By Alec Meer on September 14th, 2011 at 5:00 pm.
How long we have waited for another date with a boy named Max. Hardly fair to call him a boy any more, of course – he’s thick of waist, hirsute of chin and, after a time, shaved of head. The New York City cop has moved to Brazil, times are hard and his body is soft. Of course, he still has his best friends by his side – his best friends being an assortment of military-grade weaponry.
This is Max Payne 3, and this is its first-ever trailer – composed entirely of in-engine footage, apparently.
Different, eh? The same in a way, but… different, definitely. Dark, yet also lighter than before. More like other action games in a way, but countering that with a highly unusual-looking and, hopefully, acting hero. I really don’t know what to make of it, yet, but while I can’t entirely find the iconic Payniness in there I am all for moving the setting and style on instead of repeating the past. Establishing that the game is the character rather than the film noire trappings – and that the character can change.
Man he looks fat, though.
It’s due March 2012. Here’s the official description.
Still haunted by the memories of his traumatic past, Max begins a new life working private security protecting a wealthy industrialist and his family in São Paulo, Brazil. When gangs target the family under his protection, Max is forced to fight to save his clients and clear his name, in a bid to, once and for all, rid himself of the demons that have tortured him for far too long.
Welcome back, old boy. But those demons? Yeah, they’re not going anywhere, are they? Not if you want another sequel and some DLC, anyway. Demons are your thing, Max.
14/09/2011 at 17:05 Teronfel says:
This is not a max payne game
14/09/2011 at 17:07 Unaco says:
Is it an M&S Max Payne game?
14/09/2011 at 17:10 ShineDog says:
A depressed man shoots lots of dudes in third person. Looks like a max payne game to me.
14/09/2011 at 17:17 RaytraceRat says:
I think its a game about Max & Payne. Max runs around shooting people, Payne sits in the corner and weeps.
14/09/2011 at 17:21 Kaira- says:
Payne tells bad jokes and tells how he can’t use that thing in that way, whereas Max will tell you to stop teasing Payne.
14/09/2011 at 18:25 Bilbo says:
because he’s had a haircut?
haircuts change a bit as tech evolves, anyway. Kleiner’s hair in HL2 is different – is HL2 not a half-life game?
they’ve made an effort to move the plot along – this is the third game, don’t forget, doing the whole “he wears a trenchcoat and lives in new york” thing again would’ve been incredibly tired and pedestrian. If you want the same thing over again, go scratch out the 2 on your Max Payne 2 box and write a 3 over it
14/09/2011 at 19:15 neoghoul says:
@Teronfel I’m trying not to be biased here, so I think , without the developers having published any further material, we should not draw a definate conclusion any time soon. Maybe it is going to be great; maybe it is going to suck big time.
I have the hope Rockstar-Games knows what they’re doing and what weight the name “May Pain” carries, not resting solely on the fact that it will sell regardless of what’s made of it.
Damn…have to re-play MP2…. why isn’t it already up on gog.com ? *writes recommending email*
14/09/2011 at 19:28 Teronfel says:
I’m not saying it won’t be a good game,it might be great but it has nothing to do with max payne other than the name.
14/09/2011 at 19:39 neoghoul says:
I hear you there still hoping it gonna feel “right”. Truthfully …judging from the released footage and screenshots , doubts are something that comes to mind all too easy.
14/09/2011 at 20:27 Text_Fish says:
My gut reaction when screenshots first started appearing was that it wasn’t a Max Payne game as well, but if you think about it the whole series has always been very story driven so it sort of makes sense to move the story forward by changing his life situation. So he shaves his head half way through? Big deal, he’s still got the same dry voice and gun-toting diving badassery going on. They haven’t redesigned the character, they’ve just advanced his story.
From a nostalgic point of view I suppose I’m a bit worried about the apparent lack of comic-strip style cutscenes, but ultimately the gameplay was the big success of the first two games and none of us are in a position to pass judgement on that aspect of the third installment yet.
15/09/2011 at 00:50 HeavyStorm says:
I’m not into drawing early conclusions… Bu then again, I’m:
- Max speaks with that voice, but just not like that. Max was almost a poet — a bad one, of course: “Outside, the city was a cruel monster. I’d been slowly working my way from small-time to the big fish, trying to get to the source of the drug (…)” … or… “It was colder than the Devil’s heart, raining ice pitchforks as if the Heavens were ready to fall. … or even … “My mind had never been so clar, as if somewhere high above the storm clouds were already gone, cold stars blazing from the black skies.
- Max was dark but not exactly depressed. Or maybe both depressed and dark.
- Shaven head isn’t a problem, although they will need to explain why. If it’s just to look more like Bruce Willis, wrong move.
- Where are the comics? I daresay they “streamlined it” and won’t have comics anymore. Hope not.
But, gameplay seems the same. Too bad Max wasn’t really about the gameplay itself (I could finish the game without using a single painkiller) but a mix of good elements: nice scenarios, good voice acting (albeit cliche).
15/09/2011 at 12:59 quadratica says:
No one really wants the same thing; at least no one I know. That’s the problem: This looks the same as everything else. The other two games were different.
15/09/2011 at 20:20 outoffeelinsobad says:
The news was too good to be true: Max Payne 3? Only the truly wretched would spit on such promise. I watched the new trailer with a sick grin on my face — like a dying hyena, I always get the last laugh.
(/noirvoice)
14/09/2011 at 17:06 ShineDog says:
Is that the same Max voice actor?
14/09/2011 at 17:15 djbriandamage says:
Sounds like him – inexplicably the only New Yorker without a New Yorker accent.
14/09/2011 at 17:44 Mechorpheus says:
That’s James Mccaffrey fact-fans.
So happy that he’s actually doing the voice. When the originally announced this game, saying he wasn’t doing it, I lost all interest in the project. Not a Max Payne game without his input imho.
