It's kind of strange to me that the main character or the one you follow for a good portion of the game is actually a bad person who fucked up quite badly in the war. It's interesting and ballsy and makes LA Noire stand out more from other story games.
It's one of the hallmarks of the noir genre, honestly. The 'heroes' are revealed as flawed and fallible men who are often no better than the 'crooks' they pursue.
Cole followed orders without question in the war. You can consider him flawed for that, but I don't think it makes him a bad person, or someone that fucked up. He had orders, and he executed them.
@@DogInPajamaPants well he was somewhat a jerk which doesn't make him a bad person but bad luck on a mission led to serious civilian casualties. He had man on a flame thrower who wasn't use to his task and he led his squad into an ambush and panicked in the moment. It wasn't his fault really but he's definitely a flawed man. Cheating on his wife being something he definitely did wrong in.
That Black Dahlia series of missions, to this day, is still in my top moments of gaming. I'll never forget playing that at 1 AM and being absolutely freaked. Those facial animations at the time seemed GROUNDBREAKING. Would love to see Rockstar revive this but that day seems long past. Awesome vid, brought back the nostalgia for sure!
One thing I love about this game is how well it does hidden exposition. The game is like 22 hours long, and subtle little details like insta heat, and future suspects appear at the beginning of the game, and then work their way to the end of the game. You also meet future partners in earlier portions of the game. It’s so easy to think that this game is just a bunch of random cases thrown together, but upon another playthrough, you can see that they are definitely planned out and interwoven. Also, if you’ve read anything about the film noir genre, you can see how masterfully they follow the plot devices of old film noir tropes. This game was so ahead of its time.
35:30 You know, I always thought it was a bit cheesy that all the corrupt politicians consciously decide to huddle around in a secluded private room and basically brag about how evil they are whilst on tape. It feels so unrealistic, almost comical in a sense..... And then, I get to hear Mario Barilaro's tape where he and his fellow corrupt Australian politicians sit around in a restaurant's private room and laugh about how greedy and corrupt they are whilst a random waiter secretly records the whole thing without any of them even noticing. Life does imitate art, doesn't it?
You would think at least one of them would question saying something like "why do we have a tape recorder, recording are conversation in this private room were we are talking about are plans". I mean if i was in that room with that group of people i would be nervous as hell to even open my mouth less i implicate myself.
Or that shit in Oklahoma, like last week, with the county officials just discussing murdering two local reporters, and that they can't lynch black people anymore. (Though they weren't recording themselves, another person did.) (I felt a better way for the LA Noire to have done the 'bad guys sat around talking their plot' thing was how they did it in the novel "The Pushcart War", where a plot the villians were discussing was overheard & written down by a janitor who was practicing shorthand for night school, and oblivious to what she heard at the time.)
@@silentecho92able Nixon did a similar thing. It's the arrogance of the powerful, they think they're untouchable. Thankfully, this occasionally leads to their downfall
LA Noire has a fantastic vibe, it feels truly authentic, something that few period games and media manages to capture, I'd say Mafia 2 is also one that gets the feel of the era right, but Noire really hits that simulation of Detective Noir media that would make early Batman blush. It really helps that they use real world cars, companies, names, guns, cases and locations unlike GTA, Bully and Red Dead. It just covers the whole game with this unchallenged authenticity even with a convenient, dramatised story. Also, the facial capture was incredible for the time, and a definite stepping stone most modern games have used since for their animation rigs
it was developed by Bondi but yeah!! it was incredible for the time and the facial capture technology is actually what led Rockstar to buying the Bondi studio, bc they would also get the patent for the face capture!
As others have said. Rockstar just published the game, they didn't make it. Team Bondi developed it, and from what I've heard/read the game was a development hell because the founder of the studio who was also the director of LA Noire was a control freak and made the job a living hell for everyone in the company.
@@frostieschocopop if you look up the production history, its not hard to see why. The game director was a POS to his employees and the last two years of development was in a state of constant crunch. It was probably extremely hard to find employees when they had such an infamous reputation
Maybe of a re-imagining, and make it into an anthology type series. Different eras, locations, make it so you can also be a PI, and for each title drop the 'city' and keep the noir(e) portion.
one of my all-time favourite games for the story alone. when everything tied together in the final act, it's something incredible to experience and the emotions you feel at the ending really are something else. props to the music department too, the OST is simply a masterpiece gameplay surely had a lot space for improvement, but this doesn't at all stop me from regarding this game as a top-3 of mine, wish we saw a modern equivalent to it
@@The_king567You need to shut your mouth and realize people have opinions. I’ve played peak and this is in the top 10. Go play fps games or God Of War or something
Ah, the Noire genre. Like the Cthulhu mythos, you know the characters are gonna lose and be utterly broken, the joy of the story is watchibg their valiant struggle against the dark.
