Did you have trouble getting into Max Payne 3’s melancholic bullet-time extravaganza but couldn’t put your finger on why? I’ll tell you: it’s because the eponymous pouty-pants wasn’t wearing the face of Sam Lake, the original face model for Max Payne. Now’s your chance to finally get immersed in the dour, gritty spectacle with a new mod that tran??sforms Max’s face back to the way the Gods of Visage intended.

The mod comes to use from Nexus user Alexsavvy. It’s no hack job either, as Max’s goes through a lo??t of abuse throughout the game. Alexsavvy has made sure that every scrape, bump, and misplaced strand of hair still reflects on the hero’s mug. Meanwhile, the distinct nonplussed look of the New York detective stays in place while he’s still able to move and show the full range of emotions that the original Max model did.

//youtu.be/qAoKMhw5QmM

It goes even beyond that, as the burly physique of Max has been paired down, and all of his clothes have been altered to fit. To give a better idea of the changes, here’s what Alexsavvy had to say i??n their own words.

“In total, the mod replaces 98 models and 66 textures. Plus, models and textures in the mirror for the scene where Max shaves his head. Yes, you will see how Sam Lake shaves his head!�/p>

It looks great, and I am? tempted to give the game another playthrough just to check this mod out in closer detail. Sam Lake probably didn’t give permission for the use of his face, but knowing the guy (not personally), I imagine he’d be flattered. Oh, as it turns out, he just might be.

//twitter.com/SamLakeRMD/status/1683864006?233137152?s=20

You can grab the Sam Lake mod over here on Nexus.

The post Max Payne 3 mod puts Sam Lake’s face back where it belongs appeared first on Destructoid.

It was a weird day in Houser's house

This week has been a bit of a strange one for Rockstar Games, at least in regards to its PC store. It began on April 19, when the Grand Theft Auto developer's entire catalog vanished from the Steam platform. It was quickly reinstated without explanation, and (for a brief period), complete with Midnight Club 2, ??which has not been available to purchase i??n three years.

One further oddity, however, concerns the surprise arrival of new updates for 2011's detective title L.A. Noire, and 2012's shooter sequel Max Payne 3, both of which have automatic??ally dished out their entire DLC for free, gifting all those who own the titles on Steam a selection of skins, weapons, missions, and other goodies.

Today, things seem to have returned to a sense of normalcy, with Rockstar's Steam catalog all present and correct. L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3 are admittedly getting a little creaky in the bones in their latter years, but they're both pretty good games in their own right. The f??ree DLC ??is a welcome, if slightly bizarre, bonus.

The post New PC updates for Max Payne 3 and L.A. Noire gift all DLC for fr??ee appeared first on Destructoid.

Twenty-something office worker spends spare time as fifty-something washed-up police officer with a submachine gun

Contains mild spoilers for Max Payne 3

Not everyone has a “type” when it comes to games genres, but many people do. Games span a wide range of different skillsets and com?bine a variety of other interests, so it should come as no surprise that a lot of games aren't for everyone.

But on occasion, trying out games outside of your pre-established tastes can be a rewarding experience. You might even learn that a genre you thought was completely out of your reach is more promising than you ever expected. Even if you don't become a platformer convert after years of rueing the day Crash Bandicoot was born, you might find the one exception in the genre that isn't actually all that bad.

Let's share our experiences of discovering something new – or being broad-minded when it comes to games – in the comments. For me, my lifelong nervousness around shooters was challenged this week when I ?decided to tuck into Max Payne 3.

Max Payne – you strap yourself in and feel the Gs

Shooters have never been my personal bag, simply because it's not a genre I grew up with and I had the impression that they were only for the skilled gamer. FPS games are still very intimidating to me, and I feel like third-person cover shooters are something I'm just about beginning to tolerate. While I have dipped my toe in the cover shooter subgenre before, enjoying games that incorporated aspects of this such as Uncharted and Sleeping Dogs, it's alwa?ys been a characteristic I'?ve expected to bite me in the ass.

I decided to give Max Payne 3 a try after adding it to my PS3 collection in August, largely because of the story. Gunfire may not be my jam, but noir and a thoroughly depressing story most certai?nly is. I'd not played the game's predecessors but knew the backstory, and expected Max to be in pretty bad ??shape.

It actually turned ?out to be not as much of a buzzkill as I expected. Max still wisecracks with the best of them, even if he is usually riffing off how everyone in his life has abandoned him or been taken from him. He likes his booze and his pills, but he has a nice redemption arc in the second half, and appears to build a new life in the sun for himself at the end. And in spite of killing hundreds upon hundreds of average Joes who are just pawns in a corrupt system, you feel like Max has earned his Caribbean retirement.

What really stoo??d out for me, though, was the shooting – particularly since the story didn't develop some key characters, such as Da Silva, as much as I would have liked. Disclaimer here: as a newbie to the genre, I played on what should have been the easiest setting combination possible, which was Easy mode with hard enemy lock-on. Hard lock-on actually ended up being a bit of a setback, since the reticle had the awkward habit of fixating on the wrong ??enemy. But I did have more than a helping hand throughout the entire process.

Learning what counted as good cover and when to pop my head above the parapet was a real thrill. Max Payne 3 also gave me good reason to experiment, since the game on Easy mode drip-fed you ammo and painkillers on multiple deaths to make sure that no area was an insurmountable bar to progression. Shootdodge and bullet time took a bit of getting used to, but as prominent features of the Max Payne series, I felt compelled to use them as m??uch as possible, and towards the end I felt like I'd nailed down the basics. The only limits to my shooting were that my TV is far too small to make headshots more than a happy accident.

