By Alec Meer on June 9th, 2009 at 11:24 pm.
At least if the gossip spinning out of an alleged Game Informer cover story is to be believed. Via VG247, we have a low-res photo of said possible cover, showing Mr Payne looking more than a little worse for wear. A follow-up story on Deeko condenses what it claims are the salient points of the feature – our Max is down and out in Brazil, addicted to painkillers and living in a “fully-destructible world.” Sound plausible? And if it does, how do we feel about Rockstar moving the poor lad from his traditional home of New York to Latin America? Sounds good to me: potentially very colourful, as I’m not sure I can stand many more grim’n'gloomy-looking shooters.
09/06/2009 at 23:31 Jacques says:
Looks like the Max Payne film finally kicked things back into gear then.
09/06/2009 at 23:37 The Innocent says:
So will this be made by totally different people? I wonder what they mean by “fully-destructable world”? I hope Max Payne sticks mostly with the basic weapons and not piles of explosives. Maybe it will be Boiling Point, but with ‘tude. Noir ‘tude.
09/06/2009 at 23:39 Man Raised By Puffins says:
Well there’s a shock.
09/06/2009 at 23:39 Magnus says:
When they say “fully destructable” what do they *really* mean? I’ve heard that term used many times before, and its usually underwhelming.
Still, I liked the first game (replayed it several times), and still need to get the second. I just hope they keep the right style.
09/06/2009 at 23:47 Ging says:
I actually just started replaying the first game a couple of days ago, but I’ve clearly become to old to deal with the harsh world that Max inhabits (ie, I’m crap at it now) – perhaps Brazil will be kinder to me.
09/06/2009 at 23:47 vash47 says:
MP3 confirmed to have regenerating health, cover system, two weapon limit, open-world, make your own storyline!
09/06/2009 at 23:50 Krondonian says:
So Max Payne is John McClane? Didn’t see that one coming.
09/06/2009 at 23:52 Cheshire P says:
Oh joy, Max has gone XTREME.
Or just decided to copy Sam Fishers look.
10/06/2009 at 00:00 Noyb says:
Ugh. Part of what made the Max Payne games so good was how tightly they scripted the linear sequence of scares.
10/06/2009 at 00:02 Gnarl says:
Well, the chaps been through a bit. I’d expect him to look more than a little run down, and addicted to pain killers is getting off lightly.
But New York was as defining a quality of what is Max Payne as the graphic novel, or bullet time, at least to me. So I’m a tad unsure on that front. But it’s nice to see him return at all, considering he seemed to have wandered off permenently (although I have no idea why, did the second game not do so well or something?).
10/06/2009 at 00:05 Pags says:
The Max Payne games have steadily been moving towards nicer climates. Starts with snow, eases up into a rain and now, uh… Brazilian heat. I think they missed a trick by not going somewhere windy first.
Also, does the down and out New York cop addicted to hard drugs in a foreign country bit not sound like the plot to French Connection 2 to anyone else?
10/06/2009 at 00:22 Adventurous Putty says:
Whoah, deja vu; didn’t we have another Max Payne 3 rumor thread with the buzzcut and somebody making a snarky remark about Sam Fisher a few posts down?
IT’S ALL FALLING APART MAN!!!! EVERYTHING I KNOW IS A LIE!!!!
10/06/2009 at 00:22 teo says:
This game needs to be canceled NOW
Max Payne’s story ended. JUST LEAVE IT BE
I fucking hate this money milking shit
Sam Lake wrote a great story and now some shithead writer is going to go add stuff to it. It really upsets me
10/06/2009 at 00:41 TheLordHimself says:
I have to agree with teo. I really loved MP1 and 2 so I should really want a sequel. But it does seem like they are destroying what was central to the first two games and replacing it with the cash cow features of similar games today. I feel sorry for Sam Lake and the rest of them the most because they will have to watch their brilliant creation turned into just another mediocre game.
10/06/2009 at 00:53 Rinox says:
I had a dream of my wife. She was dead. But it was all right.
Nuff said.
10/06/2009 at 00:58 Cian says:
Eric Cantona takes on several abusive crowds in Latin America? I for one am interested.
