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Max Payne, trying his hardest to get through his gritty, noir life
The hilarious short film about Max Payne above takes all the gritty realism of Max's latest game appearance, and puts it in the lavender-scented reality of suburban life. Might we suggest not having water in your mouth, lest you're ready for a spit take.
Ben Gilbert06.29.2012
Have a taste of Max Payne 3's 'Local Justice'
When Max Payne 3's "Local Justice" DLC arrives next week, it's coming in guns blazing. And likely in mid-air, in slow motion, while carefully aiming so as not to waste bullet time. Because, ya know ... Max Payne.
Ben Gilbert06.28.2012
Max Payne 3 serves up 'Local Justice' DLC July 3 on PS3 and Xbox, July 17 on PC
New DLC for Max Payne 3 will arrive July 3 for PS3 and Xbox 360 users, and July 17 for PC. The "Local Justice Pack" adds some new situations into which you can throw the gruff, sad hero, including the "55th Battalion HQ" map, Imperial Palace and Departure maps for deathmatch and Payne Killer modes, a new M4 Assault Rifle, and a new São Paulo Police faction.In response to missing the original June release date for this pack, Rockstar is drinking heavily. Oh, wait, that's Max. Rockstar is discounting the DLC for its first week, to 480 Microsoft Points or $5.99; afterward, it'll go back up to 640 MSP/$7.99.All pre-order exclusive DLC will also be up for sale on July 3, or free for Rockstar Pass owners.
JC Fletcher06.27.2012
Max Payne Mobile hits Android June 14th, metes out justice on your Galaxy Tab
We'd been wondering where Rockstar Games' promised Android version of Max Payne Mobile had gone after missing its original April release window, but the company has at last narrowed down a release for its third-person revenge shooter on Google's OS. The game swings by Google Play on June 14th, although the nature of the platform means Rockstar is only vowing support for certain phones and tablets. You'll find the whole list at the source link, but it's safe to say that you'll want a higher-end Android device made during the past year by Acer, ASUS, HTC, LG, Medion, Motorola, Samsung, Sony or Toshiba. Thankfully, the $2.99 price will cover either form factor and gives you every excuse to take down Valkyr-peddling thugs on New York City's streets.
Jon Fingas06.12.2012
Max Payne Mobile takes aim at Android on June 14
Max Payne is staring down a countdown clock set to hit "0" on June 14 – and we all know what happens then. That's right, Max Payne Mobile will launch for Android devices. Boom, baby.Max Payne Mobile brings the complete, classic Max Payne to mobile devices with HD graphics and Social Club integration, among other new features. It launched on iOS devices on April 12.The following Android devices will be able to play with Max on June 14:
Jessica Conditt06.11.2012
Celebrate Max Payne 3's PC launch with this fancy new trailer
Max Payne may be a grizzled, drug-addled alcoholic, but he's looking a heck of a lot prettier in his latest trailer. With today's launch of Max Payne 3 on PC, Rockstar doled out the latest clip from that platform's lofty graphical watermarks. That means more than just a better looking Max; this trailer has a better looking everything.
Ben Gilbert06.01.2012
Analyst: GTA V will launch in Q1 2013, sell 14 million copies
Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia is predicting big numbers for Grand Theft Auto V something fierce. Bhatia projects Grand Theft Auto V will debut during the first three months of 2013 and will pull in $700 million in revenue for Take-Two Interactive with 14 million copies sold over its launch window – though Bhatia didn't say just how long he considers this launch window to be.This $700 million figure is close to the $775 million earned by Modern Warfare 3 in its first five days of launch back in November, which is an entertainment record that has yet to be bested. Rockstar's previous effort, Grand Theft Auto IV, has shipped over 22 million copies worldwide.
