EDGE-Borg Reveals Max Payne 3 Details

Some decent information is arriving about Max Payne 3, in the wake of some shitty screenshots being released. EDGE magazine have got a giant old feature about it, and through the power of copying out some bits, we can tell you some snippets about the game below. We’d also recommend you rush out and buy a copy of EDGE, as that will assuage our guilt.

There appears to be some peculiar revisionism where we’re all to pretend that the first two Max Payne games were bristling with emotional honesty and a compelling story. They were, of course, over-blown purple prose and whiskey-laden stereotypes. Nothing wrong with that, but let’s keep our reality-heads on.

Payne is now in São Paulo, Brazilsd, balding, hairy and fat, retired from the police department, and working for the likes of politicians and property moguls. And Edge reports that the game is not playing out in a strictly linear way, flashing back to the years that have passed since we last saw him. A full head of hair, his journey into blobdom is apparently to be told, although not necessarily in order.

Max still increases his health by choking down painkillers, but the comic book frames are gone. Instead it’s what EDGE describe as, “an animated collage of action footage”, although Rockstar maintain that it will still be a comic book approach. And perhaps most interestingly, it’s said that it’s not playing like a corridor shooter. Still linear, but instead focusing on set pieces, emphasising a frantic sense of action.

Bullet time is still in there of course, along with the bullet-cam providing punctuation for fight sequences, and Payne’s ability to dive out of the way of slo-mo bullet tracers. He can carry three weapons at a time, all used in a constant assault that attempts to keep the action going in what they’re hoping will be cinematic action sequences in the place of cutscenes. Let’s hope they’re that, and not just bits where the game keeps flipping taking over and we press a button when prompted.

The other thing to note is that it’s quite obvious the art director of the game, Rob Nelson, has modelled pre-lardo Max on himself. Someone had to say it.

Source

VG247 is reporting that the 'latest' (May) issue of EDGE features Max Payne 3 as its cover story. Apparently the game will still be set in Sao Paolo, but at some point Mr. Payne will have his old hair -- as depicted in the recently released screenshots. Maybe they'll be showing his breakdown and escape to Brazil?

Environments are 'fully' destructible this time around (as far as that goes), a new cover system will be in place because no third-person shooter can go without one these days, and bullet time will be charged up by killing your foes. Max Payne 3 will also feature multiplayer, although how that will work remains a mystery.

The comic-panel cutscenes will return, but this time they'll be rendered in-engine to "show an animated collage of action footage," which sounds like XIII. Voice actor James McCafferty reprises his role as Max Payne, and four of Rockstar's studios -- Vancouver, Toronto, New England and London -- are involved with creating the game.

It looks like follow up Remedy's classic games is getting the Rockstar treatment, which bodes well for the game. Let's hope it will be a bit longer than Max Payne 2 though, and please let's not use the MP3 acronym. It looks stupid. I already have enough MP3s. Any thoughts on a better one? Max3?