Who knew after beating the game learning what Cole did during his military time was to me he kinda deserved to not live in the end cause he lead so many more lives to death while he was in charge and the fact he got honorable discharge was just mind blown and that jack was the true hero in the game
yea that was the interesting thing with his character. everyone is praising cole for being a warhero and yet cole feels resentment towards himself for leading many men to death and has survivors guilt. we see how good of a detective he is and how much change he is bringing to los angeles but then we are reminded of the tragedy he caused… hes looking for atonement. not only that but the adultery. this is why i love cole hes not just some do gooder one dimensional character he is very flawed as a person yet calculated. i loved jack too and its funny how in the beginning of the game herschel is narrating basically saying “cole and jack were two guys that should have been friends”
It's ironic because I did end up feeling bad for Cole despite everything. It reminded me a lot of a certain character's death in Persona 3. Sometimes people die before they can ever fully redeem themselves. Life doesn't wait for happy endings or for plot arcs to be finished. I actually love that about the ending. Cole was just a man who had been corrupted by the war machine and he was lucky enough to not snap, unlike the man he ordered to start the fires in the caves in the first place. He easily could have become corrupt with power too but he did choose to protect as many people as he could. Was it sometimes for selfish reasons? Of course! But in the end, he really reminded me a Greek tragic hero. Perhaps if Cole never served in the war, he could have gone even farther as a cop. But instead he became Icaraus, a man who got to close to the sun in the army and the police force.
I didn't hate L.A. Noire, but i felt the game had a lot of potential to be one of the best games of all time. Some missions/objectives felt really repetitive and the city didn't feel quite alive compared to other open world games. I really enjoyed the story and some of the characters though. 18:04 Side note but I thought she died of a knife wound and not a gun shot?
@@imnindigo44After just completing the game, that entire thing with Cole cheating felt...rushed or unnecessary? I'm not sure what to call it, but it didn't fit his character much at all...but that's just me. He already knows Roy is a dirty cop and knows Roy and others see him frequently in the club, but doesn't suspect anyone could catch on to him seeing Elsa? Not to mention the very little dialogue we do get of Cole about his family he very clearly cares about them. Just seems very lazy writing and out of character for someone like Cole to suddenly decide it's time to cheat. Is it fair for me to see it this way or does it actually make sense?
@@Gerald-of-Rivierai see it in your way too , although Cole once told Stefan that he likes blondes , but I still found it a bit out of character , not to mention that there wasn’t really a built up for it , like Cole just suddenly wanted to follow her the fuck is that ?
OK voice actor fact(s) about this game: - Roy is voiced by Sindri from the Norse Saga God of War games - Herschel is voiced by Kyne from the original Dead Space 1 - Leland Monroe is voiced by Denethor from Return of the King
Dr. Harlan Fontaine's actor also played Dutch van der Linde in the Red Dead games Cole Phelps and a good percentage of the game's cast were all on _Mad Men_ The bartender in the Antonia Maldonado case was the bartender on _How I Met Your Mother_
@@christopherwall2121omg the how I met your mother bartender blew my mind 😂 idk of you’re joking but they look so similar it’s hilarious. Most random connection ever
Something that not a lot people know except for people who have both played this game and seen the show mad men is that a lot of the actors/characters are in both Noire and the show.Which I always found interesting.
This make so much sense! I can't think of his name in real life but Mickey Cohen looks like this actor I know. I most recently saw him in the Lincoln lawyer though
Ive watched videos about LA Noire before. But this is the first time someone made it very clear that cole was a terrible leader. Weird how people left out that bit. Or it wasnt just emphasized.
I adore this game; it's such a gem. It for sure isn't perfect, but there are so many things it did extremely well. I'm still hoping for a sequel, despite how futile that may be. Another great video! Can't wait for the next one.
I played this game after watching until minute 18 and reading a comment about the protagonist and boy what a well-spent 40 h playthrough. Luckily didn’t get spoiled too much, now can sit back and enjoy Harry’s excellent recap as always
I played this game when I was very young and always used guides to pass the interrogations cause I make Phelps look like a dumb in some, but also because the story got me so bad that I did not wanted to screw up just to keep seeing what happened. Amazing game.
Really thought that Cole was a bad father, the way after he’s exposed for having an affair, he doesn’t even try to make things right. After about 3 minutes of fighting to make things right, he accepts defeat and gives up on his family. He doesn’t say, “I was so wrong, I know I hurt you and the family, I’ll do anything to make it right,” or even something like, “look, I understand if you won’t forgive me, what I did was wrong, but can we please work together to still raise our girls, even if we’re not married?” He just runs off with this seductive temptress and doesn’t even seem to care about seeing his kids. Instead he says, “they have their mom and they have each other, they’ll be fine.” What a ridiculous thing to say. I lost complete respect for him. Even if he can’t salvage the marriage, he can salvage being a good father. But to not really try more than a 3 minute fight to do either is just absurd.
This game is a masterpiece. Even in the year 2024 there has been nothing like it. The VR version is especially fun, as it really makes it like you're in the center of things.
My first playthrough of L.A. Noire was in 2017. I recall buying it from a local game store for my Xbox. Little did I know that it would be my first every "binge playthrough". As I completed the entire storyline in less than 3 days.
I findit funny that Rockstar had almost the flipped stories with their protagonist in 2011 with L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3. Max Payne has our hero be a very clearly disheveled broken man fighting demons in a fight he even sees pointless but in the end makes his own "happy ending" anyways. Where L.A. Noire is about a put together, value and code driven moral, decorated marine veteran who on the surface is rising through the ranks with the typical hero characteristics who might go through conflict but see it through as most with those characteristics do, but by the end is shown as the real man he is and dies alone in a futile attempt to make things right with no real happy ending. Just a interesting paralle.
i wish there were more games like it, the style of having to solve diff cases in an open world was so fun. story might not be that great but it did a good job actually making you feel like a detective
What I LOVE is the real-world elements from that era like the Black Dahlia case and the gangster Mickey Cohen who was played by Sean Penn in Gangster Squad. Absolutely CLASSIC game - it's a DAMN SHAME they scrapped the sequel.
