Max Payne 3 - Page 2

The lack of imagination here is almost deafening.

I don't think that really applies - the transition between GTA 3 and Vice City and San Andreas was fairly smooth. Each game expanded on what the previous games established, as well as remain faithful to it's own continuity. Max Payne 2 was a natural progression from Max Payne, just like all the Splinter Cell games fit together, but Max Payne 3 doesn't seem to fit at all with what came before.

It's probably going to be a good game in it's own right, but the fan base is bound to be let down by this.

Well, it really is a departure. But I can definitely see how this could be an interesting new step. As long as it doesn't turn into a crummy sandbox game and keeps the over-the-top story, I think there could be some interesting stuff to be had.

The truth is though, while fun I was usually laughing AT the first two games, not WITH. Given the skinny nerdy guy who was the model for the comic segments in the first one and the fact that I played the worst possible version of the second one (PS2 port = garbage), I don't know what they need to do here except make sure they go over the top. Those screenshots kind of hint that they have.

As long as it's not like Army of Two: The 40th Day is looking where they strip some of the outlandish personality that made the game fun and instead go for a more serious or reasonable story I'm up for whatever. Bullet Time has been done to death at this point so let's see how they spice it up. I'm not necessarily going to buy the game but I'm not going to begrudge their mixing it up a bit. Same with getting mad about the voice actor replacement, until we hear some dialog from the new guy there's no point.

Max Payne 2 was Max Payne: Again. Making a 3rd gritty winter NY game would be too much the same again. Sending him down to South America and trying to have him drink away his past is a great first step in growing the character a bit.

Still missing the point there, Hamstray.

Play San Andreas past the Green Sabre mission.

I did, I just don't see the huge departure within that game. The game remains the same from beginning to end, the environments just change which is just a bigger version of moving islands in the previous games.

Look at the screens, does this make you think of Max Payne at all in anyway?

As for a sequel, the whole point of the end of Max Payne 2 was that Max Payne forgave himself for the murders and was able to move on.

"I had a dream of my wife. She was dead. But it was all right."

This is pretty much why I'm opposed to a Max Payne sequel, Remedy or no Remedy. The second game wrapped everything up beautifully. Max was still relatively miserable, but he's come to accept the worst of it.

So why is some fat, balding hobo in gitmo-gone-far-cry, shooting the pirates from Uncharted parading around as Max Payne?

The whole point of that game was that CJ becomes a vastly different person, has a vastly different range of experiences while exiled from Los Santos, and the game handled, even encourages the transition, with ease.

Given Rockstar's track record, I guarantee, the same will happen with Max Payne, fans will be perfectly happy when they decide to stop being leaky pussies about it.

Which has nothing to do with my complaint: that he's no longer Max Payne without James McCaffrey's voice. Instead, it's Sadsack McShootemall doing his rendition of 'Man On Fire'. And while I believe that ol' Sadsack McShootemall might have a good game here, I have a hard time seeing it as a follow-up to Max Payne.

I'll play it, but my hopes aren't up. Not like they were for Max Payne 2.

Don't get me wrong, I'm Rockstar's bitch for life, but it's still jarring to see Max Payne transplanted onto the set of City of God.

Well now I put it like that I'm suddenly warming to the idea.

Yeah, you're right. Life is over at 39, especially if you've completely made peace with the death of your family. Nothing ever changes, ever. Hell, all that's left now is cashing the retirement checks and wearing a trenchcoat.

Now you're fucking talking. I doubt it'll be THAT awesome, but it's possible, given the studio.

I understand your points completely, hell even agree with them, but Max Payne had a certain flavor to it for me.

No doubt that this game is gonna kick a lot of ass, but it lacks the colour palette that they could have done really really well with this current generation of tech.

Now it just looks like everything else, imagine Sin City shot with the colour palette of Man on Fire, doesn't have the same flair does it?


This is why people have a strong reaction to the game's look.

Why would Blueharvester link to the same screens I posted? The same that Rockstar sent out to all press? Come on, dude.

I can understand why everyone's freaking out about the screens, but I still can't wait for the trailer. The tone of that's going to either make everyone sigh in relief or get very pissed.