14/09/2011 at 18:09 HermitUK says:
Yeah, Max’s original voice actor and the few bars of the original music were enough to intrigue me.
Plus, they didn’t reboot this as an FPS.
14/09/2011 at 18:43 pilouuuu says:
Wow great! I thought Marky Mark was going to do his voice!
14/09/2011 at 19:57 SyckniS says:
I agree also hearing the same voice and the old school music got my interest enough to give it a chance… Just hope bullet time is similar to MP2 that was just plain fun.
14/09/2011 at 20:11 Lambchops says:
Haha, I’m glad I wasn’t the only one suckered in by hearing the theme music again!
i guess it’s associated itself with happy gaming memories. The Max Payne games always slip my mind in discussion of my favourites then when someone else mentions them I remember just how much fun I had with them. Hopefully this will deliver more. If the humour and cinematic shoot outs are there then it’ll be on to a winner with me.
14/09/2011 at 22:18 LionsPhil says:
I dunno, I was disappointed to hear the classic theme with that setting. It was like a fish washed up on the beach, flopping about out of place, gasping. That violin motif worked great with brooding, dark city streets, but doesn’t fit all this sunshine.
15/09/2011 at 03:01 Adam says:
Awesome, Awesome< Awesome, just blew load.
14/09/2011 at 17:06 ArtyFishal says:
Very happy about the cello, narration, and voice actor. I hope they have the graphic novel animatics however.
14/09/2011 at 21:21 Electricleash says:
I agree the graphic novel element was a Max Payne essential, with the gameplay playing as though you were reading ‘between the panels’.
I think the noir winter setting, though fantastic, did not define Max Payne.
Broken down it is defined thusly:
1. Max Payne and his demons.
2. Narration Storytelling (including the voice).
3. The Graphic Novel Style.
4. The Guns and action.
5. Musical Leitmotif.
These 5 things have got to be there in their base form, but they must be evolved to avoid stagnation.
15/09/2011 at 07:35 heretic says:
The recycled the MP2 music, I’m pretty sure MP1 and MP2 had different musical scores.
I’m all for noir, but this game sounds like it had a tough development, so I the engine looks a bit dated.
Also, they’re ripping off Man on Fire story! (Which I approve of, mof so good!)
14/09/2011 at 17:07 deadly.by.design says:
They had a good start with the opening music, but after the video… the cello at the end seemed tacked on in a “No, this really IS a Max Payne game. We swear!” way.
It will be difficult to make it “feel” like a real Max Payne game with what’s going on, especially in that setting, but I’ll be keeping an eye on it.
14/09/2011 at 17:31 Felixader says:
I think it has more to do with the “Slow/calm slow/calm BAM BAM BAM Slow/calm slow/calm slow/calm” music rythm that dominates the trailers of late.
14/09/2011 at 17:07 Nero says:
I thought it was gonna be a fps.
14/09/2011 at 17:15 kikito says:
Yeah!
Another FPS is exactly what we need!
14/09/2011 at 17:08 Orija says:
This movie plot is so terribly cliche that… I don’t even know what to say about it. But, then again, Max Payne is a game.
14/09/2011 at 17:52 Masked Dave says:
To be fair, we don’t know what the plot is, just the setup.
14/09/2011 at 18:52 apa says:
Max Payne’s plot a cliche? I think it’s intentional :)
16/09/2011 at 05:59 passingstranger says:
Bear in mind that the Max Payne franchise has always had a degree of self-awareness. Its treatment of story tropes is usually done in a slightly post-modern way.
14/09/2011 at 17:11 Theory says:
That cello + Sunlight + Sau Paulo = cringe.
14/09/2011 at 22:14 Shooop says:
That’s the same music from the second game though… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omQ-7wZTXvI&hd=1
Sunlight though is a big departure. They need to use it sparingly.
14/09/2011 at 17:12 abigbat says:
*blah blah this looks different, fuck rockstar etc*
Actually looks very interesting. I’m glad they’re taking the series in a new direction, and it definitely hits the same tone set by the first two games. Very much looking forward to seeing more.
14/09/2011 at 19:54 DK says:
It hits absolutely none of the tone of the previous games. Max Payne IS noir – and the only thing Noir about this trailer (and, from what we know, the game) is the music. Music ripped wholesale out of Max Payne 2 with the express purpose of saying “look, this is max payne”.
A regenerating health, cover shooter in sunny Brazil does not a Max Payne 3 make.
14/09/2011 at 21:06 abigbat says:
What we’ve seen so far isn’t noir, that I’ll give you, but the tone and motivation of the character appears fairly unchanged. I also don’t believe for a second that the plot isn’t going to pull Max back to New York.
Most importantly this move seems like an unusually logical progression – after the stuff he’s been through it makes sense that he’d want to get out. So long as the character remains intact and the play mechanics remain smooth and intuitive I really don’t care where the action takes place.
15/09/2011 at 16:04 stampy says:
A despairing hero trudging through sleet in a dark, sprawling, empty city is a nice easy noire setup, but it isn’t the only way to do things — and really, it isn’t that dark. Put a man in a shitty, ugly environment, and maybe hes just having a shitty day. The sun will rise, perhaps spring will come, everything will be better.
If you can set the same level of despair bathed in sunlight, and among happy people, its deeper. Anyone can be gloomy when they are cold, wet, and alone; it takes a little more to be depressed in paradise.
It is more ambitious to set a dark game someplace bright, but if they succeed, it can run a lot deeper than just another “hey, this guy is sad, cause its winter and its dark out.”
14/09/2011 at 17:13 Demiath says:
Maxy Payne 3? This seems more like Kane & Lynch 3: We’re All Outta Kane…
14/09/2011 at 17:37 liquidsoap89 says:
I’m all for a Kane and Lynch done properly.
