Max Payne and I go way back. Throughout the series’ first two installments, I was
wholly immersed in its stark shadows, smoky atmosphere, and hard-boiled
dialogue. I brandished my pistols and dove sideways more times than I
could count.
I cherished the horror and violence of his revenge as if it were
written by Raymond Chandler himself, and yet, a place that I’d never
experience Max Payne’s world was online. That void was quickly remedied
when I got my hands on a small slice of the multiplayer portion of
Rockstar’s next effort, Max
Payne 3.
MP3 is attempting to destroy
the barriers between single and multiplayer in a wide variety of ways. We’ve
written about the solo portion before,
but this time we got to spend some time in the online Gang Wars.
The story in Gang Wars, the most fleshed out mode of multiplayer, runs
alongside that of the solo campaign. The skirmishes you take part in
online will oftentimes be set moments before Max’s arrival to a
location during the story, or sometimes in the charred remains of where
his whirlwind tour of revenge previously swept through. While third-person works fine offline, the perspective can oftentimes lead to
ineligent combat that feels more like a frantic crapshoot than a
strategic faceoff; even phenomenal titles like Red
Dead Redemption suffer in
moments of intense action. While I was a bit worried that MP3’s
multiplayer would stall under the same stress, I’m happy to report that
the impeccable energy from the series’ singleplayer campaigns transfers
over quite well into the online arena. Yes, there were still a handful
of moments where it seemed like my opponent and I both cracked under
pressure, especially once combat became an up close affair, but the
game remained a controlled experience for the most part.
Rockstar showed off a slew of
game matches, most of which were slight variations on genre classics
like team deathmatch and king of the hill. One unique mode is called
Payne Killer, which starts off as a free-for-all until someone scores
the first kill. After this occurs, the killer becomes Max Payne, while
the victim transforms into his singleplayer sidekick Passos. These two
characters come equipped with special weapons, higher health, and
unique abilities. It then becomes the task of the remaining players to
work together in taking down these two protagonists. Whoever scores the
kill against Max or Passos earns the right to play as the powerful
hero. This mode encouraged players to work together in short spurts to
take down the two powerhouses, but those alliances you make will
quickly be severed once one member gets the kill and joins the other
side.
