It’s up and yes, it’s fantastic. Amusingly enough, for a very short period of time, I was worried that Rockstar wasn’t doing enough to get the word out on all the hard work the dev team was doing on this one. Ha! I should have figured the all-out blitz would kick in closer to the release date. I’m looking forward to the story more than the MP modes, but I like how they tie together and would love to see more games tackle this in a similar fashion (without stealing the idea cold, of course)….
Hey, it’s still Free Comic Book Day today, which means you can walk into ANY comic shop and walk out with a free comic (or comics, if you’re lucky) and NOT get arrested. That said, Rockstar Games is also getting in on the fun with an assist from Marvel thanks to the first issue of Max Payne 3: After The Fall , which is landing online as a digital read you can check out on your PC, laptop (and probably device if you like squinting at that nicely gritty art) OR PDF download before the game shoots into stores on May 15. Rockstar is also offering a VERY limited edition physical copy of the book to selected Rockstar Games Social Club members, so if you’re not one and want one, sign up at that link above and keep those fingers crossed. That particular offer is ONLY good until June, so get crackin’ if you want to snag a copy!
While some of us will be wrapped up in the single player mode multiple times until we’ve done and seen everything it has to offer, Rockstar Games plans to keep fans of online play even busier. The company has announced a wealth of downloadable multiplayer content for Max Payne 3 as well as its Rockstar Pass program that allows purchasers access to this premium content. Beginning now, the Pass is up for pre-order online over PSN and Xbox Live and at retail Best Buy and GameStop locations in the US for $29.99 (or 2400 Microsoft Points, if you’re a 360 owner). Like other online pass programs, users will get first crack at new DLC as soon as it becomes available and it looks as if Rockstar is planning to roll out a hefty amount of content starting in June 2012:
June 2012
Local Justice Map Pack
Summer 2012
Disorganized Crime Map Pack
Deathmatch Made In Heaven Mode Pack
Hostage Negotiation Map Pack
New York Minute Co-Op Pack
Fall 2012
Painful Memories Map Pack
Trickle Down Economics Map Pack
With a three-part story written by Rockstar head Dan Houser AND Remedy Studios’ Dan Lake, fans of the game series should be wanting to snap this up one wherever it appears. The graphic novel will have its digital premiere later this week, followed up by a limited edition retail release that I’m guessing will be a pretty hot commodity should the fan base find it worthy of dropping into a plastic sleeve and socking away for safekeeping. Hey, anything that extends what’s looking like an already solid story is alright in my book.
Oops. These specs were revealed on Monday, but thanks to a few too many articles I’m in the process of writing, I’m still a bit behind on my email reading. Anyway, if you’re not playing this on console because you can afford to spend some decent money upgrading your gaming rig, here’s what you’ll need to get Max up and running smoothly (minus any overclocking and settings tweaking you’ll probably to to boost the already outstanding visuals even further)
Max Payne 3 PC System Specifications
Operating System: Windows 7 32/64 Service Pack 1, Windows Vista 32/64 Service Pack 2, Windows XP 32/64 Service Pack 3
Processor: Intel Dual Core 2.4 GHZ – i7 3930K 6 Core x 3.06 GHZ / AMD Dual Core 2.6 GHZ – FX8150 8 Core x 3.6 GHZ
RAM: 2GB – 16GB
Video Card: NVIDIA® 8600 GT 512MB VRAM – NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680 2GB VRAM / Radeon HD 3400 512MB VRAM – Radeon HD 7970 3GB VRAM
Sound Card: 100% Direct X 9.0 compatible – Direct X 9.0 compatible supporting Dolby Digital Live
HDD Space: 35 GB
DVD Drive
Please refer to your hardware manufacturer and http://www.rockstargames.com/support for current compatibility information. Some system components such as mobile chipsets, integrated, and AGP graphics cards may be incompatible. Unlisted specifications may not be supported by publisher.
Additionally, Rockstar has also spilled the beans on the cool digital bonuses available for those who want a box-less game experience, but I’ll let you check out the official site for those details.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPc9LhKA5C4%5D
Rockstar Studios’ long awaited beautiful bullet ballet is almost upon us (and yup, I can’t wait to see how it’s turned out) and here’s the first big TV ad for the upcoming game. Ever since I saw the live demo last year at NYCC, this one has been tickling a few buttons in my head. The art direction, visuals and gameplay all looked solid and that new animation system is brilliant when you see it in motion. While I’m not big on multiplayer these days, I know the story and characters will be what I like to call “Rockstar memorable”. As in there will be quite a few quotable lines sinking into skulls like some of the bullets Max fires off during the game. May is certainly going to be a busy month around these parts, that’s for sure…
Here’s the official cover image, courtesy Rockstar Games. Considering that variants of this art have already been out there for a while, it hasn’t changed too drastically… at least in terms of the color palette. Well, Max having hair in that pose is new, probably to make sure the diehards hating on the bald Max image are happier campers. You all DO know he still shaves it off in the game, right? Anyway, it’s a still really cool image. Yeah, yeah, I’m a few days late in posting this, but hey, my spam filter was hungry and I just got around to fishing out stuff that it gulped down. This was the most important thing, so it wasn’t too bad this time…
I’m also obligated to cut and paste the game summary below the jump, just to keep things even more old school. Click away, dear reader, click away!
Delay of game aside, the new May 15 launch date also gives me time to recuperate from my birthday a week earlier. Given that I’ll most likely be spending it buried in some new game, I get a few extra days to finish whatever I’m playing before Max makes his appearance. Perhaps Rockstar was thinking of me after all? Well, maybe not, but a guy can hope, right? That new trailer is up on the other blog if you’re curious, George…
The new weapons trailer is posted on the other blog if you haven’t seen it already. While you’re waiting for that coffee or tea this morning (and in case the link aboveis busted thanks to Blogger’s crappy way of handling embed codes), you may as well boogie on over to the official site and see what Rockstar’s been up to with Max and his latest adventure. Well, “adventure” as in he gets to shoot up a lot of bad men while you make sure he doesn’t play catch with too many bullets.
I’d have posted this news when it arrived yesterday, but I had a little incident that kept me away from posting for a bit. Thanks, Max. Look, I know you’re terribly excited about your new game, but please keep the house calls to a minimum. I can use less lumps upside the head, too. Ouch. Anyway, May 15, 2012 for North America and May 18, 2012 in Europe for PS3 and Xbox 360. PC gamers get theirs in North America on May 29, while Europe gets theirs on June 1. You can also (and wisely) pre-order the game from a few places online or off, if there’s a game shop near you. Rockstar as extended the time to pre-order the game until April 2, 2012, which means you should probably snag that Special Edition if you like what you see on the pre-order page, correct?
Hmmm… that US release IS a week after my birthday, so perhaps Max will be a tiny bit nicer and drop off a little gift as an apology of sorts. Of course, I could just wake up again with my other foot in the toilet and another lump on the head, so I won’t push my luck…
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 