Max Payne 3's New Developers? Should We Be Worried?

Anthony Perez of Gamer 2.0's SmashPad writes:

"So earlier today it was exciting to learn that Rockstar officially announced it will be releasing a third game in the series, but that news may be bitter sweet since Max Payne 3 will not be developed by the original studio Remedy Entertainment. Since Remedy is busy working on the upcoming Alan Wake, Max Payne 3 will instead be handled by Rockstar Vancouver, the studio behind Bully.

While Bully isn't necessarily a bad game, it is generally considered to be quite average. This is disheartening, especially when you take into account that studios who take over existing franchises typically make slight improvements but fail to capture the magic infused in the original games by the original developers. One good example is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, a perfectly solid effort by Obsidian Studios which lacked the great story and experience put together by BioWare in the first game."

[Arsenic13]

They will probably consult with some of the original team.

[sonarus]

I don't understand the hype behind this game we haven't even seen a tiny bit of. Aside from new developers, i just don't see Max Payne 3 being a very good game. The game never did anything revolutionary and i don't expect the new one to do anything revolutionary either.

It will probably borrow general gameplay ideas from the action shooters of today. I expect it to be about the same level as 50 cent blood in the sand. Average at best

[MisterNiwa]

I disagreed with you. Just that you dont think its a phantom.

[Ghoul]

guess what max payne 3 was allready in development for 2 years at rockstar vienna, studio and game got cancled. and now we finally see them returning to maxpayne 3

[Cajun Chicken]

Does worry me. Also worries me if bullet-time'll still stand up in this day of age.

[iNcRiMiNaTi]

if they reinvent it and use it in innovative ways it might hold up. stranglehold tried this and that game didnt sell that great. hopefully they incorporate it in ways that we didnt think of.

they also cant remove bullet time either. a max payne game without bullet time would just make it a regular 3rd person shooter with a well known name

[HBK619]

I don't think Rockstar are dumb, they wouldn't have given this project to anybody if they didn't think it would be done right, this is a crucial franchise for Rockstar, and they need it to do well.

That being said the new change of devs will mean the game will change up in some way, as long as it can stay true to the original brilliance then the game should remain solid, it will be very hard to innovate or bring something new to the table with bullet-time, considering how many games(Let alone movies) have utilised it, that will be the hardest part from what I can see.

[Bumpmapping]

Vin diesle as Maxpayne?!

[Pennywise]

Oh maaan... bloggers love their question marks!!!

[Tony P]

Did Tony P agree with you? Did your comment make him laugh?

[OGharryjoysticks]

If anybody here ever has the chance to ask Sony what is the PS3 exclusive Rockstar game please do so. I think Jack was on some BS when he said Sony lost GTA exclusivity but gained a different Rockstar exclusive. When? Are Sony and Rockstar planning to release that PS3 exclusive during the next generation when it doesn't matter and nobody will care? Basically here's another Rockstar announcement and still no proof there is anything like Sony said. 360 got the ping-pong game and the DLC exclusive so it looks bad when Sony can't get s#it on a stick from one of the developers that really helped last gen. And they were under contract supposedly for more but Sony got burned unless I'm missing something.

[swiftshot93]

It was announced in 2007. Sony and R* are working together on this game, a brand new IP, and they fully intend it to an on-going franchise. Basically, they're aiming for their new GTA, and sony convinced them that their aim would be realized on PS3. They havent released any info regarding the game other than the fact that it is NOT LA Noir.
Honestly dude, the decision made by R* to make this a sony exclusive was an on the fly move and probably means that they're are still in pre-production phase, crafting a new engine built from the ground up to best utilize PS3. If they dont disclose any info reagarding the title this year, I personally think it will be vapor-ware, unless, sony is publishing. But of course, Take 2 has publishing rights for R*'s games. Maybe they could have worked out a deal?

[OGharryjoysticks]

That's if it wasn't all a lie all along.

[techwizz]

I can't help but echo these concerns in the post:

"Probably the biggest loss though is that of writer Sam Lake, who penned a fantastic story for the first two games and is currently working on Alan Wake. Aside from the graphical beauty and wonderful action in the first two games, the story, mood, and dialogue are what really made the Max Payne games great and partially why the movie sucked so much by comparison.

While Rockstar Vancouver may be a capable studio from a technical standpoint, I’m worried that they may not be able to shape the experience that truly distinguished Max Payne from other third person shooters at the time."

Having a different writer for a game where the story was so essential to the experience is very nerve-racking. I loved Max Payne, but I feel it won't shine the same way in someone else's hands. Sure it's later in his life and so-forth, but when a writer puts together a story like the one in the first 2 Max Payne's they really own that world and character, and it's tough for other even talented writers to capture that.

[Jamaicangmr]

No because maybe this new dev will make it actually worth playing for a change.

[CrashSpyro123]

Max Payne was one of the best games last gen? To suggest it wasn't worth playing before is crazy.

[Jamaicangmr]

Am sorry but i tried to like them i really did. I even played through the 1st one an beat it. However for me it just seemed like a one trick pony with nothing of any real substance. Over use of bullet time does not make for a fun campaign. The story's were uninspiring an worthy of the cutting room floor.

If you like it i have no problem with that but my hopes for this new dev team is that they make it worthy of "My time" It's not an attack on you or anyone else who might think the series has been Gods gift to gamers.

I just don't agree. Simple that.

[Gammbit]

Bully is such a different type of game than Max Payne, that it's hard for me to tell if it will be any good. I didn't play much of Bully myself, but a lot of people reviews say that it was damn good game.

As I said though, since I can't really compare Bully to Max Payne, it's kind of a giant question mark as to whether they can pull it off.

[AmpedMan]

They'll do fine, I thought Bully was great.

[Shaka2K6]

Max Payne 3 = pass.

[SpikeSpiegel]

Super Mario World was a Mario game (without Miyamoto) released on the original Game Boy and it was a great game. Just because the original creators aren't involved,that doesn't mean the game will automatically suck. It seems nowadays that gamers want games to fail rather than succeed.

[TheForgotten0ne]

No, but it alwyas adds another question mark.

[njr]

Has Rockstar ever made a bad game? I'm pretty sure I enjoyed all their franchises as of yet.

If I remember correctly, Bethesda didn't create Fallout but it was a great game.

[jay2]

Well, just buy Alan wake if you're going to B@ch about how cr@p it might or might not be dude.

[Aclay]

Whatever Rockstar does, I hope that Rockstar keeps the exact same story telling element that the other 2 Max Payne games had, with the story being told like you are reading a Comic Book. That was very unique for it's time.

Just because there's different developers, doesn't mean you should be worried.... There was different developers for God of War Chains of Olympus, and it was just as EPIC and critically acclaimed as the other 2 God of War games by Sony Santa Monica.

I would only be worried about Max Payne 3 if Rockstar wasn't developing it, because they published the other 2 Max Payne games and I think they would want to uphold the same quality that Remedy put into Max Payne 1 and 2.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Bully developers?

COUNT ME IN!

I freakin' LOVE that game!

[DNAgent]

Bully is garbage plus it's a Max Payne game by Rockstar and not Remedy. I won't even bother playing this flop.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Did you play Bully?

It was much better than any Grand Theft Auto. I've played all of them too. The storyline was more intricate, the mechanics were varied and innovative, the music was second-to-none, and the all-around atmosphere they set with this game blew everything else out of the water that year! Bully is a fantastic game!

[George Sears]

Dude looks like Petrovich from GTAIV.

[free2game365]

Not really, Remedy have a pretty poor relationship with Rockstar at this point.