Support NeoGAF

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

Clearly he did not know that the face capture tech still belongs to McNamera even after Team Bondi dissolved. Ironically there is no chance of there being an L.A. Noire 2 (had Rockstar bought Bondi and the tech, the turn out would have been smooth).

But to be more on topic, yes you are right, that was a derp moment.

Doesn't R* own the IP? They can make it internally if they see potential.

 

[Fjordson]

They definitely own the IP, but not the tech. I think that belongs to a company called Depth Analysis.

I bet they could do an amazing L.A. Noire 2.

 

[Daeda]

How's the actor performances? I know McCaffrey's back as Max and doing mocap acting.

How's frame rate on PS3? Past games on RAGE have cut some corners on PS3.

That's all I have at the moment.

Havent really seen enough of the acting to give a definitive conclusion, but overall it seemed on the level we'd expect. Just a dark Max (drunk even in the beginning) as you'd want.

Game was demoed on 360 I think, so no idea.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

A few new screen shots:

 

[Fjordson]

Looks fucking great.

And I mentioned this in another topic, but Patrick Klepek from Giant Bomb saw the game a few weeks ago and said they mentioned that "one of the Houser brothers wrote the game". Hyped increased tenfold.

 

[Menelaus]

Wow, I got my tag in this thread, of all places? Hilarious!

Anyways, the updated impressions are sounding better and better. I still remain cautiously optimistic for Man on Fire: The Game

 

[Simo]

Spanish magazine, Micromania has a length article for Max Payne 3 including a couple of new screenshots and artwork. Not sure if there's any new info though as Spanish isn't my native language. =P

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

Spanish magazine, Micromania has a length article for Max Payne 3 including a couple of new screenshots and artwork. Not sure if there's any new info though as Spanish isn't my native language. =P

NOoooooooooooooooooooo, why didn't I learn Spanish at some point in the past!?

Asides from that, that is a cool art piece.

 

[Flavius]

Still more interested in how Rockstar fucked up the marketing for this game than the game itself...

That said, I still want to play it and I still think it'll be worth it.

 

[pakkit]

Still more interested in how Rockstar fucked up the marketing for this game than the game itself...

???

Marketing hasn't even really begun for the game. I'm sure we'll see a strong marketing push from Rockstar when we near release.

 

[Flavius]

???

Marketing hasn't even really begun for the game. I'm sure we'll see a strong marketing push from Rockstar when we near release.

Doubt I'm the first to mention this, but from an influentials standpoint?

Yeah, they've already fucked it up.

Doesn't mean they can't turn it around prior to release, though.

Marketing begins from the point that information is first released, by the way. "Control the message" is your goal. To suggest that Rockstar has been even remotely successful with this thus far is utter lunacy.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

Doubt I'm the first to mention this, but from an influentials standpoint?

Yeah, they've already fucked it up.

Doesn't mean they can't turn it around prior to release, though.

Marketing begins from the point that information is first released, by the way. "Control the message" is your goal. To suggest that Rockstar has been even remotely successful with this thus far is utter lunacy.

The release of "Bald Max" back in '09 was not the best way to endear old fans, but it certainly got the message out there that things would be different.

But actual mass marketing has barely begun. We've got... one trailer and like thirty screen shots. There's press previews, which are mostly universally positive.

Rockstar's real public marketing will kick into high gear next year, I bet.

 

[Flavius]

The release of "Bald Max" back in '09 was not the best way to endear old fans, but it certainly got the message out there that things would be different.

But actual mass marketing has barely begun. We've got... one trailer and like thirty screen shots. There's press previews, which are mostly universally positive.

Rockstar's real public marketing will kick into high gear next year, I bet.

Your reply seems in line with what I've already posted, and I agree. Still, this approach constitutes a pretty substantial shift from Rockstar's other recent titles, and I'm curious to see how it all plays out, from ramping up mainstream marketing efforts to sales and critical reception.

 

[Simo]

New screenshots...