Overall, my time with Max Payne was a little lacklustre when it came to my initial motivations for playing it – the story. But it actually has more replay value than I anticipated, because I would definitely revisit it for the shoot-outs. Side note: it should be compulsory for all shoo??ters to have a “bomb it all to heck” grenade launcher section righ?t at the end.

A surprise to surpass Metal Gear

Of course, this is not the first time that I've surprised myself with how much I've adapted to a specific genre. I didn't expect Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain to be as compelling as it ended up being, in part because I do not do sneaky games very well. But through playing MGSV: TPP and then progressing onto the other games in the series, I learnt that stealth games are something I do get on really well with, as long as there is a little wiggle room as to how you approach situations. I liked that I could be a bit more all-guns-blazing in certain scenarios of TPP, if I was willing to accept a penalty for it. What is not for me is the more rigid requirement of skulking in the shadows that is present in series such as Hitman and Splinter Cell. I'm more of a hybrid-stealth kinda gal.

Likewise, I never knew that hack-and-slash games were something I could get hooked on – and then I played Bayonetta and DmC. On the whole, trying out games I wouldn't usually gravitate towards (VNs, platformers and puzzle games) has shown that just because you're not espec?ially good at a type of game, you can still have a blast sucking at it.

A Croc of shit?

Screenshot from the Widescreen Gaming Forum

This can also go in the opposite direction: games that receive a lot of praise in genres you get excited about can leave you feeling unexpectedly cold. My most prominent example of this is the 1997 PS1 platforming classic, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, wh??ich quite a few people consider a cult classic and an unforgettable part of their childho?od. Or so it seems to me.

I remember starting Croc up as a wee child, straight off the back of the legendary Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, and thinking, “what the Hell is this crap?” Jumps felt laggy and awkward, the game just looked ugly to me??, and I didn't find Croc as a protagonist enchanting in the slightest. It still sits on my shelf, begging me to give it a fair shake many years on, but I haven't been able to motivate myself to put it through the wringer one more time.

In more recent times, I gave Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction a try, after finishing my first Ratchet and Clank game, the PS4 remake. For some reason, moving backwards along the Ratchet and Clank development timeline in this way left me with some real problems with the controls when it came to Tools of Destruction. I was getting my ass handed to me in the opening section, and I couldn't figure out why. Frustration got the better of me and I put it to one side, despite the PS4 version of Ratchet and Clank being one of? my favourit?e games that I played this year.

All of this just goes to show that while genre preferences can create goo?d guidelines when it comes to deciding what games to buy, they are no guarantee of ho?urs of fun. Likewise, venturing outside of your usual boundaries can yield plenty of goodies and memorable moments.

What games have you enjoyed, despite being outside of your usual wheelhouse? Have any surefire hits fallen flat with you, despite others enjoying them? Do you play all kinds of genres, or stick to what you know and love? Let me know in the comments down below!

The post Which games have you enjoyed, even though they’re “not your type”? appeared first on Destructoid.

Take-Two Talks

Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two, has opened up about why it does not annualise the release its biggest titles like Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, and Red Dead Redemption.

Talking at MKM Partners Investor Day in New York City (via Gamespot), Take-Two's CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that annual releases can "[burn] off your intelle??ctual property" a?nd reduce demand and quality, reducing their capacity to be "massive consumer events".

"The market asks us, 'Why don't you annualize your titles?' We think with the non-sports titles, we are better served to create anticipation and demand," said Zelnick. "On the one hand to rest the title, and, on the other hand, to have the highest quality in the market, which takes time. You can't do that?? annually."

"What we would like to do is be able to have enough hit intellectual properties in any given year, whether we have Title? A or Title B, is not the issue," he said. "We'll have a handful of really great franchises and new ??intellectual properties that together really have the economic impact of an annualized business without the detriments of an annualized business."

Although there was no news on any upcoming new releases, Zelnick did tell the conference that Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption were considered "permanent franchises" and confirmed that the BioShock series remains "??unque?stionably" important to the company. 

Do you agree that Take-Two should keep their focus on quality, or would you love to see these?? series' released annually (or even once e??very couple of years)? You know what to do... *points to comments*

The post Why doesn’t Rockstar release a new GTA game every year? appeared first on Destructoid.

There are great games, and some not-so-great as well

Looking for a new game to play well into the weekend while I hit up Chicago for the Queens of the Stone Age show? You are? Boy, do I have a sale for you! Hit up the PlayStation Store this weekend early for some sweet deals, including BioShock, Red Dead Redemption, Duke Nukem Forever, GTA IV, and L.A. Noire for just $5 apiece. You could buy?? a cheap McDonald's lunch, or you could start a new game. Priorities, peopl?e, and I think we all know where ours lie. 

PlayStation Plus is not required to take advantage of this deal, and there's something for everyone if you look hard enough. The Mark of Kri is a good buy if you haven't picked it up, and Spec Ops: The Line is an interesting romp with a pleasing twist.?? Either way, it's $5! Rack 'em up, homie!

Check out the full selection via the webstore here and let us know what you snap up.

NA PS Store $5 Fla?sh Sale (RDR, Max Payne 3, GTA 4, Guacamelee!, MK, Spec Ops, more) [NeoGAF]

The post Plenty of great games for $5 during the PlayStation Store Flash ?Sale appeared first on Destructoid.

A little side by side comparison

YouTube user datarace1 took some of the gameplay footage from the last Grand Theft Auto V video and compared the combat mechanics against Max Payne 3. There's a lot of similarities, which isn't really surprising as there's a lot of elements from past Rocksta??r games all implemented in different ways here.

Ultimately, this is good news for those that never liked GTA's combat in the past.

The post See how GTA V’s combat is similar to Max Payne 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

'They had their body armor...I had mine'

One of my favorite games of last year was the exceptionally-crafted Max Payne 3. From its dark and moody story to the pulse-pounding action moments, it all combined to create one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences from Rocks?tar that I've had in a long time.

