Max Payne 3 also pushes boundaries in the way that we’re presenting the action.
The original game was at the forefront of technology at the time, and Max Payne 3 is pushing its own technological boundaries by using brand new editing techniques to blur the lines between cutscenes and gameplay, and making the shifts from level to level completely seamless and free of load times.
Of course, threaded throughout the game are updated versions of the staples of the Max Payne series: James McCaffrey’s iconic voiceover, graphic-novel cutscenes and Bullet Time, which is not only the defining gameplay mechanic but the core of our approach to the entire game, affecting everything from the way we use physics and animation, to level of detail in each gun or our approach to destructibility and our use of particle effects.
The events of Max Payne 3 take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil after Max accepts a job offer from a long-forgotten former colleague from the police academy days – a man by the name of Raul Passos. It was a badly needed opportunity to make a break from his life in New York. No longer a cop, Max has never really gotten over the events of the first two games, spending his days drinking and taking prescription painkillers. Inadvertently, meeting Passos also winds up kicking off a chain of events that ultimately leaves Max with little choice but to leave the city.
When Max Payne 3 begins, Max and Passos are working to protect the family of industrialist Rodrigo Branco, including his two younger brothers, the politician Victor and playboy Marcelo. All three men are well known members of Sao Paulo’s wealthy upper class.
It’s when Rodrigo’s beautiful trophy wife, Fabiana is kidnapped by a gang called the Comando Sombra that all hell breaks loose, and Max finds himself at the center of something much bigger than a simple kidnapping.
Characters (in alphabetical order):
• Comando Sombra - a street gang linked to the drug business, suspected to be behind the kidnapping of Fabiana BrancoBullet time
• Cracha Preto – While unknown to Max at the time, the Cracha Preto hijack the hostage exchange. They are are a highly trained, shadowy paramilitary outfit whose knowledge of the kidnapping - and reasons for being at the exchange - remain a mystery.
• Fabiana Branco – Rodrigo’s Branco’s beautiful young wife
• Marcelo Branco – the youngest of the Branco brothers, a party-loving socialite
• Rodrigo Branco – Real estate mogul, and oldest of the Branco brothers
• Victor Branco – the middle-child of the Brancos and a local politician in Sao Paulo
• Raul Passos – an acquaintance from Max's distant past that reconnects with Max by chance in New York, and offers Max work in executive security in protection in Sao Paulo Brazil.
Bullet Time is fundamental to the Max Payne experience, affecting almost every design decision in the game – from how Max moves, to the way AI reacts, the weapon designs, audio, and even the way each individual bullet is modeled.
Bullet Time receives several significant upgrades in Max Payne 3, including:
Realistic Shoot-dodge
The integration of Natural Motion’s Euphoria character behavior system gives Max more realistic movements, including during shoot-dodges, with Max reacting to his environment and bracing for impact when shoot-dodging into or over obstacles.
Final kill-cam
The bullet-cams of the original games have become ‘final-kill’ cams, letting you know when you’ve taken out the last enemy in a specific area or wave. In addition, players can speed up or slow down the speed of each bullet in a final-kill cam, and the cameras are dynamic, depending on how you take the shot.
Last Man Standing
If Max takes a fatal shot while carrying painkillers, Max will automatically enter Bullet time, and the reticule will automatically swing slowly back toward Max’s enemy, giving Max the opportunity to return fire. If successful, Max will be receive a small boost of health at the cost of 1 painkiller, giving him the chance to survive the fight.
Health and Painkillers
Like the original games, Max’s health doesn’t regenerate. Max takes painkillers to heal himself when injured, and you can find them scattered throughout each level.
Weapon-Wheel and weaponry
Similar to Red Dead Redemption, Max’s arsenal is accessible quickly via a weapon-wheel.
Max can carry three weapons at any time – two single-handed firearms that can be mixed for dual-wielding, and one two-handed weapon like a rifle or shotgun. All weapons will appear physically on Max and will be visible throughout all cutscenes.
Every bullet in Max Payne 3 is individually modelled, from the gun itself to its target, both in and out of Bullet Time. Max’s weapons are highly detailed: with hammers and slides cock back, with shells and casings expelled, etc.
RAGE Engine and Animation
Max Payne 3 features cutting-edge advances in animation thanks to a new iteration of our own RAGE engine and tight integration of Natural Motion’s character behavior system. Thousands of animations work together with Euphoria to give Max a realistic momentum, weight and feel. Max places his feet naturally and does not skate or slide. Enemies also feature dynamic reactions to every shot registered by a bullet, whether in real-time or bullet time.
Cover
Max Payne 3 is the first Max Payne to have a dedicated cover mechanic, with the goal of offering players the maximum strategic options as to how to approach a situation. Players are still definitely encouraged to run-and-gun, using their arsenal of Bullet Time moves to take down enemies.
Graphic-Novel Cutscenes
Graphic novel cut-scenes are back for Max Payne 3, but instead of a set of static panels, they have evolved using a motion-comic feel that blends in-game footage, text and Max’s iconic monologue. These will be used in conjunction with in-game cinematic cut-scenes at different points in the game.
James McCaffrey
While Max’s appearance has changed from game to game, James McCaffrey is the iconic voice of Max Payne. For Max Payne 3, in addition to providing Max’s voice, McCaffrey is the anchor for Max’s entire character, including his appearance and much of his movement.
MULTIPLAYER
Our approach is to take Max’s kinetic sense of movement and artistry with weapons including Bullet Time and directly translate that into a multiplayer environment that builds on the themes and fiction of the single player game, and lives up to the single-player game in terms of sophistication, storytelling and cinematic presentation
The centerpiece of this approach for us is Gang Wars, which is a series of matches based on events within the world of the single player game in which the objectives of each round shift dynamically based on the events of the round before to create a series of matches with their own unique story thread.
So for instance, the team that grabbed the most turf in the previous round might have to defuse bombs set within their territory, or the player with the most kills from the round may suddenly find themselves the target of a hit squad in the following round. This will all be linked together through Max’s own personal narration while dynamic motion-graphic cutscenes will directly relate to the events of the game in progress. The goal is to add a layer of narrative and meaning to multiplayer matches, and create extra drama out of the interactions that go on between players within each match.