Rockstar have blood on their hands for not bringing a sequel to this once they got their hands on the IP. Fantastic watch as always, only halfway through but leaving a comment now before I forget to 🙏🏿💜
one of my favorite games ever, played it when it came out and as a 14 year old who didnt understand English well game was very murky but replaying it more and more years later made me realise how great stories are in this game, War stories could carry a game on its own, Suburban Red. fund and Elysian fields with most powerful figures in LA, and then Morphine supply its the best story Rockstar has created
The twist of Cole having been a total piece of shit during his time with the Corps was such a punch in the gut when I i first played this. Loved the game so much, it was one that I and a buddy from high school would sit on the phone chatting about at length after we finished it. Others being Bioshock Infinite and Hitman Absolution. Man I miss those days, when the only thing I had to worry about was putting gas in my car and deciding which new games I wanted to splurge on the special editions for.
Hey there! This is the first video of yours I’ve watched. This was fantastic!! Not just bullet points of the plot, but also full of character analysis and the subtleties that go into storytelling. I love this game when it first came out, and watching this a decade later only proves that I made a good choice! Keep up the great work!!
Those Black Dahlia mission with Rusty were pure Gold. Especially the later ones, where the plot unfolds, and the killer send the taunting messages like BTK or the Zodiac killer.
I think that's what made this game so brilliant. They guys at Bondi simply went "hey, you know those 1940s cop films in black and white? How about we make a game of that but in colour (with the option to play in black and white)?"
Really love the fact that you offer a spoiler warning despite the game being 12 years old. I get really frustrated when I accidentally come across a spoiler for a game on my 'to play' list. Sometimes I only hear about a game for the first time 10 years late...
I'm pumped for this, a few Let's Players I used to watch a lot mentioned getting round to it after a previous detective game play got good views for them. Sadly they've never gotten to it, I think because both guys involved had already played chunks of the game on their own. So yay! 🎉 Excited to see what this game's about!
@@GamingHarryYT yeah... other than that very little hiccup, good video that breaks down the story for some younger audiences or people who have long breaks between playing
This game is a critique on the American war machine and the corruption in American society to me. Every case is motivated by PTSD or greed in some way at its heart. The american dream hijacked by selfish agents
Benson, Earle and the film set guy were the most frustrating characters to see get off, however it makes sense for the story. I like to think they eventually got outed and jailed
@@50.CalFilms Benson will be looking over his shoulder for Kelso for the rest of his life, Hopgood gets arrested in a Street Crime in a later desk, so at least there's some measure of justice there.
@@christopherwall2121 I’ve played all the street crimes but can’t quite remember the hopgood one, but it does seem familiar. That’s good to know though
I thought I subscribed to this channel a while ago and I was wrong apparently, so here you go have a subscriber. I enjoy your narrations and explanations and have used it for inspiration for a couple of recurring NPCs in my D&D campaign
I always felt like making the main character of half the game into the guy who failed constantly in the past is kind of a weird choice, because it makes it not make much sense when he's so committed to seeing the cases through, instead of acting the same cowardly way he did in the past and taking the easy way out. Feels like it's saying "Yeah, he managed to become a slightly better man... so here, let us show you all the ways he F-ed up in back then, just to ruin that".
Love this game, bought it on ps3 and then again on ps4, most of the cases are good some better than others my favourite desk is probably Arson but the twists & turns of the overall story are great.
I think NYC Noire would be cool as a “sequel”. Set it in the 1970s and 1980s, dangerous times in NYC as well as a high time for the italian mob. Corrupt cops, mobsters, serial killers, etc, would be awesome
I absolutely second this and agree with you, just make sure that if you by chance do break down the Red Dead series. Please make sure to talk and acknowledge Red Dead Revolver, people don't realize this game was the reason that Redemption exist, undoubtedly it laid the blue prints of what redemption 1 & 2 . Its still my favorite red dead game. Mostly because of nostalgic purposes. But I urge everyone who has a Xbox one or PS4 buy it one their and experience the story and game. Also can be found on Xbox Original and PlayStation 2
@@kennel878Xx So true, Revolver is so much fun! The Dead Eye Duels have never been topped, and switching the player character to tell the story likely inspired GTA V to do the same years later
@@mongolianqwerty123 revolver is my absolute favorite red dead game to ever exist, it is partially due to nostalgia, anyone who has played this knows this game is a true classic, I feel bad for anyone who may have not been able to experience this masterpiece
I have a couple of issues with the game story but I think this is definitely one of the stronger narratives in all of video game history and I will defend it. This is a miniseries or TV seasons worth of story in one game in the way that they frame it around the cases and even between the cases with the flashbacks really once you get the whole picture it becomes an intriguing whole. I think one of the best parts of the game is it is easy to get lost in the case isn't forget important details but a lot of the major characters are introduced very early such as Ira an interesting plot points that make more sense on the second playthrough such as why Elsa is crying when you meet her in the fallen idol. Finally I feel that the game actually pulls off a solid tragedy which is very uncommon and video games which are full of power fantasies and happy endings it's very hard to pull off a tragedy where you really don't know how to feel at the end such as The sopranos. I don't love the ending of LA noir and I remember being very confused when I first watched it but the more I thought about it the more I've had this course will people ever this game as they ReDiscover it it makes more sense.