10/06/2009 at 00:59 Thranx says:
“as I’m not sure I can stand many more grim’n’gloomy-looking shooters”
Instead it’ll look more like South America… grimey’n'gloomy … dollar bet it’ll still be browns and greys.
10/06/2009 at 01:00 Logo says:
I agree with Teo and TheLord. I love the MP series. But I’m worried about this game.
The Fat and Bald I can buy and could even be good.
Brazil could be really good if Brazil they mean something like Sao Palo. I’ll buy that too. A rural setting would piss all over a lot of the meaning of MP1 and 2.
Fully destructable world? If this means linear-ish levels with things that blow up I’ll buy that too. An open world Max Payne? No thanks.
10/06/2009 at 01:01 Y3k-Bug says:
@teo The end of Max Payne 2 made reference to the fact that there would be a 3. Also, the ending of the game left more story to tell, what with Mona not dying at the end (in the hardest difficulty mode she lives, I’d guess they’ll take that as canon.)
10/06/2009 at 01:14 Ging says:
I wouldn’t take “Fully destructible world” to mean it’s an open world title, just that stuff in the game world will blow up and break apart.
10/06/2009 at 01:30 kyrieee says:
@Y3k-Bug that’s fair, but a lot is still wrapped up. Most of the big characters of the series are finished. Story wise and in some cases literally
I know the writing in Max Payne is a bit cheesy at times, but I still think it’s one of the best written games I’ve played (leagues better than most). The story, particularly in the second one, revolves around characters and their relationships which isn’t something that can be said for most games. You don’t save the world in MP, it just tells a story about some people. You’re not even a hero. I love the story and I think it’s self contained, but stories just can’t be left alone in today’s world it seems.
Then there’s the fact that the gameplay just feels so right. The concept is pretty simple, but the execution is brilliant, and execution is everything. Look at Blizzard’s games. They aren’t amazing concepts they’re just executed so well that everyone loves to play them.
Both MP games had a high density of unique content. They cut out the stuff that wasn’t needed, and you constantly overhear conversations that guards are having. There isn’t really a ‘normal’ encounter, all the encounters are hand crafted.
Like I said, I don’t think the concept is what made the game great, the execution is that did it. If other people could do games as good as Max Payne they would, but few are doing it. Acquiring the rights to the franchise doesn’t change anything.
10/06/2009 at 01:36 TheLordHimself says:
If anything, I hope they keep the signature narrative through graphic novels feature. This was one of the best parts of the games, it was stylish and it also eliminated the weird puppet without a master effect you can get when animators are bad and think that people in cut scenes need to be waving their arms around like mad men. The voice acting was also very good.
10/06/2009 at 01:47 malkav11 says:
Prediction: Payne is down and out and living in Brazil – then the story starts and after a brief prologue level, he’s back in New York for some reason or other.
10/06/2009 at 02:16 Psychopomp says:
“think that people in cut scenes need to be waving their arms around like mad men.”
Now, now, some of us *actually* talk that!
Seriously though, cut of my hands, I would no longer be able to speak.
10/06/2009 at 02:16 pilouuuu says:
Cool! Isn’t Modern Warfare 2 also in Brazil?
I love this especially because I lived in Brazil. I would like it to be in Sao Paulo and its metropolis landscape. But fully destructable favelas in Rio de Janeiro would be cool too.
Hopefully it won’t be some unrealistic jungle place like the scenery of Blanka in Street Fighter 2.
10/06/2009 at 02:27 The Innocent says:
Both Max Payne games are among my favorites, so I’m very concerned about this game. Even if it sounds cool, it just doesn’t sound much like a Max Payne game, which is my qualm with the new Splinter Cell too. At the same time, I was always expecting a Max Payne 3. Didn’t Sam Lake say that MP 1 and 2 were two halves of the same story but they planned to revisit the character eventually? Makes me sad that Lake isn’t involved with this one.
Oh well, mirrorS arE morE fuN thaN televisioN! shE haS dyeD heR haiR reD! I hope there’s weird stuff like that in MP3, like a Brazilian version of Lords and Ladies.
10/06/2009 at 02:37 Milton says:
TheLordHimself:
“I feel sorry for Sam Lake and the rest of them the most because they will have to watch their brilliant creation turned into just another mediocre MOVIE.”
