Take a long, hard look at our subject, Max Payne, Mr. Drake. Note the ratty, almost destitute appearance; the glassy, demented look in one swollen bloodshot eye. Consider the questionable wardrobe choice suggesting he’s fought a pig for dinner. Use this as a stark and real warning. This, Mr. Drake, is what happens when, after staring in two popular games, being Wahlberged can do to your career.
Joking aside, Max’s descent into madness took us all a little by surprise. Gone was the slick, rakishness of the Max Payne we all knew and loved, in his place a John McClane lookalike complete with wife-beater and disheavelled look.
It’s not the only significant departure for the series, with Finnish developer Remedy no longer in the driving seat. Publisher Rockstar has since put the perpetually-crossed New York cop in the hands of their Vancouver studio, continuing to shake things up by setting Max Payne 3 a dozen years after the end of his last adventure, The Fall of Max Payne, with the series’ protagonist now working for a wealthy family in São Paulo, Brazil.
It’s a new direction for the franchise, a shift that is arguably unwanted and definitely unexpected. That said, we applaud Rockstar for advancing the character and the game’s tried and trusted premise. We’re not sure what we’ll get when an older, wiser, grittier and grimier Max turns up sometime next year. His arrival has already been significantly delayed, the studio claiming more time in the development oven is needed before the Payne cakes are perfect.
This really could go either way. The (old) Max Payne games were stylistic bullet-ballets, dripping with simile-laced pulp fiction descriptive verbosity that was almost more enjoyable than the slow-motion action. Will we still get Max’s colourful warbling in his third outing, or will the writing team dump his signature story-telling style as well as his leather jacket, florid shirt and Big Apple environment?
Regardless of the changes at hand, now recovering from being Marky Marked for death in a below par film, we’re hoping Max can at least shake off that particular part of his dark past and dive headfirst into a new venture.
BIGAL-1992
“Arm the homeless. ”
That made me a thought go through my head, that was just wronmg.
kjkg
I wish I never knew what you were talking about… but sadly I do. Bad times.
Kovacs
“Arm The Homeless” is a Rage Against The Machine reference. I have no idea what you guys are talking about!
:)
Rocket_345
This is my second experience of Max Payne. The first was when Max was as you put it “Marky Marked for death in a below par film” i wasn’t very excited when this wass announced but after seeing some screenshots i really really want this.
Rocket_345
*was. Stupid phone.
Foxhound_Solid
Good games max paynes…
ElGuason
i agree
DRCD1
Dear TSA, Paolo, is, at the very best, a spanish name, meaning a Brazilian city is very unlikely to be called São Paolo. It is called São Paulo.
Also, do you know anything about MP3, other than what’s written in this article? There hasn’t been much info on this game, has it?
DRCD1
*Paolo is a Italian name, not a spanish one.
Kovacs
What? You made a mistake?
;)
Kovacs
Thanks for catching that. It was a typo. You don’t need to write “Dear TSA” in a comment by the way. Things are fairly informal around here. A simple: “You spelled São Paulo wrong” would suffice. We’re big boys, and we make mistakes. We’ve no problem fixing them.
Details on the game are pretty light on the ground. What’s in this article is pretty much it though there is a Related stories section above if you want to dig deeper.
The purpose of these articles isn’t to talk about the details of the game, however. More our anticipation of the game in question.
Thanks again for the note.
DRCD1
I know, but I was sleepy, and when I’m sleepy I tend to be more formal. And while I know the purpose of this article isn’t to talk about details, this article says pretty much all we know about the game. I’m loving this top 100, BTW.
XisTG
Now this is a game I hope will be awesome!
DrNate86
Wow, I heard there was a new game coming but I hadn’t realised they had so drastically changed the original premise. I loved the film noir feel of the original games, I’m disappointed to hear it has lost it’s way. If it ain’t snowing in New York, I don’t want to know.
Grey_Ghost13
Kovacs – Loved the first opening paragraph!
I remember playing the first payne game to death on the PC! Hopefully this is a decent reboot.
Tuffcub
Second most shaggable character after Sev. FACT.