IGN has posted an entire article on Max Payne 3’s central multiplayer mode called Gang Wars, and it’s revealed a ton of details on how the online component of the game will work in context to it’s single player and the spirit of the series.
Max Payne 3’s multiplayer isn’t going to be a typical multiplayer mode from other shoorters like Gears of War or Call of Duty. It’s going to be very different, very unique, and it’s going to stick to the identity of the Payne franchise and its style. Even the multiplayer will have its own narrative, in a sense.
Here’s how the lead designer on multiplayer, Charlie Bewsher describes it: “The narrative element of Max Payne 1 and 2, and what we’re doing with 3, is obviously very strong. So when you starting thinking about the multiplayer version of Payne I think you’ve got to address that part of the game. But there’s also a narrative unique to any multiplayer game, though – you sort of get this drama that unfolds.”
So basically, say the first round starts at any random point- which will obviously be a different scenario each time you start a new MP game. Say the first round starts in the middle of a drug deal gone bad. Your objective will be to go around an arena, retrieve the drugs and get them to your warehouse safely, while the other team will have to stop you from doing so- kind of like a different take at Capture the Flag.
In the next round, however, other than simply swapping these roles between the two teams, your objective will be related to what happened in the previous round, so that everything you do has a connection to what you’ve done before, and so that the strength of the Max Payne formula- it’s narrative, style and storytelling- will hold true in the multiplayer as well.
So say that you were the MVP in the previuos round, the other team’s objective will be to hunt you down or kill you, or maybe you’ll have to save your territory by defusing a ton of bombs spread around. Each new mode will begin with narration in Max’s voice, telling you what to do and how the round if connected to the previous one, and even the traditional Payne comic book-style cutscenes will be shown. This will ensure that it’s still a Max Payne expereicne, yet manages to include a multiplayer component.
The game’s multiplayer also includes a unique take on the perks system that so many games use, called Bursts. You will be able to activate bursts like the tradition Bullet Time and Shootdodge, and others like Intuition (see your enemies’ shadows), Sneaky (appear as a friendly to enemies), Paranoia (makes the opposition see their teammates as enemies) and others.
There’re a lot more details on the multiplayer in the article. Read it through the link above.
Max Payne 3 releases next year. Till then, stay tuned for more info.