Unfortunately, Mac owners were unable to enjoy this great game in their native OS. At least that was case, until today -- Max Payne 3 is now available for purchase on the Mac App Store and Steam. Mac gamers can enjoy all of Max's inner-monologue one-liners as well as the fantastic Advanced Bullet Time and crazy Shootdodge mechanics.

I would still recommend bringing a good book along, as the 32.51GB download may take a while. That being?? said, it is well worth the wait??.

The post Bringing the Payne! Max Payne 3 now graces Mac appeared first on Destructoid.

A bargain on par with Max's angst

Max Payne has hit rock bottom. Now, so has the price for his latest game! Greenmangaming is offering a 48 hour sale on the PC version of Max Payne 3 which ought to turn a few heads. Using a coupon code (GMG20-P4DLK-FKYRS; courtesy of the folks at DealZon) to shave a few extra bucks off, you can grab the game right now for $10.88 or, if you're a baller, pick up the "Complete Collection" including the Rockstar Season Pass and all its associated DLC for a mere $14. You have until Saturday at ??9am Pacifi??c to lay your money down.

As you may have surmised from the review I wrote last year, it's a damn fine game and this is an excellent price for it. I'm not sure that I'd invest in the Season Pass, even for only a few bucks more, but that's more due to an acknowledgment that I don't have time to play Max Payne 3 multiplayer than a reflecti??on of its?? quality.

Who's in?

The post Greenmangaming offers dirt cheap Max Payne 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

More content is great, but not if people aren't playing

Rockstar has released the newest -- and last -- downloadable content pack for Max Payne 3, Deathmatch Made in Heaven. ;The DLC contains a new co-op mode, weapons, items, three additional multiplayer modes, and? a single-player cha??llenge.

I've been playing around with the new content for a few days now, and in that time I've only managed to get into a few matches. I was playing on the PC, so other platforms might ha?ve more people playing, but Max's multiplayer is somewhat of a ghost town these days, sadly.

Max Payne 3: Deathmatch Made in Heaven DLC (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
Developer: Rockstar Vancouver
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Release: January 22, 2013
MSRP: $9.99 (PC, PS3) / 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox 360)

Let's start off with the co-op mode, Dead Man Walking. In this mode,?? two players work together as Max and Passos to fight off waves of endless enemies. It's a horde mode, which just about every shooter has these days, so I don't think too many people will be surprised by anything in here. As you kill bad guys, you unlock points that can be used to open new areas of the map, or open containers to find more weapons and ammo.

While it's definitely not anything new, it's actually the best multiplayer experience I've had with Max Payne 3 as it's just simple and fun. It's Ma??x and Passos killing crooks and trading one liners. Honestly, this should have been with the gam?e when it shipped.

Since you only need two players, it wasn't that hard to find a match most of the time. It's not amazing, but it's also not offensive. As a heads up, you do have to beat the game on at least the Detective difficulty setting in order to unlock this mode. If you haven't finished the single-player somehow by now, you might wan?t to hold off.

The three multiplayer modes are Marked Man, Run & Stun, and Time Attack. Time Attack and Marked Man are slight variations of the standard Deathmatch and they aren't all that exciting. The rule changes are minimal, and they don't really do a whole lot to spice things up. Based on my experience, most PC players are staying away from these modes and sticking with standard d??eathmatches.

The most interesting-looking mode is undoubtedly Run & Stun. One player becomes Ca?ptain Baseball Bat Boy's enemy, Saci, and he has to go running around stunning everyone else. Once a player is stunned, they are on Saci's side. Sadly, it's not as fun as it sounds. I think it's mostly due to the low player volume. I never manag??ed to get more than four people in a round at once.

The new weapons are all for melee use and include a cattle prod, nightstick, stun gun, and pep??per spray. While fun to use, they don't exactly bring a whole lot to the table. There are a handful of new items to add boosts and protect you from different types of damage as we?ll.

This isn't a terrible batch of DLC by any means, and I've definitely seen worse. The problem is that it's essentially multiplayer content for a game nobody seems to care about anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love Max Payne 3 -- it's my personal game of the year for 2012, as a matter of fact -- but solely for its single?-player experience.

The multiplayer is decent, but Deathmatch Made in Heaven doesn't do much for it. If you are interested in a new co-op mode to play with a buddy, it might be worth getting, but I really can't recommend i??t. If you do get the add-on, you'll be spending a lot of time alone waiting for people to join a match.

The post Impressions: Max Payne 3’s Deathmatch Made in Heaven DLC appeared first on Destructoid.

Max is all out of DLC to give

Deathmatch Made in Heaven, Max Payne 3's final piece of downloadable content, will launch tomorrow in North America -- marking the fulfillment of the DLC schedule that Rockstar laid out several months ago.

As with nearly all previous packs, Deathmatch Made in Heaven will contain new weapons, items, and bursts for players to get their hands on; however, the pack also adds new co-op and competitive modes -- Dead Men Walking, Run & Stun, Marked Man, and Time Attack -- which Rockstar has fully detailed here.

This DLC will cost 800 Mic??rosoft Points or $9.99 on PC and PlayStation Network. The pack won't launch in Europe until January 30, 2013.

Deathmatch Made in Heaven Max Payne 3 DLC Is Co?ming January 22nd [Rockstar]

The post Max Payne 3’s ‘Deathmatch Made in Heaven’ out tomorrow appeared first on Destructoid.

One of the best soundtracks of 2012!

The Creators Project sat down with band Health to talk about how they made the woderful score to Max Payne 3. The band details what they did to create the score, includin??g watching early video captu??res Rockstar would send them of play testers playing the game.

Check out the blog posting on The Creators Project for a full breakdown of how the score was made, and to listen to some of the stems that were used to keep ??the music flowing i??n levels.

