Max Payne Puts on Pounds, Sheds Hair For New Game

[cowbell40]

I think it's good that they have changed the character, especially considering that the "real" ending of Max Payne 2 was pretty traumatic for our protagonist. More of the same wouldn't have been a good idea, and I think if anyone can pull it off it's Rockstar. Besides, with all the main characters dead besides him and Bravura, there isn't that much to go on without starting anew in a new locale. I think the biggest change is the setting; it's a far cry from the dark New York streets we're used to.

Just a question: Does anyone know if this series is meant to be a trilogy?

 

[Nargleblarg]

Is it just me, or did anyone else think

Obediah Stane at first glance?

Yeah, but it's Obadiah Stane...with guns!

Obadiah Stane did have guns...or at least a giant mech suit with guns....and lasers....and missles.

 

[PhoenixFlame]

Wasn't there something similar about some feedback about Sam Fisher's appearance in Splinter Cell: Conviction when they showed footage prior to last year? I seem to recall reading something about that and how the developers changed the look to be a bit older but still hard-nosed and all there.

This, on the other hand, reminds me of all the talk that happened when pictures of Old Snake surfaced for MGS4. A lot of people weren't sure about the new look, and some of the same comments were said back then as now. When the game finally came out the appearance did the story justice. Someone did mention though that they are hoping you get a story where this Max Payne appearance changes after he gets "cleaned up". It'd be nice to see that, as we don't get very many games out there that take a U-turn on character design unless it is to put badass weapons on them or change them into giant mecha-insanity.

 

[EnglishMuffin]

Just bring back the fucking first max payne look. Still don't know why they changed it in max payne 2 other than the constipated look was removed.

 

[Chewster]

Why they even changed his face so much between the first and second is beyond me.

In any case, he is starting to look a lot like the grizzled Sam Fisher once he went deep undercover with the JBA, though it looks like they have given him hair for the next Splinter Cell, so who knows.

 

[ShotgunSmoke]

I can't believe it. Not only did they make Max look like Jeff Bridges, they f*cked up the setting. Brazil? WTF? That is not Max Payne. All those vibrant colors in the screenshots DO NOT BELONG in a Max Payne game. It's supossed to be dark, gritty and a bit creepy. I don't see the signature film noir style in the screenshots. I bet that there will be cutscenes too, instead of comics. It looks like Uncharted 2 with Bruce Willis as the protagonist.
They screwed it up big time. Morons.

 

[h0m1cyde]

not only that, but with the dark style of the game and narration.. we have a possibility of getting one of the first TRUE games for adults. Just speculating, but don't you think someone who eats painkillers like Skittles will show some effects? This is a guy who has lost everything, if they rehashed without making him look the part it would have been a fail.

 

[tenlong]

He let himself go but isn't too fat.

 

[ThatJagoGuy]

Not too sure about moving it to Brasil though... is noir even possible in a tropical country?!

Check the cityscape picture on Sao Paulo's Wikipedia page. (I can't link directly because the Escapist forums make an absolute mess of links with accented characters.) I can, however, link to this image [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Morumbi_Noturno.jpg/800px-Morumbi_Noturno.jpg].

I doubt we'll be seeing any snow, but that is an awesome setting for the kind of "mean streets and dark alleys" noir that Max Payne portrayed in the first two games.

Woah, cool! Point taken!! In that case, the new location could be pretty damned awesome.

 

[Shia-Neko-Chan]

I'm sooo disappointed by this new character design.

 

[Gado911]

Lol, what is it with main characters being aged these days?

I guess there trying to copy the new movie trend. All old actors being kick-ass again: Bruce Willis, Harison Ford, Clint Eastwood ect.

 

[Ultrajoe]

If he was the same everyone would be bitching that they're milking the franchise, or not innovating, or some other reactionary bollocks. You always get people who aren't happy unless they're unhappy. Don't peddle games to these people, it doesn't help them to be indulged.

 

[The Youth Counselor]

I fought with you cynics, nay-sayers, and skeptics before.

Now I concede.

I have just now returned from perusing through the recent issue. On the positive side is that Max Payne 3 will appear to be a well done game.

However...

MAX PAYNE 3 IS NOT MAX PAYNE!

I don't know where to start. It was bad enough to know that Remedy, Sam Lake and James McCaffrey are no longer involved. I would've thought Rockstar would have known their IP and built on the established themes and art styles that made the franchise.

They didn't do any of that.

We can all agree that The Godfather parts I & II were masterpieces, and we can debate the merits of the third installment. However at least Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo decided to make another Godfather, complete with the original cast instead of ride the coattails of Scarface.

Where was I going with that? Well. instead of making another Max Payne, Rockstar seems to be emulating Resident Evil 5 and the Uncharted series. Instead of continuing with the series' distinctive art style drawn with dark and hazy simple-toned pastels, the new one is bright and crisp with sharp color pencils and watercolors. There is no evidence of a dark setting amidst a blizzard, there is no evidence of Norse mythology. Instead of a John Woo picture, they went with a Michael Mann one.

I'm past the fact that they decided to turn the skinny and suave city slicker I know as Max Payne into some bulky slobby good ol' boy, but...

Since Max is older, the team decided against using voice actor James McCaffrey again. Instead, they plan on a casting a new coice actor who can better express the toll that the years have taken on the protagonist.

McCaffrey has aged too. I mean it has been six years since the last game; it's not as if he couldn't reprise the role. They're not evolving Max Payne; they're replacing Max Payne.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

I will play any game that features Sean Connery, even this one!

...so long as it's not a Bond game.

 

[itchytriggerfinger]

It's gonna be hard bullet dodging with that gut though, I can tell you.

 

[Daye.04]

*snip*

Oh! Oh! That wierd person who was sobbing about Britney SPears on YouTube!
Can I get a cake rather than cookie?

I'll agree with nay-sayers on this one. It's not that I'm against changing Max Payne - after all, he's gotten older. But I'm not for changing the entire thing! I mean come on! The face isn't even the same! Got damnit it. Yes, he's let himself go, but that should also mean that he should not have any god damn muscles either. Christ ... I'm dissapointed in you, Rockstar .. I really am. I had faith, damn you

 

[R.O.]

Didn't the movie already destroy it? Now they after a money grab...geez.....

 

[Cowabungaa]

Wait....this is the Max from Max Payne 2:

The new Max does NOT look like that guy, but rather like a mix between the new Sam Fisher, the main character of Condemned 2 and Obadiah Stane. I'm all for an evolved Max (it seems to be quite the hype, but if the character development is well done I'm cool with it) but this seems like a replaced Max, not the old Max with new characteristics.

 

[5stringedbandit]

*snip*

Oh! Oh! That wierd person who was sobbing about Britney SPears on YouTube!
Can I get a cake rather than cookie?

I'll agree with nay-sayers on this one. It's not that I'm against changing Max Payne - after all, he's gotten older. But I'm not for changing the entire thing! I mean come on! The face isn't even the same! Got damnit it. Yes, he's let himself go, but that should also mean that he should not have any god damn muscles either. Christ ... I'm dissapointed in you, Rockstar .. I really am. I had faith, damn you

@

Bingo.

also rockstar have kinda let themselves go after GTA IV. Maybe this Max Payne is based around Rockstar as a company, falling from its previous glory into so shitty fad

 

[Radav]

He look like Eric Cantona