By Quintin Smith on May 11th, 2011 at 10:11 am.
Rockstar have released a spread of new screens of Max Payne 3, showcasing the game’s flashback-heavy plot (but not its less corridor-focused structure, sadly). We’ve got Max in his current role, as a baldy bodyguard in Brazil, but we’ve also got him as a less baldy cop in Brazil and even as a less baldy cop in America, looking flash in his trademark leather jacket and disgusting tie (if the flash in question is a flashbang, going off inches from your face). Come take a look.
Click for bigger!
11/05/2011 at 10:18 Longrat says:
Well… What can I say, I hope that this game holds up to the last two. As long as they don’t go “call of juarez” on this, I’m sure it’ll be fine.
11/05/2011 at 10:18 Kaira- says:
Well, these pictures have restored some of the faith for MP3. Though not really that much, as I’ve never really liked Rockstar’s games, but maybe this is good. Maybe.
11/05/2011 at 10:25 DanPryce says:
The third picture down features the most redundant silencer in the history of games.
11/05/2011 at 10:27 Alex Bakke says:
Argh Suppressor. But yes.
11/05/2011 at 10:29 Moni says:
Pew, BANG, BANG, pew, pew, pew. ARGH, my leg! BANG BANG BANG BANG.
11/05/2011 at 10:31 DanPryce says:
The *suppressor* in picture two is even more redundant, actually.
11/05/2011 at 10:37 lurkalisk says:
Redundant? You mean… Pointless?
11/05/2011 at 10:48 Lu-Tze says:
Assuming he fires both guns at the same time. He could be taking out the first couple of guys with the suppressed gun and then blasting away the last couple with the hand cannon.
11/05/2011 at 11:30 Bilbo says:
That revolver model is ugly as sin. I agree, though – I guess they’re trying to say “Look, the action’s so desperate and the gameplay so gun-scavengingly tense that Max even ended up wielding a suppressed 9mm with a big loud revolver! Exciting! Unconventional! Yay!”
11/05/2011 at 13:43 mrtypo says:
The second suppressor-pedant is even more redundant!
11/05/2011 at 15:42 El_MUERkO says:
I’m also a bit confused by the gun models, they all look wrong, even if they’re similar to realworld guns they look the wrong size.
In the second picture he’s holding a rifle that looks like a Barrett .50 but it’s way too small compared too his arms and body.
The linked picture shows the size of these things (ignoring the insane silencer) http://www.tacticaloperations.com/swatjun2001/index.html
11/05/2011 at 16:26 brulleks says:
“lurkalisk says:05/11/2011 at 10:37 Redundant? You mean… Pointless?”
RPS. It’s not just a games site, it’s also a thesaurus.
11/05/2011 at 10:37 Arbodnangle Scrulp says:
Is it the same guy doing the voice-overs?
11/05/2011 at 10:46 Ergates_Antius says:
I’ve heard they’ve got the same voice actor doing Max.
11/05/2011 at 10:56 The Kins says:
According to the Edge article these pics were in, yes, it’s the same voice actor as in the first two games. He’s also doing some motion capture this time around.
11/05/2011 at 10:42 aldo_14 says:
It is just me, or is this the first game to accurately model gradual recession of a hairline?
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/11/may/max4.jpg to
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/11/may/max1.jpg to
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/11/may/max9.jpg
That’s pretty impressive attention to detail if so.
11/05/2011 at 10:44 Alex Bakke says:
IIRC the game takes place over many years, focusing on key events in Max’s life. It starts out a few years after #2, and finishes like, 15-20 years later. I think.
11/05/2011 at 11:21 TheApologist says:
Finally a character I can relate to. Well, not the whole crushing sense of loss channelled into a vengeful crusade. But, y’know, the hair thing.
11/05/2011 at 11:30 Lack_26 says:
You could always start a vengeful crusade due to your crushing sense of loss for your hair.
11/05/2011 at 12:03 TheApologist says:
I could, I guess. But I forgave my follicles’ failings some time ago. They’re a cute bunch of guys once you get to know them.
Besides, carrying out a vengeful crusade on your own head seems like a bad time.
11/05/2011 at 13:41 Lack_26 says:
You could try and claim that Shampoo manufacturers are responsible. I agree that a crusade against your head might be a bald plan.
11/05/2011 at 20:19 Stony says:
Those follicles have toupée for what they’ve done.
18/07/2011 at 00:52 KillahMate says:
I’m logging in two months later just to congratulate Stony on that pun. Well done, sir.
11/05/2011 at 10:46 Olero says:
Some fun screenshots indeed:
1) Callcentre job doesn’t combine well with big shooty gun; “One moment please”, RATTATTATAATATTAAAA!! “Thanks for waiting, how can I be of assis… oh damn, “RATATATATAA!”