We will be stuck in what seems like a time loop as long as people like the chief, roy earl, and the others are allowed to come into power. We have to choose what is right, not what is easy.
It's slow, it's repetitive but it still keeps you well engaged with its story telling. And since I'm more into stories rather than mechanics of the game, LA Noire is my one of the most favorites of all. It also adds to my fascination of 40s-50s hollywood and city life
![กี่หมื่นฟ้า | Your Sky Series EP.1 [1/4]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vLGjxFL6U_I/mqdefault.jpg)
Grab AtlasVPN Special Deal for 83% OFF - get.atlasvpn.com/Harry
Smm, so
Thank you much for this video man
You should do 5nights at Freddy’s video. Being that the movie is about to come out
@@andygamez-vk6zm No FNAF is Complicated. He is not prepared to do a fnaf video
@@dondigao1057 bro don’t the master! He’s got this im sure of it
It's kind of strange to me that the main character or the one you follow for a good portion of the game is actually a bad person who fucked up quite badly in the war. It's interesting and ballsy and makes LA Noire stand out more from other story games.
It's one of the hallmarks of the noir genre, honestly. The 'heroes' are revealed as flawed and fallible men who are often no better than the 'crooks' they pursue.
I agree. The main character seems to always be the flawed good guy but this one?
Cole followed orders without question in the war. You can consider him flawed for that, but I don't think it makes him a bad person, or someone that fucked up. He had orders, and he executed them.
@@DogInPajamaPants well he was somewhat a jerk which doesn't make him a bad person but bad luck on a mission led to serious civilian casualties. He had man on a flame thrower who wasn't use to his task and he led his squad into an ambush and panicked in the moment. It wasn't his fault really but he's definitely a flawed man. Cheating on his wife being something he definitely did wrong in.
@@DogInPajamaPants Yeah that's the same excuse Nazi soldiers used.
That Black Dahlia series of missions, to this day, is still in my top moments of gaming. I'll never forget playing that at 1 AM and being absolutely freaked. Those facial animations at the time seemed GROUNDBREAKING.
Would love to see Rockstar revive this but that day seems long past. Awesome vid, brought back the nostalgia for sure!
Forgot this was a rockstar game, they never seen to disappoint
@@prue5588 it was a Team Bondi game published by Rockstar, they didnt work on it
@@PoguliPogalu still rockstar published... They made that happen
bro that series was so spooky i was spooked for WEEKS
The Black Dahlia missions in total is like 6-7 hours. Couldn't really call that a moment
One thing I love about this game is how well it does hidden exposition. The game is like 22 hours long, and subtle little details like insta heat, and future suspects appear at the beginning of the game, and then work their way to the end of the game. You also meet future partners in earlier portions of the game. It’s so easy to think that this game is just a bunch of random cases thrown together, but upon another playthrough, you can see that they are definitely planned out and interwoven.
Also, if you’ve read anything about the film noir genre, you can see how masterfully they follow the plot devices of old film noir tropes. This game was so ahead of its time.
35:30
You know, I always thought it was a bit cheesy that all the corrupt politicians consciously decide to huddle around in a secluded private room and basically brag about how evil they are whilst on tape. It feels so unrealistic, almost comical in a sense.....
And then, I get to hear Mario Barilaro's tape where he and his fellow corrupt Australian politicians sit around in a restaurant's private room and laugh about how greedy and corrupt they are whilst a random waiter secretly records the whole thing without any of them even noticing. Life does imitate art, doesn't it?
You would think at least one of them would question saying something like "why do we have a tape recorder, recording are conversation in this private room were we are talking about are plans". I mean if i was in that room with that group of people i would be nervous as hell to even open my mouth less i implicate myself.
Or that shit in Oklahoma, like last week, with the county officials just discussing murdering two local reporters, and that they can't lynch black people anymore.
(Though they weren't recording themselves, another person did.)
(I felt a better way for the LA Noire to have done the 'bad guys sat around talking their plot' thing was how they did it in the novel "The Pushcart War", where a plot the villians were discussing was overheard & written down by a janitor who was practicing shorthand for night school, and oblivious to what she heard at the time.)
@@silentecho92able Nixon did a similar thing. It's the arrogance of the powerful, they think they're untouchable. Thankfully, this occasionally leads to their downfall
@@silentecho92ableplease fix your grammar
I think it was done for Mutually assured Destruction if one of them got cold feet and went to the cops there would be the evidence against them too.
LA Noire has a fantastic vibe, it feels truly authentic, something that few period games and media manages to capture, I'd say Mafia 2 is also one that gets the feel of the era right, but Noire really hits that simulation of Detective Noir media that would make early Batman blush. It really helps that they use real world cars, companies, names, guns, cases and locations unlike GTA, Bully and Red Dead. It just covers the whole game with this unchallenged authenticity even with a convenient, dramatised story.