10/06/2009 at 02:54 Gabanski83 says:
So long as they keep the noir style, the graphic novel method of story-telling, and include the same level of unflinching uneasiness (e.g. the chilling way the death of Max’s family was shown in MP1; the brutal, in-your-face (yet still not gratuitous) cold blooded execution at the beginning of MP2), then I’ll be satisfied.
That’s what set Max Payne aside from the rest; the grim brutality of it all. I know that makes me sound like a 15 year old guts ‘n’ gore teenager, but that’s not what I mean; quite the opposite in fact. There’s no other game (or series, rather) that I can think of which has made me feel so much apprehension, anxiety, even slightly nauseated, where I’ve had to make myself sit and watch the violence unfold because it’s been key to the story. Or that demented flamingo. That thing is freakish.
If they can nail that same feeling, then I won’t mind that many flaws.
Not so keen on the decision to travel to Brazil though. I mean, how does it tie into the previous games?
10/06/2009 at 03:23 Sonic Goo says:
I found her on a night of fire and noise
Wild bells rang in a wild sky
10/06/2009 at 03:58 Jonathan says:
Does it snow in Brazil?
I said DOES IT SNOW IN F&*%ING BRAZIL???
No, no it does not. Nor does it do anything else remotely New Yorkey. And Noir York was more than half the appeal of Max Payne. The setting largely was the game. I hope this is a classic Rockstar misdirect along the lines of their greatest pre-release GTA fakeouts, otherwise I want nothing to do with it.
10/06/2009 at 04:13 SteveHatesYou says:
@Jonathon
They did two games in New York. Can’t they try something a little different with this one?
10/06/2009 at 04:19 Jonathan says:
SteveHatesYou says:
“They did two games in New York. Can’t they try something a little different with this one?”
The problem is that the fictionalized New York was itself a huge part of the game. I mean, what else really defines Max Payne? The character himself wasn’t particularly deep. The gameplay, while exciting, was just “shoot all the bad guys, go to next room.” Take away Max Payne’s backdrop and it’s all kind of generic.
10/06/2009 at 06:22 SwiftRanger says:
I don’t mind a MP3 but they’re debuting the coverage in a multiplatform magazine, which never is a good sign. Max was always best on PC (granted, due to sloppy console ports as well), I hope Rockstar will remember where their real audience is.
Anyway, I already thought MP2 was a big step back in terms of story so they can’t make it worse now I guess.
10/06/2009 at 06:54 Howard says:
Chalk me up as a vote in the “Max Payne franchise has gone the way of Sam Fisher and Splinter Cell: i.e. Down the shitter” column.
As long as I live I will never, ever understand the mentality of those who wish to sequel games by making something totally different. Imagine if they did this in movies? It’d be like Guy Ritchie announcing his next project was going to be a sci-fi Rom-Com staring Britney Spears and some CGI monkeys but its also the sequel to Layer Cake.
Weird stuff…
10/06/2009 at 07:00 Jim says:
Damn consoles, how many franchises have to be tortured before they’ll stop? My poor, poor babies.
Another game to pretend doesn’t exist. La la la la la.
10/06/2009 at 07:07 Fitzmogwai says:
Howard, you know, I’d pay to watch that.
10/06/2009 at 07:09 Jim Rossignol says:
The new Splinter Cell looks excellent. And there’s no reason this can’t work well on console and PC. You guys seriously need to get some perspective.
10/06/2009 at 07:10 Guhndahb says:
I could care less about destructible environments. What I want to hear is that the story and storytelling are going to be the most important elements to the new developers. MP1 and 2 were decent third-person shooters, and nothing that special in that regard. But the way the story was spun was excellent and made the games for me. Heck, my favorite sequences in the first two didn’t even have any combat.
I also agree there’s a beautiful fit between Max and the stylized noir NYC of the first two. I don’t mind a new locale, and I certainly don’t mind the state in which we will find Max, but I feel they are giving up something with that city that’s going to be very hard to replace.
10/06/2009 at 07:19 Brokenbroll says:
I’ve always wondered why the terrible writing in Max Payne is so cherished. Its just bad, being neither an amusing critique of heavy handed noir prose, nor as an honest attempt.
Its like Frank Miller, in alternate time line, never finished high school, suffered some head trauma that lowered his intelligence, and then decided to write a story for a video game.
