play the case where you didn't finish well, some film reels to collect, landmarks to views (they're quite essential actually), cars to drive and not mentioning the dlcs. There are no online multiplaying but it make sense.

Lasting Appeal 7.5/10

In short L.A Noire is a great experience. You get to play as detective solving crimes and murders. The setting was great and the story was referenced from some movies that I know like Chinatown or L.A Confidential. It's got interesting characters and cases. It looks and plays good. It's not perfect but it's one fine game. Play it.

Total 80/100

The World Cup Finals

After reading an article from Goal.com I realised something, the World Cup finals is just like an Champions League Finals! Let me elaborate:

Looking at the players, I realised most of them are graduates from the famed academy of Ajax Amsterdam and FC Barcelona. Throughout the years Ajax have produced talents like Johan Cruyff, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Kluivert and Frank De Boer to name a few. In the current Holland squad there are Stekelenburg (who currently plays for Ajax), Van Der Wiel, Heitinga, Sneijder, Van Der Vaart, Huntelaar, Elia, De Jong and Babel. Although most of them are now playing for different clubs, they have all graduated from Ajax. Therefore, it is like an reunion to them.

Whereas Spain has players mostly from Barcelona. Also most of the players in the squad are Catalans, not Spanish. Those who graduated from the Barcelona academy are: Victor Valdes, Carles Puyol, Gerrard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and Pedro Rodriguez. Another Catalans is Juan Capdevilla the left back of Villareal. Even the World Cup top scorer is an Barcelona player in David Villa.

Now the difference between the two sides is that the current Spanish side has bigger Barcelona influence because they still all play in the same club. In the match against Germany there were 7 starters who are from Barcelona plus Casilas, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid) and Juan Capdevilla (Villareal). Because they still play together this make them know their teammates better than those who have separated to play for different clubs.

Key Players to watch in the finals:

Xavi Hernandez (Spain): This player is the maestro of Barcelona and Spain. He is essentially pulling the strings of his team mates. His key abilities include quick thinking, very accurate passing, excellent vision, ability to keep the ball well, deadly on dead balls situation. He could even have a pop from outside the penalty box when the opportunity arises. Although he hasn't scored yet, Xavi has always perform well in all the matches he plays. On average the passing that he made is around 100 passes. On club level he has won anything any footballer ever dreamed of. Minus the personal recognition. A candidate for Balloon d' Or. It is said to stop Spain/Barcelona one needs to stop Xavi..

Wesley Sneijder (Holland): 2010 is the year of Sneijder. Well, almost. Dumped by Real Madrid, Sneijder showed his class by winning a treble for his new club, Inter Milan. He is the current playmaker for both Inter and Holland. All attacks have to go through him. He is a bit similar with Xavi however his position is more advanced, allowing him to score some goals as well. With David Villa, he is the current top scorer in the tournament. Deadly on the free kicks as well. 2010 would've been the year of Sneijder indeed if he won the World Cup.

Favorites to win the World Cup? I've always thought it's gonna be Spain right from the start. Even when they lost the opening game. I believe the current Spain squad, which are the reigning European Champions are just too strong for the young solid Holland squad.

My prediction? Spain 2 - Holland 0.

Adriano

His name is Adriano Leite Ribeiro. He is the Emperor or L'Imperatore. As a Roma fan through and through I would like to write my thoughts about this latest transfer coup. It will be about why Adriano is a great signing for Roma.

Adriano is a man on a mission. He went to serie A as a youngster with lots of potential. He literally took Serie A by storm, until it all went wrong for him on 2009. He suffers depression after his father's death. And so, being unable to perform at his capacities, he went back to the Brazilian league to discover happiness again.

He did so. He joined Flamengo and helped them winning the league and finished the league as top scorer. Now that he regained his form, then came the opportunity to prove that he still has what it takes to be a success in a big club.

AS Roma are seriously interested in bringing Adriano back to the Serie A. It may seem like a gamble for some. But Adriano himself are very sure he is ready to prove his worth for Roma. And now the signing is complete and I cannot wait to see him don the number 8 shirt for Roma!

Okay, maybe I haven't said anything on why I think Adriano will be a success. It will be for his records and ability. As it stands, Adriano is still the current top scorer for Inter in the European Cup with 18 goals in 30 games. As great Totti and Vucinic are domestically, they are unable to match Adriano's proven record in the Champions League. This will be an important element for us next season in Europe.

He still has that deadly left foot. So when things go bad then 'pop' a goal might come out of nowhere. Therefore, besides Totti, Vucinic and De Rossi now there is Adriano who could be the one to rely for spectacular goals.

I think that Adriano is the missing link that Roma are missing so far. Roma needs a strong centre forward who are strong physically and the kind of 'fox in the box' type. They had it with Gabriel Batistuta (when they became champions) and now I'm convinced that Adriano is the man to fill that link that Luca Toni failed to produce last season.

Therefore, let us say this to Adriano: L'Imperatore e indietro! In Boca Il Lupo!

Faith

I want to discuss a little bit about faith. Can faith become a dangerous weapon for us humans? Let's say if you are made to believe that if you kill someone, you could go to heaven for it what would you do? Re-evaluate this promise, or just do it because your faith said it's okay to do so? Sadly most people chose the latter to this day.

