An older Max
Oh Max, what happened to your chiselled good looks?
Now here’s something that’ll really push the character of Max Payne to the limits. As if he wasn’t cynical enough already, the now older Max Payne (8 to 12 years older to be precise) has been described by Rockstar’s Sam Houser as “a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever.” Sounds like just what we want from an older Max Payne.
The classic voice
Where would Max Payne be without his raspy and world-weary voice acting? It defined the noir style that pervaded the first two games, so I was shocked and disappointed when it came to light that James McCaffrey would not be reprising his role as everyone’s favourite hard-boiled detective. Though Rockstar initially claimed that they wanted a more elderly sounding voice for Payne in the upcoming sequel, they have since declared that James McCaffrey will in fact be returning to voice the eponymous anti-hero. Some change is good, but there’s always a limit.
A new developer
It will be interesting to see how Rockstar Vancouver handle the Max Payne series
Though Rockstar took the mantle of publishing Max Payne 1 and 2, (for most of the ports at least) it was Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment who were the developers behind it all. That’s about to change though, with Rockstar Vancouver leading the development of the upcoming sequel. Whether this is a good or bad change will become apparent in due course, but it will be interesting to see how Rockstar choose to adapt the series’ mechanics.
A new, yet familiar, engine
Let's just hope Max Payne 3 is a bit faster than previous games that have used the RAGE engine
With Rockstar Vancouver now taking the reigns on the project, Max Payne 3 will be brought to life by Rockstar’s RAGE engine, rather than the MAX-FX engine used previously. This may prove beneficial to the game but, considering so many of Rockstar’s games have played in a similar manner since the introduction of the RAGE engine, we can only hope Max Payne 3 won’t turn out quite the same. The RAGE engine has a more slow-paced and methodical nature that, whilst befitting of GTA4 and Red Dead Redemption, doesn’t seem like a particularly good frame for a series like Max Payne. Let’s just hope Rockstar treat the source material with the respect and attention it deserves.
