Overall, pretty great. Didn't live up to the hype, but still pretty great. It was different, it was ambitious, and it was a just plain fun world to inhabit for a little while.

The writing was... mostly good. I'd say the desks got increasingly well written, which is a good thing, and everyone owes it to himself to make it to that arson desk where everything really starts coming together. The game always feels like you're in a noire film, but it wasn't until Kelso got involved that I truly felt I was in a *good* noire film.

But there's the thing. With noire, the hero is flawed, powerless, and generally being manipulated and controlled by forces he can't hope to fully comprehend, much less defeat. That's just the genre, and there's nothing inherently wrong with it... But bringing those tropes over into video games, where it's all about empowering the user with choices and achievements, I guess I did pick up on a bit of a disconnect there. Deep down I knew I couldn't win, that there was really only one way the story could end. I was cool with it because it was noire, but I was also uncool with it because it was a video game. I wanted to win.

I'm really glad I played it, because it was a great gaming experience. I may finish up the street crimes and then trade it in, though. I think the re-play value criticisms are valid.

Seems like the game was successful enough to warrant a sequel, and if so I'm excited to see how they tackle some of the problems the game had. This was a hell of a springboard for their franchise. If they could make something so different and so good right out of the gate like that, I can't wait to see what they cook up next.