14/09/2011 at 18:48 DXN says:
Play Dog Days, then… :3
14/09/2011 at 17:13 Kaira- says:
I don’t know. It looks noir-ish, but there’s something nagging in the back, can’t really place my finger on it.
Plus, bald Max ain’t no Max to me, be it a man or a rabbit.
15/09/2011 at 08:17 12kill4 says:
Is it because it seems seconds away from becoming the film Man on Fire?
14/09/2011 at 17:13 mcnostril says:
The idea of a fat man doing slow motion acrobatics appeals to me.
14/09/2011 at 17:19 kikito says:
They have hired a Japanese computer genius to make Sam’s belly bounce realistically in slow-motion.
He’s just THE EXPERT in bouncing body parts.
14/09/2011 at 17:52 CaptainObvious says:
“Good day Mister Wong, you’ll be animating the belly of Max payne!”
“Oh! You mean the breast!”
“No Mister Wong, we are not doing a japanese game.”
14/09/2011 at 18:52 DXN says:
(Psst, Wong isn’t a Japanese name…)
14/09/2011 at 19:56 Hoaxfish says:
If that’s not wight, it’ll have to be wong
15/09/2011 at 15:03 BAshment says:
oh Dear.
14/09/2011 at 17:13 songloveseven says:
The cello doesn’t quite have the right impact when the backdrop is a sunny city.
But I’ll also admit, Max’s voice made me go weak at the knees… or it would have if I stood up when browsing the internet.
14/09/2011 at 17:16 djbriandamage says:
Please no cover system.
14/09/2011 at 17:24 ShineDog says:
Cover systems are fine, it’s cover systems combined with overly generous regenerating health and passive AI that makes no move to push forward or flank and is happy to sit back and exchange potshots with the guy who autoheals that cause a problem.
14/09/2011 at 17:26 Dominic White says:
People who don’t want a cover system in a Max Payne game have clearly never watched an action movie in their lives. The entire point of the series is to try and replicate Hollywood/Hong Kong style gunfights, and that involves people putting solid objects between them and bullets, hugging walls/corners and diving out during opportune moments.
14/09/2011 at 17:26 Eclipse says:
…i’m trying a way that doesn’t sound harsh but… I don’t know how to say it but dude…
ok, well. There will be a cover system.
14/09/2011 at 17:28 Eclipse says:
@Dominic People who want a cover system in a Max Payne has clearly never played the first two games.
Here’s why Max Payne was good and Kane & Lynch was not: K&L games had a cover system
14/09/2011 at 17:30 abigbat says:
yes, that’s clearly the only reason why the Kane and Lynch games weren’t great.
14/09/2011 at 17:30 Dominic White says:
The first two games were FULL of logical cover to crouch behind. Only problem was that because there was no cover system, 90% of the time, Max would crouch in such a way that left his head and shoulders open to being shot, while not being able to shoot over anything in return. It was stupid and unrealistic, and it basically made the entire game about slow-mo diving sideways while clicking on heads.
14/09/2011 at 17:38 Magnetude says:
What Dominic said, all of it. It’s a choice between Max pressing his back against a wall or Max pressing his face against a wall. You’re going to spend at least some of this game hiding behind things waiting for your health to recharge just like you did in the first 2 (painkillers weren’t instant), I’d rather that Max doesn’t look like a bumbling idiot while you’re doing that. Cover system makes total sense.
HOWEVER if the enemies spend the whole time hiding behind things I will be annoyed. The core of Max Payne gameplay, for me, is getting into the perfect position so your dive will allow you to pull off 4 headshots before you hit the floor. That’s difficult when people hide behind things like little babby men.
14/09/2011 at 17:47 Yzzerdd says:
The problem is with a cover system is that it’s often paired with it’s best friend regenerating health which usually makes any strategy that isn’t popping up killing dudes-duck down heal-repeat suicide, the trailer does have a healthy amount of Max walking forward shooting guys so at least it has that going for it.
14/09/2011 at 17:57 Ricc says:
“the entire game about slow-mo diving sideways while clicking on heads”
So, best game ever. :) This is what I want to do in a MP game all day.
14/09/2011 at 17:59 Magnetude says:
Red Dead Redemption (where’s that PC port you bastards) had bullet time and a cover system and regenerating health, but still managed to avoid whack-a-mole territory save for times when it made sense. I’m hoping they bring that same good level design and pacing to this effort too.
Thinking about RDR makes me think that this will work, basically. If you have the means to play it, I would highly recommend it.
14/09/2011 at 18:29 Jimbo says:
They do need a cover system, but they also need to arrange the game mechanics so that you are dissuaded from playing it like every other Stop ‘n Pop TPS. Max Payne should not be taking everybody out from behind cover.
Sitting in cover should gradually deplete your time slowing down potion for a start… then your health… then reboot your system.
14/09/2011 at 20:22 Lambchops says:
I concur with those that say cover system is find but needs to be twigged so that diving out of it and taking out 4 guys in one slow motion dive of awesomeness is strongly encouraged. I also really hope they keep the painkiller health system where you recover slowly when using them (hence not discouraging you from being stupid and keeping you on your toes) but need to press onwards to find more (hence stopping you from doing the health regen hiding and popping out nonsense). I’ve said in discussions about health systems before that this was a really nice halfway house between regenerating health and pickups and it’s a shame that more developers didn’t follow its lead and I stand by that now.
14/09/2011 at 20:48 Fumarole says:
Anyone who played Max Payne by hiding behind furniture instead of filling the air with lead while flinging their body around liked a crazed Chinese acrobat played it wrong.
14/09/2011 at 20:58 djbriandamage says:
Your name is Max Payne. You can slow down time and eat lots of drugs to heal the Max Payne you endure.
