L.A. Noire

My feelings towards Rockstar Games are pretty neutral. I have great respect for them for making open-world games what they are today, and for improving their games with each new title. However, they've given plenty of ammo to politicians, pundits, parents and preachers that overlook the artistic merit and educational value that video games can have. ("Hot Coffee" anyone?) Of course, most of this stuff could solely apply to Rockstar's signature franchise, Grand Theft Auto. But if you were expecting L.A. Noire to be anything like the glorified crime frenzy that you'd expect from a GTA title (or a Red Dead title for that matter) you are sorely mistaken.

L.A. Noire is a detective game. Sure, you have an open-world with a control scheme similar to GTA, but that's about as far as it goes. Almost all of the focus is on the main story of the game. You play as Cole Phelps, a haunted war hero and newly promoted ace detective in the 1947 LAPD. You're given different cases to solve and different departments to serve in. The process is kind of repetitive: visit crime scenes, gather clues, and interview suspects and witnesses.

The interviews are probably the best thing about this game. You'll ask people questions and will have to determine whether they're telling the truth. And if you can't prove they're lying, but their body language says they are, you can give them doubt. This encourages you to pay attention during interviews and keeps the gameplay from getting dull over time, especially because the lies get progressively harder to read.

You can gain experience points by finding clues and getting correct answers in interviews. Every time you gain a level, you'll be rewarded with an intuition point. These points can be used to either eliminate an answer in an interview, or reveal the locations of all the clues at a crime scene.

Probably the biggest contrast L.A. Noire has to GTA is that you're not encouraged to do whatever you want. Since your character is an honest cop, you're supposed to focus on solving the case rather than wreaking havoc on the city. There isn't even any real reason to wander around, despite the game's massive size. That is, unless you're obsessed with hidden collectables. You also can't use guns unless you're chasing someone or caught in a firefight.

The only other distraction available is street crimes, which are side quests you can take while on a case. When your police radio goes off, you can volunteer to handle situations that almost always involve chasing or shooting someone. It's a nice way to gain extra experience points, but the crimes often happen on the other side of the map. So if you want to go after a street crime before reaching your next destination, you'll have to go way out of your way to do so. Since this is a game set in the 1940's, a time before cell phones, this was probably the only way Rockstar could replace that annoying minigame from GTA where your friends would want to hang out with you so they'll still like you.

The visuals of this game are fantastic. Like Heavy Rain and James Cameron's Avatar, the faces of the characters were portrayed by real actors in front of video cameras. This allows the facial features and expressions of the game characters to be much more detailed and realistic, and is especially rewarding during interviews.

There's also a good amount of replay value to L.A. Noire. Similar to Heavy Rain, the decisions you make can affect how the plot unfolds. Thankfully, the game allows you to replay cases. This is also great for those of you who have to have 1,000 Gamerscore in every game you play.

Bottom line: L.A. Noire isn't perfect, but it's definitely worth a rent in the very least. As long as you can handle a game that focuses more on story than freedom, I think you'll be quite pleased.

Available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Rated M for Mature. Published by Rockstar Games. Developed by Rockstar Games and Team Bondi.

Image provided courtesy of Wikipedia.org.

Bulletstorm

If Halo and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater had a baby, not only would the conception be impossible to explain, but it would probably look something like Bulletstorm. From the mind of Cliff Bleszinski, the man who gave us Unreal Tournament and Gears of War, comes a wacky, unapologetic festival of murder where points are added for creativity. However, while Bulletstorm is definitely a fun ride, it's not exactly something you'll want to go after right away.

Set in the 26th century, the game's protagonist is Grayson "Gray" Hunt, foul mouthed space pirate who loves to spend time at the bottom of a bottle of liquor. Ten years after he and his black-ops team went AWOL when they realized they were killing innocent people the whole time (whoops), they crash land on Stygia, a planet completely covered by a resort that's been overrun by mutants, gangs and giant monsters. Coincidentally, the same sailor-mouthed general who used Gray and his team for so long is also stranded on the planet. As the only surviving members of their team, Gray and his cyborg buddy, Ishi, decide to hunt the general down in the name of vengeance. Along the way they run unto Trishitaka, a potty mouthed chick who can hold her own with a gun. (Do you see what I'm getting at? Everyone in this game curses like Eminem after he's been set on fire!)

The main gimmick of Bulletstorm is the "kill with skill" mentality. Sure, you can just shoot someone in the head or the body like you normally would, but wouldn't it be more fun to set them on fire, or impale them, or shoot 'em in the nuts? Why not all three? You'll get more points that way! And with your plasma gravity whip, also called a leash, you'll be able to pull distant enemies toward you so you in slow motion, or your gravity boots to kick them far away in slow motion. Every trick, called "skillshots," has their own funny name and value. The points you earn can be used to purchase ammo and weapon upgrades from dropkits scattered across each level. My personal favorite is gang bang: when an enemy attaches grenades to you, run up to a group of enemies to blow them up instead.

OK, sounds fun, right? Sure, for a while. But there are times when there seems to be a lack of variety and the skillshots get repetitive and stale. Enemies also tend to run around a lot, as if they're begging for you to go after skillshots. And did I mention the adult content dialogue?

Another issue I had with Bulletstorm was the cover system, because it's pretty much non-existent. You'd think that the makers of Gears of War would know how to create such a system, but that's just not the case. All you can do is hold down your left thumb stick to crouch. You can't press it once to stay crouched or twice to go prone. And even that rarely makes a difference. Sure, you can slide across just about any surface, but it doesn't really make up for the weak cover system.

But other than that, there's not much to complain about. The characters are pretty entertaining, especially Gray and General Sarrano. There's also a fun area in chapter two when you get to control a robotic T-Rex that shoots lasers out of its eyes...seriously! Campaign mode is also co-op enabled. And while there's no real reason to play it again (besides the achievements, YOU WHORES!), it's still pretty tempting.

When you're done with campaign mode, you can go into "Echo" mode to improve your skills and beat your best time. There's also multiplayer for those of you who want to challenge the world in a contest for the best combo, but it's nothing special.

While Bulletstorm is definitely a good time, I'd advise you to try it before you buy it. And even though most of the humor and images seem like they came from a child's head, do not, I repeat, do NOT, get this for your kids. I know where you live...

Available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Rated M for Mature. Published by Electronic Arts. Developed by Epic Games and People Can Fly.