HEALTH Breaks Down Their Score For Max Payne 3 [The Creators Project]

The post Health details h?ow they ma??de the Max Payne 3 soundtrack appeared first on Destructoid.

Fixes invisible players and cover

Fresh off the announcement of the Painful Memories DLC, Rockstar has just pushed a patch that will fix a number of multiplayer issues with the game; most notably the fact that some people would get stuck in cover, or turn invisible (so spooooky!). The patch is available on?? the 360, PS3, and PC right now.

I never experienced these issues, because I only played multiplayer a week into the game's release, then promptly quit. Did anyone stick ??with it?

Patch Notes:

• The Kill screen now shows what weapon and burst the enemy used to kill you
• Fixed an issue where players would occasionally get stuck in cover
• Fixed an issue where players would occasionally appear invisible
• Fixed an issue where game modes could appear to be over 100% full
• Fixed an issue where occasionally a Loadout slot could overwrite another Loadout slot at the start of a round of Gang Wars
• Fixed an issue where a party would have trouble loading into a new game after a party member had left

The post Max Payne 3 patch addresses multiplayer issues appeared first on Destructoid.

New pack of multiplayer stages takes Max back to his roots

Rockstar has announced the release date of the next batch of content for Max Payne 3, a new multiplayer pack called, Painful Memories. Included in the pack are four multiplayer maps, "Marty's Bar," "Canal De Panamá," "Shoot First" (a yacht stage!) and, in a throwback to the original Max Payne a map based in Roscoe Street Station. Yes, you can now relive the opening stage of the game whic?h no doubt made the development teams of nearly every shooter for the next five years have discussions about whether or not to implement a bullet time mechanic.

Along with the maps come a couple of new assault rifles, items, avatars and so forth to further spice up your g?ame. The pack will run you $9.99 on PSN and PC, 800 MS Points on the Xbox 360, while purchasers of the Rockstar Pass will naturally be able to download at no charge.

Max Payne??? 3 Painful Memories DLC Coming December 4th [Rockstar]

The post Max Payne 3 ‘Painful Memories’ DLC out December 4 appeared first on Destructoid.

A release date seems to have been negotiated

Originally scheduled to launch in September, Rockstar had Max Payne 3's Hostage Negotiation Pack pushed back to sometime "later this fall." Sure, some of us were a bit upset but I was too distracted with the free weapons bonus Rockstar gave as ?compensation -- sorry, what delay?

Well, Rockstar has today confirmed that Hostage Negotiation will now be coming ou???t on October 30 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The DLC, which features four new multiplayer maps, a new avatar faction as well as two new rifles and other items will cost 800 Microsoft Points or $9.99 for PSN and PC users.

According to the company, they'll be giving "detailed previews of all four new maps" some ti??me next week. 

Max Payne 3 Hostage Negotiation Pack DLC Coming to All Platforms on October? 30th [Rockstar]

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The latest live-action short from the brilliant minds over at CorridorDigital takes us to the Max Payne ??universe to give us a glimpse at Max's poor, pathetic life.

Not my favorite CorridorDigital short, but I love how the guys went about getting the slow motion effects for this. Basically, they couldn't afford to rent a slow motion camera rig, so they shot all of the bullet time scenes underwater to get the effect instead. Nice.

Bonus: Dtoid reader Alex Barbatsis portrays the role of the boss in th?is short. What a jerk.

The post Live-action? Max Payne s??hort goes slow-mo underwater appeared first on Destructoid.

As disclosed in Take-Two Interactive's financial results for Q1 fiscal year 2013, 3 million copies of Max Payne 3 have been shipped to date. These are "lower-than-anticipated sales," according to Take-?Two Chairman an?d CEO Strauss Zelnick, but not to worry -- there's plenty of downloadable content on the way.

Following August's free "Disorganized Crime Pack," which introduces the Hoboken Rooftops multiplayer map and some new Score Attack modifiers, the previously planned five add-on packs for Max Payne 3 are being consolidated into three $9.99/800 Microsoft-Point packs that will release over?? the next few months.

These are taking the form of the "Hostage Negotiation Map Pack," the " Painful Memories Map Pack," and the "Deathmatch Made In Heaven Mode Pack." I don't know how many of you are still playing this multiplayer, but it sounds like you'll have plenty of incentives ??to stick with it.

The post Rockstar details new Max Payne 3 DLC schedule appeared first on Destructoid.

Back in January, Rockstar Games gave Max Payne fans the chance to be forever immortalized in Max Payne 3's multiplayer. A cool idea, for sure, but apparently the contest was met with a good deal ?of suc??cess as they've extended that opportunity yet again for the DLC releasing this fall. 

The studio will be hosting a series of multiplayer events over the next month through which they'll be randomly selecting participating players for a shot at small-time fame. Rockstar will then contact a select group of participants to give them their shot at competitive multiplayer fame. To be eligible, make sure you've linked either your Gamertag or PSN id to your Rockstar Social Club profile and jump into the Social Club Multiplayer Event playlist during each of t??he scheduled sessions.

Here's a rundown of the full schedule:

First Cast Member Session
July 7, 2012: 12:01am - 11:59pm ET

Second Cast Member Sessions
July 10, 2012: 12-5pm ET
July 13, 2012: 12:01am-11:59pm ET

Third Cast Member Sessions
July 19, 2012: 12-5pm ET
July 22, 2012: 12:01am-11:59pm ET 

Fourth Cast Member Sessions
July 24, 2012: 12-5pm ET
July 28, 2012: 12:01am-11:59pm ET  

The post Rockstar wants your face for Max Payne again appeared first on Destructoid.