The cover in the original games was perfect because it was optional and organic and you didn’t snap to it with the press of a button. If it’s solid you hide behind it, but none of this room with a maze of waist-high barriers bullshit.
If this sequel does indeed have a snap-to cover system I’ll be referring to this title as Max Priss.
14/09/2011 at 17:16 Yzzerdd says:
I like that once Max shaves his head nothing that follows even resembles Max Payne and is barely distinguishable from any shooter released since 2007. :(
14/09/2011 at 17:21 Magnetude says:
That trailer was wall-to-wall cinematics. Those shooters you’re thinking of, those were movies. That’s why they seemed so short.
14/09/2011 at 17:24 Unaco says:
What? You mean him taking on a private army almost single handedly, with an assortment of guns and other weapons in a cinematic, stylish, 3rd person perspective doesn’t resemble Max Payne?
What does in your opinion?
14/09/2011 at 17:34 Yzzerdd says:
Bullet time and diving are what define it more now since everything else about it describes every shooter on the market, other than a brief glimpse of Max diving there is nothing in the trailer that sets it apart from Uncharted. Max Payne was a pretty groundbreaking game for it’s time and it’s tone was pretty unique and still is for a video game, I don’t see that in 3 at all but I’d love to be proved wrong though.
14/09/2011 at 17:42 Magnetude says:
Edit: Ah, never mind.
14/09/2011 at 17:45 Unaco says:
Yeah… Totally. They’ve left out everything that made Max Payne, and we can all tell that from ~25 seconds of heavily edited, cinematics footage… even though it did have some diving, and some bulleto-vision.
Or, could be as Magnetdude says, and it’s because it’s all cinematic.
14/09/2011 at 17:55 Yzzerdd says:
It’s not like the game was revealed today, they have been talking about the tone and mechanics since 2009, the trailer is pretty much everything they have said so far about it. I don’t expect the game to pull a Halo 2 and be like “actually this what the game really is”
14/09/2011 at 20:00 Hoaxfish says:
Why did he even shave his head?
’cause he just seems to have been happy shooting people with a full head of hair in the first two, and it’s not like he’s going undercover since he’s shooting guns all over the place.
It just stands out as a kinda F-U to the look of the previous games. A sort of “this isn’t your mummy’s Max Payne” nonsense.
15/09/2011 at 15:06 BAshment says:
am I mixing up max payne with a point and click detective game?
15/09/2011 at 18:16 arccos says:
Why did he shave his head?
Lice.
Max always has the shittiest of shitty days.
14/09/2011 at 17:16 purdz says:
Whatever… Im excited for this! ive got a feeling we are just seeing the beginning of this game. its gonna descend into tropical storm mode and the noir feel will return!
14/09/2011 at 17:17 Hardtarget says:
so happy they kept the max payne music
14/09/2011 at 17:21 kikito says:
You will not be so happy when they release the copacabana version. With whistles and maracas.
14/09/2011 at 19:49 Monkey says:
or when they say its not being released on PC
14/09/2011 at 20:41 Hardtarget says:
eh i’ll still be happy about it and listen to Copacabana while playing it on the 360
15/09/2011 at 01:21 Lugg says:
Oh I would so dance to THAT tune!
15/09/2011 at 02:58 disperse says:
@kikito
Actually, the new soundtrack is about 95% vuvuzela.
14/09/2011 at 17:17 Sp4rkR4t says:
Yeah it’s different but the tone feels right, guess we will have to wait and see.
14/09/2011 at 17:22 Fazer says:
It’s Jimmy Raynor! Who transforms into Bruce Willis! It’s Jimmy Willis!
14/09/2011 at 17:23 Eclipse says:
It’s like Max Payne had sex with Lynch from Kane & Lynch and that guy is their son :|
14/09/2011 at 17:24 raggamofyn says:
Oh god, it looks like a new Kane and Lynch game.
I wonder where all that money’s going. It looks pretty, but, from this trailer at least, everything besides the graphics seems two-dimensional, if you know what I mean.
14/09/2011 at 17:40 liquidsoap89 says:
Yea I doubt it will be in 3D too.
14/09/2011 at 17:25 AMonkey says:
Looks pretty awesome but is it Max Payne?
14/09/2011 at 17:28 RyuRanX says:
This is not Max Payne +1
14/09/2011 at 17:54 Masked Dave says:
No, it’s Max Payne + 2
14/09/2011 at 17:56 Magnetude says:
Haha, excellent work sir!
14/09/2011 at 17:30 fallingmagpie says:
I live in Sao Paulo, and I can tell you that trailer was an accurate depiction of everyday life.
14/09/2011 at 17:42 deadpan says:
Must be a tough commute with all the fat guys talking to themselves while their personal cello players trail behind them.
14/09/2011 at 17:33 sakmidrai says:
The main theme was a low blow. The actor is good as always. I didnt like anything else.
For 10 euros maybe I’ll buy it. I hope it’ll be a good shooter but thats all.
14/09/2011 at 17:33 coldvvvave says:
Oh my god, another classic RTS is being rebooted as an FPS!
14/09/2011 at 17:34 ZIGS says:
Max & Payne: Dead Franchise
14/09/2011 at 17:37 Yzzerdd says:
Max Payne 4:The rise of Max Payne’s hair
Powered by SpeedHair tech
14/09/2011 at 17:38 Dervish says:
Pretty sick of people “directing” in-engine cutscenes without an ounce of style. The preview pic is the only shot that’s passable; everything else is so damn boring and flat.
14/09/2011 at 17:40 Olivaw says:
Looking at the last few games Rockstar has put out, I’m willing to bet they can craft a compelling neo-noir without resorting to base trappings like trenchcoats and rain and ludicrous narration.
But I kinda liked the ludicrous narration, so I hope there will be a little of that.
