Polygon With a Thousand Faces

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Before anything else, I should first thank my good friend Patrick Goodsell for being the master mind of this week’s comic. He’s also responsible for the creation of Bobby and the hilarity that follows.

I’ve been playing L.A. Noire lately. I must say it’s good fun and the facial animation is in fact really impressive. I’m studying game design and animation so I tend to geek out over new technology like this. What I found most fascinating is how organic it looks. The details in the jaw, mouth, cheeks and neck flow so nicely. I’m not usually a fan of motion capture because I think it’s the lazy alternative to hand animation. Most of the time it just looks like hollow puppet shells. Mass Effect is a perfect example of this: a beautiful game that’s set back by the same ten motion capture gestures. L.A. Noire seems to be proving different. I’m honestly gaining more respect for Rockstar with this and Red Dead Redemption. I think it would be interesting if they combined the facial technology with the poker playing in Red Dead so you could read poker faces.

As far as game play goes it was really interesting. Either this would happen or I would guess wrong and Cole would end up badgering the witness … who would sometimes be an innocent little girl … who just lost her mom … to a brutal rape and murder. You can’t always win, I guess.

I absolutely loved the setting. I’m a huge fan of the Art Deco era so I really get a kick when I see those elements. I felt really bad when I crashed most of those pretty cars.

Also, I need more excuses to put Jack in a three piece suit. He looks too damn good. New company dress code perhaps? We’ll see.