As Rockstar Games released the first official game trailer for Max Payne 3, there was a mixed reaction of both hope and cynicism from video game lovers and one can hardly blame them. A look at the various gaming multimedia titles these days would reveal that the electronic entertainment 
industry is sorely lacking in the ability to surprise. That is especially true with the video game industry’s carnival events, where established formulae and a tendency to play it safe with series iterations tend to win over any creativity inspired fresh ideas that the developers may have. A general rule of thumb is to stick to what works with minor gameplay modifications, and to leave it to the more enhanced graphic engines to give the feel of freshness. So essentially, fans of popular franchises are playing the same game, iteration-after-iteration, with a new skin.
Rockstar Games is one development house that has, so far, managed to fight this tendency successfully in their games. Rockstar has been known, in the past, to tightly control information flow before a title release and to seldom indulge in pre-release media hype. The philosophy behind that is rooted in Rockstar’s inherent trickster persona, as VP and co-founder Dan House puts it: Letting people peek behind the curtain spoils the fun.
Max Payne 3: A Legacy to Live Up To
Due in March 2012, Max Payne 3 is the sequel to an action series that, in many ways, introduced cinematic aspects to the videogame world and remains one of the more story-driven shooting games to come out. Payne was a fugitive undercover cop: his cover busted, framed for murder of a colleague and hunted by both the NYPD and the mob. The first two games had a noir feel that contributed as much to the fan following as the ground-breaking gameplay. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne came out in 2004; eight years and one sloppy movie adaptation later, fans of the franchise have stuck to their guns.
That puts Rockstar, and Max Payne 3 in a somewhat complicated space: not only would the game have to compete against other titles in its genre, it also has to contend with the nostalgic memories of players who have long since forgotten any of its weaknesses.
Max Payne 3 Official Trailer Unveils Partial Storyline
The new game sees Max working as a private security specialist protecting an industrialist and his family in Sao Paulo. When gangs target the family, Max must battle not only the gangsters, but also the inner demons that have driven him for so long.
It’s a story that, on the surface, sounds formulaic, but both Rockstar and the Max Payne series have always taken pains to weave a complex tale into the games, rather than loosely tying event moments together with a threadbare plot.
Houser, who is also lead writer on Max Payne 3 (as he was on “Grand Theft Auto IV”), says he believes refining writing is essential to the maturation of the industry.
Maintaining control over story — and any cinematic qualities — is especially challenging as the gaming world moves toward a more multiplayer focus. Players still appreciate a good campaign, but if a game doesn’t have a strong online component where they can play with (or, even better, against) others, it hurts the game’s earnings potential.
Is Rockstar Seeking to Break New Ground with Max Payne 3?
Rockstar hasn’t talked much about the multiplayer aspects of Max Payne 3, but Houser hints that just because those elements of the game live outside of the campaign, it doesn’t mean they’re not part of the narrative.
“We wanted to put some elements of single player into the multiplayer so the multiplayer will have a lot more detail and have elements of story in it and have a sort of an immersive quality,” he says.
Max Payne 3 has done its time in development hell. First announced in 2009, with an expected shipping date of the winter of that year, it has been pushed back a couple of times to let the development team polish it and ensure the quality was up to Rockstar’s exacting standards. This includes an excruciating attention to detail, which Houser says is the real key to the company’s success, and would ensure that Max Payne 3 would live up to fan’s expectations and then some more.
