Max Payne 3's Multiplayer Explained

Want you to know about the multiplayer contents of Max Payne 3? Oh, what's wrong with you? And them? Max Payne shouldn't be multiplayer! There's him versus the world! And I'm him! But shush John, this is Rockstar, and they don't exactly rush into multiplayer do they? No, I suppose not. So are you going to actually find out what it is before making a big fuss? Oh, okay then. Good.

Rockstar are calling it "narrative-based multiplayer" apparently, which according to IGN involves the gangs you'll meet as you play. There's a mode called Gang Wars, in fact. So you're playing the gangs. And not Max Payne. Which, well, I dunno.

But it's an interesting mode. During the first round, apparently you could be fighting to collect bags of cash and get them to your base. But come the second round, it'll base itself on how the first round went down, create its own little story. An example given is the first round's strongest player may get a bounty put on his head,

or similar new tasks based on which side did what previously. Rockstar's multiplayer lead designer, Charlie Bewsher, told IGN that this is to "highlight the dramas that happen".

Multiplayer games will also include "Bursts", which are based on XP gathering, which act as bonuses. So alongside bullet-time, you've got Paranoia, which causes the other team to see their teammates as enemies (which sounds awesome), Sneaky that makes you appear to be a member of the opposite team, and how does bullet-time work in MP? Your opponent, when in your line of sight, gets slowed down too. Canny.

You can read lots more detail in the IGN article. The game is currently scheduled for March next year.