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

New preview and shots!

http://www.gamespot.com/max-payne-3...review-6344550?tag=updates;editor;all;title;6

They showed off a different level here, not the one in Max's apartment and the bus depot.

It sounds pretty awesome.

 

[mysticwhip]

Anyone know the name of Rockstar's artists that does the promo art. Seems like the Sme person who did the promo art for GTA IV, RDR and now MP3.

 

[Speedymanic]

Love that last shot. Is it too much to hope that visual style will be in game?

 

[RoboPlato]

Man, I really hope the DoF and motion blur is intact in the PS3 version. I looks fantastic in those screens.

 

[dreamfall]

Love that last shot. Is it too much to hope that visual style will be in game?

Very pretty- I really hope this gameplay and not just a cutscene or something. Can not wait for the return of Max; Rockstar has yet to let me down!

 

[Frank Jaeger]

LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!

Now that's topical.

 

[Ben Pierce]

Goddamn, those screens!

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

Goddamn, those screens!

That is nightmarish.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

New interview with Jeronimo Barrera:

http://www.gamespot.com/features/ro...ver-shooters-and-regenerating-health-6344714/

Rockstar on Bringing Max Payne Into the Era of Cover Shooters and Regenerating Health

Max Payne 3 developer explains why it has adopted certain shooter trends and shunned others, and whether an open-world setting was ever a consideration.


GameSpot: In your eyes, what's the one part of the third-person shooter genre that has changed most since Max Payne's last outing? How have you addressed that in Max Payne 3?

Jeronimo Barrera: Cover is something that everybody worked to adopt, and it quickly became a staple of third-person shooters. For us, the direction early on was to make sure we had a great, intuitive cover system but not make it the central or core mechanic. It's only natural when trying to build a game around gunplay that the whole environment comes into play, and it would look silly if Max couldn't assume a position behind obvious cover points. One of the goals was to make sure that AI reacted appropriately to the player if they're behind cover. If you're caught by a thug flushing you out, it can be deadly. That led to further development of the shootdodge and the ability to vault over cover in the fast and fluid manner that characterizes the Max Payne games. In the end it feels and looks great and is a totally natural progression for the series.

GS:On the other hand, one of the areas where you guys are bucking recent shooter trends is with the health system--it's not the popular regenerating health. What's the reasoning behind that particular design decision?

JB: When we set out to make Max Payne 3, we had a few specific goals--to stay true to the fundamentals of the original games in both tone and in gameplay, but also to significantly update the series for the expectations of today's players in ways that felt fresh and new. We've worked hard to make the gameplay more sophisticated than other third-person shooters in many ways, from the work done on targeting and animation to the new ways we've implemented bullet time, but painkillers are one of the fundamental elements of the series and play a major role in Max's story as well as gameplay.

We also wanted to encourage players to be strategic in their approach to combat spaces and not to rely on cover as simply a point to sit and regenerate health. Max Payne is about the beauty of the gunplay itself, in knowing when to launch yourself into an area, finding the right lines of attack, and perfecting bullet time kills. Regenerating health would have an impact on the game's natural rhythm.

GS: The first trailer shows more than a few instances of Max getting up close and personal with his enemies. While Max had a basic melee attack in Max Payne 2, how much more in-depth will hand-to-hand combat be in the next game?

JB: Max has access to new melee moves in Max Payne 3 which allow you to take down enemies in close quarters, and these are all contextual depending on the weapon you're wielding at the time and your relationship to the enemy. Max will kick lower enemies, head-butt an enemy if you don't have a weapon, or disarm opponents if you're out of ammo. Max will also make creative use of the butts of weapons to pistol-whip enemies in close for a coup de grace

GS: The Max Payne series popularized the bullet time mechanic, and for a while there it seemed like every other game was using some variation of it. What has been the biggest challenge in bringing back bullet time in a way that doesn't feel worn out?

