Posts Tagged ‘360’

It’s strange to think that it is now eleven years since I first played Max Payne. There was something special about the Remedy developed title, a noir story met an irreverent sense of humour that could only be achieved from an outsiders’ perspective (in this case Finnish). This combined with polished mechanics and controls to create a game that, even all these years on, feels modern.

Max is the model anti-hero; a distressed undercover cop, framed for the murder of his friend and who discovers (while searching for the true killer) that the case is tied up with the murder of his own family. Haunted by dreams of his loved one’s deaths there is the constant suggestion of a need to escape his past, a fact portrayed by Max’s dependence on painkillers to restore health. It was this blending of narrative and gameplay, this attention to the small details, which really made Max Payne. That and bullet-time.

Max's first look was based on the game's writer Sam Lake.

Max Payne was the first game to utilise the now all too familiar slow motion effect of bullet-time. It had already been popularised thanks to the Matrix, but the sense of empowerment was a revelation to me as I controlled Max’s leisurely glide through the air while gunning down dozens of thugs. The cinematic atmosphere this mechanic added defined the franchise and remains its greatest legacy.

In keeping with the story’s tone, the conclusion of the game offered little in the way of justice for Max, and a fraction of the redemption he deserved. But despite his murderous rampage through New York, the authorities at least saw he was the hero of the piece. His freedom ensured that Max Payne would soon return for a similar, less than cheery, adventure.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, had perhaps the most unnecessary subtitle in gaming. Max had been on a steady decent from day one, so the idea he could some how fall any further was at once unimaginable and inevitable. This, combined with its billing as “a film noir love story”, only served to make me worry for damage that was to be done to the already emotionally shattered hero.

Max Payne 2 played even more to the cinematic feel of the series, and had a better looking Max.

Personally I found the second game a little less satisfying as Max’s driving force through the world felt less convincing than in the original game. Hinging around taking out a Russian Mafia boss Max’s interests was less potently personal, and as such the lengths to which he was prepared to go felt less believable. Remedy went some way to balancing this with the return of assassin Mona, one of the few characters (comparatively) sympathetic to Max in the first game. She returned as a love interest to add some emotional resonance to proceeding, but while I would be the first to admit men do stupid things for lust the lengths to which Max was driven even I struggled to relate to.

The conclusion of Max Payne 2 promised Max would return, but despite the games popularity it never materialised. Eventually I forgot about it, until a few years ago Rockstar (who handled the console ports of the first two games) suddenly announced they were working on a third title to the series.

I was in two minds about the announcement. While still foreign to the American setting the GTA developer’s humour is distinctly different to that of Remedy’s. It may sound like an odd thing to pick up on, but it was a subtle element that had a huge impact on the first two games. This worry combined with initial screen shots for the title, which looked so different in tone from the rest of the franchise (featuring a bald Max in sun drenched Rio) that I got the feeling Rockstar had missed the point. That was until the new trailer was released.

Back to being ugly, Max's new incarnation is older and even more distressed.

The new trailer shows a greater scope than the previous game. Rather than taking place over a few days in Max’s life, the third title is to follow Max through a longer journey. Beginning the hero’s familiar urban New York setting, he is now doing freelance security. His leather coat has returned, as has his depression and a now open use pain killers to self medicate the pains of his past. This is the Max Payne I remember.

I have little idea how the story will unfold, or what will eventually drive Max to shave off his distinctive hair and fulfil the promise of the original screen shots. But the anchor of a New York setting, and Rockstar’s track record, has me hopeful this will deliver me the game I had forgotten I was waiting for.

Max Payne 3 on PC, 360 and PS3 will all be available from May the 18th. Personally I will be siding with the PC version (if my system can handle it). That is where this series began, and there is still no better way to make Max freak out in bullet-time than a quick flick of the mouse.

Sorry, I am doing this link thing again. My intentions were to stop these, but I have spent so much time writing for other sites that sometimes I just like to put them up to prove I am (still) alive. With that in mind below is a list of all my recent pieces, with a small taster of the articles that I am most proud of.

