L.A. Noire cover art

Game entry

L.A. Noire

2011 · Action-adventure, Sandbox, Strategy · PC, SteamVR, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 · Take-Two Interactive

L.A. Noire is ranked no. 317 among the best video games of all time by GameForever voters, with an ELO score of 1,748 and 64% of duels won. Its most contested head-to-head pits it against Portal 2: 1 wins to 5 across 6 duels. Its best rank by family puts it at no. 13 out of 160 (2011).

World rank

no. 317

ELO score

1,748

Wins

64%

Duels played

484

Join the debate · 37

About L.A. Noire

L.A. Noire is a neo-noir detective action-adventure video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. It was initially released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms on 17 May 2011; a Microsoft Windows port was later released on 8 November 2011.

L.A. Noire is set in Los Angeles in 1947 and challenges the player, controlling a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer, to solve a range of cases across five divisions. Players must investigate crime scenes for clues, follow up leads, and interrogate suspects, and the player's success at these activities will impact how much of each case's story is revealed.

The game draws heavily from both the plot and aesthetic elements of film noir—stylistic films made popular in the 1940s and 1950s that share similar visual styles and themes, including crime and moral ambiguity—along with drawing inspiration from real-life crimes for its in-game cases, based upon what was reported by the Los Angeles media in 1947.

The game uses a distinctive colour palette, but in homage to film noir it includes the option to play the game in black and white. Various plot elements reference the major themes of detective and mobster stories such as The Naked City, Chinatown, The Untouchables, The Black Dahlia, and L.A. Confidential.

The community says

So this is going to sound weird but I played this right after a breakup and something about driving around 1947 LA doing interrogations was weirdly…

ELO progression

Score moved from 1,500 to 1,748 ELO points over the last 170 days.

Head-to-head

Direct record on the most played match-ups.

In the same genre

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  2. 3 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild2017 · Action-adventure 1,942
  3. 13 Outer Wilds2019 · Action-adventure 1,917
  4. 17 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past1991 · Action-adventure 1,907
  5. 20 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain2015 · Action-adventure 1,900

Keep exploring

Ranking of action-adventure games All-time best PC games Ranking of PlayStation games Top games on Xbox Best games on SteamVR Greatest PlayStation 3 games Ranking of Xbox 360 games Top games of the 2010s The best games of 2011

Around this spot

The games L.A. Noire sits between in the world ranking.

  1. 314 BioShock Infinite 1,749
  2. 315 Rayman Origins 1,749
  3. 316 Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast 1,749
  4. 317 L.A. Noire 1,748
  5. 318 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 1,748
  6. 319 World of Goo 1,748
  7. 320 Star Fox 64 1,748

More games from Take-Two Interactive

Released in 2011

The standing

Where L.A. Noire ranks

The world rank mixes every family of games. Here is where L.A. Noire stands in each of the ones it belongs to. Its best standing, all families considered: 13 out of 160 (2011).

Where L.A. Noire ranks
Ranking Position Games competing
World ranking 317 5,035
Action-adventure 49 329
2010s 132 2,050
2011 13 160

The community

The debate

37 comments

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  1. QuestLegend2

    So this is going to sound weird but I played this right after a breakup and something about driving around 1947 LA doing interrogations was weirdly therapeutic, like I had a job to do and cases to solve instead of thinking about my own stuff, my roommate thought it was hilarious that I got so into questioning virtual witnesses, anyway good times.

    QuestRex5

    Did questioning virtual witnesses actually help more than just distracting you, or was it just noise to drown out the real stuff?

  2. SaveByte40

    Another duel, another round of the same arguments. It's fine, I guess. Good in parts, tiring in others.

    GhostLegend98

    Moi c'était pendant un chômage technique, les interrogatoires occupaient mes journées vides, ça vous est déjà arrivé de vous accrocher à un jeu comme ça ?

  3. MertieHunter

    Replayed it recently, the tech holds up less than the writing does.

    FrameKid2

    Entiendo lo de la escritura, pero decir que la tecnología no aguanta nada es exagerar, las expresiones siguen funcionando muy bien hoy.

  4. NovaMaster2

    People keep saying it's just a walking simulator with dialogue trees and I'm tired of hearing it. The detective work carries entire cases on facial reads and evidence gathering, and that's a real mechanic, not filler. It earns its spot in this ranking fair and square.

    ComboLegend

    Franchement je le vote toujours quand il affronte StarCraft, ça doit être mon 15e duel avec ce match up.

    AbdullahKnight

    Fair enough on the mechanic, but does earning its spot mean it deserves to win against literally everything, every time, no exceptions?

  5. RogueNinja97

    Portal 2 has puzzle design that ages perfectly (still tight today). This has interrogations that age just as well, different genres though.

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