Wars have been waged in the name of religion for centuries. I find this so sad, because the concept of religion were actually made so that people would fear the laws that are made by their so called 'Gods' and so that people wouldn't dare to break them. However, people would have to choose sides and if they picked a side, they will be promised 'Heaven' and 'Hell' for those who chooses the others (except maybe for Buddhism I believe, who believes that everyone has the right to reach Nirvana). Ironically, we do know that rules are made to be broken. And so some people would take advantage of this loop. They would just re-phrase the laws then use it to their own advantage. These people doesn't have to be smart, just convincing enough to preach and then flocks of people would just believe whatever this person said. Truly, the concept of faith can be dangerous if it falls to type of persons like this.

Now, I'm not saying that having a faith is bad. It's quite good actually. If people always think and act in the name of good faith then the world will actually be a better place to live in. Sadly, this is not the reality we live in. Maybe I just need to have a little faith that a better world will happen someday.

My thoughts on Ibra

Celebrating scoring a rare goal for Sweden.


Why does everyone seems to think Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a great striker? I don't. He doesn't deserve to play in a big club like FC Barcelona. His biggest achievements are only winning the league titles everywhere he goes, but always a failure on the european matches (look at Ajax, Juve, Inter and now Barca).

He even didn't perform well in the World Cup or any international matches. Let's see him join Arsenal (to make way for Cesc re-joining Barca finally). Maybe he will be the player to help them winning their league title finally, with a cost in the champs league. Or maybe I wanna see him join AS Roma (his favoured choice before Juve and Inter stole him anyway) and bring them as both Serie A champions AND Champions league winner then maybe he'll convinced me.

As for now, though. I think Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the most overrated striker in the world. Inter got a great buy in Eto'o. Look at them, they are on course of winning the treble! Barcelona even has realized their mistake. They bought David Villa to replace him swiftly. Let us see where will Ibra go next season. My bet is on Arsenal.

John Lennon is a Genius, a Visionary

I always loved John Lennon. A little backstory about him: He was one of the main song writers for the most popular 'little ol' band in the world in The Beatles.

His main songwriting partner was Paul McCartney. Even as a child I always loved Lennon's writings. While McCartney's I felt mostly wrote ballad, or love songs for the ladies (however I love Hey Jude).

After quitting the Beatles, I thought Lennon has gone insane. He became a bold person, he speaks nonsense mostly, I didn't understand it. Until today.. I TOTALLY gets what he meant now. I understand that he was suppressing all his feelings and then when he quit the Beatles finally, he let it all out. I'm going to show you his brilliant songs to understand what He and I think alike about. Enjoy the lyrics from the great mind of John Lennon. If you want you could hear the tune from Youtube while reading the lyrics. That's just how I roll, baby.

Imagine by John Lennon

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one


God by John Lennon

God is a concept,
By which we can measure,
Our pain,
I'll say it again,
God is a concept,
By which we can measure,
Our pain,
I don't believe in magic,
I don't believe in I-ching,
I don't believe in bible,
I don't believe in tarot,
I don't believe in Hitler,
I don't believe in Jesus,
I don't believe in Kennedy,
I don't believe in Buddha,
I don't believe in mantra,
I don't believe in Gita,
I don't believe in yoga,
I don't believe in kings,
I don't believe in Elvis,
I don't believe in Zimmerman,
I don't believe in Beatles,




I just believe in me,
Yoko and me,
And that's reality.
The dream is over,
What can I say?
The dream is over,
Yesterday,
I was dream weaver,
But now I'm reborn,
I was the walrus,
But now I'm John,
And so dear friends,
You just have to carry on,
The dream is over.




Questions, kids?

Why I Changed My Mind About Clash of the Titans

First, I would like to make an apology. To the filmmakers of the remake of Clash of the Titans. I think I may have a hand on spreading a bad word about the movie. It turns out I know the real reason why I didn't like the movie. It was all about religion. And I will explain.

As some of you know, I'm having my crisis of faith right now. I began believeing that "Is there such a thing as a perfect person? No one is perfect. People have flaws.." So, I chose to defy my Gods.

Now what is the connection between Clash of the Titans? Here's why, first I was still pissed off that they changed the story around. It was suppose to be the adventures of Perseus winning Andromeda's hand in marriage, while battling monsters such as the Gorgon Medusa and a Sea Monster.

In the movie, however. It was a personal battle against Perseus and a God. He was Hades. In real life Hades is a neutral figure. Now I understood the message of the movie. Perseus chose to defy the Gods with all his humanness with him. Although he still have the support from his beloved father Zeus, Perseus chose to take down Hades, Zeus' older brother once and for all. He FOUGHT a God. At first I thought that this is bullshite. But that was before my crisis. Now I think, "this is exactly the same thing I am feeling.." And so, I become more connected with the movie.

Lastly, another apology for misleading my loyal readers of my distorted view of the movie. I assure you it is more than a pop corn flick. Catch it later on dvd perhaps? No, not the pirated ones...

Clash of the Titans (2010): 7/10 *updated score.