What would you want from a new Max Payne game?

@frymillstrum: a lot of people are complaining about the cutscenes but I mean the alternative was literally loading screens with tips or something - I think a cutscene is better than looking at a Max Payne logo spin for half a minute.

@humanity: this cannot be true though, as the "loading" still happens all the way through most cutscenes on recent hardware.

I kind of enjoyed Max Payne 3. It felt like a low budget Direct to Video version of Die Hard. I would like to see it go more in that tone and structure it more like a mid 80's TV cop drama.

I don't know that I want another Max Payne game. I could not bring myself to finish #3. It got kinda boring towards the end. Maybe I was just burnt out on the game play, however I did not find the story very interesting either. I think 3 was missing the atmosphere of 1 & 2.

I actually felt fine with it being a one-off thing back in 2001. Absolutely had no need for a sequel, let alone two or even more after that.

I loved the first game, couldn't be bothered with finishing the second one and found absolutely nothing appealing about what I saw of the third one. I think they should do something else. Like a new Death Rally.

I don't know that I'd want another one at all, maybe just an HD remaster of the first two.

Max Payne 3's issue is that while the dialogue and voice work were exceptional for the most part, the story wasn't that terrific or memorable aside from the fact that Max was outside of where he normally is, which is also one of its weakest aspects. I actually quite liked the places you go to in Max Payne 3, but they felt a lot more realistic if you will than the atmosphere you got in the first two games. The interesting atmosphere just wasn't there (making the part where you have a flashback in New York one of the best parts of the game). Another thing is that, as fantastic as the shooting and maneuverability of Max were, the game, especially due to the issue mentioned before, just felt like you were going from one room shooting dudes to the next to do the same.

As fun as it can be, it lacked variety in what you are really doing. Unlike in the first two, there's not a whole lot of stopping to soak in the atmosphere or hear what things are going on, like enemy conversations of goofy TV shows. I'd love to see a story where Max finally gets a happy ending, where he is with someone and perhaps has a kid by the end, just kind of showing that Max has been through shit through each game, but in the process, it leads him to something he can actually be happy about. Circling around to where the series began, but in a happy way rather than dour. By the end of three, although he seemed fine, I don't feel like a lot was accomplished with his character. It felt like he was just doing a job and that was that. At least, like I said, it wasn't all that memorable. I'd also like another city setting with emphasis on atmosphere. Maybe he doesn't need to go back to New York but chooses another city.

@humanity:

If you take the message you get when you try to skip it at face value, then you're right. However, I've personally run the game on an SSD, i7 rig this year, and have experienced the exact same "still loading" messages as I did when I first played the game on an Xbox 360. Coincidentally, they let up right before the cutscene ends. It's a bafflingly terribly design decision in an otherwise stellar game.

@notkcots: it’s weird they don’t let you skip them when the loading is actually done but I dunno if the idea is that bad overall. I guess I just never noticed it much because I don’t replay games all too often. Although weirdly enough when I originally played the game on 360 I did go back a lot to collect the golden gun parts and I guess I was just used to the 360 having long load times that it didn’t stick out for me.