Rockstar Tidbits on LA Noire, Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3
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As we’ve mentioned before, the Max Payne series is defined by its noir-inspired comic book aesthetic, so the move to Sao Paulo raised a few eyebrows. Max Payne without permanent rain? Well, I never. Nevertheless, in an FAQ on their official website the publisher talks Max Payne’s story and setting, Red Dead Redemption on the PC, LA Noire and the upcoming tenth anniversary of GTA III. One question asked why Max Payne moved away from New York city, seeing as how the setting was almost as important a character as Max. After all, Max Payne 2 ends on a fairly closed note (albeit somewhat different if you play on the hardest difficulty); the series was hardly begging for a sequel. Rockstar answers: “To us, and especially after such a long absence since Max Payne 2, to simply continue Max’s story in New York City was nowhere near as interesting a challenge as taking that same character and pushing him to his absolute breaking point in a very dangerous and exotic locale many, many miles from home. There was simply nowhere for Max to go in New York after Max Payne 2.” Despite the change of location, the game’s key techniques remain – like LA Noire, the story is a more closed affair than Rockstar’s sandbox offerings, and bullet-time and comic-book panel story-telling make a return. The haunting piano motif is there, too. Just about every Rockstar studio’s in on the production. Rockstar London, Vancouver and Toronto are serving as the three core studios, with motion caption and additional work picked up by the Leeds, New England, New York and San Diego operations. Also of note: the recently renewed rockstarfilms.com trademark is being used for diddly squat at this stage; LA Noire’s November 8 PC release will include all the game’s DLC; and Red Dead Redemption won’t be getting a PC release anytime soon because “it’s not viable.” Rockstar are also planning something special for the ten-year anniversary of the title that the much-loved GTA III, which celebrates it’s ten year anniversary in two weeks, including a special Rockstar Socal Club event in GTA IV and a few other surprises. Rockstar Games [Asked & Answered: Max Payne 3, LA Noire, Red Dead Redemption and More] |
My biggest concern with Max Payne 3 isn’t so much the loss of noir as the loss of humor. Let’s be clear: the first game was as much a comedy as anything else, a straight-faced pastiche of the purple prose endemic to its origins. Even the writer (Sam Lake) seemed to forget this when writing the more-or-less straight-faced Max Payne 2, so in that sense it’s less of a loss that he’s not involved with this project.