Max Payne 3

[SomTervo]

I may be missing something, but I'm pretty sure there isn't a topic about this. Sparked by a conversation in the status updates.

 

Re: the simulation:

 

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/design-and-max-payne-3/723955

[toxicitizen]

What happens in the status updates, stays in the status updates!

[toxicitizen]

Wow, that stopped the thread dead, uh?

 

Anyway...

 

 

Been a while since I watched a tech demo for an upcoming game and thought "Woah, that's pretty sweet!".

Granted, devs don't seem to make these too often. But still, this is looking pretty good.

[Thorgi Duke of Frisbee]

Game looks so, so awesome. I am incredibly excited for it, because the action looks perfect.

[SomTervo]

Rockstar does them. The technology, story, etc. trailers. Did them for GTAIV and Rockstar and prolly will for GTAV.

 

And yeah, the game's definitely looking great. I was depressed the thread died that fast.

[toxicitizen]

Yeah, now that you mention it, I remember watching a few for L.A. Noire.

 

And I just realized that the video I posted is the same you put in the first post lol

The embed isn't working for me so I hadn't watched it...

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

I went back and watched that video last night. The game is really looking fantastic.

[DocSeuss]

I still don't like the setting change.

 

I worry the controls will be as laggy as they were in previous RAGE-engine games.

 

I dislike that the cutscenes are now actual cutscenes and not pulp comic books.

 

I find myself wondering why they call this Max Payne.

 

...I guess it's too close (but too different) to Max Payne for me to feel like it's really Max Payne. At this stage, I'd actually be more comfortable with it if they moved it to an isometric RPG and called it Max Payne, as long as they kept the atmosphere.

 

This feels like it's getting rid of everything but the gunplay.

[Waldorf and Statler]

I don't know if I'll enjoy this as much as the previous two titles. The fact it's not the same developer isn't helping.

 

 

Alan Wake recaptured some of the magic in storytelling I felt in Max Payne. I'll still give the game a rent though.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

I still don't like the setting change.

 

I worry the controls will be as laggy as they were in previous RAGE-engine games.

 

I dislike that the cutscenes are now actual cutscenes and not pulp comic books.

 

I find myself wondering why they call this Max Payne.

 

...I guess it's too close (but too different) to Max Payne for me to feel like it's really Max Payne. At this stage, I'd actually be more comfortable with it if they moved it to an isometric RPG and called it Max Payne, as long as they kept the atmosphere.

 

This feels like it's getting rid of everything but the gunplay.

 

It still seems to have a noir story, which is pretty big. What, did you want dreary new york in the snow over and over again? I mean fuck, did you even watch the video? There actually is that. It has multiple locations.

[toxicitizen]

I'm also pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that they confirmed the graphic novel bits will return. The game will tell its story through both cutscenes and the graphic novel panels.

 

I mean, originally I was just as wary as you, Doc. But the more I see of the game, the less worried I am.

The day-time/brazilian (or whatever) setting is definitely a departure, but ultimately it's nothing more than a backdrop for the story.

 

Also, when they released that first trailer, I pretty much lost it when I heard the Max Payne violin theme.

[Thorgi Duke of Frisbee]

I remember having a conversation about the change in location elsewhere. Some people who actually live in some of the new cities in the game told me that those cities are pretty damn fit for some noir action.

[Hot Heart]

As has already been said elsewhere, noir can be pretty broad.

 

And take a film like City of God, for example. It's very much like a gangster film set in Rio de Janeiro. I can see a noir film working in Brazil too.

 

Of course, I am ever the optimist/fool.

[Cyber Rat]

Actual location makes little impact on a noir story. If you get the mood right, you can make an excellent noir in any town, city or locker room. Max Payne 1 and 2 also had in-game cutscenes, but the graphic novel was the main focus for major plot points and things you couldn't render in the engine. (And by the way, the style was graphic novel, not pulp comic. Pulp comics used this kind of visual style.)

 

I am actually least worried about the gameplay and setting, and mostly worried how they'll handle the story and the main character. Regardless on whether you got the good or bad ending in Max Payne 2, Max not "finding peace" even after that makes the character seem like a lost cause. I would have actually preferred a Max Payne 3 with Max at peace and just dealing with a new "threat". Him still being haunted by memories of his dead family and friends doesn't seem in-character to me.

 

Of course, I'd be happiest if I'm proven wrong and the story evolves into something that makes sense, but I'm very skeptical in that regard. It might lose the charm of the old games' story.