10/06/2009 at 07:33 dartt says:
Max Payne is the last good cop on earth, all other good cops having mysteriously died simultaneously in a mass extinction of honest cops the world over. Together, with his pet Monkey, Colon, he travels towards Brazil where he hopes to find his girlfriend Mona who is unaware that he is still alive.
Along the way he will face many trials and tribulations, most citizens are desperate for law, some are happy the world is free of it and many would be very interested to know there is still one good plod on the beat.
Also, he can shoot electricity out of his hands now.
10/06/2009 at 07:35 Guhndahb says:
@Brokenbroll: For the same reason that some of the fiction you enjoy may be trite crap to me, or we may love all the same things outside of this one case. Different people have different tastes. For a game, MP1 and 2 had good writing, but more importantly, it told it in a way that appealed to me. I’m an avid reader. Did they compare in quality with most of the books I read? No. But they were better than most graphic novels I’ve seen (although admittedly I infrequently read graphic novels as I prefer novels). And I’ll admit it doesn’t stack up to some of my favorite game stories such as Planescape: Torment, Grim Fandango or Mission Critical. But it was still a good story for a game and I feel it was told in a wonderfully stylistic and immersion-enhancing manner.
10/06/2009 at 07:47 drygear says:
I don’t mind the setting change and all, I just hope they can stay true to the character of Max Payne. Max Payne’s condition now is certainly unexpected but I have some faith that Rockstar can create a good follow up. It’s interesting to see how it will turn out.
10/06/2009 at 07:51 MrBejeebus says:
I love MP1 & 2 but the depressiv-ness of it all was part of the atmosphere, Brazil sounds too bright.
however i’ll see how it turns out.
10/06/2009 at 08:11 robrob says:
Maybe Brazil was the only place willing to perform brain surgery to remove a bullet from his head?
10/06/2009 at 08:13 Wolfman says:
I can see Brazil working if they set it when its constantly grey skies, raining, its full of floods and mud and grime everywhere in some kind of shanty town. Thats pretty moody and depressing enough for a Payne sequel!
10/06/2009 at 08:13 Peter says:
This sums up my feeling about Max 3:
[img]http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/2564/maxbald.jpg[/img]
10/06/2009 at 08:35 WotDaFux says:
I agree. Max Payne was about the Noir York city mood and the actor in MP2 (as opposed to Lake’s constipated grimace in 1) had the right look for the hard boiled character. Stylish enough to wear a leather jacket but nihilistic enough not to give a shit about his awful tie and stale dress shirt.
Now we get some UFC fighter reject that might as well have completed the full Kimbo Slice look.
10/06/2009 at 08:54 The Sombrero Kid says:
this is pretty old news.
10/06/2009 at 09:08 Rinox says:
@ Jim
I’m not usually one to pile on the internet man angriness (or in this case, peevedness) on new concepts/titles, but perspective? The Max Payne saga was, for all intents and purposes, finished with the ending of MP 2. Almost every side character had died in the torrent of escalating conflict and, more importantly, through Mona Max finally let go of the guilt that had been haunting him all those years. That guilt was basically the point of the game’s story.
It’s not that I think MP3 will be a bad game. It’s just a little disappointing that they felt the need to extend the franchise in this way. I could have stomached a new game set in between MP 1 and MP 2 as there is some room for filler there, but this? It all sounds a little contrived.
A new game in the style of Max Payne with another drug-addicated bad-ass balding old main character: yes please. But not Max again.
10/06/2009 at 09:09 Bobsy says:
What is it about vests these days? The finest possible way to make your protaganist utterly vile.
In my day we had leather trenchcoats and sunglasses, yes we did.
10/06/2009 at 09:10 Howard says:
@Fitzmogwai
You know, so would I come to think =)
10/06/2009 at 09:16 Lack_26 says:
Fully destructible = you can break non-plot essential boxes and a wall.
10/06/2009 at 09:17 Howard says:
@Jim
Actually I have, with all due respect, to disagree with you. When Conviction was first announced it sounded pretty rancid and the new makeover has not really done it any favours.
I’m all for (good) games getting sequels but, as I mentioned above, utterly changing the fundamental nature of a franchise simply to make a new sequel always results in bad games (see SC: Double Agent as a case in point).