I like the look of the new Max Payne, and it's a bold move by Rockstar. How many games feature an overweight protaganist? I also like how he resembles Sid Haig.

I'm all for this game.

What the fuck is wrong with people? I mean, Jesus, we spend half the time bitching about the fact that games don't do anything original, all they do is make sequels, why does everything have to be the same. So, they change up the game for MP3 and suddenly it's the worst fucking thing in the world? Jesus Christ.

I, for one, look forward to it. I love the idea of an old, beaten down protagonist. I'm tired of children and young bucks who don't have an iota of experience as my main characters. I love the City of God style location. Fuck New York. It's already been the star of too many games, both real New York and fake New York.

And you know what made Max Payne fun? Jumping in a fucking room with a gun in each fist, shooting dudes in the head, slo mo style. Yeah, being a "film noir loves story" was fine and it didn't exactly shit the bed in that department, but pumping lead whilst diving through the air was what people played it for. If there is that, done exceedingly well, in MP3, then they will have accomplished 75% of what made the first 2 games respectable 3rd person shooters.

Was everyone this upset about Die Hard 3, too?

Bullet time was Max Payne's selling point, along with a fairly robust PC engine. The whole noir bullshit was hilarious - it's not why people bought the game.

This looks refreshing. I don't want to hand over my hard earned cash for a HD version of a game I played years ago.

(Unless it's Grim Fandango).

No, but hey...the first two games weren't that fucking good. Who cares if they experiment with the character a little bit? This happens to people sometimes. They get old, they get fat, they get bald and the move the fuck out of "Noir York City" to somplace with slightly better weather. And then the shit hits the fan. Given what happened to the character in the last two games, why the fuck wouldn't he want to move somewhere else? And god forbid they try to take it in a slightly different direction. Why do you want to play the same fucking game over and over again? As much as I liked the second game, it was pretty much just a shorter version of the first. Boring.

And you're attakcing the game because the "brilliant" way Max Payne 2 ended? I think you're taking these games a little too seriously...

His redesign is what I dislike most. Designers often use a character design as a quick replacement solution for story progression and plot.
He has gone through hell. Yeah then SHOW THAT and don't just slap it on his character.
So they are aping MAN ON FIRE. Why does he have to look like Sam Fisher's older, fatter alcoholic brother? Did Denzel Washington look like a hobo?

In my opinion his physical form totally clashes with jumping around in Bullet-Time.
Even if he is on drugs all the time, how am I not gonna laugh when he does his signature diving move? Or did they get rid of that too?

Sao Paulo I have no real problems with. They will start in the favelas, then he will get a hint that it's all orchestrated from above and then we will enter the evil corporate HQ skyscraper followed by a trip to the big bosses mansion outside town.

You mean you didn't laugh before????

I look at those images and I don't see any Man on Fire whatsoever. Am I missing something?

I don't understand this either. People are acting like a hammy noir videogame was the next best thing since The Third Man and now Rockstar is RAPING THEIR YOUTH!!!!

Between this thread and the Transformers 2 thread I'd just like to go back to bed and the world can fuck off.

I liked the over the top noir aspects of Payne, I definitely never took it seriously but the ridiculous metaphors, the oh-so-somber tone clashing with a level that involved protecting a man dressed as a giant cartoon character, it all played a part in why I enjoyed the first two games. Shooting people in the face in slow motion was the meat and potatoes, but the silly noir gravy made it taste extra good.

That said, I'm over the initial shock of seeing... this... and I'm all for Max Payne taking his dual-berettas and ham-fisted poetry to South America. If the game plays as it should and still finds the time for a bizarre dream sequence or two, they could have Max Payne fighting martians for all I care.

eeek, now you're putting words in me mouth.

I'm saying we don't need a Max Payne 3 in anyform. 2 was fine enough for me, its done. Better than the usual poos most 3rd person games at the time played like.

I thought MP2 handled a mature love story (for a videogame) rather well, was never embarrassing or stupid. The Series always had this self aware parody about it, things like the the TV shows (Address Unknown, Lords and ladies etc) and little details that enriched the narrative and world you shot a lot of bullets at mobsters and mercenaries.