Rockstar has announced the impending arrival of the "Local Justice" downloadable expansion for Max Payne 3, coming to consoles on July 3 ?with a PC release of July 17. But why read when you can watch the pretty pictures go by and listen to a really enthusiastic announcer rattle off the name of a firearm? It's some slickly produced advertising. Really listen to that narrator's voice. I swear I've heard his voice in promos on MTV before.

What? Max Payne 3 DLC? I'd say it's a good idea to get some out there and that airport area was top on my list of pre-existing locales they needed to open up for multiplayer. I'll probably pop the?? disc back in for a few rounds of this when it hits next week.

The post A quick glimp??se of the Max Pa?yne 3 Local Justice DLC appeared first on Destructoid.

I think we can all agree that cheaters are the absolute worst. Those sel?f-important jerks who have nothing better to do but ruin the game for everyone else are a constant source of frustration for gamers and developers alike, but Rockstar's announced a pretty great method of deali??ng with the dilemma: Quarantine. 

Anyone found cheating in Max Payne 3's online portion will be walle??d off into what they're calling the "cheater's pool." If the initial punishment fails, repeat offenders will be banned indefinitely. Not only does this rid the leaderboards of illegitimate competitors, but it also affords cheaters an opportunity to repent and, eventually, earn their way back into the fold. Genius. 

If you spot a cheater, drop ?them a line at maxpayne3.banhammer@rockstargames.com with the details.

Taking Aim at Cheaters in Max Payne 3 [Rockstar]

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It’s hard to see your favorite series on a different platform. I’ll always play Demon’s Souls and Final Fantasy games on my PlayStation 3, because anything else just feels wrong. The same is true of Max Payne on PC. Though we PC gamers had to wait a couple? weeks longer, it didn&r??squo;t matter that much after waiting nine years for a sequel.

The concern for PC players isn’t the wait but the developer. Rockstar doesn’t have a stellar track record on PC, either botching games (Grand Theft Auto IV) or forgoing a port altogether (Red Dead Redemption). Once reports came out that the game would take up a whoppi??ng 35 GB (or four DVDs)?, people began to worry for good reason.

While the insane downlo??ad time may not be necessary, I’m here to say it’s definitely worth it. Rockstar got things right this time. Mostly.

Graphics

Max Payne 3 is one of the best-looking games on consoles this year, so it’s no surprise that it looks stunning on PC. Turning up the DX11 options, like tessellation, and maxing out the anti-aliasing presents image quality unparalleled on the PC. It’s unfair to compare it to The Witcher 2 or Battlefield 3, as it doesn’t share the scope of? those games, but everything from the detailed facial models, city backdrops, and textures make this game sing.

There are a couple drawbacks, however. There are reports from several users on NeoGAF that enabling MSAA has brought about several graphical and mouse glitches in their game. That’s too bad, since it really brings out th?e color and crispness in the visuals. I haven’t faced any of these issues so far, but I played mostly with it off for the sake of a higher frame rate. As you can see in the graph below, MSAA deals a heavy blow to your processing power.

There are a lot of cutscenes in Max Payne 3 that begin as pre-recorded video files. They are used to mask the loading of the next level, but, on the PC, they serve as a constant reminder of how awesome the game is on this platform. Like playing a PS3 HD remaster, these videos ironically look much worse than the actual g??ameplay due to all the visual perks you get on the PC. As soon as the game switches from movie to in-game, I think, “This is why I waited two extra weeks.” Seeing a club full of people dancing in front of flashing lights with their hair and detailed facial models rendered crisply and full of color makes that wait more than worth it.

Here are so??me comparisons between the different graphical options:

NoAA vs FXAA

NoAA vs 4xMSAA

FXAA vs 4xMSAA

Controls

While most will be coming to Max Payne 3 on PC for the visuals, I’m mainly interested in the controls. Max Payne 1 & 2 were far inferior on consoles because the games demanded accuracy you couldn’t get from a thumbstick. It saddens me to see Rockstar give PC the cold shoulder in Max Payne 3, as the game is cle??arly made with?? console controls in mind.

Iron-sight aiming is one of the biggest changes in shooters since the release of Max Payne 2 in 2003. It shouldn’t surprise anyone then that Max Payne 3 embraces this -- though, it’s more of a slight zoom, as in Uncharted and Gears of War. Since you’ll need this to aim efficiently, your keyboard/mouse layout from past Max Payne games ??won’t work here. It doesn’t help that the default controls are aw?ful. Using "G" to roll is just silly.

The right-mouse button used to be dedicated to the Bullet Time ability, but now it must be remapped to something else. This makes everything out of whack, but you'll eventually find something that works for you in the options. The frustrating thing is that multiplayer and single-player in Max Payne 3 have different demands on the player; they each have their own ideal?? button layout. In multiplayer, you aren’t constantly using Bullet Time but will need to roll like crazy instead. It would have been great to have different layout options for both game types, instead I find myself either constantly re-adjusting or playing uncomfortably.

You still have the Free Aim option, but you’re really missing the p??oint of playing with a mouse if you do that. Even though playing with mouse/keyboard has ?its drawbacks, it’s still a pleasure to Bulletdodge into the air and pull off a series of headshots with the most accurate device in gaming.

Online

When you first start up Max Payne 3, you’ll need to log in to Rockstar Social Club. This is a quick, painless process. I didn’t even need to type in m??y multiplayer key, as the game automatically took it from my Steam account.

Joining games is hit and miss. There have been a couple times where it took forever to match me, and sometimes I even had to exit the game through Window’s Task?? Manager because I got stuck in a lobby. There are also some long load times for levels online. It’s not game-breaking, but I hope Rockstar ??smooths things out in an upcoming patch.

All in all, Max Payne 3 is exactly the experience I wanted on PC. I have some issues with the game, but that’s beyond the scope of this article. If you have the patience to spend an entire day downloading a game and want to play Max Payne 3, you won’t regret yo?ur eff??orts. After a long history of half-assed PC ports, Rockstar got things right this time.