As to consoles ruining PC games? Not a rule I grant you but, without trying, any RPS member, staff or otherwise, could knock out a top 20 of games that were utterly destroyed by being put through the console mill.
As I say though, not a rule. Am currently playing Prototype which is clearly console oriented and really rather liking it.
10/06/2009 at 09:39 SwiftRanger says:
The theory is multiplatform isn’t bad when handled well, the reality is that’s often not the case. It’s a vicious circle as well when most journos (RPS is clearly a minority) don’t even consider PC when they talk about multiplatform (you only need this E3 for proof of that), I almost have to puke when so many questions and inquiries are solely based on how a game would play on consoles/with a controller and not on how the PC version could work out. The worst part here is that many formerly PC-only developers don’t seem to be disturbed by that focus or all those requests for missing standard PC features in their existing multiplatform games (how about making the server browser in L4D standard without the hacks Valve?).
GTA IV on PC couldn’t go wrong as well, wasn’t it? With that in mind I am not holding out for MP3 just yet. The look doesn’t seem too convincing either judging from those scans.
10/06/2009 at 11:30 Rei Onryou says:
As happy as I am about MP3 existing, nothing in that article puts my mind at ease. The wiki article says Sam Lake isn’t involved, so I’m preparing to run around screaming “The sky is falling!”.
But I’m still trying to be hopeful. As colourful as Brazil may be, won’t that make it all the more interesting as the dark heart of the country becomes visible during the game. Talk about contrast.
That’s about as positive as I can be at this stage. The rest of the article is console-fanboy-bait (cover system, destructible scenery, multiplayer).
I don’t want to condemn this game like the AIM did to L4D2, but the story is integral to the game. The MP games so far did a fantastic job of telling a story that wasn’t happy or heroic. It was one man’s desperate tale of revenge followed by him being lost and alone. At the end of both games, he hasn’t achieved anything. He hasn’t saved the world, he hasn’t saved himself, he’s just found momentary peace.
Please don’t screw this up R*. I’m asking nicely.
10/06/2009 at 11:31 teo says:
Multiplatform, eh? I can’t wait for the cover system
I hold Remedy and their games in very high regard which is why I don’t want some lower-teir developer messing with their property.
To me this is like some internal EA studio doing Diablo 3 or HL3. Perhaps slightly exaggerated, but that’s kind of how I feel. I really don’t want them touching this
edit: oh it actually has a cover system! What a surprise… we should get perspective eh Jim?
10/06/2009 at 12:14 Ado says:
Nice copy of Y: The Last Man there too. Much better than Max Payne, but probably be ruined by Le Bouf in the rumoured feature film…
10/06/2009 at 12:16 Mike says:
But I liked the noir.
:(
10/06/2009 at 12:22 Larington says:
I must confess, I have my concerns that this might turn out to be franchise abuse, guess we’ll have to wait and see.
10/06/2009 at 12:25 Kast says:
First game did noir.
Second did pulp fiction.
What could the third be?
I am very concerned about the shift from NY – like others have said, I think the city defines Max and his story. We’ll have to see how it it turns out but I’m cautiously hoping it won’t be a travesty. And if it is we can just ignore its very existence.
10/06/2009 at 12:56 I'manidiot says:
I don’t really care. Most of the games I’ve played the later years have been oh so boring.
They think some checklist is gonna save their game.
Vehicle section, cover system, stand still for health.
This won’t change my mind about Max Payne 1 & 2.
Great games, shit I will remember. Thats what developers should aim for. Something you can think about. Something you can remember. Part of someones life.
10/06/2009 at 13:12 egg says:
I wonder what they mean when they say “Brazil”. I guess it’s like that last Hulk movie, starring Edward Norton: a goddamn jungle. Or if it’s not the jungle, then it’s Rio de Janeiro and their slums.
Shit, I’d love to see someone portrait Brazil correctly for once. Not that I expect anyone to do so. Or even care.
