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That's not to say a case becomes unsolvable thanks to poor investigation and interrogation techniques. You will get your man, it may just not be the correct one, or the eventual case before the judge may be paper thin. What's more, the game provides plenty of moral gray areas during various cases. Your case against one suspect may be ironclad, but it'll look much better in the papers if the known child molester or communist sympathizer is put away, and your boss will tell you so.

The other key aspect to the interview part, and one of the most amazing technological advances in video game history, is the face capture, which is basically motion capture done one better. The voice actors were not simply sitting in a recording studio reading their lines. Virtually everyone had their faces motion-captured while doing so, recording every expression from all possible angles, and has transported that into the game. You'll see Cole raise his eyebrows and at a surprising revelation, and his face shows true human emotion especially at key plot points. While grilling suspects, you'll notice their reactions while you try to decipher what they've told you is true or false. Tip: if they're not making much eye contact, they're probably lying to you.

Cole, voiced (and, well, faced) by Mad Men actor Aaron Staton, is not as instantly likable as other Rockstar protagonists such as Niko Bellic, John Marston, or Tommy Vercetti, and this is probably expected as unlike the others, he's on the right side of the law. An idealistic goody-two-shoes cop sticks out like a sore thumb compared to Red Dead Redemption's outlaw Marston or Vice City's ex-con Vercetti. Over time, though, Phelps grew on me, and Staton's voice acting helped in that regard.

As with every Rockstar game, the writing and voice acting is truly a highlight. While there aren't any big names among the cast (Staton is recognizable, but only to Mad Men fans), every part is well acted. A few twists and turns are blatantly obvious (your partner on the Vice desk is on the take? Shocking!), but the storyline is intriguing, the dialogue outstanding and how each desk's seemingly individual cases end up tying together is nothing short of fascinating.

Those expecting another GTA game will actually be disappointed. I'd still classify L.A. Noire as an open-world game, but the only free-roam part has you driving around, locating real landmarks in 1940s Los Angeles, answering to street crimes that come over the police radio. Those expecting to start murdering random pedestrians and seeing how many cars they can blow up should just pop in their copy of GTA IV, as that's just not possible. You're a cop, remember?

L.A. Noire is not gaming perfection, however. For all the gushing I've done above, the action sequences peppered in generally land with a resounding meh, as it's been done before in other games and done better, especially in other Rockstar games. If the LAPD thing doesn't work out for Cole, he should consider a career as a distance runner. The guy can run for hours, that's for sure. I'm willing to let the pedestrian action scenes slide, as it's clear they're not the focus of the game. They let you skip most of them for a reason. Truth is, it's really not much of a game, but I can't really call that a knock on it when I couldn't put the controller down until the main story line was finished.

What Rockstar and primary developer Team Bondi have done with L.A. Noire is nothing short of remarkable. The landmark face capture technology has set the bar for all future games (we're looking at you, Bioware), and while those seeking Grand Theft Auto V will have to look elsewhere, those who want a fascinating story written and acted well will find what they're looking for.

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