Not concerned about the gameplay at all, it’s shooting dudes in slow motion, it is quite literally impossible for an outfit like Rockstar to fuck that up.
14/09/2011 at 20:49 Abundant_Suede says:
Yeah, it’s really odd to me that the majority of complaints seem to be stemming from doubts Rockstar will put together a suitable experience from a story/tone/character perspective. That’s not exactly their weak point. The last two RS games I played (RDR,GT4) had good stories with well rendered, human characters and pitch perfect ambiance. Their ability to deliver a sophisticated and mature cinematic story experience doesn’t seem to be in question.
If anything, I would be concerned about their ability to make a satisfying pure shooter. Their games have always hung their hat on the open world and atmosphere, and I’ve never really felt great about their games solely on the action gameplay.
14/09/2011 at 17:41 jonfitt says:
As long as I can slo-mo dive sideways while lining up impossibly perfect shots, it’ll be good.
14/09/2011 at 17:45 Doesntmeananything says:
I feel that without Sam Lake the game loses a lot of things which made previous titles unique and interesting. Even this short trailer shows it quite prominently. Sure, they may have fun shooting mechanics in there, but MP1-2 were more than just that and that’s why they were great.
14/09/2011 at 17:45 Tyrone Slothrop. says:
Cue: Film noir-inspired projects can only take place in New York and only at night.
14/09/2011 at 17:55 Masked Dave says:
Casablanca
14/09/2011 at 17:57 Khemm says:
I think that’s the biggest problem with this game – where the hell is that noir vibe we knew and loved so much?
Instead, we have sun and yo-baby-yo gangsters. Wtf…
14/09/2011 at 18:02 Magnetude says:
Yeah what the fuck is this, it’s like I’m watching Chinatown or Brick or Casablanca or something.
14/09/2011 at 20:04 Hoaxfish says:
pretty sure non-NY USA cities feature quite a bit in Film Noir. Chicago seems to be the one I always think of, and Blade Runner (sci-finoir really) is Los Angeles.
14/09/2011 at 17:46 magnus says:
So he’s now so desperate for company he snogs his own wrist?
14/09/2011 at 17:48 DoctorBrain says:
Let’s get this out of the way right now:
The balding-with-beard look didn’t do well for Sam Fisher, and it sure as hell isn’t doing well for Max Payne.
14/09/2011 at 17:56 Masked Dave says:
He’s meant to look like a bag of shit though. At least this time it doesn’t look like he’s holding it in.
14/09/2011 at 18:00 Dervish says:
What annoys me is that he looks like a carefully-constructed-for-maximum-gruffness bag of shit. The Kane and Lynch games may be bad, but I thought the designers did a good job making those guys look naturally ugly in a way that gives them some character.
14/09/2011 at 18:07 Masked Dave says:
He’s the first action hero I’ve seen with a beer belly, which is pretty awesome I think.
14/09/2011 at 19:51 DoctorBrain says:
Tend to agree with Dervish on this one. Kane & Lynch were two incredibly well-designed characters. It still amazes me how completely they were able to screw those games up.
I also think it’s entirely possible to look like a down-and-out alcoholic and/or pill-addicted ex-cop without looking like a homeless man.
14/09/2011 at 17:49 Lagwolf says:
Its Burn Payne… the devs have been watching too much Burn Notice. Payne in Sao Paulo with sun? Ugh, isn’t New York interesting enough for them? Are they saying NYC is no longer gritty enough Payne?
14/09/2011 at 17:50 Walsh says:
This looks great and you can do noir anywhere in the world, it’s not exclusive to NYC.
14/09/2011 at 17:51 WebFusion says:
Console ported shovelware.
Next.
14/09/2011 at 17:54 Walsh says:
What’s next?
14/09/2011 at 18:24 molten_tofu says:
A deep pit filled with XBOX discs of COD:BLOPS sharpened to pointy points while EA and Activision take turns kicking the entire PC community off the edge shouting “THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAAAAAA”.
Obviously.
14/09/2011 at 17:53 Khemm says:
My thoughts after watching this video:
“What a great trailer to Grand Theft Auto: Sao Paulo.”
Why does it say Max Payne in the title again?…
14/09/2011 at 17:56 Christian O. says:
Why bother with the old film noir theme music, when the game isn’t film noir?
14/09/2011 at 17:59 Masked Dave says:
Film Noir does not mean “black and white”.
Considering we know very little about the actual content of the game other than it will feature massive gun fights (which have never been a film noir trope I’m aware of but are certainly part of Max Payne) his voice over is the only thing we’ve got to go on, and that screams Noir.
14/09/2011 at 18:20 molten_tofu says:
Yes, plenty of classic noire takes place on the west coast of the US – a notoriously sunny locale.
14/09/2011 at 20:28 Vandelay says:
Me thinks many people on here don’t really know what noir is. Do they really not see the preview image of that video as having a noir style?
14/09/2011 at 20:47 Christian O. says:
The trailer is really not being billed as a film noir. I understand that film noirs can happen during the day in hot places, Welles’ Touch of Evil is an example of this, but the focus on the action and the fact that the protagonist is in a place, he’s completely unfamiliar with is unlike any film noir I have ever seen. It strikes me as more of a modern action thriller than a film noir.
All this aside, the music still seems out of place.
14/09/2011 at 17:56 Koozer says:
I can’t believe people are being so negative and not seeing the positive:
Hirsute is a great word!
14/09/2011 at 18:00 Drake Sigar says:
At least now if there’s another movie they can get Bruce Willis to play Payne.
14/09/2011 at 18:04 Spindrift says:
Wait, the third installation of a long-dormant PC game franchise, and our hero is no longer a cop (or a counter-terrorist or something) but an agent of a private security firm? And there’s a lot of amber lighting everywhere? This all sounds quite familiar…
15/09/2011 at 00:11 MisterT says:
my beer belly is augmented.