 

Also, in regards to Noir not needing to be in grimdark cities:

The Set-Up - takes place in locker room, boxing ring, hotel room, and one street. All locations are more or less 10 minutes walk from each other;

White Heat - takes place in rural locations for most part.

Edited November 29, 2011 by Cyber Rat

[SomTervo]

I worry the controls will be as laggy as they were in previous RAGE-engine games.

 

I dislike that the cutscenes are now actual cutscenes and not pulp comic books.

 

We talked about this bro, if you recall: the controls were laggy in most previous RAGE games were because of the design of the characters animation and how it related to the movement- not the engine itself. Again, Rockstar Table Tennis was in RAGE and featured no lag, it was responsive as shit. Max Payne 3 has 1:1 movement and turning just like MP1 and 2, so this shouldn't be an issue. It was an issue in GTAIV and RDR because they animated the characters to have massive turning arcs, and a sense of momentum so they don't go from 0-4Mph with no gradiation, etc.

 

On your second comment I quoted, they confirmed the comics will be back, though they'll be partially in motion, and a different style from the original's photo-based artwork. The original games still had in-game cutscenes, which are what is being shown in trailers as they're probably more interesting to look at.

 

@Cyber: I'm kind of okay with what they're doing to Max; him being haunted by old experiences and characters, etc., as a sense of the characters past infringing on the present is part of the noir genre. His story seems okay too, pushing the character into different extreme scenarios. However, I'm not convinced of Rockstar's portrayal or execution of him. Already in the trailers he doesn't seem to have the solid confidence in the storytelling that he had in the other two games. The acting seems a little forced, the animations a little melodramatic. Part of the character's appeal is how blasé he is about everything; his emotions have already been tarnished. I'm not confident they'll get him right in the game, though I'm confident of the story and other characters and gameplay and simulation.

Edited November 30, 2011 by kenshi_ryden

[Cyber Rat]

I think my experience with the game will rely solely on whether they give me a good enough reason why he'd still be miserable after the second game. Him staying miserable after the first one made complete sense, but after the closure of MP2, I'm really skeptical. If they can pull that off, then that's the hardest part behind them and the actual portrayal of Max shouldn't be off.

 

Of course, this is one of those series where I'm a complete fanboy, so I'm going to be an utter elitist about MP3 even if it's the best shooter ever.

 

Part of the character's appeal is how blasé he is about everything; his emotions have already been tarnished.

 

Couldn't agree more on this.

Edited December 1, 2011 by Cyber Rat

[Hot Heart]

Saw glimpses of the tech before, but that's really quite impressive. I love all that animation stuff. Quite interested in the game now.

And the tech is definitely something that would've improved Uncharted 3 immensely. Especially if you're doing Siege in co-op because they really didn't think that shit through.

[Kovach_]

They lost me at "to make the gameplay immersive and cinematic as Max's dark story" >_>

[SomTervo]

Ja. I remember thinking, playing the first two games as a 13 year old or somesuch, that Max Payne could keep going forever, the series will only get better as the simulation improves. All the mechanics have a totally solid foundation in real life, but the graphics/ simulation were too old school. The closer the simulation gets to real life, the more immersive and fun it'll be to play. And the better the story could be.

 

I love the sound of multiplayer in the game, too. I can't wait for them to release videos of it. Each round, with a different gametype in each, contributing to a story/cutscene that develops over the course of the match? Ingenious. Each game will be our own little crime saga. Also, the 'perks'/ abilities (can't remember Rockstar's quirky Max Payne-y name for them) sound great, line-of-sight based slo-mo, removing IFF HUD elements from enemy team's screens, etc. Sounds so fun. With all this animation too. Mmmm.

Edited February 4, 2012 by kenshi_ryden

[SomTervo]

DP: Anybody notice that bald-Max looks rather a lot like bald Walter White from season 3-4 of Breaking Bad?

 

Possible influence there?

[Waldorf and Statler]

I thought he looked more like Bruce Willis. But Walter White would be a better inspiration for a dark story involving drugs and crime.

[SomTervo]

It's mostly the facial hair thing that makes me think that. Don't think I've ever seen Brillis with a beard.

[Waldorf and Statler]

I've never seen Walter White shooting guns like crazy and jumping around the place.

 

 

He's more of the intellectual morally ambiguous mastermind

[SomTervo]

I've never seen Walter White shooting guns like crazy and jumping around the place.

 

 

He's more of the intellectual morally ambiguous mastermind

 

Good.

 

 

(Not gonna spoil anything, but the events near the end of season 3...? : P)

 

[Waldorf and Statler]

Well yeah. But then we have season 4 and 5. Not to mention 1 and 2. He's the manipulator.