HomeGenreActionL.A. Noire gets a lengthy ESRB rating description

L.A. Noire gets a lengthy ESRB rating description

Want to know how you can tell that a game is going to either have a whole ton of content or a whole bunch of questionable content? When the ESRB writes a small essay about the content that they think you should know about when you consider purchasing the game. Such is the case with L.A. Noire as The Entertainment Software Rating Board has given it an expected M rating.

Much of the rating is commonplace as the ESRB describes all of the violent content with blood spurting and realistic gunfights. There is also a lot of nudity involved including pubic hair so take that as you will. You can expect a good amount of racist content and foul language as well; read the entire ESRB description below:

This is an ‘open-world’ action-adventure game in which players assume the role of Cole Phelps, a rookie detective on a mission to stop a deranged serial killer. Set in late 1940s Los Angeles, the game allows players to advance through various ‘desks’ at a police department (i.e., Patrol, Traffic Squad, Homicide, Vice, Arson) by interviewing witnesses and suspects, searching crime scenes for clues, and apprehending criminals.

Players use pistols, rifles, machine guns, and flamethrowers to engage in firefights with various enemies — these shootouts are highlighted by realistic gunfire, cries of pain, and blood spurts that stain injured characters and the surrounding environment. Cutscenes also depict instances of violence, including a character being beaten with a crowbar (off screen)—large spurts of blood are depicted in the foreground.

During the course of the game, players may come across crime scenes in which badly beaten or mutilated corpses are subject to investigation; players are able to examine victims’ bodies close-up, surveying various bruises and bloody cuts for evidence — a few female corpses are depicted fully nude with fleeting images of pubic hair.

Investigations sometimes pertain to sexual assault crimes, and details are often conveyed in clinical terms through dialogue or on-screen text (e.g., ‘He’s some kind of sex fiend,’ ‘Woman’s briefs torn at seams, forcibly removed,’ and ‘Head trauma . . . external bruising to genitals.’). In one cutscene, there is an implication that a character is engaged in a sexual relationship with a teenager (e.g., ‘You take love where you can find it as you get older, Jack’/That has nothing to do with love . . .’). Some sequences allow players to collect/manipulate drug-related evidence such as marijuana packets, morphine syringes, or amphetamine pills; in one cutscene, a doctor can be seen injecting a character with morphine.

Language such as ‘f**k,’ ‘sh*t,’ ‘c*nt,’ ‘n**ger,’ and ‘sp*c’ can be heard in the dialogue.

Travis Bruno
Travis Bruno
After playing games since a young age and getting into anime a bit later on its been time to write about a little bit of everything.