But serious business the games aren't, well until 3 here came along decided to look like a lot of games this generation. Hell MP2 didn't even sell that well. But those 2 games stood out with their own unique flavor.

That said, there is no reason why this game wont be great, but it lacks that certain thing that made the series stand out. Hence the Name slapped on feel, and the reaction some people have had (being leaky pussies as Justin Clark puts it, heh)

And i will happily eat my words and say I am wrong if/when the time comes.

The NYC setting got boring about halfway through MP2, so I'm thrilled to see such a radical shift. I would love to see Max Payne go on a globe trotting vendetta against various evil doers. Max Payne vs. Yakuza. Max Payne vs. Colombian drug cartel. Max Payne vs. Tequila and the Hong Kong police force. Just give me fun gunfights and silly voice overs, and I'm in.

double post akimbo style

Well he is supposed to be a bodyguard for a rich family in Sao Paulo. You can bet your ass off that it will either have a 18 year old daughter not knowing that her father is dealing in evil shit or an even younger daughter Max has to save.
Makes sense. He lost his wife and kid and is now a creepy, bald, fat old dude who has to play babysitter for Dakota Fanning. Of course creepy father/love interest shenanigans ensue.

Surely seeing his character degrade to that level is interesting though? Character development?

These guys, that go through traumatic stuff do tend to have weird attitudes towards relationships afterwards.

Also, Man on Fire and City of God are great films (different leagues, mind). Seeing that here isn't exactly a bad thing.

Gritty, noir New York-based shooters are old hat? What's the last game in that setting, Max Payne 2? Maybe that new Punisher game thats about to come out..

And now how many in the lush South American/Middle East/other hotspot environments from the past few years? Lets see..

Uncharted (sequel coming), Just Cause (sequel coming), Mercenaries 1-2, the Farcry series, Crysis (sequel coming), Kane & Lynch, Resident Evil 5, 50 Cent Blood in the Sand, Soldier of Fortune: Payback, countless others that aren't springing to mind.

I'm just saying, while this might be a "refreshing, radical departure" for the Max Payne series, it's just the latest tired trend in the shooter genre. Running around sunny beaches and tropical jungles is way more pleasant on the eyes, though.

EDIT: As a curiousity, how many people crying "unimaginative leaky fanboy pussies!" preferred the Miami location of the Tom Jane PUNISHER to NY?

Hopefully we'll be following nightmare blood-paths on a nice sunny beach.

"The tropical sun burnt hot on my bald wrinkly head, a reminder of the fire that once lit up everytime I saw my little family"

"The palm leaves brushed my arms, I was back at home that fateful night. I opened the door, ready to hold my baby in my arms, but there it was: The first sign of a world gone to hell: Our potted plant lay smashed on the ground, I increased my pace and as I felt the plants remains beneath my stumbling feet I felt the truth. I knew what I was about to see. My little flower ripped out in her prime"

Max Payne 3 is due out in May for PS3, XBox 360 and Windows. I'll most likely buy it because I absolutely adore MP 1 & 2 (I still have my original copies from 2001 and 2003 on my shelf and I still play them) and I'm hoping that MP3 isn't going to be the Live Free or Die Hard of the series although everything I've seen of it suggests that my worst fears may not be unfounded. The dark, cold noir environments of MP1&2 gave those game a fantastic look and feel that I don't remember seeing in any game series since then. MP3 looks like another Grand Theft Auto clone as others have said here. The Max Payne movie they made a few years ago was fucking awful while Taken felt exactly like the MP movie we all wanted. I guess we'll see once this hits but in the meantime here's a video from IGN about the games development.

 

http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/03/15/max-payne-3-designtech-3-video?show=HD

 

Wow, those older posts...those fucknuts thought Max Payne and the sequel were somehow not self aware?

 

 

I was really leery of MP3 at first.

 

And then I saw the trailer and heard James McCaffrey's voice.  "Well, I'm back in."

 

And then I saw the animation system in action.  "Holy shit, NICE"

 

And then I heard about the multiplayer.  "Eeeeh, really?"