[Graph and comparison images courtesy of GeForce]

The post Is Max Payne 3 worth the 29 GB download on PC? appeared first on Destructoid.

Max Payne 3 is out tomorrow for the PC, and with the release comes the launch trailer showing off just how sexy the game looks on PC. This version, as any respectable PC release of a game should have, includes advanced graphics options, scalable high-resolution textures, DirectX11 f??eatures, 3D, LAN, and multi-monitor support too.

I've been playing Max Payne 3 on the Xbox 360 this past week and am blown away by how great the game is. Check out our official review to hold you over until tomorrow.

The post Just one more day until the Max Payne 3 PC launch appeared first on Destructoid.

Max Payne 3 has done quite well for itself in terms of critical reception, and, according to Take-Two Interactive, 3 million units of the currently? available Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions have been shipped. Not a bad launch!

It's also been revealed that the game will now come to PC on Friday, June 1. "Our community has always preferred a single worldwide launch date, and while we couldn't make it happen for the console versions, we decided to work toward a global release for Max Payne 3 on PC," explained VP of Publishing Jennifer Kolbe. "Due to production and logistical issues ?we could not bring the European launch forward, so we worked with US retail to align with the original European launch window and set a new global release date of June 1."

Based on Ryan's account, the PC version should be?? a joy to look at it for those of you with machines that can handle the game's DirectX 11 features. Here's hoping we don't get any unexpected surprises with this slightly late laun?ch.

The post Max Payne 3: Th?ree million shipped, PC version delayed appeared first on Destructoid.

Nearly a decade has passed since Max Payne last brought his brand of violent street justice to a dark and unjust world, and videogames have changed dra?matically in this time. And Max has changed with it, under the new direction of Rockstar Vancouver who are contributing?? the first game in the series not created by originating studio Remedy.

Max Payne 3 is a game which is instantly recognizabl??e by its gameplay tropes yet manages to achieve a fresh take on the character and his world without betraying his origins. Packed with fast action, brutal violence, and a striking cinematic style, all of the stops have been pulled out to make this the most exciting entry in the series to date.

Max Payne 3 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [reviewed])
Developer: Rockstar Vancouver
Publisher:  Rockstar Games
Released: May 15, 2012
MSRP: $59.99 

The story mode takes Max from the mean streets of New Jersey to the equally mean streets of São Paulo, Brazil. Keeping with tradition, the entire plot is experienced in flashback??, narrated throughout by Max as he reflects upon the recent state of his life. Beyond that, events are frequently presented out of their chronological order so that the settings constantly shift and blur together, keeping the player consta??ntly guessing where they'll wind up next.

By this point in his life, Max has effectively hit rock bottom and has been spending all of his time searching for meaning in a bottle. That pursuit doesn't stop just because he's hired by a wealthy Brazili??an family to work as a bodyguard, with the promise of good pay for babysitting socialites. But the job doesn't turn out to be the cakewalk it was supposed to be, and a drunk Max fails to protect the family when a local street gang targets them, leading to a series of events which will leave hundreds dead in the wake of his efforts to r?edeem himself.

Throughout the series, Max has always been the unfortunate victim of circumstance. He's the guy who's in the wrong place at the wrong time, either through no real fault of his own or due to the concerted efforts of others surrounding him. In some ways, you can make the same argument about Max Payne 3, but it doesn't re??ally hold up to scrutiny. Yes, there are secrets to be learned and ??villains to be punished, and Max is still the guy who gets stuck in the middle of a bad situation.

Unlike prior games, though, Max has to bear far more responsibility for his role in the course of events. Throughout the story, it becomes clear that most of the situation could h??ave been avoided had Max chosen a better way to deal with his problems than becoming a drunk. While it may make him a less sympathetic character, the story is considerably better for the change as it provides an opportunity for Max to be more than just the man standing between evil and its goals and experience genuine character growth.

The tale may be dark, but the presentation is flashy as hell. Max Payne 3 transitions almost seamlessly from cutscenes to gameplay sequences and back, rarely giving the player an opportunity to have the time to think about doing anything but playing further and driving the story forward. The non-?interactive sequences give the impression that they fold in and out organically, but serve another function as cover for the game's lengthy loading sequences. One has to wonder if some of the rather lengthy story sequences are of the length they are simply to cover up the fact that the player is playing a game, particularly upon discovering that many of the longer scenes cannot be skipped until they're almost completed. Nevertheless, they are entertaining and effectively maintain immersion by never disconnecting the player from the narrative.

There's a lot of visual style imparted on these sequences. During cutscenes, bits of phrases in Max's narration will pop up on the screen to provide emphasis, and Max Payne 3 makes heavy use of a blurring effect aimed at giving the game a modern, cinematic tone and connecting the player with t??he sense of disorientation Max feels. While the bits of text? are used to great effect throughout, the blur wears out its welcome over time and feels a bit tedious eventually, but it appears so often that it eventually becomes easy to ignore through repetition.

What cannot be ignored is Max's narration. When he's not shooting other people in their heads, he's inside his own, and Max has gobs of dialog throughout the game. He is constant??ly contributing wry observations a?bout whatever crosses into view, and with fantastic variety. Every time Max picks up health-restoring painkillers, he has something to say about them. If the player tarries too long in a room, Max will pipe up to remind them what the next objective is. His voice is a constant companion throughout the entire affair and expertly performed by returning actor James McCaffrey (who also provides motion capture for the role).

