L.A. Noire was an excellent game.
It is essentially the closest thing we have to a modern, consolized rebirth of the old PC Graphic Adventure genre.
I'm sure many here never played graphic adventures or are too young to remember them, but that's essentially what it is. Anyone who played Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, or perhaps most closely related, Blade Runner (my personal favorite), will get it.
The game is essentially an interactive movie, driven largely by story, characters, dialogue, and setting. Don't care for the story, don't like the characters, or listening to the dialogue? Don't play, as the actual gameplay, like the GAs of old, is really more of an afterthought.
I knew what it was going in, and was thrilled with it, and thrilled they still make intelligent games for adults, especially on consoles. It's far from perfect, the gunplay and action sequences are largely an afterthought, driving is mostly boring (except to sight-see), and other assorted glitches. My biggest gripe, by far, was the lack of any REAL story penalty to flubbing up cases. That was foolish, IMO.
Many of the complaints against it are far overblown. Yes, the clues "ding" as you walk by them, but it's your job to have the gray matter to use them in interrogations and how they fit with the other evidence.
Also, the "face reading" gets far too much attention. I rarely ever looked at a suspect's facial expressions, unless it was beyond obvious. Most of the time, lies and doubts (and truth) can be learned from just listening to the stories they tell, and whether you have evidence that they're not saying as much as they probably know (doubt), or that they're outright misleading you (lie).
Anyway, it's what I would consider a flawed gem. Easily one of if not THE best (voice?) acted games ever, astonishing period detail, amazing atmosphere, great characters, and thoroughly engaging storyline.
