I believe that Max Payne 3 is easily my favorite Multiplayer game this year and it will probably hold that title. Always good to have some more content to a fun game.

Been playin the single player and arcade modes alot. One of my favorite story driven games in a looong time.

It's unsettling that they expected more then 3 million sales. The second game was some time ago and it wasn't that big a seller, plus that awful movie didn't help.

It's unsettling that they expected more then 3 million sales. The second game was some time ago and it wasn't that big a seller, plus that awful movie didn't help.

It's unsettling that they expected more then 3 million sales. The second game was some time ago and it wasn't that big a seller, plus that awful movie didn't help.

Sorry! The server borked.

So...after promising they'd continue to support it with six sets of DLC, and selling season passes for six sets of DLC, they shut down the development studio, cut it down four sets and moved back the release dates.
Classy moves, rockstar.

Well, to be fair, they didn't shut down the development studio that did MP3, didn't cut any content ( all the DLC packs contain the original content of the six sets). But the rest is true and sucks.

Still, awesome multiplayer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockstar_Vancouver

Glad I didn't buy the season pass. Hurry and get this out of the way and release GTA V already.

Yeah I'm with occono. Fucking expectations such as those are killing this industry. That is an awesome achievement in my eyes. But as Jos said there is at least that. Although I swore they laid folks off...

I honestly think word-of-mouth caused Max Payne 3 the low sales. I know a lot of fans that didn't appreciate the direction MP3 took from MP1&2, myself included. Rockstar has gotten pretty snooty with their recent games (looking at you L.A. Noire).

They did. Vancouver was shut down, and they offered relocation to the people from the studio, but if they were unwilling/unable to move the 2500 miles, they're out of a job.

SP storyline was ehhhh but the action gameplay was a lot of fun.

Gave up on the MP because the PC version is buggy as hell and the overpowered dual-wielders drove me insane.

Im not surprised they cut down the packs as well as the studio, the game didn't sell well(by today's industry standards anyway.)

Honestly I just can't get excited for DLC.

That fucking sucks, but thanks for confirmation Mechman. This industry needs a fucking crash and I think we're staringat the beginning. Not this case in particular, but its part ofwhats been going on for 2 yrs now and its just getting worsevery month it seems. Fucking phones refuse to space....

Max Payne 3 was always going to be a tough sell and aside from RDR, Rockstar's titles don't really do the kind of business GTA warrants. This was a sequel that came 9 years after the fact, and Take Two had barged that GTAV trailer out for the investors, taking the promotional wind out of MP3's marketing. It's not too shabby, but there was bad timing involved.

Anyway, I don't care much for expectations and it's my GOTY, and as a long time fan, it was worth the wait. From the way it ends, I'd be suprised if there was a fourth game.

@GoldenMonkey: The direction of the game was fine, but most "fans" said they were going to hate it before they even saw a minute of footage. The only snooty people were the "Eww, sunny isn't noir" crowd - which was the dumbest thing I ever heard considering how nobody batted an eyelid when a majority of L.A. Noire was set in day.

Some people, I dunno.

@Stevil:

My problem with the game was it just didn't flow in combat. The prequels allowed you to make some pretty brash mistakes as you had the tools (bullettime) to correct them.

MP3 punished you for jumping all guns blazing into a crowd of enemies, to me that's what Max Payne is about. Instead I held back, only activating bullet time to get a head shot when an enemy was dumb enough to pop from cover. It felt counter-intuitive, and was amplified by the fact I'd replayed the first two games in the run up to release.

It's a slick well polished game but I feel it has more in common with Kayne & Lynch 2 than it does with Max Payne. It was ultimately a crushing disappointment for me, I could have played Stranglehold again.

It was about risk/reward. In the first two games, you could abuse the hell out of Bullet Time (more so in the second one) and the gameplay remained the same throughout.

In MP3 it was more about planning an attack, you couldn't just make three dives in a row and walk away unscathed. I liked that; it suited Max's out-of-shape style, but at the same time, it was also a fine line between being a badass and being vulnerable to the most easiest of goons.

I think once you learned how the game flowed in MP3, it got better, especially when you ramped the difficulty up to Hardcore. The main problem I had was that you were basically pushed into small killzones, rather than the first two's more open flow.

As for comparing it Kane & Lynch 2, I also love that series, and yeah, I can see where you're coming from.

But you know, I'd say K&L2; has more in common with the combat of the first two Max Payne games. As for the story, it's not great, but IO pulled off some great and subtle character arcs. Max Payne 3 didn't have a great mystery (none of the MP games have a great mystery) - but the real focus has always been on Max, and it worked.

Yeah, it was definitely open to abuse - but it was always fun.

I agree with the combat being a bit more cerebral in 3, but was that the way to go with the third game in an established series? Even after eight years?? I get the impression that I'd have enjoyed the game more going into it blind, calling it Max Payne gave me certain expectations as to what I was getting and on those fronts I feel it failed to deliver.

I enjoyed your blog by the way. Good job!

@GoldenMonkey
Rockstar didn't develop L.A. Noire.

I love Max Payne 3. It's my favorite Singleplayer game this year. The Multiplayer was surprisingly good.

I have been a big fan of the Max Payne series since the first one and I simply loved Max Payne 3. It is one of my favorite games of this year so far. Initially I was a bit underwhelmed by the shooting and ended up staying in cover for a lot of the firefights. But once I got used to the combat mechanics and realized how many different options I had in terms of approaching combat I really started to enjoy myself and take more chances. It is a hard game but very rewarding for skilled and persistent players. I have gone through it a couple of times and I think I am finally ready for hardcore mode. I am not surprised it didn't sell all that well considering that the second Max Payne was a commercial flop. At the same time I think this was a fitting conclusion to the Max Payne saga so I am not too sad if they don't end up releasing a sequel.

i was actually getting into the MP. which i normally hate for any game. but the limited levels and having to gain money to unlock stuff is always annoying. i just want to play using everything. why do i have to spend more time in multiplayer than i will ever spend playing the full game just to see everything? also im not into paying money for online levels.

also i would have liked the arcade levels if they didnt include the stupid loading cut scenes. because you cant skip them all. actually thats one of the only gripes i have with the game is the cut scene loading. but i still loved the game quite a bit.

I like the time attack modes, but I can't understand for the life of me why they included cut-scenes in them.

@timtheterrible
This is pretty much why I don't bother with time attack. It's not very fun having to wait 5 minutes for Max to shut up and start trying for headshots again.

Meanwhile, some of us are playing the original to get the taste that MP 3 left in our mouths. I'm sorry but MP 3 was a crushing disappointment for me. If you love it, great, but I couldn't stand this game. Mostly because it just felt like another R* shooter with a rarely useful slow-motion mechanic.