Better still, the writing of Max has been elevated. Gone are the overwrought metaphors in Sam Lake's version of the character; Max doesn't once try to compare telephone lines to a human circulatory system or any such pretentious crap. He's still clever and just as full of pathos as ever, but without giving the impression that his words are forced or ?disingenuous. He's such a joy to listen to that players will likely be scouring environments in search of more pearls of wisdom, and those who do will be amply rewarded for their diligence.

Controlling Max is also more satisfying than ever before. Max Payne has always been a series where cover played an important role, but Max Payne 3 is the first game to feature ??an actual mechanic for employing it, allowing the player to hide behind objects, lean out, and blind-fire. The cover mechanic does not provide a means of easily moving from one object to another, however, leaving the player to either rely on a rather slow, rolling dodge, or to take advantage of "bullet time" (earned by being shot at, killing enemies, and more) to slow the action and minimize the damage.

Max isn't a space marine, after all. He may be tough as nails, but it doesn't require much more than a few bullets to take him down, and there are a lot of bullets in his general vicinity pretty much all of the time. But death need not be the end?? with the introduction of a "last stand" mechanic, activated when Max runs out of health but still has unused painkillers. When in the last s?tand, bullet time is activated and the player has a few seconds to eliminate the specific enemy responsible for the killing blow. If successful, Max will survive in a prone position with a majority of health restored, at the cost of a painkiller and all stored bullet time.

These new mechanics go a long way toward deepening the gameplay experience, but Rockstar also has an eye for broadening appeal. Max Payne 3 offers a variety of options that gear it toward players of a wide skill range, most significantly by providing aim assistance in the series for the first time in two different for??ms. When in "Soft Lock" mode, aiming Max's gun causes the targeting reticule to move to the center of mass of the closest enemy. The still easier "Hard Lock" works similarly, with the exception that the reticule will stay with a targeted enemy and try to maintain its relative position on their body even if they move.

Aim assistance is optional; it's set at the beginning of the game and can be switched from the pause menu at any time. Players new to Max Payne or less skilled at third-person action games will likely appreciate the advent of aim assistance, but it's not perfect. Sometimes the game will make questionable choices about which enemy should be targeted, and there's no means of manually switching between targets when the neces?sity arises, leaving the player no choice but to freely aim. The system works well overall to make a challenging game much easier to manage, up to a point.

That challenge level gets rather considerable l??ate in the campaign. The last third of the game is filled with enemies who are wearing full combat armor, seem capable of taking more rounds than Max, and are best dispatched with a quick headshot. Of course, they are also wearing helmets that will simply fly off their heads when hit, leaving the player to have to shoot them in the head again. Since aim assistance moves the target to the center of enemies, it can go from a cr?utch to a hindrance when Max is up against these more difficult foes.

Players are able to revisit completed stages in two Arcade modes. First is Score Attack, in which points are tallied for killing enemies and score multipliers awarded for doing so stylishly and effectively. Bonuses are earned for accuracy, the use of bullet time, and a variety of other opportunities which will allow a skilled player to rack up high scores. In addition, the New York Minute mode introduced in Max Payne 2, in which players are given one minute to complete the entirety of the game and awarded more time for killing enemies, also returns; players can race against the clock in each of Max Payne 3's 14 chapters.

And then there's multiplayer content, as well. Players will be able to choose between playlists designed for "Soft Loc??k" and "Free Aim" targeting, and play in three different types of competitive multiplayer. The standard Deathmatch appears, offered in solo and team flavors. "Payne Killer" is a game in ??which one player assumes the role of Max (well-populated games allow a second player to become his partner, Passos) who becomes the target for the other players and must try to survive as long as possible to earn points. Finally, "Gang Wars" consists of a dynamically selected series of objective-based scenarios linked together, where two gangs compete to claim dominance.

It's a robust offering, complete with experience progression, tons of customization options, and a host of social features. Players earn experience and cash, which is then used to unlock new weapons. Balance between player loadout?s is achieved with ?an encumbrance mechanic that compensates for a heavily armed player by making him slower in movement and healing.

And since this is Max Payne, the multiplayer would be remiss if it did not include the bullet time system in some regard, though it does function a little differently. When activated, bullet time only affects those players who are within the line of sight of whoever activates the ability. It's also a bit of a double-edged sword to employ, as human players have a far easier time putting a little dot on the head of a slow-moving character and a player in bullet time might find themselves overwhelmed if there are more t??han a couple of opponents aiming at them.

Rockstar has also expanded this concept beyond just bullet time to create a range of abilities called "bursts" relating to the meter in multiplayer, now referred to as "adrenaline." Whatever you call it, adrenaline is earned the same way as in the solo campaign, but players can accumulate more by looting the corpses of other players. Bursts come in a delightful variety of forms more interesting than a basic damage buff. In addition to standard? bullet time, bursts also can allow you to pinpoint the locations of your enem??ies or even confuse an opposing team by making all teammates appear to be opponents.

It's damn good fun, creating an environment of chaos and thrilling combat. The new Rockstar Social Club features allow players to team up easily in Crews, pairing them up with players on te??ams who are members of the same Crew, and it makes it easy to get into a game with people you might actually want to play with. Crew members will engage in the game on a whole new level, becoming embroiled in bitter feuds through a mechanic which adds another objective layer to playing online by giving players specific enemies to target? based on their associations and prior conflicts between Crews.

Max Payne 3 is a fantastic package, with a top-notch presentation and plenty of content to keep players busy and happy. It may have been a long time in coming, but there's no arguing with results, and? Max is the kind of guy who gets them. Fans and newcomers alike are going to find plenty to enjoy in this exceptional title.

The post Review: Max Payne 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

Max Payne 3 releases next week, so it's only fitting that Rockstar would deliver a cinematic treat to remind everyone of this fact. Behold this trailer, in which a brooding Max Payne (as if there were any other kind) reflects on the twists and turns his life has taken?? an?d why he's not like anyone else.

Damn straight, he isn't.