Also, the facial capture was incredible for the time, and a definite stepping stone most modern games have used since for their animation rigs
Facts
Yup
The facial animations for 2011 are excellent, Rockstar did well making the game
it was developed by Bondi but yeah!! it was incredible for the time and the facial capture technology is actually what led Rockstar to buying the Bondi studio, bc they would also get the patent for the face capture!
Team Bondi. Not Rockstar
Well the facial animations where the only reason why the game existed, the whole game was building on "you can spot the lie in their faces etc"
As others have said. Rockstar just published the game, they didn't make it. Team Bondi developed it, and from what I've heard/read the game was a development hell because the founder of the studio who was also the director of LA Noire was a control freak and made the job a living hell for everyone in the company.
Bandai no no no no it's Rockstar
We need LA Noire 2, or a remake
Would like it, but highly doubt it. This game was production hell and by the end only broke even for Rockstar.
The studio went down under despite the game's success.
@@frostieschocopop if you look up the production history, its not hard to see why. The game director was a POS to his employees and the last two years of development was in a state of constant crunch. It was probably extremely hard to find employees when they had such an infamous reputation
Maybe of a re-imagining, and make it into an anthology type series.
Different eras, locations, make it so you can also be a PI, and for each title drop the 'city' and keep the noir(e) portion.
They did a remaster already…it came out 6 years ago lol
I miss games like LA Noire. Had the Godfather on ps3 and that set the tone for crime games. So many side quests and activities
The Godfather is one of my favorite games of all time. It's crazy saying that considering it's a movie based game
Godfather series, LA Noire, Mafia 1 - 2 and Scarface were so good.
You unlocked a memory, the Godfather was soo good
No other cop investigation game has ever surpassed it since.
I mean, really no one else has ever even tried it.
@@visassess8607
I suppose Detroit: Become Human dipped a toe into police procedural gameplay
given our current environment its no surprise devs want to distance themselves from police/detective games
@@LOWBORN-the-LOATHSOMEbut it wasn't quite focused on Detective part..
Disco elysium
one of my all-time favourite games for the story alone. when everything tied together in the final act, it's something incredible to experience and the emotions you feel at the ending really are something else.
props to the music department too, the OST is simply a masterpiece
gameplay surely had a lot space for improvement, but this doesn't at all stop me from regarding this game as a top-3 of mine, wish we saw a modern equivalent to it
Wow, this is just ridiculous. You need to play better games. This is one of the worst video games ever.
@@The_king567You need to shut your mouth and realize people have opinions. I’ve played peak and this is in the top 10. Go play fps games or God Of War or something
@@Jeffrey-vy8ms some opinions are wrong
@@The_king567 You have a massive L take and a hate boner for no reason.
Dr Fontaine and Micah Bell are the same actor
Dude just excells at being Rockstar villains lol
Dr Harlan Fontaine, secondary antagonist of LA Noire
Micah Bell, main antagonist of Red Dead Redemption 2
Ah, the Noire genre. Like the Cthulhu mythos, you know the characters are gonna lose and be utterly broken, the joy of the story is watchibg their valiant struggle against the dark.
@rifflerunderhill7006 There are few Cthulhu mythos where some win, but they are either broken or never the same.
Who knew after beating the game learning what Cole did during his military time was to me he kinda deserved to not live in the end cause he lead so many more lives to death while he was in charge and the fact he got honorable discharge was just mind blown and that jack was the true hero in the game
yea that was the interesting thing with his character. everyone is praising cole for being a warhero and yet cole feels resentment towards himself for leading many men to death and has survivors guilt. we see how good of a detective he is and how much change he is bringing to los angeles but then we are reminded of the tragedy he caused… hes looking for atonement. not only that but the adultery. this is why i love cole hes not just some do gooder one dimensional character he is very flawed as a person yet calculated. i loved jack too and its funny how in the beginning of the game herschel is narrating basically saying “cole and jack were two guys that should have been friends”
@@miami_mutilator cole dies for a reason, and i think similar to a character like Arthur Morgan, you can believe his death was redeeming or not
It's ironic because I did end up feeling bad for Cole despite everything. It reminded me a lot of a certain character's death in Persona 3. Sometimes people die before they can ever fully redeem themselves. Life doesn't wait for happy endings or for plot arcs to be finished. I actually love that about the ending. Cole was just a man who had been corrupted by the war machine and he was lucky enough to not snap, unlike the man he ordered to start the fires in the caves in the first place. He easily could have become corrupt with power too but he did choose to protect as many people as he could. Was it sometimes for selfish reasons? Of course! But in the end, he really reminded me a Greek tragic hero. Perhaps if Cole never served in the war, he could have gone even farther as a cop. But instead he became Icaraus, a man who got to close to the sun in the army and the police force.
Looks boring but I heard it was good
It make sense considering cole hates anything to do with the war or what happened in it when asked by his partners.
La Noire is one of the most underrated games of all time R.I.P Team BONDI
I didn't hate L.A. Noire, but i felt the game had a lot of potential to be one of the best games of all time. Some missions/objectives felt really repetitive and the city didn't feel quite alive compared to other open world games. I really enjoyed the story and some of the characters though.
18:04 Side note but I thought she died of a knife wound and not a gun shot?
He stabbed her but then because the officers found a switchblade on him earlier, he shot her to try and cover it up
@@GamingHarryYT I always thought Edwards had the revolver for her safety and tried to fire Arquero while he stabbed her.
