Interrogation is one of the primary gameplay modes of L.A. Noire, which makes use of the high-detail facial motion capture technology MotionScan developed exclusively for the game, and acted as one of the game's major selling points. Interrogation is a paramount investigative skill of detectives in the LAPD, and is employed by Cole Phelps to gain information from suspects, witnesses or other persons of interest related to the current case. Interrogations appear in almost every case, usually more than once.
In total, there are 236 questions in the game:
- 56 (23.73%) are answered with Truth/Good Cop.
- 106 (44.92%) are answered with Doubt/Bad Cop.
- 74 (31.36%) are answered with Lie/Accuse.
The "Truth," "Doubt" and "Lie" options were renamed inthe Remastered Edition of the game to "Good Cop," "Bad Cop" and "Accuse" in order to more accurately reflect the natureof the three options. This wasdue to one of the most common criticisms of the game, that the original wording used was often misleading or, occasionally, completely inappropriate during certain interrogations. For example, whenthe character James Belasco outright refuses to answer one of Phelps' questions, the player seemingly has no logical choice as there is no statement to gauge the veracity of; the correct answer is "Doubt," which has Cole get rough in order to force out an actual answer, despite there being nothing to actually doubt.
While more vague, there is ultimately less outright error in Remastered Edition since the former two options only describe the disposition of the answer, and is more in line with the original naming scheme for the options that was used during development, "Coax," "Force" and "Accuse."
Contents
- 1 Process
- 1.1 Question and Answer
- 1.2 Response to Statement
- 1.3 Reward
- 2 Tips
- 3 Trivia
- 4 Sound cues
Process[]
Question and Answer[]
To begin, Phelps must ask a question from a list of possible leads. By asking something compromising, Phelps must seek evidence of actions that could expose a lie. Sweat, shifting eyes and some verbal/physical tics are examples of visible effects to observe when deducing a person of interest's truthfulness.
Response to Statement[]
Gauging how generally truthful, knowledgeable or cooperative a suspect is being is often relatively easy; the difficulty comes from how exactly to make it come to light.
From here, Phelps will continue the interview; after the suspect's response, the player must choose whether to believe what was said, expressing doubt or rub the truth in the face of the liar with some Evidence found earlier. Choosing the right option will lead Phelps towards the truth, while choosing a wrong option might cause the suspect to stop talking, causing Phelps to lose important information.
Reward[]
If Phelps fails in his deductions, your case rating at the end of the mission will be lower and harder to climb the corporate hierarchy, plus the investigated case will be more difficult to solve. If Phelps chooses the right answers during the interview, the opposite will happen, as he will climb the LAPD hierarchy faster and will get to the end of the case faster. You will have to guess all questions correct to win a 5-star rating at the end of the case. There are a few questions in some cases that will earn you an Achievement/Trophy when guessed correctly. In these cases the suspect will reveal very handy new information.
Tips[]
- If you think a person is telling the truth, select Truth.
- If you think a person is lying, and you have evidence to back it up, select Lie.
- If you think a person is withholding the truth, or lying about something you don't have the evidence to outright disprove them on, select Doubt. When to Doubt is difficult to judge; it's for when you think they're hiding something, and you think that you can cajole them into telling you more or correcting their statement.
- Using an intuition point during interrogations gives you one of two options: either removing an incorrect reaction (among Truth, Doubt or Lie) or polling the Social Club, which shows you what percentage of players chose which particular option of the three.
- Remember that the more evidence you find, the more options you'll have during the interrogation. Always search a crime scene until you have found all clues (a musical sting will play and end the background music you heard when you were searching).
- Phelps can always take a look at his notebook before choosing one of the three options in the interrogation. Make use of this, and review your clues before entering the interrogation.
- Phelps will not often outright fail to complete a case by not doing well at interrogations. He'll only have a longer way toward the truth.
- EXCEPT if you are near the end of the case, failing the interrogation may result in failing the case.
- As well as keeping a close eye on the suspect's facial expression, sometimes the game shows a clear facial expression on Phelps' face, indicating an obvious lie.
Trivia[]
- Upon Reflection, Armed and Dangerous, Warrants Outstanding, The Quarter Moon Murders, and A Different Kind of War are the only cases that do not require you to interrogate anyone.
Sound cues[]
These specific cues play when making an interrogation:
- Accusation:
- Coax:
- Believe:
- Disbelieve:
- Incorrect jingle:
- Correct jingle:
- Force:
