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[Blyss]

More info here.

[schimmy]

Holy fuck, yes, yes yes!

[TheFuriousWombat]

So this is going to rock. I still remember buying the first Max Payne for PC when it first came out sort of on a whim because the box looked cool and being so blown away. It's one of my favorite games to this day. MP2 was great (not as good as the first, but that's probably due more to nostalgia than anything else) and I can't see 3 being anything less.

[Blyss]

"THIS TRAILER WAS MADE ENTIRELY FROM IN-GAME FOOTAGE"

I think that was my favorite part.

[look out! Ninjas!]

considering Remedy aren't making it, I'm going to need a lot more convincing. Let's be honest, the only thing separating Payne from every other third person shooter was it's strong direction and Rockstar don't appear to be holding onto that.

[satsugaikaze]

Yeah, color me really cynical about this, but I'm not impressed at all with the way Rockstar are handling this in the absence of Sam Lake. Adding cover-based shooting elements? Taking out the film noir? Completely changing the setting and tone of the series?

I probably would have liked the game under any other name. The way I see it now, though, stylistically Rockstar are going to run this into the ground. Gimme something comic book and Frank-Miller-tribute, over GTA: Sao Paulo Vice Starring Bruce Willis anyday.

[TheFuriousWombat]

Yeah I guess you guys are probably right. I mean another company definitely could the series justice but it's no guarantee I suppose. Although I'm not sure the noir elements will be missing necessarily. The intro to that video is damn noir-ish at least.

[Blyss]

Sort of in the same vein - Rockstar has DLC for up to 50% off today.  I got some stuff I was waiting on for a while.

[satsugaikaze]

I think the very first thing that irked me was the fact that the 'perpetual nighttime/snowstorm/thunderstorm' motif they paid tribute to film noir with is completely gone. The palette feels totally different. I mean, it's Max Payne we're talking about - this is a noir character whose exploits should be getting less daylight than freakin' Batman.

To be fair to Rockstar, I'm pretty sure they have incredible talent and the ability to give us a fun, engrossing story, but like I said the stylistic approach to it looks too different for me to put it in the same category as the previous two games. And the cut-and-paste use of Max Payne 2's cello motif in the trailer didn't feel like it fit the vibrant colors and setting of Sao Paulo; it just looked like a feeble attempt at going "hey! Max Payne music! It's still Max Payne!"

[schimmy]

See, I'm not sure how good the game would be if they kept it more like the others. Sure, the first two were excellent, the first one especially being up their with my favourite games ever, but the reason they were so good was because they were hella stylish, and style is something that can easily be over done, and a third game in exactly the same style could get pretty repetitive. I think the fact that they're willing to change it up a little, whilst keeping a similar feeling with respect to the action, could make it a better sequel than just Max Payne 3: That Game You've Played Through Twice, Now With More Shades of Grey!

[Tom]

Max Payne has always been a pulp (neo?) noir action hero. The graphic novel story telling was used as way of progressing the plot stylishly without having to take up space with really lousy cinematics/cut-scenes. Game tech and data compression have progressed to a point where the developers can give realistic cut-scenes that can do what the graphic novel sequences did and more.

Think about it: film noir sequence or storyboard + dialogue. I'm willing to give them a pass on that front.

[look out! Ninjas!]

lies. The technology that was around when Max Payne came out was perfectly adequate, and the comic book parts were deliberate. Both games actually had cut scenes, remember.


Honestly, what has probably happened is that Rockstar were making a 'modern' third person shooter and decided to throw Payne in there midway because why not we own the licence.

[Tom]

lies. The technology that was around when Max Payne came out was perfectly adequate, and the comic book parts were deliberate. Both games actually had cut scenes, remember.

I'm not saying the comic book parts were not a deliberate stylistic choice. The cutscenes were really shitty compared to the comicbook parts and didn't look nearly as cool. VG graphics are so much more cinematic now that I wouldn't mind not having the comicbook scenes because film noir/gris looks so much cooler than crime noir graphic novels.

[Tom]

Heh, even if you don't like it just be glad that they actually hired James McCaffrey to voice and act Payne.

[snalin]

The most important question is, of course, will there be bullet time?

[dr. nervioso]

...
Will you all destroy me if I say I only watched the Max Payne Movie?
I knew it was based of a game, but I hadn't heard of it up until then

[satsugaikaze]

The most important question is, of course, will there be bullet time?

I don't think Rockstar are so inept as to remove the defining gameplay mechanic of the series. They've added cover-based shooting though, although if it becomes anything close to a magic bullet-immunity crutch like in other third-person shooters, I will look for a Rockstar developer to punch in the face.

[Nodaisho]

lies. The technology that was around when Max Payne came out was perfectly adequate, and the comic book parts were deliberate. Both games actually had cut scenes, remember.

Yeah, but I bet you that cutscenes take more money to put together than it does to arrange the storyboards into a comic book and do voiceovers.

And in the first game, that means they didn't have to keep showing people talking without moving lips, and Max could have an expression other than constipated.

The main problem I'm having with this is that the color palette isn't desaturated enough. Some levels had warmer colors, but it was mostly greys, whites, blacks, and slight blues. Have the game mostly at night, or in a rainstorm, and it will feel a lot more Payne-ish.

I'm fine with the cover system as long as it's something to use while your bullet time is charging. In the last two games, you already used cover to reload, recharge bullet time, decide how to take a room, and avoid instant-kill grenades while you try to get a lucky shot (fuck that part of the Aesir building). If it gets to the point where you would rather use cover than go into bullet time, it will be a problem.

[look out! Ninjas!]

I think it's most telling that the cutscenes in Alan Wake just weren't very good. Technically lovely, but artistically uninspired.
Of course, I'm against cutscenes in general. If you have to pull control away from the player to show something pretty or force the plot along then you're not using the medium properly.

[Rizzo]

I've just had a quick look through all the games Rockstar has made, doesn't look like they've ever made a true dud so I'm fairly confident this will be awesome. Sure it's not going to be a noir in the same way as the first two but there's no reason it can't still be a great game.

[satsugaikaze]

It feels like a petty gripe at times, but I just feel they should have just kept the film noir formula. Besides the stylish gunplay, that was the grab for me to get the Max Payne games in the first place. Heck, I mean I simply got more hyped about Max Payne 2, because it had "A FILM NOIR LOVE STORY" plastered over the front cover in that lovely eye-catching typeface. To me, that dedication to that style (plus that gorgeous black-and-white artwork that's far more interesting than any other cover to a Rockstar game) is what draws me to the series.

They could probably have created this as a completely separate IP by replacing some of the names and backstories going into this game, and I wouldn't be so averse to it. Like I said before, even if I might end up enjoying this game a lot, there'll always be a feeling in the back of my head that these stylistic changes weren't really necessary and that it could have been something more unique.

[Blyss]

Q&A about Max Payne 3, and other Rockstar games.