10/06/2009 at 14:01 VelvetFistIronGlove says:
I’m fearful that Rockstar are going to become acquainted with “the genius of the hole”:
10/06/2009 at 14:35 tombraiderguy says:
O_O ……He’s Bald……
I will definitely agree with taking him out of New York…
That’s like taking Batman out of Gotham City and Putting him in Las Vegas or something…. Max needs a vacation and an Anonymous meeting. xD
I hate the way franchises are turning into….I love a lot of the new games now; it’s just that there needs to be longer stories: with atcual meaning!!.
10/06/2009 at 14:53 teo says:
Vinnie Gognitti: Well, that was fun… in a fuckin’ terrible, sick, not-at-all-fun kinda way.
10/06/2009 at 15:06 Solario says:
@dartt,
What about the honest cops in space at the time of the mass extinction? Who are the Red Orchestra and why are the Japanese Millitary hunting Max? And why does everyone shoot lightning?
10/06/2009 at 15:15 kafka7 says:
@ Jonathan Does it snow in Brazil?
Yes, in the mountains in the South. (Ok – not often).
And anybody who thinks Brazil means ‘colourful’ needs to put down the travel brochure and actually go there. I’m looking forward to Max navigating through sprawling, dilapidated concrete jungles and shit-strewn favelas.
10/06/2009 at 15:20 kyrieee says:
Man I tell you, the toilets in brazil have one colour and it’s not white
10/06/2009 at 16:31 Nill says:
God, Jim really can get on my nerves. Really Jim, you do not see where these guys — we guys — are coming from, at all?
Max Payne 1 and 2 were absolutely fantastic and felt very much in their element on the PC. This we’ll see, but the trend is certainly obvious.
10/06/2009 at 19:18 Nero says:
Yeah, I loved the Max Payne games and I also pretty much enjoy everything R* does, but I don’t know about this. What’s wrong with the NY noir setting? Now it looks like Max Uncharted. Also here are the scans from inside the magazine…
10/06/2009 at 19:24 someone says:
Argh, I hate how every character in a videogame nowadays looks like Marcus Fenix.
10/06/2009 at 19:27 Nero says:
I also read, no James McCaffrey as the voice of Max this time.. wtf.
10/06/2009 at 19:31 Nick says:
If they’d call it something else.. it wouldn’t be as annoying. Is that wrong? Generic cover based action shooter would be a better name than tying it with a series it apparently has almost nothing in common with besides violence.
10/06/2009 at 19:47 DrGonzo says:
Nicely said Jim! This comments thread is making me angry. It’s the dev studio who made Bully which was an excellent game, we know nearly nothing about the game and no one here has either seen it or played it.
Plus am I the only person who thinks all third person games should have a cover system? It suits Max Payne especially well with its John Woo vibe. I always felt you should have been able to take cover and reload by a door before diving in slow-mo. IMO cover systems need to be added to all third person shooters, you can do it in real life after all. It’s like when they first added mouse control… It’s just better.
10/06/2009 at 20:28 Villane says:
I read the title as Max Payne 3: Fat Ballard
10/06/2009 at 20:30 TheNewShizz says:
Cover system?!? It’s freaking Max Payne. He dives into hordes of gunmen because he has freaking Bullet Time, akimbo uzis, and a handful of painkillers to get through it. Have some of you even played Max Payne?
10/06/2009 at 21:26 Pijama says:
…ach.
But, I am curious. A chance for a noir game based around here: hmm.
10/06/2009 at 22:40 PaynsMe2SayIt says:
So much stupidity in one thread. Let’s all have a moan about a game we know fuck all about! Why don’t you go set up a internet petition while you’re at it?
teo said: “I hold Remedy and their games in very high regard which is why I don’t want some lower-teir developer messing with their property.”
Firstly, it isn’t Remedy’s property any more. Secondly, on what planet is Rockstar Vancouver a “lower-teir” (sic) developer? Bully and Homeworld Cataclysm is a pretty decent CV.
Here’s a suggestion geniuses: wait and see how the game turns out before moaning about it. The new Max looks awesome – if you really want the old Max there’s nothing stopping you playing MP1 and MP2 is there?
10/06/2009 at 22:55 fulis says:
Why do opinions upset you?
11/06/2009 at 02:33 Guhndahb says:
@PaynsMe2SayIt: I’m curious, if “we know fuck all about” MP3, how is it that you feel justified in saying “The new Max looks awesome”? You are speculating just as others are.