My game of 2011 list will still be coming soon later this month, as well as some highlights from the year so far. In the mean time check out the links below, keep an eye on Game People, Play Devil and Games Jobs Japan for my regular content. Also be sure to find me on Twitter (I am DoFuss there too) where I will be posting my exploits in video editing with OXM, CVG and other Future sites.

Warhammer 40:000: Space Marine - Call of Juarez: The Cartel – Scary Girl - and…

My silent character had to murder his way through the world with no relatable motivation. While the landscapes were beautiful and absorbing the fiction seemed unaware of the emotional well it left untouched. It left me only with the choice of continuing the senseless killing or turning off the game. I no longer felt like a champion or hero, I didn’t even feel like villain, just a robotic killing machine and that really frightened me. Do you want to know more?

I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go on alone; I felt that somehow, without my partner, to finish would be empty. Then from the darkness I heard a small cry, my screen illuminated slightly in one corner indicating the direction of the call. Wasting what energy I have left I leap towards the sound and am joyously reunited. Do you want to know more?

Just one on here…

After a number of recent posts from foreigners working in Japan our latest interview has a slightly different face, that of Yutaka Kurahashi, Chief Artist at Q-Games. As a Japanese employee working along side foreigners in Japan he provides a good counter point to the discussion of issues to be tackled in a mixed work place, from basic communication to cultural misunderstandings. Kurahashi is also able to compare Q-Games to more traditional Japanese companies that he has worked at, shedding some light on to the changing face of business in his native country, and how he feels injecting new cultural ideas can be of benefit. Do you want to know more?

Reviews

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt2 - Call of Juarez: The Cartel – PX5 Headset – Trouble Witches Neo – Nin2Jump – Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Ms. ‘Splosion-man – Xmen: Destiny – Mario Kart 7 – Rayman Origins (Xbox) – Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception – Captain America – Soul Calibur V - Thor: God of Thunder - BlazBlue: Continuum Shift 2 – Sonic Generations – Rage – Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi - Dark Souls – Batman: Arkham City - Super Mario 3D Land - Zelda: Skyward Sword – Bloodrayne Betrayal – James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes - Trine 2 – Final Fantasy XIII-2 – Wipeout 2048 – Pac-man Party 3D – Uncharted: Golden Abyss – Super Stardust Delta – Rayman Origins (Vita) – Street Fighter X Tekken

Previews

Namco Bandai: An Evening with Ezio – Armored Core V - Inversion – Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations – Ridge Racer Unbounded 

And…

There is a clear respect and seriousness given to the source material by the development team. The few cries that may (will?) be heard of it being in some way sacrilegious will probably find their basis in the fact that such text were used at all (or maybe that they are being regarded as fiction) rather than the handling of it. True some oddities come through, with character design and aesthetic often edging towards the bizarre, but it has gravitas and nothing is treated flippantly. Do you want to know more?

It is a wonderful story with themes that are actually adult, wrapped up in a beautiful anime style, creating an experience rarely seen in a retail console release. As I said it spoke particularly to me and it was interesting as I answered my questions to see just how differently Vincent’s life and my own panned out. Do you want to know more?

This should be the last you see of my articles on Shadow’s of the Damned, the game I expected to worship but that I ended up just adoring. It was a hard score to decide on for Play Devil, as their scores are weighted slightly higher than I would naturally place them and I suspect that by comparison to some other reviews on the site I should probably have gone up to 8.5, rather than the flat 8.

As with Shadow’s of the Damned you are likely getting bored of this of me talking about scores all the time so lets make this my last post about this also. I always understood each site and publication weighted their scales differently, but it was never something I gave much thought to. Reading only a handful of magazines regularly for reference, Edge and GamesTM, my internal barometer adjusted to their admittedly strict schemes. Receiving a 6 in either of these indicates is an above average game, but looking at most other sources such a score would be quite damning. By learning the rubric of these two magazines (how they use the full scale with 5 as the true average) the context of any review score is immediately evident to me. Unfortunately my familiarity with systems meant that I internalised them, and I am now finding it hard to slip in to a different mindset.

