Max Payne 3 coming

[Romier S]

This report over at Gamespot:

 

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/maxpayne...ws_6091123.html

 

While Max Payne 3 is now all but officially announced, confusion has emerged over who is developing the game. While the first two Max Payne games were developed by Finland-based Remedy Games, Lapin made no mention of them in his comments today. Adding to the uncertainty was a post on Shacknews.com from someone claiming to be Mikael Kasurinen, one of Max Payne 2's level designers. "FYI: We are not making Max Payne 3," read the terse post.

 

Remedy not developing? Not sure if I like that. I liked the first Max Payne. I really really liked the second Max Payne. Though short, it was one hell of an action game and one of my more played games at the end of last year. Concerns me to think that Remedy may not be involved in the third game.

[Cyberwoo]

Ehh the Max Payne games are nothing more than good rental games IMO. Short but full of some good shooting action. Nothing worth plopping down some $ for. Just my 2 cents.

[Sam P]

I think I was one of the few who felt as strongly as Romier about Max Payne 2. I thought the Xbox version's controls were a revelation, loved the gripping style and loved the level designs and pacing.

 

I have never been one to feel apprehensive when another developer takes over, so I will greet the next game with open arms.

[Big Daddy Bling Bling]

I'm a lot less enthusiastic about a third Max Payne than I was about the second in the series. Quite frankly, Max Payne 2 took who was easily one of the top 10 characters of all time and turned him into a sappy loser. Everything from his look to his personality was just all wrong. I'm sure that Max Payne 3 will be a hell of a shooter, as the second one was, but not caring about the main character will dampen the experience for me. The plot is suspect anyways. To avoid spoiling MP2 for those who haven't played it, let's just say they're running out of characters.

 

First and foremost, I hope the new developer goes back to the MP1 look and gives Max his balls back. Second, I think physics were an underutilized part of MP2 and they could be incorporated better into MP3. I was really psyched to see how the physics would be used in MP2 after icing the first enemy and watching him knock over a bunch of stuff in bullet-time, but the rest of the game never really followed through with clever uses for the physics engine. Third, I'd like to see some better level design. While the action has been top notch in MP1 and MP2, the levels have been pretty generic. Something like a shootout on a moving subway train would be nice. Or maybe a drug dealer has a stained glass dealership set up as a front.

 

Anyways, I'm looking forward to seeing what a new developer can bring to the series, not that the old team was doing a bad job. Even with the questionable artistic direction of Max Payne 2, it was still a fantastic game overall and I did at least like some of the characters(Gognitti and Vlad especially)

[Romier S]

I hope the new developer goes back to the MP1 look and gives Max his balls back.

 

No thanks, I can do without the constipated Max wearing a Hawaiin shirt look. Also I disagree with Max being a sappy loser only in the second game. He was a sappy loser in the first as well. Spent most of his time waxing on about his dead wife and child (which was afterall the point of the revenge plot). At the very least in the second game the object of his sappiness was attainable and considering the subject matter (a love story) came off better than some of the cliches in the first. (really the whole Max Payne series is one big cliche anyway but I digress). He was a basket case in the first game and he was an even worse basket case in the second. Not much of a character change if you ask me.

 

Also concerning level design, I yet again disagree. I felt Max Payne 2 was a tightly focused project. The levels were linear yet remained interesting and far superior to those in the first game. The dream sequences in the second game were a complete joy to play also and from an art direction standpoint were head and shoulder above anything seen in the first Max Payne.

 

Also wanted to mention that I feel the ragdoll physics in the second game are the best of any title out there. Their integration with the Havok phsyics engine made it that much more fun to fill the bad buys with lead and watch them fall over balconies and affect the environments around them. I do however agree that more interactivity with the physics engine is in order and I wouldn't mind seeing some of those level scenarios you mentioned.