Yes, those of us with concerns may be wrong, but voicing those concerns does not make us stupid (nor lacking in perspective for that matter).
11/06/2009 at 11:28 Petter says:
A sequel isn’t one because it shares the title or main character – it’s a description that has to be earned by the game. Max’s story was a noir one, beautifully realised in an almost empty New York. Can you imagine the Max Payne theme over the sunny lit leaked scans?
If you’re not gonna make a Max Payne game, don’t steal that title. Make another game, say that you are inspired by the Payne games (creds to developers who are open with their influences, we all know when they are there anyway) and make whatever you want with it.
This will probably be a good game in itself, but it will always be facing the legacy of the name Max Payne, which can only harm it’s reception, though obviously not its sales.
11/06/2009 at 11:49 PaynsMe2SayIt says:
@Guhndahb
Presumably you understand the difference between someone venturing an opinion on the concept art / magazine cover (fine, you either like it or you don’t) and someone moaning about aspects of a game they know very little about. Presumably also you understand the difference between speculating about the game, and lambasting a talented dev team for daring to do something new with a franchise.
11/06/2009 at 17:33 Guhndahb says:
@Payns: Indeed. However, your comment seemed to be commenting on more than just the concept art. Your admiration for the dev team leaked into that comment or at least appeared to do so to me. If all you meant was that the concept art “looks awesome”, I actually agree, and apologize for misinterpreting you.
Regardless, many of us, yourself likely included, have been gaming for many years and can draw pretty accurate conclusions from those experiences. Many of these speculations will be wrong, but many will very likely be correct. However, forming these opinions and speaking about them does not make people stupid. If enough people speak up on a subject, dev teams may even hear about it, so it’s worth doing. And even if that never happens it’s a decent pressure release.
Taking a series in a new direction is one way of looking at this situation. And this parallels the Splinter Cell discussions. What concerns some of us is that the new direction is the same direction tons of mainstream titles are going, and doesn’t seem new to us but discouragingly common. There are not many quality noir/graphic novel/intelligently written shooters out there, and we hate to see a series that fit that bill become something much more pedestrian. Similarly there’s not that many quality stealthers out there so the perceived action-centric changes to Splinter Cell have some concerned. These concerns may be ultimately be baseless – we know very little yet. But with what little we know, there are grounds for concern and reason enough to opine here at RPS.
11/06/2009 at 17:52 The Innocent says:
@Guhndahb
Exactly what I was thinking. My problem isn’t with the talent of Rockstar Vancouver, but they haven’t made anything like this before, and some of their proposed ideas just don’t sound like the kind of game I would want to play. As a fan of Max Payne (and Sam Fisher), this sort of thing can be greatly disappointing. My perspective is that I don’t see a need for every game to be uniform in having a cover system or a destructible environment, though I agree that these can add a lot to some games, and it doesn’t make much sense to reinvent any good series to the point that it is hardly recognizable.
16/06/2009 at 20:46 Nick says:
Obviously Rockstar watched Die Hard 4 before making this, where’s James Mcraffrey!? Why have they ditched him!? Fuck you Cockstar Vancouver! Pricks!
21/06/2009 at 11:13 harsh says:
y dnt u people understand the fact that its been 12 years ,,he has been addicted to painkillers so its obvious that his condition will get worse,,and about the voice thingy,,u ppl shud get to noe dat wen some1 becomes older his voice changes,but not totally ,,it becomes a bit thicker,and that wat rockstar people exactly wanna convey,,they meant they arnt totally changin the voice but fitting some1 else who wud suit max in BIT diffrent manner,james macarffey would sound a bit younginsh wid this max .get to noe the truth people!!!
and here to this,,timothy gibbs who was max payne in max payne 2 is actually max payne 3 ,,i.e. he is max payne in the third game also
if u people dnt belive me go to this link-
http://maddieman.wordpress.com/2009/…uick-analysis/
21/06/2009 at 11:26 Howard says:
re: the above post
See, this is why this site should require a proper registration before you can post. Please RPS?
12/05/2010 at 17:12 bomberesque says:
fat bald and beardy. Sounds like me
doesn’t look like me though
10/07/2010 at 13:39 gingerale says:
So I’m not the only one who thought “buffed up John McClane.”