2) Fun times with two different recoils at the same time (or *pooffff* RARRRRRRRRRRRRRR *pewhhh* RAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR)
3) Dark gun to match my dark arm, light gun to match my light arm
4) Winning! (or; “Yes, I prefer being blinded while could easily avoid it”)
6) “Can you hold the line a little bit longer please?”
10) Aimbot uncovered
Yeah, sorry for this ;)
11/05/2011 at 10:49 BooleanBob says:
Hair today, gone tomorrow. Well, the other way around actually..
11/05/2011 at 10:59 Chaz says:
Looks like he’s been taking style tips from Sam Fisher.
11/05/2011 at 11:32 Bilbo says:
*Obligatory post about Sam Fisher not being hard enough to polish Max’s gun here*
*Obligatory post giggling at the double entendre below*
11/05/2011 at 12:33 WJonathan says:
How did you know there was a double entendre coming? (“Coming” hehe.)
11/05/2011 at 13:09 Bilbo says:
Touché. Unless you’re actually asking, in which case I meant “comment below” about *my* double entendre, not the double entendre that I assumed was coming. But either way, this has been fun
11/05/2011 at 11:20 PickyBugger says:
The best thing about Max Payne 1 and 2 was the setting and the atmosphere created by it. I can’t really see that being replicated in the Brazil setting.
It all just looks like Resident Evil after it moved from dank streets and sewers to sunny Africa. A move that destroyed any interest in the series for me.
11/05/2011 at 18:12 Buemba says:
Sao Paulo is actually a pretty fantastic setting for a noir-tinged story, or at least it will be if most of the game is set in one of its central districts (Most of which are very dark, dank, dirty and filled with old buildings) instead of a slum in the periphery of the metropolis.
Hopefully Rockstar is just using the sunny slums during the preview cycle to differentiate it from the NY flashback sequences.
12/05/2011 at 09:42 Inarborat says:
Yes. Sao Paulo is a much scarier place than NYC. I’m happy they’re placing at least a portion of the game in a different location. I’ll be a happy man if I never, ever have to walk around a digitized version of NYC again.
11/05/2011 at 11:21 The Pink Ninja says:
Max Payne two is one of my favourite games of all time. The slow-mo, guns akimbo fighting was great fun, and it was the first game I ever played to really use physics. But most memorable was the great writing and voice acting, a gripping story well told throughout trhe game. Yes it was a bit cheesy but I liked that, it was deliberately noir and lets face it: Its stood up to the test of time very well indeed.
So the fact they don’t have the same writer as last time and the fact MP2 didn;t really need a sequel near certainly means this is going to suck the big one. I hope it’s good. If RPS likes it I may even buy it.
But honestly, given MP2 killed everyone bar Max I not sure there’s a reason for me to get involved with this game.
11/05/2011 at 11:35 Bilbo says:
“But honestly, given MP2 killed everyone bar Max I not sure there’s a reason for me to get involved with this game.”
Odd.
11/05/2011 at 12:20 The Pink Ninja says:
MP1 created a bunch of characters, MP2 killed them off. I already feel like the whole thing is just done.
11/05/2011 at 12:54 DrGonzo says:
Max payne has cliches not characters. The original devs wanted to make a a sequel anyway, and mp2 had a very unsatisfactory ending, at least it was crying out for a follow up.
11/05/2011 at 13:13 Eddeman says:
—-SPOILER—- if you haven’t played it
Well there was two endings to it: Mona dies at the end, or you play on the hardest difficulty and she lives. Seems I actually had a single screenshot left from the game, and that was it. Clicky for Piccy
I guess they’re going with the one where she dies though, can’t have Max be happy I guess.
11/05/2011 at 14:10 LionsPhil says:
Given that a huge part of Max Payne’s appeal was the writing balancing on the knife-edge of affectionate noir parody while still being good noir, the change of writer is a very valid cause for concern.
11/05/2011 at 14:14 AndrewC says:
‘Still being good noir’ Ohh hahahahahaaaoooooooh
I don’t agree. Not that the ‘is Max Payne’s writing shit?’ arguments ever get anywhere, but i thought i’d throw my hat in the ring.
12/05/2011 at 20:38 apa says:
I hope they keep the writer and continue with the noir stuff. Remembering this one: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/05/10/eurogamer-retro-max-payne/
11/05/2011 at 11:22 TheApologist says:
It’s the sinewy arms that impressed me. Accurate sinew modelling is the future of shooters!
11/05/2011 at 11:29 Olivaw says:
Excitement! I will play the FUCK out of this game.