LA Noir is,was,and always will be my favorite game of all time i love the drama,action,stort,emotion and all around everything it's such a classic
Every time I play this game my motivation to keep playing hits a wall in the middle of Vice, because I know what’s about to happen.
Same bro definitely I struggle to get past arson any time i replay the game
Why is that?
@@m.a.d.mik3 because of the decisions that Cole makes with his family and marriage that cannot be done differently.
@@imnindigo44After just completing the game, that entire thing with Cole cheating felt...rushed or unnecessary? I'm not sure what to call it, but it didn't fit his character much at all...but that's just me.
He already knows Roy is a dirty cop and knows Roy and others see him frequently in the club, but doesn't suspect anyone could catch on to him seeing Elsa? Not to mention the very little dialogue we do get of Cole about his family he very clearly cares about them.
Just seems very lazy writing and out of character for someone like Cole to suddenly decide it's time to cheat.
Is it fair for me to see it this way or does it actually make sense?
@@Gerald-of-Rivierai see it in your way too , although Cole once told Stefan that he likes blondes , but I still found it a bit out of character , not to mention that there wasn’t really a built up for it , like Cole just suddenly wanted to follow her the fuck is that ?
OK voice actor fact(s) about this game:
- Roy is voiced by Sindri from the Norse Saga God of War games
- Herschel is voiced by Kyne from the original Dead Space 1
- Leland Monroe is voiced by Denethor from Return of the King
Dr. Harlan Fontaine's actor also played Dutch van der Linde in the Red Dead games
Cole Phelps and a good percentage of the game's cast were all on _Mad Men_
The bartender in the Antonia Maldonado case was the bartender on _How I Met Your Mother_
@@christopherwall2121 no he wasn't Dutch, he was Micah in the second game.
@@sauceyvirg1n910 So he was
@@christopherwall2121omg the how I met your mother bartender blew my mind 😂 idk of you’re joking but they look so similar it’s hilarious. Most random connection ever
Something that not a lot people know except for people who have both played this game and seen the show mad men is that a lot of the actors/characters are in both Noire and the show.Which I always found interesting.
This make so much sense! I can't think of his name in real life but Mickey Cohen looks like this actor I know. I most recently saw him in the Lincoln lawyer though
What a legend, a game that people hold close to their heart!
Ive watched videos about LA Noire before. But this is the first time someone made it very clear that cole was a terrible leader. Weird how people left out that bit. Or it wasnt just emphasized.
Best story in gaming ever. I just wish there was something to do between the missions. The open world was very underutilized.
Love how Kelso calls literally every female he interacts with Princess.
😄
I always loved how many big name actors are in this game.
yes
I love the long videos you put out, it passes time so quickly with incredible story dissections
The fact that Most of the game is just questioning People, Then sometimes he goes goddamn Rambo on a bunch of Criminals
I adore this game; it's such a gem. It for sure isn't perfect, but there are so many things it did extremely well. I'm still hoping for a sequel, despite how futile that may be.
Another great video! Can't wait for the next one.
I remember renting it on the Xbox360 when it came out, I got hooked and need to buy it. It will always have a special place in my heart.
One of my dearest game stories of all time, the setting, and the
the tone is so nostalgic that the story just takes a flow on its own
I played this game after watching until minute 18 and reading a comment about the protagonist and boy what a well-spent 40 h playthrough. Luckily didn’t get spoiled too much, now can sit back and enjoy Harry’s excellent recap as always
I played this game when I was very young and always used guides to pass the interrogations cause I make Phelps look like a dumb in some, but also because the story got me so bad that I did not wanted to screw up just to keep seeing what happened. Amazing game.
One of my favorate games. Shame we'll never get another like it from RockStar. Must have played at least 3 times now. True classic
this game is from 2011? the graphics are pretty good. it’s something aesthetically pleasing about their faces to me and the notes , they look real
Really thought that Cole was a bad father, the way after he’s exposed for having an affair, he doesn’t even try to make things right. After about 3 minutes of fighting to make things right, he accepts defeat and gives up on his family. He doesn’t say, “I was so wrong, I know I hurt you and the family, I’ll do anything to make it right,” or even something like, “look, I understand if you won’t forgive me, what I did was wrong, but can we please work together to still raise our girls, even if we’re not married?” He just runs off with this seductive temptress and doesn’t even seem to care about seeing his kids. Instead he says, “they have their mom and they have each other, they’ll be fine.”
What a ridiculous thing to say. I lost complete respect for him. Even if he can’t salvage the marriage, he can salvage being a good father. But to not really try more than a 3 minute fight to do either is just absurd.
This game is a masterpiece. Even in the year 2024 there has been nothing like it. The VR version is especially fun, as it really makes it like you're in the center of things.
My first playthrough of L.A. Noire was in 2017. I recall buying it from a local game store for my Xbox. Little did I know that it would be my first every "binge playthrough". As I completed the entire storyline in less than 3 days.
Not me sitting and waiting for these uploads, got me searching for similar things constantly but no one really hits the mark like you do. Keep it up!
8:48 Phelps gets promoted to Burglary from Traffic. 6 months later he’s promoted to Homicide
I love how everything comes together in the end, the newspapers, the flashbacks.