JB: The original Max Payne game was the first time players had seen real, functional slow motion in video games, and it was visually stunning. These days, many games include some superficial form of slow-motion gameplay as one feature among many to mark off a checklist, but in the Max Payne series, bullet time is a core element of gameplay, both strategically and aesthetically. Gunplay has to be both hectic enough for bullet time to make strategic sense, and beautiful at any speed, so the entire game is built around the many ways in which bullet time is implemented.

Our challenge then was to make modern bullet time feel integral to the game's design, and we feel we've achieved that in the pacing and design of each level. Enemy AI can be extremely overwhelming in real time: precise, deadly, and smart, flanking, using projectiles, and flushing players out of cover if you stand still for too long. The use of skill-based multipliers to increase bullet time regeneration means the better you group your shots into vital areas, the quicker your bullet time meter will replenish, allowing you precious extra seconds to size up your next move.

We wanted to keep that same wow factor of the first time you saw bullet time, and we've achieved it through the combination of bullet time and Natural Motion's Euphoria system to power character behaviors. Every time you go into bullet time and shoot enemies, you're going to see them react differently. Another way that Euphoria upgrades Max's behavior is how aware Max is of his environment at all times, but especially during shootdodges--rather than a canned dive animation, Max will respond to the world around him as he dives, bracing for a fall with his arm or ducking his head where necessary.

GS: One of the most memorable scenes from the last press demo was of Max firing shots with one hand while holding onto a moving crane hook with the other. Can you give us a sense of how frequently these cinematic moments occur?

JB: Those cinematic moments are another example of the way we've updated bullet time for Max Payne 3. There will be many points throughout the game where areas of the environment will automatically trigger bullet time in order to create these cinematic set pieces. These are not simple quick-time events--you have full control of Max as a character, with full reticle movement in order to precisely target each enemy, and you'll transition in and out of these completely seamlessly.

GS: How much have you tried to incorporate story into the gameplay? Will players get a sense of Max's personal ups and downs in the way the game plays?

Definitely. We put a lot of effort into blending story and gameplay as seamlessly as we possibly can, and Max's personal journey is at the heart of the game. Given the story-driven nature of the game, it's not easy to discuss without quickly heading into spoiler territory, but we'll be jumping around within Max's timeline in a way that will allow every twist in the story to fully reveal itself in a way that lives up to Max's journey so far.

GS: Given that Max Payne 3 is the first game in the series that Rockstar has developed in-house, did you ever consider adapting the Max Payne gameplay into the open-world style Rockstar is so well known for?

JB: Max Payne has a long, acclaimed history and is more than capable of standing alone as a third-person action shooter on its incredibly sophisticated and cinematic blend of story and gameplay, and that is the kind of game we set out to make, alongside our ambitions for competitive multiplayer within the Max series through Max Payne 3. We love our open worlds, but we have one or two other games that cover that territory for us.

GS:Thanks for your time.

 

[Despera]

Next year is gonna be a good year. Well, hopefully.

 

[Tiktaalik]

whoa whoa he shaves his head? lol that's weird. I always assumed that it was a natural, "well he's an older guy now so he's going bald" thing.

As someone that is slowly losing his hair to male pattern baldness I'm offended!

 

[Simo]

Posted? New Gameplay video coming tomorrow at 12 EST:

Tomorrow - Thursday, November 17th at noon Eastern right here at www.rockstargames.com and at the official Max Payne 3 page, look for the very first in a series of in-depth Max Payne 3 videos.

The Design and Technology Video Series will offer a detailed look at the targeting mechanics, movement and animation, enemy intelligence and other technical design innovations going into building an advanced, intense and immersive action-shooter with Max Payne 3.

http://www.rockstargames.com/newswi...yne-3-design-and-technology-series-video.html

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Awwwwww here we go. Maybe this actually is coming out in March if they're starting the real gameplay trailers.

 

[speculawyer]

Max Can Melee?

A few new screen shots:

 

[IC_Champion]

Anyone know the name of Rockstar's artists that does the promo art. Seems like the Sme person who did the promo art for GTA IV, RDR and now MP3.

It's either Joshua Bass or Bob Nelson.