HEY! Why are you still playing LA Noire!?
Unfortunately, I’m getting pretty sick of LA Noire, so this review might be a little tainted. Reefer Madness is an amazing name for a piece of DLC, so it’s unfortunate I’ve gotten tired of LA Noire’s gameplay. Still, if you still want more LA Noire (or have the Rockstar Pass), Reefer Madness isn’t a bad way to go.
The Highs
If you’ve bought the Rockstar Pass or are buying LA Noire DLC, you pretty much know what you’re getting yourself into. Great acting, decent twists in the storyline, and interesting characters are the positives in this final piece of Rockstar Pass DLC. As a Vice case, you’re investigating a large marijuana distribution ring with my least favorite partner in the game, Roy Earle. Anyway, it’s much of the same, which is good if you’re thirsting for more LA Noire.
The Lows
Unfortunately, I think LA Noire has become one of those games that was awesome when I first played it, but has really begun to grate on me over time. As a one-off piece of DLC, I’m not invested enough to really care about what’s going on – I just felt like I was going through the motions. Also, there are way too many gun fights and chases, although they did skip the prerequisite car chase.
The “mystery” in this case didn’t seem very deep or difficult to solve either, it didn’t feature some of the bigger twists that I thought the other DLCs showcased well. My biggest problem with Reefer Madness is that it feels too much like the rest of the game, while some of the other DLC was interesting because it was kind of different.
LA Noire’s Future
I think LA Noire is going to be one of those games that doesn’t hold up well in the future. Doom 2, Goldeneye, Final Fantasy VII: games like those were fun when you first played them, and are still really fun now (if you play the original versions). LA Noire just isn’t tight enough as a video game to hold up over time, in my opinion. But I guess history will be the judge of that.
In terms of the DLC, after playing all four offerings, I would recommend the Rockstar Pass in two situations. You should either get it and download the DLC BEFORE you play the entire game, or get it if you are completely in love with LA Noire’s gameplay. Then again, I thought I was, but I ended up tiring of it by the end. The DLC definitely extends the game, but maybe the game didn’t need that much extending.
Final Score: C