Truly, one of the best games I’ve ever played! I finished it on PS3, PS4 and would like to play the new VR on the PS5. I’d rather a proper part 2 tho!
I findit funny that Rockstar had almost the flipped stories with their protagonist in 2011 with L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3. Max Payne has our hero be a very clearly disheveled broken man fighting demons in a fight he even sees pointless but in the end makes his own "happy ending" anyways. Where L.A. Noire is about a put together, value and code driven moral, decorated marine veteran who on the surface is rising through the ranks with the typical hero characteristics who might go through conflict but see it through as most with those characteristics do, but by the end is shown as the real man he is and dies alone in a futile attempt to make things right with no real happy ending. Just a interesting paralle.
An interesting parallel?
@@Puppy_Puppington I couldn’t find a better word for it tbh lol.
@@cosmonauthal7651he pointing out your spelling
i wish there were more games like it, the style of having to solve diff cases in an open world was so fun. story might not be that great but it did a good job actually making you feel like a detective
What I LOVE is the real-world elements from that era like the Black Dahlia case and the gangster Mickey Cohen who was played by Sean Penn in Gangster Squad. Absolutely CLASSIC game - it's a DAMN SHAME they scrapped the sequel.
Rockstar have blood on their hands for not bringing a sequel to this once they got their hands on the IP. Fantastic watch as always, only halfway through but leaving a comment now before I forget to 🙏🏿💜
They could also bring back that game Agent they were Making a cold war Spy stealth game. They have loads of great Ips that could be used.
Why would they This game is fucking terrible and rockstar Production of it was horrible and they didn’t make a lot of money off it
More like jizz on their hands tbh
I love falling asleep to these videos, it's the new 8 hours of rainfall. You got a very nice relaxing voice my dude.
Changed mocap for gaming. Was ahead of it’s time
one of my favorite games ever, played it when it came out and as a 14 year old who didnt understand English well game was very murky but replaying it more and more years later made me realise how great stories are in this game, War stories could carry a game on its own, Suburban Red. fund and Elysian fields with most powerful figures in LA, and then Morphine supply its the best story Rockstar has created
The twist of Cole having been a total piece of shit during his time with the Corps was such a punch in the gut when I i first played this. Loved the game so much, it was one that I and a buddy from high school would sit on the phone chatting about at length after we finished it. Others being Bioshock Infinite and Hitman Absolution. Man I miss those days, when the only thing I had to worry about was putting gas in my car and deciding which new games I wanted to splurge on the special editions for.
I played this game so many times but I’m still going to watch this story explained
Hey there! This is the first video of yours I’ve watched. This was fantastic!! Not just bullet points of the plot, but also full of character analysis and the subtleties that go into storytelling. I love this game when it first came out, and watching this a decade later only proves that I made a good choice! Keep up the great work!!
Those Black Dahlia mission with Rusty were pure Gold. Especially the later ones, where the plot unfolds, and the killer send the taunting messages like BTK or the Zodiac killer.
Replayed it as an adult recently, really good story, would make a great movie.
I think that's what made this game so brilliant. They guys at Bondi simply went "hey, you know those 1940s cop films in black and white? How about we make a game of that but in colour (with the option to play in black and white)?"
The game is already a movie, i don't think its necessary
Quickly became one of my favorite channels. Thanks for your efforts!
Really love the fact that you offer a spoiler warning despite the game being 12 years old. I get really frustrated when I accidentally come across a spoiler for a game on my 'to play' list. Sometimes I only hear about a game for the first time 10 years late...
This game needs a sequel, New York or Chicago Noir
I'm pumped for this, a few Let's Players I used to watch a lot mentioned getting round to it after a previous detective game play got good views for them. Sadly they've never gotten to it, I think because both guys involved had already played chunks of the game on their own.
So yay! 🎉 Excited to see what this game's about!
my fav game from rockstar, imperfections aside. The detective stuff was so fun
Really enjoy the Lore and Order and Explained series. Keep it up!
YOU the man as always Harry! Keep busting out these videos. I run them in the background every night my dude!
Definitely one of your best videos, thanks for doing one on this game!
Omg yess. Thank you for doing this one. I've always wanted your commentary on this game.
Phelps didnt go from traffic to homicide, he was on burglary for 6 months, throw away line on the first homicide case (likely cut desk early on)
Yeah I read about it. Team Bondi were told that the game would be way too big with another desk in it
@@GamingHarryYT yeah... other than that very little hiccup, good video that breaks down the story for some younger audiences or people who have long breaks between playing
"this file was filed away in monroe's safe for safekeeping" best line
This game was so good. Super underrated
This game is a critique on the American war machine and the corruption in American society to me. Every case is motivated by PTSD or greed in some way at its heart. The american dream hijacked by selfish agents
Another quality vid harry! Enjoyed every second of it. Didn't realise la noir had such a spec ops the line quality to it's story. Both great games !
Seeing Mad Men after playing this game was such a rush
LA Noire is one of my favorite games. It has a great story, and for its time the controls were not bad.
Still can’t believe Roy Earl basically got off Scott free. Probably one of the few characters I wouldn’t have minded seeing get put behind bars.