A good game but how good depends on context, numerically at least.

A score has to be relevant to the place it finds itself, because otherwise it’s just an abstract number devoid of reference. As long as a site is internally consistent with it’s scoring then everything should work out fine providing the readers understand the range. The issue here of course is that as I am struggling to assimilate Play Devil’s system, and so am doing the readers a disservice as they compare my scores with others on the site.

Having become used to the more stringent scoring in the few magazines I read readjusting my thinking is a challenge, but I will continue the struggle. I guess the point of all this is to say that if I were I to review Shadow’s of the Damned on the scale I am accustomed to it would probably earn a 7, but compared to other games on Play Devil I suspect even my 8 was a little harsh.

I hate memes and leetspeak, I despise them, but upon hearing about Shadows Of The Damned my reaction was an instinctual… OMG! It was as if Hermes herself (among her other duties in Greek myth she was also the god of gaming) had reached in to my mind and plucked my dream team of designing talent and forced them to make a game for me.

For me Shadows of the Damned achieved a sublime mix of creative talent. If I were to compare it to the classics I would see it as a mix of Shakespeare, Mozart and Da Vinci coming together for a production. To my Japanese centric mind, with a propensity for horror and narrative, the pool of creative talent EA pulled together was breath taking. Suda 51 brought his spin to the story, with Shinji Mikami handling game play and Akira Yamaoka on drums… I mean writing the score. Honestly there is nothing in this mix that could possibly go wrong. Right? Well, in theory yes, but as I proved one time when I made ramen with a beer and cheese, sometimes the whole can be far less than the sum of its parts.

Meet Garcia 'Fucking' Hotspur and his faithful friend Johnson, the talking and conveniently transforming skull.

I will confess before I begin that absolutely Shadows of the Damned IS better than beer-ramen with cheese topping, both in flavour and overall experience. Every member of the Japanese trio that had me so excited certainly delivers on their promise, with the outlandish plot, supported by solid gameplay and music that is both evocative and unique. But it is hard to ignore the feeling that none of the group are on top form. That, similar to the England football team, each of them was brought in at the top of their game and then became unable to produce their best performance.

To shed a little clarity for those unfamiliar with Shadow of the Damned it is a grind house inspired trip to the Underworld with the fantastically named Garcia ‘Fucking’ Hotspur (not sure if that is his real middle name but he seems to like to). Garcia is a demon hunter out to liberate his girlfriend, Paula, who had been captured by the king of the Underworld, Fleming, who is repeatedly killing her to teach Garcia a lesson for killing all of his minions. This may not sound too odd when I explain it, but I promise it is with all of the odd flourishes that Suda 51 is famed for making an appearance to make you utter befuddled and amused sounds constantly.

A light and dark mechanic allows somethings to only be hurt when in shadow, unfortunately this also hurts Garcia.

Supporting Suda’s story is more than slightly familiar game play, as Mikami reverts to his Resident Evil 4 roots, and a score that thanks to Yamaoka oscillates between appropriately odd and out right peculiar.

It should all add up to my dream title, but the amalgamation just never quiet meshes. Every time the team comes close to the harmonious chorus I long for it goes wrong. There is always a distraction from total enjoyment; a strange music choice here or a loose camera movement there; there is always something elusively that stays just outside my perception, distracting from my enjoyment. Perhaps it was that each of the creative minds involved work better when not constrained by others creative diversions, truly a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

Here is the girlfriend, Paula, being killed by Fleming hundreds of times seems to be taking it toll.

Of course there could be dozens of reasons Shadows of the Damned not reaching the lofty heights I had hoped for. A troubled development, difficulties in any number of areas, time restraints or simple lack of inspiration could have all contributed to the game’s underperformance. None of this changes the end result however, which is that Shadows of the Damned does not meet my (unreasonably?) high expectation. None of this is not to say I don’t like it, just where I was expecting a cheese board with a nice red wine I instead received a hearty ploughman’s with a pint of Stella, and I am not that keen on Stella.