14/09/2011 at 18:04 Kieron Gillen says:
This is basically what it was like when I first shaved my head.
KG
14/09/2011 at 18:09 Masked Dave says:
Your bosses daughter was kidnapped and you had to go on an action filled killing spree to rescue her?
Wow, bet that made you wish you’d never gone for the razor, eh?
14/09/2011 at 18:15 Unaco says:
What? A great number of people thought you weren’t the real Kieron Gillen? That you had become ‘generic’ and just like ‘every other games journalist’? Did they claim that you were like another, bald, shite journalist who also had a shaved head? You both have shaved heads, you must be the same, right? Did they feel that they could judge everything about you from reading 1 and a half sentences you’d written and that blurry, low-res byline photo you had? Did they think that, by keeping the name ‘Kieron Gillen’ despite not being the ‘same’ Kieron Gillen they had read previously that you were somehow insulting, offending and trying to molest them?
You should probably have worn a hat.
U
14/09/2011 at 18:15 Kieron Gillen says:
Unaco: Yes, exactly like that.
I should have worn a hat. :(
KG
14/09/2011 at 18:34 Greg Wild says:
Everyone should wear a hat.
14/09/2011 at 20:07 Hoaxfish says:
Or by proxy, play TF2
14/09/2011 at 20:27 Lambchops says:
Nice work Unaco, I almost spat out my beer while trying to avoid giggling!
14/09/2011 at 18:05 gulag says:
Kane & Lynch Payne 3
14/09/2011 at 21:02 Kadayi says:
Pretty much tbh. The game engine definitely had that crisp K&L Dog days vibe to it for sure. Way too early to call it with respect to this one. Albeit I wasn’t blown away by GTA IV, I though R* redeemed themselves with ToLC so I’m interested to see where they take this tbh.
14/09/2011 at 18:07 TT says:
It looks like the last Fast&Furios movie..Brazil + fat bald guy …. shitty flick
14/09/2011 at 18:11 Stevostin says:
Where is Sam ?
14/09/2011 at 18:17 Rhygadon says:
What puzzles me is the gradual loss of the character’s distinctive appearance. Max 1 had a very distinctive hairstyle and face which fit plausibly with his miserable life (i.e. he apparently used hair gel as a substitute for bathing, and always looked like he’d just bitten into a sour plum). Max 2 looked like some generic dude. Max 3 looks like that generic dude trying to disguise himself as some other generic dude.
If you saw Max 1′s face on a T-shirt, you’d immediately recognize him (if you’ve played the game). Not so for Maxes 2 and 3. This seems like an odd sort of unforced error.
14/09/2011 at 20:03 fuggles says:
To be fair, Max1 was one of the development team acting as a place holder which stuck.
14/09/2011 at 21:50 kikito says:
Well, Super Mario was a moustached plumber because Miyamoto didn’t have enough pixels to do anything else.
Max1 was better.
14/09/2011 at 18:18 molten_tofu says:
No pump action, no sale. Also, note the complete lack of sunny weather in the clip, except for the opening scene where it’s hazy w/billowing smokestacks.
14/09/2011 at 18:19 Nova says:
Hmm. I liked about Max Payne that it was noir without Max smoking and/or hanging on the bottle not to mention the couch potato look.
14/09/2011 at 18:21 Chizu says:
+ The musics back
+ The voice is back
- Total lack of similies in that trailer.
- Trailer seems more like Man on Fire: The videogame from its plot set up.
14/09/2011 at 18:23 HexagonalBolts says:
he’s still skinnier than me, and i’m a superhero, so he will pass.
14/09/2011 at 18:28 JKjoker says:
err, did i just watch the 2004 Man on Fire trailer with cgi ?
14/09/2011 at 18:34 Irony says:
You mean this isn’t Man on Fire?
14/09/2011 at 20:08 Hoaxfish says:
someone’s pants are on fire
14/09/2011 at 20:27 ix says:
I’m not the only one who noticed. I guess they ran out of money for a real plot? (Man on Fire btw, not a great masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination)
14/09/2011 at 18:32 kyrieee says:
Why can’t anything be left alone? Why can’t they make a new action game in the spirit of Max Payne instead of dragging out this story even more?
I think the premise is dumb, it doesn’t fit his character. Private security in one of the most violent cities on earth? Max wasn’t a character who got into trouble for money, he was a tragic victim of circumstance and went on a fucking revenged fueled killing spree while high on painkillers. He’s not an action hero, can’t he just be left alone?
also: I’m not saying Sao Paulo is a warzone shithole, I’ve been there and it’s an alright city, but the favelas are messed up.
14/09/2011 at 18:51 Abundant_Suede says:
Where does a character go after a drugged up killing spree of vengeance and despair? Do they manage a sub shop? Is it back to life as normal? Or do you think they probably have some issues as a result? Maybe Max is looking to die, and goes where life is cheap so he can be left alone and get away from his old life. Maybe he stares down the barrel of a gun in his own hand every night. To me, that kind of character development is much more interesting that seeing the exact same guy, do the exact same thing, over and over, like so many action game heroes. It would make Max more human than most.
I have no idea how the game will be, but I do like the fact the character shows signs of development and the passage of time. It’s refreshing in the face of the expectation of putting characters in a bottle where they never change, never grow up or old, and the events they’ve been through never leave a mark. Even digital action heroes can age.
One thing I liked about the Mad Max franchise, is the we see the character grow older, change, and actually keep the scars and injuries he earns along the way.
14/09/2011 at 19:28 kyrieee says:
He’s not Rambo, who gets so screwed up that he doesn’t know how to do anything but kill people so that’s what he falls back on. He goes undercover three years after his wife dies before shooting up NY, it’s not like a regular thing for him to do. Would Max continue to be screwed up after MP2? Probably, but I don’t think he would seek out trouble. Again, he’s not an action hero and for every time they put him in another game where he kills a thousand people it just becomes siller.