David Hinkle05.26.2012
Metareview: Max Payne 3
Max, dearest of all my friends. So good to have you back. You look a little tired, friend. Is it all that leaping and shooting, or is it something more? Sit down, sip a little vodka and look at what they're saying about you. Joystiq feels you make "people die real good." What about everyone else? Take a look... G4 (100/100): "The performances are top notch, the action plays out with unrivaled fluidity, and the multiplayer is deep and rewarding. Silly distractions aside, Max Payne 3 is an action lover's wet dream that also happens to employ some of the slickest direction and transitional trickery this side of a David Fincher box set. Lock and load. It's bullet time...time." Game Informer (93/100): "The same great gunplay from the campaign is replicated in the multiplayer modes, and immense depth is tied to the ranking system (with a level cap of 50) and slew of unlockable guns, skins, and items. Rockstar also provides a crew system that tracks world ranks, kill-to-death ratios, and first place finishes for each crew." Giant Bomb (4/5): "Rockstar has taken a lot of risks in the ways it has reshaped the series with Max Payne 3, and there's something to be said for opting out of the easy route. The aesthetic overhaul is certainly the most noticeable, though there's no understating the impact that certain gameplay modernizations have had on the experience. While fans might have a hard time processing the dramatic change in tone, it's approached with a seriousness and conviction that I respect, and frankly, have come to expect from Rockstar." Edge (70/100): "Max Payne 3 might solve the problem of how you manage to reload when carrying more than one gun, but detailing alone can't change the fact that this is a surprisingly conservative game from Rockstar. Its absorption of cover mechanics makes Payne feel more familiar than he should, but even then his signature tricks are over a decade old. This is a game about a world-weary killer doing the only thing he knows how to, and for all its spectacular action beats there's something apt about Max's fatigue."%Gallery-155342%
Alexander Sliwinski05.14.2012
Max Payne 3 review: Nature of the beast
Max Payne can't even find peace in a graveyard. A quiet moment of remembrance, dour and dusted in snow, is soon buried beneath the sound of gunfire. This man exists to kill, and the tombstone that names his murdered wife and daughter is there to provide cover.The transition from emotionally tinged burial ground to functional battleground is at once touching and tasteless, presented in that kind of awkward, bittersweet combination that video games have gotten down to an art form. Can you really argue with the outcome? The cemetery perfectly recalls the birth of Max, the cynical, disheveled vigilante – and what better playground for Max, the cover-based shooter, than a plot of land filled with upright granite slabs? Rockstar can't outrun the nature of the game, no more than its wrecked anti-hero can escape his nature as problem solver via midair shooting.%Gallery-155342%
Ludwig Kietzmann05.14.2012
Max Payne is moving forward (mostly toward next week's launch)
Despite Max Payne 3 not launching at retail until next Tuesday, Rockstar went ahead and released the "launch" trailer this afternoon. And despite Max's crippling addiction to painkillers and booze, he seems to be moving forward with his life, as seen in the clip. Where he's going ... that's another story entirely.
Ben Gilbert05.10.2012
Wedbush thinks Grand Theft Auto 5 will launch in October
With this morning's announcement that BioShock Infinite will now launch in February 2013, publisher Take-Two Interactive altered more than a game's launch date. Take-Two is a publicly traded company, and one fewer gigantic product launch during the holiday season – arguably Take-Two's only holiday product launch, unless you count fall launches of Borderlands 2 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown as "holiday" – means that shareholders will want to know what's up. That worry is reflected in Take-Two's stock price, which took a five percent hit since the market opened this morning.But when Infinite got pushed out of the holiday season, it opened the slot up for another high-profile Take-Two-published title: Grand Theft Auto 5. "In our view, the delay opens the window for Grand Theft Auto V to be released in October 2012," Michael Pachter of Webush Securities wrote in an email this morning, echoing a release window leak from earlier this year.In his eyes, Infinite wasn't just delayed to make it "something even more extraordinary," as Ken Levine put it, but because the folks at Rockstar, "notified Take-Two that GTA V would be ready for October." He believes this resulted in Take-Two offering Irrational Games an extra few months to prepare BioShock Infinite. His logic? "The studio [Rockstar Games] has scheduled every prior GTA release during that month (with GTA IV delayed to April 2008, due to bugs in the PS3 version)."Furthermore, Pachter and co. speculate we could hear more about GTA 5's launch date "as early as May 22" during a scheduled quarterly investor call, or perhaps in a few more weeks at E3 2012. We've yet to hear back from Irrational, Rockstar, or Take-Two on the subject.
Ben Gilbert05.09.2012
Max Payne 3's multiplayer footage gets us all nostalgic
The gangs of Max Payne 3's multiplayer setting make us forget all about the balding alcoholic star of Rockstar's upcoming game. Instead, they're more reminiscent of a film classic from 2002 set in Rio de Janeiro's poorest neighborhood, City of God. Take a look at the new multiplayer trailer above, then compare with a trailer for the film below the break. We think you'll see more than a few similarities.