 

And then I watched the multiplayer trailer.  "That's it, I'm in.  All in.  Gimme that big-ass Collector Statue-whatever edition."

 

Long story short, I'm looking forward to Max Payne 3.  I know it's probably going to be a short campaign, but I don't care.  The first two had short campaigns too.  That just made it easier for me to replay them endlessly.  My biggest hope is that the game isn't entirely serious business and there's some good gallows humor to be had.  My other biggest hope: an ending as good as the non-DOA Max Payne 2 ending+credits.

 

Side note: Holy shit, two and a half years since our first looks at Heisen-Payne?  Hasn't felt that long.

Yeah, I noticed this thread had been bumped, and was really surprised that my last post in it was in 2009. Hopefully that bodes well for a decent-length campaign.

 

And I think it's looking great. Day one purchase for me.
 

 

As I said in another thread, this comes out on the same day as Diablo 3. I like what I've seen of it so far, but it will be months before I get to it.

Shit, I forgot Max Payne 1 and 2 were unfriendly with Vista.  Max Payne 2 won't even open, it just stops working nearly immediately.

 

Dammit, I need my slow-motion kung fu/Cinema fix.

Uh...just checked here and it works. MP1 isn't installed at the moment, but had no probs with that either from memory.

 

Check online/google for "Max Payne 2 Vista problems" just in case it's some trick or fix you need to get it working.

 

Reinstalling Max Payne 1 now.

 

After I download the Kung Fu mod (because that should be absolutely REQUIRED for all Max Payne 1 games at this point), it's on.

 

Seriously, if you have Max Payne on PC and you don't have the Kung Fu 3.0 mod, this is what you're missing:

 

How did I never try that mod? (goes digging in the garage for Max Payne cd)...

The only mod Max Payne 1 needed was a mod to remove the burning restaurant level and the 2 blood trails levels.  I don't really remember anything about 2 for some reason, but I remember 1 pretty vividly and loved the game but still almost quit it during the drug trip blood trail level.

 

I almost ordered the special edition of this because I really wanted the Max Payne bullet keychain.  Then I remembered that I was a grown man and $100 for a bullet keychain was probably not a wise investment.  Now I'll just wait for people to sell the pieces of their preorder off on Ebay.

This doesn't happen to me nearly as often as it should.
 

 

I don't know how you can say that MP3 misses the mark of a Max Payne game, then turn around and claim Taken was the Max Payne film "we all wanted."

And the statue.

Can't forget the statue.

 

Yeah, those blood trail levels are awful missteps.  Nice for the mood, bad for everything else.

 

Thank god they learned from their mistakes and made the nightmares in MP2 not instant-death farms.

 

Revisiting Max Payne and Max Payne 2 is just putting the biggest damn smile on my face.  The mood, the self-aware cheesiness, the music and the combat are so good.  And the Max Payne 2 ending coupled with the credits is still one of my favorite endings to a game.

 

Warning: Max Payne 2 ending in the spoiler (Click to show)

 

So much corn. Cornier than a silo full of corn, built on an island of popcorn in the middle of a corn syrup lake. But I loved these games.

 

I really hope that Rockstar keeps the little humorous bits in Max Payne 3.  It'd be a shame if they had the whole thing be dour and moody without the occasional moments of gallows humor.

I'm a diehard fan of the Max Payne games but I'm not really excited about this. It seems soo removed from the style of the first two games that it comes off as a GTA clone. The noir atmosphere of Max Payne was one of the great things about this series and I'm sad that we're not getting more of that. I was kinda hoping that Max Payne 3 would have been like a videogame version of Taken. Max just tearing up shit to save someone. I'll buy this either way when it drops in May but I'd debating on whether to keep with tradition and get it for PC or go for the PS3 version.   

Only realized today that this is out next week. Not sure if I'll grab it on launch as I'll be picking up Diablo 3 earlier in the week, though work may well put me in the mood for shooting stuff. Getting excited now.

I don't know. I'm kinda waiting for the reviews to come in before I commit.

Same here, plus I'd like to know how long the campaign is.

Launch Trailer