Bottom line is I don’t think he’s a character you can reuse again and again, I think it’s a character you use to tell a story and then leave it the fuck be.
14/09/2011 at 19:41 Doesntmeananything says:
@ kyrieee
I agree. Especially judging by how the MP2 ended. You complete the game and you get the first ending which is itself a fairly good stop for the series, but then you may get that other ending which is just great conclusion. For some reason I’m avoiding spoilers.
This, however, does seem very unneeded.
14/09/2011 at 18:32 Sauceror says:
To me Max Payne always was Dirty Harry on really depressing drugs, this doesn’t look like depressed Dirty Harry at all.. all the colour.. it’s hideous! First the movie, now this.. Jesus!
14/09/2011 at 18:46 sigma83 says:
Come crawling back to the PC have we Rockstar?
We do not forget.
14/09/2011 at 18:56 vash47 says:
This looks like K&L with the Max Payne theme and terrible graphics.
14/09/2011 at 19:06 kuran says:
They don’t get it?
14/09/2011 at 19:15 coldvvvave says:
You do?
14/09/2011 at 19:37 kuran says:
I get that crazy bloom, lack of comic panels, dire writing and a scenario straight out of call of duty does not belong in a Max Payne game.
14/09/2011 at 19:34 Gabbo says:
It sounds like Max Payne, but I’m not seeing any comic panel cut scenes. We’ll see.
14/09/2011 at 19:47 BeamSplashX says:
I didn’t mind his look until he shaved his head. I really don’t see what motivated that.
“Our daughter has been kidnapped!”
“Alright, get me a gun and a ri-”
“NO! First you must shave your head!”
Reminds me of this for some reason.
14/09/2011 at 20:23 Masked Dave says:
Of course you don’t understand his motivation. All you’ve seen is a trailer, you haven’t played the actual game yet!
15/09/2011 at 11:16 Zyrocz says:
It’s probably way more comfortable running around with no hair than a lot of hair.
14/09/2011 at 20:13 Stardog says:
Why not call it something else if this clearly isn’t Max Payne? They made the same mistake with the 2nd game and that sold like shit.
MP should be more like Neo from the first Matrix — an athletic build. Not fat with larger muscles.
14/09/2011 at 20:21 Iskariot says:
I looks like an interesting game to me. I like the dark atmosphere.
I’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.
I hope there is enough of a game there to make me want to buy it.
A 4 to 6 hour game won’t do.
14/09/2011 at 20:28 Phasma Felis says:
You know, it’s kind of tiresome that so many people think “noir” means “everything happens at night, in the rain.”
Noir fiction is about an attitude, hardboiled, cynical, fatalistic. Maybe it takes less effort to convey that in the dark, but it’s not destroyed by the sun like some kind of vampire.
14/09/2011 at 20:46 Vandelay says:
The visual style is usually a contrast between the light and darkness, so some light enhances a noir feel. Venetian blinds and shadows obscuring characters are pretty much a cliche of the genre and all present in the above trailer, albeit, only really in one particular sequence.
Edit: That’s not to say I don’t think you are right about the attitude thing. Film Noir is definitely more than/not a visual style.
14/09/2011 at 21:17 Murmur says:
With that voice and the things that he says… Max Payne could be running across a rainbow shooting unicorns with a squirt gun and still manage to retain at least some of that noir feel. Replace the rainbow with a run down city and the unicorns with an army of scumbags and hey, who knows? Might be okay.
14/09/2011 at 21:50 Zanchito says:
Sorry, not feeling the cello music with those images. :(
Max Payne is all about the over the top noir, that is just GTA:Rio or whatever.
14/09/2011 at 22:01 Zealuu says:
The cello theme set against a backdrop of brightly lit favela-pseudostructures felt jarringly out of place. Not sure what I expected – it’s not even the lack of snow or rain that does it, I think it might be how MP1/2 were so visually concentrated on dank, post-industrial north American urban sprawl. Or maybe I’m just weird.
Either way, the theme didn’t spell instant reassurance for my part.
14/09/2011 at 22:02 Navagon says:
Despite all the bitching here, this footage looks a hell of a lot better than what we’ve seen before now. I’m not saying it’s going to be a good sequel. It’s clearly lacking in the noir atmosphere, to put it mildly. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t take the series in a somewhat new direction without killing all that made the first two games work so well.
If we’re honest, would we really want another Max Payne shooting up New York? I welcome the change of scenery so long as it’s not just part and parcel of some kind of design by committee reboot of the franchise.
14/09/2011 at 22:12 Shooop says:
I saw diving and shooting, and a lack of hiding behind chest-high walls. So there’s a chance this will be a Max Payne game.
Time will tell, but not a disaster right out of the gate at least. But still, multiplayer? What for? Really, you baffle me Rockstar.
15/09/2011 at 01:34 Inarborat says:
Because GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption’s multiplayer is very popular? Hell, Rockstar is putting out some free content for RDR mp very soon.
Everyone who says this isn’t a Max Payne game needs to have their head examined or at least post some valid complaints besides “it’s not dark enough!” or “only NYC is real!” Bah.
14/09/2011 at 22:31 Davie says:
I just had to hear the “Waah wah wah WAAAAH wah wah wah waaah wah” and I was happy.
14/09/2011 at 22:48 Strangineer says:
That cello melody should have been played on a more brazilian instrument I think.
14/09/2011 at 22:56 Fox89 says:
I just want the writing to be hammy like in the original. 2 didn’t have nearly enough stupid metaphors. That’s my only worry for this game. For the rest of it: Rockstar are geniuses. They may not do something that suits everyone’s tastes but I’ll be damned if they don’t make a great game.
