![]() Dead bodies start popping up all over Los Angeles. Cole Phelps is an LAPD detective in charge of solving some of the most brutal cases of murder ever to have hit the streets of Los Angeles. It's up to him and his partner to gather evidence and interview witnesses in order to figure out the sinister plots behind the sudden crime spree.
1. Gameplay _
_The main character is Cole Phelps, a former marine who comes straight out of World War II and dives right into the role of a beat cop for the LAPD. Within minutes of starting the game, the player will find himself in charge of solving a murder case. It may seem odd that a patrol officer is solving murders, but the game explains every action with enough detail that nothing ever seems out of place. _This game doesn’t hold back. You’re not going to be writing traffic citations or arresting drunk drivers. The simplest crime the player will be tasked with involves the murder of a man in an alleyway. That’s right, the simplest crime you will solve will be murder. _Over the course of the campaign, the player will be tasked with discovering the Black Dahlia murderer, discovering the location of two tons of stolen army-issued morphine, and uncovering a sinister arson-based plot that involves a good portion of the city’s most prominent leaders. Every case may read as a simple story, but things will get much more complicated as the player tries to understand the tangled web of the criminal mastermind. Just because you arrested one man for murder does not mean that the whole story has been uncovered. _One of the highlights of this game is the interrogations. Players will use evidence found at crime scenes and intuition when interrogating witnesses and suspects, but it doesn’t just end there. Every statement a witness makes will have to be scrutinized by the player. Phelps will have to read a witnesses expressions, compare the statement to the evidence at hand, and read into the tone of the statement in order to determine if the witness is telling the truth or hiding some vital piece of information. Correctly interpreting what a witness / suspect is saying is vital to solving the case. _While this game does have its issues, the main cases are more than interesting enough to entertain players for a long time. If you like solving puzzles and uncovering mysterious plots, you cannot pass this game up. _
_The game has very little replay value. The mission-based DLC are definitely worth getting, but aside from the mostly pointless street crimes there is very little to do in this game outside of the main cases. _
_However, there were a few clues that were very difficult to find or hidden in a way that made it nearly impossible for the player to find. Sometimes the game would be forgiving about this, but there were a few missions where critical clues were hidden in such a way that they would be impossible to find without a guide of some sort. _The mechanics of the car chases could be very frustrating. The AI had a set path that they had to follow and there would be very little deviation. As a result, the suspects would make turns so quickly and tightly that the player would often drive straight into a pole while trying to make the same turn. _Lastly, the game offered a number of street crimes, but the locations of these crimes sometimes made no sense at all. There is no fast and easy way to cross the entire city, which means that if the player is Downtown and has to get to a crime in the Wilshire district, it will be at least a 20 minute drive through traffic to get to the crime in progress, not including the length of the drive back to the mission-vital locations. It significantly reduced my motivation to complete the street crimes. 2. Parental Notices _
_Shooting in this game is fairly mild. There are a number of different weapons available, but the player will frequently default to the pistol (unlimited ammunition, high accuracy, decent damage). Use of almost every weapon in the game will result in small amounts of blood regardless of where the enemy is hit. Even the shotgun will leave very little blood on a corpse. _The only exception is the flamethrower, which the player will have access to at the very end of the game. Enemies will burn before dying. However, the flamethrower is so difficult to wield that unless the player is achievement hunting it is likely that he will default to another weapon. _On even more rare occasions, the player will be engaged in hand-to-hand combat. In these situations, the player will have to punch and grapple an opponent into submission. These sequences are usually short and just involve dodging at the right moment before getting in a quick one-two. _
_The most obvious examples of these are the numerous “Black Dahlia” related murders that the player will have to solve. The victims are all females, most of which are stripped naked. The player will have to examine the bodies in order to find all of the possible clues. This game makes no qualms with discussing the possible sexual assault aspects of the cases, but as I said before the entire thing is approached in a very dry, scientific manner. _There are a few other cases where sexuality is an issue. In one case, a wife accuses her dead husband of trying to prostitute her for gambling money. She describes it along the lines of “earning money to pay off his gambling debts on her back”. _In another case, the player uncovers the fact that movie producers frequently have sex with young women who are trying to break into the movie industry. One of the women involved in the case, who reportedly had sex with the producer as a sort of “audition”, is under 18. _In one street case, a voyeur uses a camera to take pictures up women’s skirts in public. The player catches the suspect in the act and a car chase ensues. _One of the suspects in a case has pinups in his work locker. _Part of the main storyline involves the main character’s affair with a German lounge singer. The affair quickly ruins the player’s professional reputation and personal life. Normally the macho men in the LAPD wouldn’t have a problem with a squad member having an affair, but an American associating with a German in 1947 is still seen as socially taboo. Phelps becomes the fall guy for a much bigger plot as a result of his actions. While sexuality is clearly implied, it is never seen in any way. _
