Of Jumping And Guns: Rockstar Outlines Max Payne DLC

Yes, there are multiple implications in that headline. You may read into them how ever you please. See, if you take a moment to consider the current state of your life and the world around you, you'll probably come to a shocking realization: Max Payne 3's gun-calloused caress has yet to gleefully clasp hands with your itchy trigger finger. You are painfully aware of your Payne-less-ness. And yet, Rockstar's already seen fit to announce multiplayer DLC. For basically the entire year. Beginning with the Local Justice map pack in June, bullet-time (and, you know, bullets) will fly with seven packs in possibly less than as many months.

Summer will bring the Disorganized Crime map pack, Deathmatch Made In Heaven mode pack, Hostage Negotiation map Pack, and the New York Minute co-op pack. Fall, meanwhile, will see two more map packs in the form of Painful Memories and Trickle Down Economics. June's Local Justice pack, meanwhile, has already been detailed. It'll apparently include "the Police Precinct map for Gang Wars, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Payne Killer multiplayer modes" and "two additional maps for Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Payne Killer, new precinct-themed multiplayer avatar items, multiplayer challenges, and more."

You can pick and choose from this bountiful bullet buffet, or you can grab a Rockstar Pass for $29.99/£19.99 and get all seven at a roughly 35 percent discount. Oddly, Rockstar hasn't released an official number for one-at-a-time purchases yet. Regardless, this seems like a weird midpoint between Call of Duty's (still non-existent on PC) Elite service, regular map packs, and pre-orders, except for DLC. It reeks of used-game-sale deterrent, which - of course - doesn't really apply to PC gamers. The end result, though, is wonderfully convoluted, which doesn't strike me as particularly in line with Max Payne's quick, visceral thrill appeal.

Also, Rockstar really, really seems to be banking on multiplayer here - which, of course, scrunches more than a few faces into painful-looking perma-grimaces given Max Payne's solely single-player lineage. I mean, the trailers look kind of interesting, but bullet time and other "bursts" could easily end up being gimmicky or even frustrating, so the jury's still out. I'll definitely give multiplayer a go, but I've yet to see anything it offers that could pull me away from, say, Tribes. How about you? Is this a thing you could see yourself pouring boatloads of time and money into?