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The best (and worst) Max Payne has ever looked…

by: Dan -
More On: Max Payne 3
Rockstar released nine new images of Max Payne 3 today, and the game looks fabulous on this generation of consoles. Max Payne 3 will be set eight years after the last game (which coincidentally, was eight years ago) and Max is no longer a cop. He instead finds himself in Brazil working as what amounts to a private detective, complete with the drugs, booze and shaved head. I won’t get too much into the storyline, but the guys is pretty well down on his luck after being a bad-ass in NYC for so long.

One interesting note is that the original voice of Max (James McCaffrey) is back and not only voiced the character, but was used as the model for Max’s face, movement and appearance. Apparently Mark Whalberg was busy shooting "The Fighter" or preparing for the rumored "Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune" role. Check out some additional details after the jump on the story and game features.

No release date was mentioned, but it will be out for the PS3, 360 and PC. I imagine it will be in pretty heavy rotation at E3 in June, so expect to get some hands on reports about it then.

Developers: Rockstar Studios
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Release Date: TBC
Genre: 3rd Person Shooter
Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 & PC

Background and Aims
It’s almost exactly 10 years since Rockstar Games and Remedy worked together on the original Max Payne, and eight years since Max Payne 2.

With Max Payne 3, Rockstar Studios’aim was to use every tool at their disposal - from advances in Euphoria physics, particle effects and AI, to a new creative approach to Max’s classic comic-book panels, combined with Rockstar’s notoriously obsessive attention to detail - to create a highly cinematic action shooter.

Story Overview
Max Payne 3 is set eight years after the events of the last instalment. No longer a cop, Max is close to washed-up, drunk and addicted to painkillers. Without a job on the force, Max has left the greater New York area, and he finds himself in Sao Paulo, Brazil, working in the burgeoning field of private security.

Max’s latest assignment sees him protecting the family of Rodrigo Branco, a wealthy real estate mogul and his two brothers: Victor, a local politician and the youngest, Marcello, a party-loving Eurotrash playboy, along with Fabiana Branco, Rodrigo’s trophy wife, and Giovanna, Fabiana’s sister.

The story of Max's descent from vengeful, leather-jacket wearing detective roaming the alleys of New York to the broken, shaven-headed man out for justice on unfamiliar streets far from home is at the center of Max Payne 3.

Features to note:
- The combination of Natural Motion’s Euphoria character behavior system and Bullet Time adds a new level to Max’s classic shoot-dodge moves. Shoot-dodge is not a canned animation, but a natural interaction with the environment, as Max will reach out to the floor as he dives, and naturally respond to objects in his way if you attempt to dive into a wall or obstacle
- This marriage of slow-motion gunplay and Euphoria physics amplifies the cinematic action of Max Payne 3 significantly, and enemies will also respond realistically to each bullet fired.
- Max Payne 3 extends the concept of Bullet-Time to now include game areas of the game that will trigger set pieces involving Bullet-Time. These provide epic moments of action that allow Max to take out enemies in a new interpretation of Max Payne’s signature style.
- Bullet-Cams return: in keeping with the stylish gunplay for which Max is known, Bullet-Cams deliver players a reward for downing enemies with a satisfying final kill
- Max Payne 3 takes the graphic novel panels of the earlier games