Just made it to Homicide. 7 cases in. Disappointed isn't strong enough.
I'm not saying the game isn't good. It's pretty good, but I can't help but feel cheated whenever I look at that little Rockstar symbol on the box. This game had soooo much potential, but I feel like it falls flat. Because they decided to follow the route of a cop, they destroyed a large majority of things to do. Cops can't do much other than their work, and this game, unfortunately, shows that. Every case, and I mean every case, follows the same pattern. Investigate, question, investigate, question, investigate, question, shoot and chase, win. Mix in a random shoot-out or brawl somewhere in there and you have this game in a nutshell. Not to mention, they difficulty just SPIKES at one point. During the third Traffic case, the suspects never show face and never give hint to evidence. While I'm fine with it being realistic, they do it without warning. I practically failed that mission due to using the "truth" selection too much.
The shooting is lackluster and dull with little to no kick with terrible
"auto-auto-aim" where the bullet hits the person despite no cursor being there. Driving is appropriate for the time, but weird. Cars turn with absolute perfect curves and never really show damage; another problem. Cars can stop working after taking enough damage which you will take a lot due to some TERRIBLE civilian AI. If you approach a car from the side, at an intersection, they just stop. NO ONE DOES THIS! You see a car coming at you from the right? You move! So many of my cars have broken down due to this. And what makes it worse is how big the city is. I enjoy having a big city, don't get me wrong, but other than hidden cars and random, boring dispatches (and the badge challenge for you pre-order people) there isn't anything to do. The option to have your partner drive, which acts as a fast-travel tool is nice, but I feel like I'm cheating when I do it and I miss dialogue doing that. The animations and sound are of course terrific and 1947 L.A. is beautiful.
While this game isn't BAD it doesn't even bat an eye at RDR or GTA. There are too many design and mission flaws, coupled with poor shooting and AI for it to go above and beyond despite its AMAZING innovation. I will definitely be finishing it and reaching for the 100% completion mark, but I cannot find myself enjoying this too much more than what I am now.