Great story and storytelling coupled with features which over simplify the gameplay.
Pluses:
1 - Great acting/ voice acting and acting talent
2 - we all know the motion capture on the faces is amazing, no need to delve into it
3 - sound is great, including classic radio commercials from the era
4 - actual car names is a plus. instead of having pseudo-car names
5 - stories are engaging and well told
6 - clue hunting is addictive
7 - conversing with suspects is oodles of fun and reading faces, checking notes and thoughtfully backing accusations with evidence is rewarding
Minuses:
1 - vibrating "clue finder" isnt needed. it dumbs down the game play and really makes "finding clues" unsatisfying after a few times. there is an option to turn it off, but it should have been an option to turn it ON after an entire play through. unfortunately this is the new age of gameplay, where everything needs to be baby stepped.
2 - AI is awful. you will actually run into less cars and people with your siren OFF... which makes zero sense.
3 - Street Crimes are completely unsatisfying. once youve done 4 of them, you've done them all. theres no problem solving, all they are is run, drive, chase, shoot. they dont tie into stories and it was obviously haphazardly thrown in to appease the A.D.D. "must kill something" crowd
4 - the game is considered Open World which it clearly isnt. if you consider this game an Crime Adventure game, then it better suits the experience. theres really nothing open world about LA Noire.
5 - the intuition point system, although is smart, really dumbs down gameplay. again, instead of using your head and taking your time, the game helps those with A.D.D. by eliminating choices in convo, auto finding all the clues or giving you a community percentage on convo choices.
6 - shooting controls are flawed... run and shoot on the same button? they could have picked 4 other buttons to make the ruin button.
7 - the faces are obviously more detailed then the rest of the textures, making characters look like a photograph stuck into the collar of a ken doll.
all in all, its still a great game with the exception of features which baby the player with far too easy solutions when theyre stuck. last time i checked, a detective has to spend time and detect, not run around in circles waiting for his body to vibrate.