Ben Gilbert05.03.2012
Max Payne 3 soundtrack drops on May 23
If you're anything like us, you've had this song from Max Payne 3's TV spot stuck in your head. You can purchase that track on iTunes on May 15th, along with full soundtrack on May 23.The soundtrack comes from Health – the band, not the state of being that comes from eating right and exercising. Health is an LA-based collective formed in 2006. "Health have created hundreds of hours of amazing music for the game's score, and distilled it into a devastatingly moody and atmospheric soundtrack album," says Rockstar's soundtrack supervisor, Ivan Pavlovich. "By using a band instead of a traditional composer, we've created a soundtrack that sounds completely unique."Max Payne 3 launches on May 15 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
David Hinkle05.02.2012
Max Payne 3 DLC plans laid out, grab all with Rockstar pass
Max Payne 3's multiplayer and co-op offerings won't thin as quickly as Max's hair. Rockstar today announced plans for seven separate DLC packs spanning June through next fall, following the game's launch in May. June's "Local Justice Map Pack" kicks off the content expansions, adding three new multi maps, including one that works with the game's "Gang Wars" mode (Police Precinct), as well as the others (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Payne Killer).This summer will see four additional map packs dropping, and the fall will bring two more. Should all of this be conflicting with your good budget sense, Rockstar's season pass is returning from LA Noire, this time offering a 35 percent discount over buying each pack individually. The pass costs $30.
Ben Gilbert05.01.2012
Here's Max Payne 3's TV commercial
The official Max Payne 3 television commercial debuted last night during the Lakers v. Spurs game on ESPN last night, and it's chock full of all the Max Payne-y things you'd expect – slow motion bullets, slow motion jumping, slow motion ladies, etc.It's a little sad that the game is billed as "from the makers of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption," considering that the original Max Payne predates both GTA3 and the entire Red Dead franchise. Then again, a modern 18 year old gamer would only have been seven years old when the series originally debuted in 2001, so we can't really blame Rockstar for playing to its target demographic's familiarities. Kids these days with their Macintosh computers and their Fiat 500s.
Jordan Mallory04.21.2012Extensive Max Payne 3 PC download pre-order incentives on Amazon
Amazon hopes to make an awfully compelling argument for your Max Payne 3 purchase. Pre-ordering the PC download version not only nets some in-game incentives, but some money that goes toward other Rockstar games.First, Amazon is giving all pre-orderers a $10 voucher for an immediate download of Max Payne 2, which just so happens to cost $10 on Amazon, so that's free. Amazon will knock down the price for both L.A. Noire and GTA IV to $4.99 up until April 15. You'll be able to grab those gratis with another $10 voucher if you want, or spend it on other Rockstar wares.On top of the free games, a pre-order will also grant you several pieces of in-game content: a classic skin pack for multiplayer that includes characters from past games; a multiplayer weapons pack; increased painkiller capacity; and a "Max Payne Retro Avatar."Update: Whoops, as you probably noticed, it's April 18. Amazon just got in touch to say they are extending the deal on GTA IV and L.A. Noire until April 20.
David Hinkle04.18.2012
Watch Max Payne slowly dive into groups of henchmen whilst shooting
We wouldn't call it the smartest move out there, but Max Payne seems hellbent on jumping head first into groups of thugs who're firing guns directly at him. The latest trailer from Rockstar Games for Max Payne 3 portrays our balding hero as even more psychotic than we'd guessed!
Ben Gilbert04.12.2012
PSA: Max Payne Mobile now available
Turn that frown upside down, Max – you're on the App Store. Rockstar's mobile port of Max Payne is now available for download for $2.99. It's a universal app, designed for both the iPad and iPhone. Android users must wait two weeks until they can dive in.Max Payne Mobile was developed by War Drum Studios and features "HD quality resolution and textures," customizable controls, a touch-screen interface and retina support for Apple's new iPad.%Gallery-153029%
David Hinkle04.12.2012
Max Payne and Burnout Crash hit the iOS App Store
Two high-profile games, one from Rockstar Games and one from Electronics Arts, hit the iOS App Store today. The most anticipated of the two is Max Payne. The third-person shooter was originally created by Remedy Entertainment for the PC, and Rockstar Games then ported it to the major gaming consoles. Now fans of the series can fire up the dark action game on their retina iPad and iPhone. The other major title is Burnout Crash from EA. This is another game in a long-standing series that was originally developed by Criterion Games. The car driving title lets you speed through cities while leaving a wake of destruction in your path. Max Payne Mobile is available for US$2.99, while Burnout Crash will set you back $4.99. Both titles are universal games that'll run on the iPhone and the iPad.
Kelly Hodgkins04.12.2012
Slow down! No demo planned for Max Payne 3
If you were hoping to sample the adventures of a bald, bearded Max Payne without obtaining a full copy of Max Payne 3, you are out of luck. There are "no plans for a demo of Max Payne 3" according to Rockstar's official Twitter account. Joystiq is attempting to recreate the experience with its own demo of Max Payne 3, but we're having a little trouble figuring out how to digitally distribute a complex pulley system. We're pretty sure a physical replication feature is headed to Steam, but Valve isn't answering our phone calls.Max Payne 3 arrives on PC, Xbox and PS3 next month.
Richard Mitchell04.11.2012