First L.A. Noire review pops up online earlier than expected

With the worldwide release of L.A. Noire less than a week away, gamers are waiting with bated breath to see if Rockstar Games' new crime thriller can live up to the hype. Wait no longer, a UK paper has gone ahead and published its review of the game a little ahead of schedule.

All eyes are on The Guardian, which posted the games review online at 00:06BST. It's believed to be the first online review of L.A. Noire, which is due out on May 17th in the U.S., and May 20th everywhere else.

Whether it was an accident or not is yet to be seen - could it just be a clever marketing plan to raise interest in the game and in the paper? The review itself is glowing, gives the game five-out-of-five, and is full of the anticipated hype regarding MotionScan and "interactive films", just the sort of thing you'd probably like to be "leaked" to the public a week before release.

An excerpt:
"In the past, games with such overwhelming ambitions have floundered on odd, usually peripheral, aspects that jarred – such as unrealistic animation (and especially facial animation), clunky dialogue, poor virtual camerawork or facile characterisation. LA Noire is the first game to lack any such element which naggingly reminds you that you're playing a video game, rather than strolling through a film or TV series."

The review itself is relatively spoiler-free, but if you're being cautious, it's probably best to avoid the article - and perhaps the rest of the internet until you get your chance to step into Cole Phelps' shoes next week on PS3 or Xbox 360.

(Thanks, barchetta and the News forum!)