Visual Effects and Cinematics in Max Payne 3

"The Max Payne franchise is known for its graphic novel style storytelling"... so we decided to take it out.

Seriously, fuck this noise. I'm completely sold on the game EXCEPT the fact that they removed the comic panels to make way from motion comics. It's not more "immersive", it's probably easier to create than kick-ass comic panels.

@VTheSystemV said:

Bought the first one recently, am enjoying it so far (Part 1, Chapter 6 at the moment), and have pre-ordered this. Not sure whether to buy Max Payne 2 before playing 3. Is it worth doing so or could I just look at Wikipedia?

I personally like MP1 better than MP2, but it's definitely worth playing. It's better technically (better motion, shooting, etc) and it has a great story to tell, with a great beginning. If you're psyched about 3, definitely play 2 to get even more hyped.

@MB said:

@AhmadMetallic said:

@xite said:

Yes, but why does he shave his head bald?

After the ending of Max Payne 2, Max thought he had reached closure. He saw his dead wife and baby, but it was alright. Soon after that, with the crushing, tormenting traumas of the events of the two games, and having well over 6 close relatives/loved ones/friends die because of his quest for vengeance, he fell again. Another downward spiral.

He gets offered the job in Brazil after leaving his job as an NYPD cop and he takes it because he wants to get away. Sadly moving down there and being under the pressure of the job didn't help him forget, they only alienated him and made him feel worse, the painkillers and booze didn't cut it anymore, he was losing his mind.

And so he shaved his hair, and I quote Sam Lake here, "as a personal spiritual act, a desperate attempt at trying to regain control." After he shaves the hair and looks into the mirror, we see the Max we know. "He turned from a punching bag to someone who delivers punches."

Sounds like an elaborate excuse to not have to animate Max Payne's hair.

Dismissive, are we? I know it's easier to be cynical and act like a 13-year-old fanboy and criticize the most rational of decisions, but give the game an opportunity to entertain you before judging the decisions to remove his hair. I'm an MP fan, and have already bought into the story - I was assuming that if you're commenting on a dev diary (or a promo video) of a lesser known game, you too would have some deeper ties to the originals than the average gamer. That doesn't mean they get a pass, but I'd think they'd be allowed to remove his hair for a poignant narrative reason as opposed to technical limitations or their laziness. To be honest, insinuating that Rockstar North is too lazy to add hair (while other characters clearly have hair, meaning it's well within their means) is fucking ridiculous.

@Tesla said:

@VTheSystemV: Max Payne 2 is definitely worth playing through if you have the time.

I loved this video. The gun play actually looks interesting. It's refreshing to see a game where the bullets have a noticeable effect on the environments, and even the people you're shooting for that matter. That seems to be a concept long forgotten by nearly everyone in the video game industry, fans of games included. Those reload animations are fucking boss too.

I'm also feeling the presentation. Can't wait to play a new Max Payne game again. Forgive me for once doubting you, bald Max.

Yeah, if only your enemys AI adapted to all these different scanarios shooters might be relevant again. I'm not saying I dont enjoy them, I'm just tired of *enemy ducks behind cover shoots and maby throws a grenade* and *enemy exits cover and trys to melee you, but generally dies in the process*

As for everything else, i'm not really a fan of the setting. But It looks as though their placing quite abit of ephasis on storytelling. Which, while not up to the same standards as Remedy,(in my opinion) Rockstar tends to be good at.

SO fucking pumped for this.

i love you Rockstar.

*reads other comments*

There's no excusing all of this or trying to make sense out of it. They shoulda call this something else other than Max Payne 3!

If this game was some all-new IP, I'd be interested in all this, and willing to buy it. As a "fake Max Payne 3", I'm just annoyed by the fact Rockstar's turning the Max Payne series into a GTA-like thing....

Stranglehold with the LA Noire engine. Yipee.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@xite said:

Yes, but why does he shave his head bald?

After the ending of Max Payne 2, Max thought he had reached closure. He saw his dead wife and baby, but it was alright. Soon after that, with the crushing, tormenting traumas of the events of the two games, and having well over 6 close relatives/loved ones/friends die because of his quest for vengeance, he fell again. Another downward spiral.

He gets offered the job in Brazil after leaving his job as an NYPD cop and he takes it because he wants to get away. Sadly moving down there and being under the pressure of the job didn't help him forget, they only alienated him and made him feel worse, the painkillers and booze didn't cut it anymore, he was losing his mind.

And so he shaved his hair, and I quote Sam Lake here, "as a personal spiritual act, a desperate attempt at trying to regain control." After he shaves the hair and looks into the mirror, we see the Max we know. "He turned from a punching bag to someone who delivers punches."

Sounds like an elaborate excuse to not have to animate Max Payne's hair.