16/05/2011 at 21:23 DrazharLn says:
I didn’t even know there was any FUCK in this game to play out, or, indeed that FUCK was a thing that one could extract through play.
11/05/2011 at 11:30 Naseer says:
Sorry about trolling, but weren’t these screens released in the middle of april? I swear I’ve seen them all before.
11/05/2011 at 11:33 Bilbo says:
They were an EDGE exclusive, and only the least discerning and shit-faced sites stole them and put them up. I think they must be on general release now, hence the shiny RPS men have put them up.
11/05/2011 at 11:35 Naseer says:
Ah, right!
Totally forgot about that. Sowwy!
11/05/2011 at 11:36 Bilbo says:
Lol, nothing to apologise for. Knowing is half the battle and knowledge is power, etc
11/05/2011 at 12:07 Eclipse says:
is that… a cover system? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I want Max Payne damn it, not Kane & Lynch…
11/05/2011 at 12:15 Dominic White says:
Given that the entire point of the Max Payne series is replicating hollywood/john woo-style gunfights, having no way to utilize cover was a huge point against it.
11/05/2011 at 12:43 Teddy Leach says:
I will never understand what you people have against cover systems.
11/05/2011 at 13:44 Chizu says:
As long as I can transition from cover into slow-mo dives, I will be satisfied.
Playing the first 2 games for me was just pretty much a long sequence of dives.
Why run anywhere when you can diiiiiiive.
11/05/2011 at 13:59 poop says:
did either max payne games need a cover system? the great thing about the max payne games is that jumping sideways in slow motion gives you all the protection you need, not fucking playing whack-a-mole
I hope rockstar get this one
11/05/2011 at 15:49 Dominic White says:
Diving in slow-mo worked because you had a small invulnerability window, because you had no other defence against bullets. You couldn’t dodge them in realtime, and couldn’t really dodge in slow-mo too. The dynamic difficulty system (every enemy you kill raises difficulty, every time you die or quickload, it lowers) meant that if you survived a whole level without dying, enemies basically became instant death turrets on legs.
They were great games for their time, but if you look under the hood, they were kinda bodged together, design-wise.
12/05/2011 at 06:28 poop says:
cool job on figuring it out, now tell me how the game could possibly be improved with hte addition of a cover system
11/05/2011 at 12:13 Eggy says:
Not a graphics whore but good grieve some of these screen shots look like they’ve been taken from Max Payne 2. Texture quality is underwhelming to put it mildly.
11/05/2011 at 12:58 DrGonzo says:
They are somewhat below what I would expect of a new max payne. But I reckon comparing them to mp2 is a bit harsh.
11/05/2011 at 12:24 Sinkoristo says:
Oh great.. Cover system & a sunny Brazil..
So.. Did Rockstar even play the first 2 games?
11/05/2011 at 12:43 Teddy Leach says:
Considering they made them, yes.
11/05/2011 at 12:53 Sinkoristo says:
Nope.
Finnish Developer Remedy Entertainment made them (Alan Wake anyone?) and Rockstar was only the publisher.
11/05/2011 at 13:49 Springy says:
I’ve got the box to the first Max Payne right here, it’s got Gathering of Developers’ name on it as publisher, not Rockstar. So they didn’t even publish the first, how did they end up with such a lovely franchise in their grasp?
11/05/2011 at 12:26 Bodminzer says:
These look a lot more like a Max Payne game to me than anything I’ve seen so far, especially the 5th one. Wanna smash that marble.
11/05/2011 at 13:53 Chaz says:
Looks like it’ might have lost some of that cheap detective novel feel that characterised the first two games, though it’s hard to tell from just a bunch of screen shots, so I hope not.
11/05/2011 at 14:11 vash47 says:
Is that Charlie Sheen in the 4th picture?
11/05/2011 at 14:54 Gaytard Fondue says:
Winning!
11/05/2011 at 14:52 yrro says:
Upside down gun? Is firing your gun at a 90-degree rotation no longer cool/edgy enough?
11/05/2011 at 15:24 fallingmagpie says:
All the cool kids are rotating their guns 180 degrees nowadays. I blame the schools.
11/05/2011 at 15:40 HexagonalBolts says:
I actually think that would be really interesting if you had the option to carry two guns (presuming you can fire them separately) one with a silencer and one without to allow for a few silent kills and then to do some good ol’ fashion spraying if things go wrong or get messy.
11/05/2011 at 20:53 MythArcana says:
I think it’s safe to say that Mark Wahlberg probably won’t be playing this version, either.
11/05/2011 at 23:28 chickdigger802 says:
Would love a gameplay trailer…
Still I’d trade this for LA Noire on pc T_T