The post Max Payne ruminates in Max Payne 3 launch trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

Rockstar recently unveiled some cool new features for its Social Club, the most notable being the addition of cross-platform "crews" for the purpose of challenging other players in online feuds. We'll see crews play a big part in the multiplayer component of the upcoming Max Payne 3, Grand Theft Auto V, and other future Rockstar titles. In addition to some awesome social features, crew members also get sweet little logos on their in-game avatars. Check out the video of our logo ??getting created by the g??uys over at Rockstar!

Crews come in two flavors: public and private. Private crews can be created by anyone -- in fact, you can go make one right now if you want! -- but they're limited to 250 members. Public crews, on the other hand, are created by Rockstar themselves and have no member cap. Apparently it pays to have friends in high places, because Rockstar was kind enough to create a public crew just for Destructoid!

To join, just head on over to the Social Club to create an account, and then click the little yellow Join button on our crew page. We'll be getting the whole crew together next Tuesday when Max Payne 3 releases and kicking ass all over the bullet-riddled Inter?net, so join up now!

The post Join the Destructoid ?Crew in the?? Rockstar Social Club! appeared first on Destructoid.

Max Payne 3's significant PC specs ought to have been a clue that Rockstar's upcoming game will be quite a demanding one, so it should come as no surprise that it'll ship on two discs for Xbox 360. Rockstar confirmed the news on Twitter.

One disc will house half of the single-player campaign, while the other hosts the s??econd?? half alongside the multiplayer. 

Forewarned is fore??armed, so if you're the type of person to whom swapping a disc is a grave insult and a waste of your precious Wall Street time, you'll know to get it on PC or PS3. I've heard of gamers br??eaking their fingers or getting shot by the Taliban while changing game discs, so you better watch out!

The post Max Payne 3 to ship on two Xbox 360 discs appeared first on Destructoid.

Rockstar has never been known for their PC ports in the past. To this day, I still can't get GTA IV to play nice with my machine. They opted out of a port for Red Dead Redemption, and I never got around to L.A. Noire on PC, so I don't know if their porting ever improved. It looks like Rockstar is making an effort though, as today they announced the PC specification requirements for Max Payne 3. ?If you're using a powerhouse, it looks like yo?u'll be playing in style.

Max Payne 3 will support a huge range of components and specs. It requires a respectable minimum of an Intel Dual Core 2.4 GHZ, 2 GB of RAM, an NVIDIA 8600 (or Radeon HD 3400), and 35 GB of hard drive space. Yes, 35 Gigabytes. Now, if you have a monstrosity running an i7 6 Core x 3.06 GHZ, 16 GB of RAM, and a GeForce GTX 680 (or Radeon HD 7970) that supports DirectX11, you can probably fly to the Moon or something with that. Also, Max Payne 3 will look crazy good for you.

Rockstar also announced all the digital pre-orders for Steam, GameStop Impulse, Amazon Game Downloads, Gamesplanet, Gamesload, and Gamersgate. To see the full list of PC specs and some new screenshots,?? hit the jump.

Operating System:
Windows ??7 32/64 Service Pack 1, Window??s Vista 32/64 Service Pack 2, Windows XP 32/64 Service Pack 3

Processor:
I??ntel Dual Core 2.4 GHZ -  i7 3930K 6 Core  x 3.06 GHZ / AMD Dual Core 2.6 GHZ -? FX8150 8 Core x 3.6 GHZ

RAM:
2GB - 16GB

Video Card:
NVIDIA® 8600 GT 512MB VRAM – ??NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680 2GB? VRAM / Radeon HD 3400 512MB VRAM - Radeon HD 7970 3GB VRAM

Sound Card:
100% Direct X 9.0 compatible – Direct X 9.0?? compatible supporting Dolby Digital Live

HDD Space:
35 GB

The post Max Payne 3 can scale up to monster PCs appeared first on Destructoid.

I've been posting a lot of Archie co?mics news as of late. Probably a little too saccharine for some of you tough guys out there, I know. Here, this ought to satisfy your sophisticated palette!

Rockstar Games has teamed up with Marvel Comics to produce a three-part Max Payne 3 prequel series that returns to certain events from the original two games while building towards Max's current predicament. It's written by series writers Dan Houser and Sam "The face of Max Payne" Lake, and it'll be available both digitally and in limited print format. The first issue will even be available for free in the coming weeks via Rockstar's Newswire blog, the official game site, and various other places.

These comics fall under Marvel's Custom So??lutions label, which caught me off guard for a second because I had never heard of that label before. What is it? Can someone clue me in? I'm assuming it refers to comics that Marvel publishes digitally. Is that correct? Why can't I find jack about it on Goo?gle?

??Original Max Payne 3 Comics Series Produced by Mar??vel Coming Soon [Rockstar Games]

The post Marvel is publishing ?a Max Payne 3 comic mini-series appeared first on Destructoid.

Max Payne has bullet time, this is known. The above video wants to make sure of that though, and will fill you in on some of the improvements that have been made to the combat mode. It may also help you get pumped for the pending release of Max Payne 3. 

I try not to get too ??excited about tweaked features in an upcomi?ng game, but even just watching some gameplay action I can't help grin about this one. Plus with a shaved head, Max reminds me of John McClane.

The post Max Payne 3’s bullet time explained appeared first on Destructoid.

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Charlie Bewsher, the Lead Designer for Max Payne 3's multiplayer, after getting some hands-on time with its three modes: Gang Wars, Payne Killer, and Team Deathmatch. Watch the interview for a breakdown of these modes, along with information on the game's charact?er customization, weapon and item loadouts, targeting system, and, of course, Max's iconic bullet time ability.

The post DTOID Extra: Max Payne 3 multiplayer interview appeared first on Destructoid.