No. This is not Max Payne.

It looks like a cool (not even spectacular) 3rd person shooter. But that's definitely not Max Payne. It reeks of the typical pseudo-adult Rockstar writing that all those 15 year olds appreciate so much and which goes into all of their games. Thank you but no thank you.

I am positively excited for this game now. Rockstar (or Take Two for that matter) despite the controversy about working conditions in the past when they made Read Dead Redemption, really knows how to make games look good and this game is probably gonna be a lot of fun to play from the looks of things.

"Slumped in a bar drunk on self pity"

And people said this wasn't going to be a "true" Max Payne game.

@VTheSystemV: Max Payne 2 is definitely worth playing through if you have the time.

I loved this video. The gun play actually looks interesting. It's refreshing to see a game where the bullets have a noticeable effect on the environments, and even the people you're shooting for that matter. That seems to be a concept long forgotten by nearly everyone in the video game industry, fans of games included. Those reload animations are fucking boss too.

I'm also feeling the presentation. Can't wait to play a new Max Payne game again. Forgive me for once doubting you, bald Max.

Bought the first one recently, am enjoying it so far (Part 1, Chapter 6 at the moment), and have pre-ordered this. Not sure whether to buy Max Payne 2 before playing 3. Is it worth doing so or could I just look at Wikipedia?

@AhmadMetallic said:

@xite said:

Yes, but why does he shave his head bald?

After the ending of Max Payne 2, Max thought he had reached closure. He saw his dead wife and baby, but it was alright. Soon after that, with the crushing, tormenting traumas of the events of the two games, and having well over 6 close relatives/loved ones/friends die because of his quest for vengeance, he fell again. Another downward spiral.

He gets offered the job in Brazil after leaving his job as an NYPD cop and he takes it because he wants to get away. Sadly moving down there and being under the pressure of the job didn't help him forget, they only alienated him and made him feel worse, the painkillers and booze didn't cut it anymore, he was losing his mind.

And so he shaved his hair, and I quote Sam Lake here, "as a personal spiritual act, a desperate attempt at trying to regain control." After he shaves the hair and looks into the mirror, we see the Max we know. "He turned from a punching bag to someone who delivers punches."

Sounds like an elaborate excuse to not have to animate Max Payne's hair.

This game looks tubular!

@Landon said:

This game looks so freaking cool.

God yes! Can't wait to play this!

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

Isn't this the same narrator from those late 80's/early 90's Universal flicks?

Holy shit I think you're right!

They have a lot to live up to but I have faith in this game. This makes me want to reinstall the first two and go through them all over again.

I really do love Rockstar and the marketing team they have

I suddenly want this game 100%. No more fears.

@Fjordson said:

GOTY 2012. Callin' it.

@Finch said:

UNIQUELY CINEMATIC ACTION GAME

AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

A COMPLEX, LAYERED NARRATIVE

TO KEEP THE PLAYER IN THE GAME-WORLD, AND IN MAX'S CONSCIOUSNESS, AT THE SAME TIME

INCREDIBLY ENGAGING ACTION EXPERIENCE

The words! They mean nothing!

I mean, seriously. This narrated trailer trend is the most condescending bullshit I've ever EXPERIENCED. What other kind of self-respecting digital media of the 21st century would do this? Ever see this in a movie-trailer?

---TRIES TO HOLD THE MOVIE-GOERS'S ATTENTION THROUGH FAST, DISORIENTING CUTS---

Not a single one.

Awful.

Why do these make you so angry? They're a great way to show off a game. Worlds better than quick cuts of cutscenes over generic orchestral score and/or dubstep that do virtually nothing to inform you of how the game will actually play.

Also not sure if I'd call this a "trend". I can't think of anyone other than Rockstar that puts out this sort of pre-release material. They do a great job of looking at the various systems/mechanics within their games.

I really appreciate the style of these narrated trailers. It's very even-keeled; just laying out "here's what we're doing with the game and why we think it's good". Seemless transitions ARE immersive, so why wouldn't a developer draw attention to an achievement like that? That Rockstar comes right out and describes the techniques they're using is not condescending, it actually shows a lot of respect to the audience and earnest confidence in their methods. It's practically a making-of feature embedded into promotional material. Rockstar is basically waving you over excitedly and saying "here, check out what we did here, isn't this cool?"

These trailers are straight-forward and informative, and are not the (often) misleading music videos that so many other developer/publishers use to obscure any useful information about how their game actually plays.

Not every trailer should be like this, obviously, but I think every game should get at least one trailer like this.

Max, dearest of all my friends.

Yes, but why does he shave his head bald?

I am curious how many hours long Max Payne 3 is.

This is the future of video games. Not necessarily the "realistic" look, but the seamless transitions is fantastic. Whether they wen't comic book style or not it would have benefited from this. Mass Effect 3 did a decent job at this as well.

