Final Thoughts: LA Noire

In my previous post I gave my immediate reactions to the first hours of LA Noire, a 1940's detective story that follows the career of WWII vet Cole Phelps as he rises through the ranks of the LAPD. I was hesitant to write about the game at such an early stage, knowing that any declaration I made would be premature and vulnerable to change, but I wanted to get my impressions down early, since I knew it was a particularly long story.

First Impressions: LA Noire

LA Noire, the newest game by Rockstar, has built itself a lot of expectation with its revolutionary motion scan technique and its sheer size, supposedly taking up a full 25GB layer of a Blu-Ray disc (3 DVDs on the Xbox 360). Promises of new graphical fidelity and a huge new narrative built around the already successful Rockstar open-world model captured the attention of many video game players and even drew some from the cinema crowd, and the all-around hype has placed the game near the top of the list of most anticipated games of the year. At the time of this article, I’m not even halfway through the game’s story and still making my way up the ranks of the police force, so I don’t have a full game to reflect on. However here is my take on the game so far.

Occasional Movie Review: Thor

 

In the realm of Asgard, Odin (Anthony Hopkins) is nearing the end of his reign as king. His decision to pass the title to his eldest son Thor (Chris Hemsworth) causes envy in the younger Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who, in the hopes of removing him from the throne, manipulates his brother into recklessly starting a war with an old and powerful enemy. Blind to Loki’s betrayal, Odin banishes Thor to Midgard for his heedless arrogance, casting all of his Asgardian power into the hammer Mjolnir and sending them both to Earth. His apparition takes scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) by surprise and, unbeknownst to her, his proximity puts Earth and everything she knows at risk. Thor struggles to deal with his banishment and dual existence, striving to defend Earth and Asgard from what he has wrought and to reclaim his power as the God of Thunder.

The Importance of Portal 2

I already talked at length in a previous post about what makes the first Portal such an important landmark in the video game industry so I’m going to try not to backtrack too much into the same arguments here. Portal was a fantastic game and a huge surprise to players everywhere, but it was a small treasure, far from a full game experience and its praise and acclaim quickly turned into a clamouring for more. Four years later, Portal 2 is the fully realized sequel to the original adventure into Aperture Science, and it attempts to expand both on Chell’s journey and on the success of its predecessor.