25 Dec 2011:
Today I played two games. I started with L.A. Noire, but I have a lot more to say about it, so first I'll do...
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: WAR IN THE NORTH [(112) 100]
Two of the first characters you hear are Gandalf and Aragorn, neither of whom have their film actors doing their voices.
You get to choose one of three characters: HUMAN RANGER, DWARF FIGHTY GUY, ELF MAGE I chose the human because why not.
Basically, this game is like The Third Age in that it rips off a great game and does a very good job of it. While The Third Age ripped off Final Fantasy X, War in the North rips off Dragon Age II, even down to the dialogue wheel and dwarf that uses a crossbow. Not much else to say; if you liked Dragon Age II and like The Lord of the Rings, this is a pretty good game, especially if you can find it for $40.
Note: You cannot save the game manually for some retarded reason.
L.A. NOIRE [(342) 310]
This is the third Rockstar game I've played for the 360, and we know how mixed their library was before this. Well, L.A. Noire is amazing.
The meat of the game is investigating crime scenes and homes, and interrogating suspects. You have three options: take what they say at face value, question their statement or give them evidence that proves they're lying. It's simple, but works well for the most part. You can tell people are lying by their facial expressions most of the time, but this causes some characters (mostly women) to be thrust into the uncanny valley.
So far, I've gone from beat cop to traffic detective to homicide detective. The homicide cases feature extremely naked women, fair warning.
Since I have the complete edition, I get all additional cases and suits; suits are given automatically when you put the first disc in. Cases I'd assume are on disc four.
Yes, disc four.
There are achievements for doing certain things during certain cases, i.e. getting someone to admit a certain thing or finding a piece of hard-to-find evidence. I'll go after the ones I missed after I finish the game, since you can replay any case from the main menu.
There are also street crimes, which happen periodically. If you don't get all of the crimes for a certain part of the game, you can select "free-roam" under the chapter's file to get the ones you missed, which is a fucking godsend.
It's obvious this game was made with care, and I absolutely love it so far. The characters are great and have actual personalities, and the cases are engaging and challenging, but never unfair. I heartily recommend this game to anyone.
Note: You cannot save the game manually, most likely because it would be far too easy to get a perfect rating on a case.