Brazil is 'a fascinating setting' for Max Payne 3 - Rockstar
"Every stage is going to be different from the last," promises art director
Rockstar's talked up the radical change in setting for Max Payne 3, which moves shop from New York City to Brazil's Sao Paulo.
The game's art director told Edge in its latest issue that he finds the setting "fascinating" and promised fans Brazil will allow every stage to be different from the last.
"We saw a lot of diverse environments that we could stick [Max Payne] in," Rob Nelson told Edge. "It's a huge city and there's a major disparity between rich and poor. Learning about that, finding out how massive the place is, has been fascinating."
The game's development team - which now stretches across Vancouver, Toronto, London and New England - claims it's put the same amount of research into Sao Paulo as original 'Payne developer Remedy did with New York.
Several members of the development team travelled to Brazil for weeks of photography and filming, immersing themselves in local society, Rockstar told Edge.
"The research is constant, it's anything that we can get our hands on, pretty much all the way through development," said Nelson. "Everyone gets really interested - we're always swapping things we've learned, trying to make sure we're accurately recreating the place. We take it really seriously.
"We can't really re-use a lot of assets," sais Nelson. "Every stage is going to be different from the last one. Brazil is a fascinating place to set a game - there are plenty of unique aspects to the setting that we'll reveal over time. We've got a lot to work with."
http://www.computerandvideogames.co...fascinating-setting-for-max-payne-3-rockstar/
Max Payne 3 returns - New details
Rockstar talks story, slow-mo and blood-splatter
Edge's upcoming issue offers up a shed load of new details on Max Payne 3, after the mag got a first-hand look at Rockstar's take on the gritty, vengeful shooter.
Although headed by Rockstar Vancouver, Max Payne 3 is to be considered a "Rockstar Studios production," says Edge, since it's now a collaborative effort with talent from the entire Rockstar Fleet, including London, Toronto and New England on board,
The mag tells us that number 3 is set eight years after the events of the second game, with our anti-hero being out of the NYPD, now working as a private security contractor in São Paulo
He also has a full head of hair, as revealed by the
first screenshots released last week, though Max later morphs into the bald, booze-soaked hulk we initially expected from Rockstar.
Edge likens the Max Payne 3 experience to Half-Life, describing "a feeling that you're not the hero, you're just one agent making your way through a violent and disordered world."
The game is strictly linear, says Rockstar, with more emphasis on set-pieces than we've seen in previous Rockstar games. "Both the games and the audiences have become more sophisticated," Rockstar Art Director Rob Nelson told the mag.
"Gamers expect a more fully realised cinematic experience, even if the main mechanic is still shooting. And though this is a more linear game for us, people want to be constantly surprised and entertained in new ways.
"So you need a lot of custom setups, the environments need to be varied, and all of that while keeping the gameplay fun and responsive - people have become really specific about how they want things to be controlled. It's a lot more work!"
As far as gameplay mechanics are concerned, Edge points to the nuances that the sophisticated Euphoria engine allow, with Payne being able to do his signature dive in real-time at any point or place and reacting depending on how and where he lands - putting a hand out to break his impact against a wall, for example, or flailing down some stairs.
It extends to the enemies as well, "We've put a lot of attention on AI reactions, making sure that the force of the bullet feels right," says Nelson. "It adds a level of weight and realism to every character."
Bullet-time is again charged by killing enemies. Edge describes "a layer of beauty to match its gameplay impact. As with RDR, the level of graphical detail on offer delivers astonishing action moments - glass smashes, blood spurts, furniture collapses - but here it's fragmented and slowed to show off the fine physical elements."
Original Max Payne voice actor James McCafferty is also confirmed to be reprising his role on the game, and this time he'll be acting out the part in full motion capture.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/296606/news/max-payne-3-returns-new-details/
Max Payne 3 aims to 'constantly surprise and entertain'
http://www.computerandvideogames.co...-3-aims-to-constantly-surprise-and-entertain/