_Alcohol is included in bars and in some houses, but is almost never seen consumed. _Starting in the Vice cases, Army-issued morphine becomes a serious drug. The player will be exposed to people who have overdosed on the drugs. The crime scenes are similar to how they would look in real life, but much more detailed than what is normally shown on television. _Morphine use and abuse will come up constantly after it is introduced. The player will be in charge of finding and ending the distribution of two tons of stolen army-issued morphine, no small feat. _Other narcotics do come up from time to time. There are a few cases where “drugging” a victim and other uses of sedatives come into play. _There is also one street case where the player will walk in on a person who is trying to steal drugs of some sort. The specific nature of the drugs is never clarified. _
_The husband previously described in the “sexuality” section is also involved in underground gambling. However, you never directly see any gambling take place. 3. Other Factors _
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_Crosses and other religious symbols can be found in rooms and on some buildings. These are fairly rare though. _At the end of the game, a funeral is held in a church. _
_A used car dealer and a few other business people eventually admit to hiring illegal immigrants to work in their business. The player will usually use this to work information from the person of interest. _There are some cases where the player will have to choose who to accuse of the crime despite evidence that a different person could have committed the crime. Usually these types of cases are revisited in a later mission when a much larger, more complex plot is discovered. _The methods of the law enforcement within this particular setting may seem strange to anyone learned in civilian and criminal rights. The player will never read Miranda rights or go to a judge for a search warrant. The player may even have to beat information out of suspects if questions aren’t answered properly. Either way, these methods were not uncommon to law enforcement in the 1940s and 50s, so it fits well with the storyline. _
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_There is one case where the player will have to stop a suspect during the middle of an illegal street race. The race makes its way down into the mighty LA River. Phelps will also have to cross some very dangerous gaps. The most notable example is when Phelps has to cross a wire to get to clues that are on top of a chandelier. _
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In one case, a shooter killed a man because the victim hated Jews. This type of racial tension comes up a few times throughout the game, especially in the Vice squad. _Pedophilia In one case, the Consular General of Argentina is found dead in his car. It turns out that the Consular had a sexual predisposition for young boys. One of his targets took offense to his advances and, in an effort to prove his manliness, murdered the Consular. _In another case, the player will burst into the condo of his former boss. With the boss present, the player can open the door of the bedroom to find a girl hiding her naked body under the covers of the bed. It turns out that the girl is only 12 years old. _Suicide In one case, a doctor is about to be placed under arrest for aiding a burglary ring. His actions indirectly led to the death of his lover. As a result, just before he can be handcuffed, the doctor throws himself out of a window and onto a car on the street below, killing himself instantly. _Civilian Deaths Outside of murder cases, civilian deaths are very rare. However, there are a few cases that deal with civilian deaths. In one specific case, a sniper uses a BAR (a high-powered assault rifle) to try and kill a city bus driver. Instead of taking a single, precision shot like most snipers, the suspect unloads around 60 shots into the side of the bus, missing the driver but killing a number of passengers. _There is also at least one arson case where a family was trapped inside the burning house. The perpetrator moves the bodies together so that the family can be closer together in death. _Kidnapping The player will constantly be confronted with criminals who take hostages. However, there are a few specific cases where kidnapping is critical to the overall story. In one case, the player is beat up by mobsters and thrown into their trunk. He eventually manages to get out and get away. _Late in the game, the main character’s German mistress is taken by an arsonist. The arsonist is criminally insane and only takes her because he believes he is helping her.
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