Looks like a massive Hollywood flick. I'd much rather have the comic panels and cheesy back. None of the things I've seen of this game scream Max Payne, but whatever, I'll pretend Rockstar made a cool third person shooter called Pax Mayne.

I am pumped for this game

@Finch: The words mean a lot actually, you're missing the point. No other medium does this because no other medium actually allows you to control the experience. Video games cannot be compared to movies in that regard because movies are a passive medium in which you have no bearing on the events as they take place.

Rockstar has been doing a lot of stuff with new tech and game engines the past few years. These walkthroughs are showing gameplay innovation and clearly demonstrate how the game will play. I'd actually argue that they do a much better job of selling the game than just standard trailers. Often times regular trailers will spoil story points or will end up needlessly repetitive. Some times they are even deceptive, because it isn't easy to tell how the game is actually going to play. I want more of these trailers and less of those. Standard trailers assume that games are practically the same thing as movies, and in doing so, they fail to demonstrate a lot of what people should expect if they actually buy the game.

GOTY 2012. Callin' it.

@Finch said:

UNIQUELY CINEMATIC ACTION GAME

AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

A COMPLEX, LAYERED NARRATIVE

TO KEEP THE PLAYER IN THE GAME-WORLD, AND IN MAX'S CONSCIOUSNESS, AT THE SAME TIME

INCREDIBLY ENGAGING ACTION EXPERIENCE

The words! They mean nothing!

I mean, seriously. This narrated trailer trend is the most condescending bullshit I've ever EXPERIENCED. What other kind of self-respecting digital media of the 21st century would do this? Ever see this in a movie-trailer?

---TRIES TO HOLD THE MOVIE-GOERS'S ATTENTION THROUGH FAST, DISORIENTING CUTS---

Not a single one.

Awful.

Why do these make you so angry? They're a great way to show off a game. Worlds better than quick cuts of cutscenes over generic orchestral score and/or dubstep that do virtually nothing to inform you of how the game will actually play.

Also not sure if I'd call this a "trend". I can't think of anyone other than Rockstar that puts out this sort of pre-release material. They do a great job of looking at the various systems/mechanics within their games.

super excited for this

Is that the same guy who does the Mass Effect Codex entries? Because they sound similar

@gesi1223 said:

This looks like a really nice game, but will it really play as well as the others?

This is my biggest concern. Rockstar games are pretty good but the controls are usually pretty goddamn horrible for shooting.

This looks like a really nice game, but will it really play as well as the others? And i'm hoping the story is just as engaging.

Still kinda put off by bald Max too.

@walkingcarpet said:

I've never played a Max Payne game before, but I always wanted to. Looks like I'll be jumping on on a great one.

I suggest you play the first and second games before you make that judgement call.

Max looks more and more like Walter White.

@zombie2011 said:

I the narrator the same guy from ME codex?

Thought it sounded familiar. Definitely similar in style, also really annoying in this video.

I've never played a Max Payne game before, but I always wanted to. Looks like I'll be jumping on on a great one.

Holy fucking shit...

I love you Rockstar.

UNIQUELY CINEMATIC ACTION GAME

AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

A COMPLEX, LAYERED NARRATIVE

TO KEEP THE PLAYER IN THE GAME-WORLD, AND IN MAX'S CONSCIOUSNESS, AT THE SAME TIME

INCREDIBLY ENGAGING ACTION EXPERIENCE

The words! They mean nothing!

I mean, seriously. This narrated trailer trend is the most condescending bullshit I've ever EXPERIENCED. What other kind of self-respecting digital media of the 21st century would do this? Ever see this in a movie-trailer?

---TRIES TO HOLD THE MOVIE-GOERS'S ATTENTION THROUGH FAST, DISORIENTING CUTS---

Not a single one.

Awful.

@david1890 said:

Cool, but I don't want to look at up close bullet time shots every time I shoot somebody.

Good thing that isn't how it works, then.

This looks really, really impressive.

So its just like every other modern game?

This looks like everything I wanted Kane & Lynch 2 to be

I wonder how long it will take to get sick of things like the slow down follow the bullet camera stuff.

can i pre order??? :D

I need this game like FUCK.

Also, this comes out the same day as Diablo III.

@david1890 said:

Cool, but I don't want to look at up close bullet time shots every time I shoot somebody.

It seems to do the bullet cam kill for the last man in the gunfights. But if you don't like it at all, I bet R* has an option to turn it off.

@kyrieee said:

I bet it's scripted to hell and back just like a CoD game

previous Max Payne(s) ain't that non-scripted to start with

Wow, this looks amazing.

i want this game inside me

I bet it's scripted to hell and back just like a CoD game