So now the waiting begins anew. Expectation hanging in the air like the spent casing of a shot fired in slow-motion.
14/09/2011 at 23:23 Lambchops says:
Not enough stupid metaphors? But it had Dick Justice!
14/09/2011 at 22:59 Grobmotoriker says:
Coming home from work and see whats happening to my favourite game makes me really sad and I think I have to puke right now, drink some beers and then do the liquid laughter again
15/09/2011 at 00:09 Bhazor says:
Warning! Warning!… Bald men running the world… a new age!
15/09/2011 at 00:20 michaelar says:
I was wondering why the (non-Max) faces looked so horribly corpse-like. Then I remembered where I saw that level of ghastliness before — GTA 4. Do you think they’re just recycling that engine for this? I thought it was an independent developer? Edit: Oops, looks like it’s not Remedy anymore. Rats.
15/09/2011 at 01:04 theSeekerr says:
Please please please make some nicer character models for PC….this trailer feels jarringly like 2007.
15/09/2011 at 02:38 Papageno says:
I didn’t see any actual bullet time in that trailer. Did anyone else?
15/09/2011 at 03:41 Muzman says:
47 seconds
1minute 5 seconds
1minute 13 seconds
1minute 16 seconds
15/09/2011 at 03:04 Stick says:
I’ve never seen the MP games as “noir”. They’re clearly absurd postmodernist comedy noir pastische. Or something. With Hong Kong gun-fu thrown in. Yeah, in one way mechanics define the game. In another way, it is defined by the totality of its voice.
And Sam Lake didn’t write MP3, did he?
So, hey, I guess I found my personal definition of a Max Payne game.
15/09/2011 at 03:32 raptormesh says:
The first thing that pops into mind when I saw this is Breaking Bad…and I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.
15/09/2011 at 03:41 Grape Flavor says:
If they make a game exactly like Max Payne 1+2:
RECYCLED, NO INNOVATION CASH IN QUICK + DIRTY SEQUEL WAHHHHHHHH
If they change it up a bit:
IT”S NOT MAX PAYNE WAAAAAH WHY CALL IT MAX PAYNE ITS NOT MAX PAYNE WAAAHHHH
If they make a “spiritual successor”:
WAAAAH CHEAP RIP OFF TRYING TO BE MAX PAYNE WAAAHHHHH
Just another day at RPS.
15/09/2011 at 15:59 Unaco says:
Indeed. I don’t think Game devs can really win these days. People just seem to find something, anything, that they can rage and hate at.
15/09/2011 at 04:57 notenome says:
Created a profile on RPS just for this.
I love the Max Payne franchise and don’t particularly mind anything in the trailer (really, saying you’re not buying a game based on 1:30 of footage is, well, dramatic). Except for one thing: I kind of get turned off by any game that consists of shooting a bunch of adolescents who, by virtue of class, have an income ceiling of 300 dollars a month.
The average life span of Brazilian gang members doesn’t go much past twenty. Only very few make it to thirty. The vast majority start as look outs and runners before the age of ten. So yeah, Max Payne defending the (white) captain of industry in one of the most unequal countries (and cities) in the world by gunning down hundreds of teenagers is… rough. Though I like Rock Star, I greatly fear a caricature portrayal of an extremely complex situation. For example, at the thirty second mark the gangsters are listening to rap. This is telling as the Brasilian rap movement (Gog, Mano Brown, Dexter) is a political movement, with a very strong anti drug, anti gang, anti corporate, anti mass media stance. Dexter, for example, insists on having a debate regarding crack and gang violence before every show.
This could be a truly fantastic game if it attempted to tackle the complexity of urban violence maturely. But unfortunately the record of triple AAA action games when dealing with nuanced subject matter is less than inspiring
15/09/2011 at 07:13 Bhazor says:
Bu…but… they’re black and like guns. What would they listen to if not rap?
15/09/2011 at 09:22 Spindrift says:
That’s an interesting perspective, and one that I wasn’t aware of. And now that I am it’s pretty disheartening.
Still, thanks for bringing it up.
15/09/2011 at 07:10 drcancerman says:
is that max payne or is some dude shooting people in a violent city borrowing the name max payne?
15/09/2011 at 07:34 skyturnedred says:
The only thing that worries me is that Rockstar has never made a decent shooter. The story-telling will no doubt be at least decent.
15/09/2011 at 07:54 aerozol says:
Waaaaahh
That’s not me making fun of the people making that noise, that’s what I’m doing. SORRY if my sense of attachment to the first two games offends you. Nahh, not sorry at all.
I’ll give it a chance, but it needs to fucking RAIN, often. That shit is not optional.
…Waaaaahhh
15/09/2011 at 10:10 c-Row says:
Shaven head is probably just a marketing decision. Watch out for the Gamestop exclusive Hats & Wigs DLC.
15/09/2011 at 11:57 Gaytard Fondue says:
This is BS, no one in Brazil speaks English.
15/09/2011 at 11:58 bill says:
Cello (good) -> Film-noirish Max-ish voiceover (good) -> shaves head (er ok) -> clips of CoD or any other FPS from the last years (why are these in my max payne trailer?) -> cello (now it just feels like they’re winding us up).
15/09/2011 at 12:26 Joc says:
Max Payne, starring John McClane?
15/09/2011 at 14:08 WJonathan says:
“Still haunted by the indigestion of his last Chinese buffet, Max begins a new binge sampling Latin American food in São Paulo, Brazil. When salmonella targets the lower intestine under his colon, Max is forced into antacid addiction to save his 20-year no-vomit streak and clear his bowels, in a bid to, once and for all, rid himself of the tainted chimichangas that have tortured him since Saturday night.”
16/09/2011 at 11:50 adonf says:
Yes, but will it have infinite demons?