When comparing L.A. Noire vs Saints Row IV, the Slant community recommends Saints Row IV for most people. In the question“What are the best open world games on Steam?” Saints Row IV is ranked 5th while L.A. Noire is ranked 32nd. The most important reason people chose Saints Row IV is:
Saints Row 4 offers a very compelling open world experience that excels when openly parodying other games. So not only does it offer what is the norm of open world gameplay of traversing a large city while completing objectives but it does so in a funny way that pokes fun at similar titles and goes over the top providing an extreme representation.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Incredibly realistic facial expressions
Every single character in the game looks true-to-life because of how their faces look and move. The developers used some neat motion scanning technology to capture the voice actors' faces as they gave their lines. You get to see every wrinkle, every shift of their jaw lines, and every twitch of their mouths as they speak and emote. There's so much attention to detail that it looks like you're watching a movie with real people. It's really stunning and stands out as a great example of advancing technology in video games.
Pro Great story set in 1940s Los Angeles
The detective drama in L.A. Noire is creative and intriguing. Playing as an honest cop named Cole, you get to see the magnitude of crime and racial tension in Los Angeles in the years after World War II, told through the stories of the authentic cast of characters you meet.
As a cop, you solve crimes and nail crooks, moving up the ladder in the police department. Each of your investigations take you all around the great rendition of the city in the 1940s, rich with the styles of cars, fashion, and music from the time period. It's a unique experience and setting that not many other games explore.
Pro Detailed crime investigation gameplay
Investigating crime scenes is great because of the attention to detail in each mission. Looking over murder victims for patterns in their wounds, for example, gives you an idea of how or why they might have died, which you then jot down in your handy notebook that keeps track of all the information you collect. Observing tire tracks, bloody murder weapons, business cards, and even picking through trash cans leads you to new clues to find and paths to follow. It's up to you to pick out which details may or may not be important, keeping you in control of where each investigation leads.
Pro Interrogating witnesses and suspects is a fun challenge
During investigations, you interrogate suspects in a cool, interactive way. After collecting clues, you use your notebook to decide which questions to ask witnesses and suspects. You read their facial expressions, body language, and their tone of voice to judge if they're telling the truth or not. Using your instincts to guess correctly gets the person to open up more, giving you the information you need. If you get it wrong, they shut you down and you're out of luck. The technology used for facial expressions gives you a lot of leeway to truly spot the shifty-eyed or nervous liars just like in real life.
Pro An open sandbox provides a wide variety of activities
Saints Row 4 offers a very compelling open world experience that excels when openly parodying other games. So not only does it offer what is the norm of open world gameplay of traversing a large city while completing objectives but it does so in a funny way that pokes fun at similar titles and goes over the top providing an extreme representation.
Pro 2 player online co-op
Saint's Row IV features 2 player online co-op, thought there is no local co-op supported.
Pro Great soundtrack selection
With 109 songs, there is going to be music that suits just about anyone. This also makes for a realistic experience of listening to a radio (as that is how the tracks are provided, as songs on different radio stations in game) due to so many songs being available as it mimics how a radio station would play.
Pro Great character customization
Players can change their appearance if they need to, at any time.
Pro There's a dubstep gun (SRIV)
Cons
Con No real consequences for failing to solve cases
Even if you continually mess up with the cases, you still get promoted in the police force. You could be the worst cop ever, making terrible decisions and getting yelled at by your superiors. But then in the next cutscene, your bosses tell you what a great job you did and that you're moving up to a more important department. It doesn't make any sense and gives you no reason to do your best during investigations.
Con The finale is bland
After all the excitement and gritty realism in the story, the final mission and the ending are a real drag in comparison. The momentum from the plot gets sucked out at the end as you play through an uninspired and predictable sequence of events. It looks too much like the developers phoned this part in for the sake of having an ending that wraps up everything nicely.
Con Not a lot to do in the big open world
L.A. Noire's open world in Los Angeles is huge, but there isn't much to do in it. There's a bunch of space that's just there for the sake of it. Sure, you can take on really short cases as side missions that you find around the map, like taking out bad guys that are about to rob a place, though that's about all you can do. Including period piece locations like jazzy clubs or laid-back diners to visit whenever could have been a lot of fun.
Con Worst Saints Row game
Saints row one and two were amazing with it being a serious gang game. The third installment was pretty good but not as serious but it did stick to the formula. But IV is NOT a good installment to this franchise. How do you go from a 3rd person gang shooter to a 3rd person alien shooter with superpowers. Some missions were fun as hell and the last one being one of the best missions but half of the game is destroying this thing and another thing. If it wasn't a saints row game then a 8/10 but they ruined the franchise so a 5/10.
Con Generally only one player (in co-op mode) gets to do the scripted parts
While different players have different roles when playing co-op only the main player is going to see the scripted parts of the game.