Benson, Earle and the film set guy were the most frustrating characters to see get off, however it makes sense for the story. I like to think they eventually got outed and jailed
@@50.CalFilms Benson will be looking over his shoulder for Kelso for the rest of his life, Hopgood gets arrested in a Street Crime in a later desk, so at least there's some measure of justice there.
@@christopherwall2121 I’ve played all the street crimes but can’t quite remember the hopgood one, but it does seem familiar. That’s good to know though
@@50.CalFilms He gets arrested for peeping, IIRC
@@christopherwall2121 is he the guy with the huge camera or is that a different street crime?
Game still has THE best facial animations ever
this is the greatest tale ever told in video game form. . .such a haunting tale of betrayal. trust no one.
I thought I subscribed to this channel a while ago and I was wrong apparently, so here you go have a subscriber. I enjoy your narrations and explanations and have used it for inspiration for a couple of recurring NPCs in my D&D campaign
I always felt like making the main character of half the game into the guy who failed constantly in the past is kind of a weird choice, because it makes it not make much sense when he's so committed to seeing the cases through, instead of acting the same cowardly way he did in the past and taking the easy way out. Feels like it's saying "Yeah, he managed to become a slightly better man... so here, let us show you all the ways he F-ed up in back then, just to ruin that".
Played it extensively but somehow managed to never finish it. Glad I was finally able to finish the story. Awesome video, thanks!
Tbh, I've watched this one from Oxhorn but you Harry, really outdone yourself explaining this great game! Keep it up buddy!
The face animation on this game is scarily realistic.
Amazing job explaining the whole story. Subscribed immediately after watching. I played through the whole game and I learned more watching this.
Love this game, bought it on ps3 and then again on ps4, most of the cases are good some better than others my favourite desk is probably Arson but the twists & turns of the overall story are great.
So many details I missed that I am now hearing about thanks to this story recap
I think NYC Noire would be cool as a “sequel”. Set it in the 1970s and 1980s, dangerous times in NYC as well as a high time for the italian mob. Corrupt cops, mobsters, serial killers, etc, would be awesome
Fun fact: Dr.Fontaine is voiced by peter Blomquist, the voice actor for Micah Bell in Red Dead Redemption 2.
In case you were wondering.
Also when i hear the name "Fontaine" the word Bioshock came to me
It should get its own TV show
I wish there was a sequel where kelso becomes a private eye
As always spectacular work! Hope you cover the Red Dead series and maybe the GTA games as well.
I absolutely second this and agree with you, just make sure that if you by chance do break down the Red Dead series. Please make sure to talk and acknowledge Red Dead Revolver, people don't realize this game was the reason that Redemption exist, undoubtedly it laid the blue prints of what redemption 1 & 2 . Its still my favorite red dead game. Mostly because of nostalgic purposes. But I urge everyone who has a Xbox one or PS4 buy it one their and experience the story and game. Also can be found on Xbox Original and PlayStation 2
@@kennel878Xx So true, Revolver is so much fun! The Dead Eye Duels have never been topped, and switching the player character to tell the story likely inspired GTA V to do the same years later
@@mongolianqwerty123 revolver is my absolute favorite red dead game to ever exist, it is partially due to nostalgia, anyone who has played this knows this game is a true classic, I feel bad for anyone who may have not been able to experience this masterpiece
I have a couple of issues with the game story but I think this is definitely one of the stronger narratives in all of video game history and I will defend it. This is a miniseries or TV seasons worth of story in one game in the way that they frame it around the cases and even between the cases with the flashbacks really once you get the whole picture it becomes an intriguing whole.
I think one of the best parts of the game is it is easy to get lost in the case isn't forget important details but a lot of the major characters are introduced very early such as Ira an interesting plot points that make more sense on the second playthrough such as why Elsa is crying when you meet her in the fallen idol.
Finally I feel that the game actually pulls off a solid tragedy which is very uncommon and video games which are full of power fantasies and happy endings it's very hard to pull off a tragedy where you really don't know how to feel at the end such as The sopranos. I don't love the ending of LA noir and I remember being very confused when I first watched it but the more I thought about it the more I've had this course will people ever this game as they ReDiscover it it makes more sense.
The technology and graphics were amazing in this game! Always hard to believe it was 12 years ago when it came out... We need a _"Noire 2!"_
I've just replayed it, I bought the remaster, I love this amazing game! This video perfectly sums it up!!!
This is a game that deserves a remake/remaster as it is still such a awesome game to play
41:53 best explosion vfx in history
this is the best and most accurate explanation of this story that i have ever seen. well done.
We will be stuck in what seems like a time loop as long as people like the chief, roy earl, and the others are allowed to come into power. We have to choose what is right, not what is easy.
“Valdez, who has a thing for young boys”
SAY THE THING! ROLL the “you like to… don’t you” CLIP! 🤣
I played this back in school, I don’t remember anything after finding the real killer, and I remember dying after finding him
Quickly come to love your channel- thank you for your content!
I've still never played this game. I keep hearing how good it is.
Absolutely need a sequel
We appreciate your effort and hard work. Bless you.
It's slow, it's repetitive but it still keeps you well engaged with its story telling. And since I'm more into stories rather than mechanics of the game, LA Noire is my one of the most favorites of all. It also adds to my fascination of 40s-50s hollywood and city life
such a great and unique game. it’s not surprising people still talk about it.
completed it last year... what an absolute masterpiece this game is