• 25Jun 09

  Max Payne 3- Why the disappointment?

  It has been 6 years since Max Payne 2 made its appearance in stores and homes all over the planet and the next installment has been announced. As with every release of a new title in a series, many MANY people are skeptical for reasons I understand, yet fail to believe are "game-breaking".

  First off, most of the people that insist on complaining bring up first and foremost the lack of James McCaffrey as the voice of Max. I'm not going to make false statements so I will provide a link with the following information: Mr. McCaffrey has appeared in 42 episodes of the show "Rescue Me" as Jimmy Keefe. On top of that, he has four projects that involve him that are in post production as of right now just in 2009.The link for this info is right here- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0564548/ .People forget he is an ACTOR, as well as a VOICE-ACTOR. The guy can't just wait around for a job and although he wouldn't seem the type of guy to "abandon" his character, his schedule may be too crowded and perhaps he just respectfully declined due to his lack of availability. Then there's the argument that Rockstar never approached him. Max Payne has aged 12 years since his previous installment. That's 12 years of addiction to the likes of painkillers and alcohol. 12 years of depression and decay. These can wreck a person's voice, as well as appearance (I'll get there later...) and I assure you-no, PROMISE you, that if Max had the same exact voice with this new look, there would be AT THE VERY LEAST, one person that would say "Isn't it a little unrealistic that he's altered so much and gone so far downhill but has the same voice?" You KNOW I'm right.

  Next up: new location. Sao Paulo, Brazil. Both previous ventures had Max in the gritty setting of NYC. Dark skies and snow covered streets. Beautiful. I loved every minute of it, but before I lead anybody astray, I think a change of scenery would be a great thing for this series at this point. NYC can only be refreshing for so long. All of the same things that I adored from the first games (penthouse shootouts, apartments, rain, etc) could still be in the game. I'm sure they have buildings in Brazil, as well as rain

  Max's appearance has been slightly altered as well. I'm totally joking...it's quite...different. I still see his face under that beard and those scars, but he is much more muscular and his signature coat is MIA. Again, 12 years is a LONG time. He's been boozing it up and popping pills. Probably led a fairly dull life for a little bit during this time and lifted some weights. You have to move on eventually in the real world, even if you don't mentally. Max will always be pissed. Always. He's just getting older- the ride can't last forever.

  Lastly, wait...COVER MECHANIC?! You guys are complaining about a cover mechanic!? WTF people...what about the people that just fail at games. They still want to have a good time with the game but have a hard time getting throught it. Why not have that option? It's a nice addition for the less gifted players that need a little help when the guns start going off. YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE IT. I also find it humorous that in the same breath that the complaint about the cover system comes from, the second breath involves something along the lines of "The GTA cover system was garbage". Again- don't use it. I found it to be perfectly reasonable...it provided cover. Awesome. Get over it people. As long as it's functional, don't complain about it. It's just getting redundant.

  Rockstar is not going to severely change a working formula- they are simply trying to build on and improve it. The time has come to realize that this is going to happen. This winter, the game hits shelves. I only hope that the masses will put these grudges aside so they can be reunited with a character that we've all enjoyed for close to ten years.

  • Posted Jun 25, 2009 10:14 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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