In layering a character study about a man warped by the violence he has both witnessed and inflicted, onto a violent video game, Rockstar has created something surprisingly complex. It is not a game about the realities of being a drunk in terms of the need to drink. It's a shooter about a drunk, somewhat morose, widowed ex-cop, trying to find some kind of peace with himself.
"There is a subtle but important difference. we are not tackling the issue of addiction, but we are looking at the character and actions of a man who has problems with substances, but also a lot of other problems," he said. While addiction is a cornerstone of Payne's character, Houser is adamant that's not what the game is about. The goal in creating the visual twitches, filters and effects of the game was to give the impression of a "middle-aged, functioning but somewhat addled drunk," Houser said. When he pops a painkiller, something he has to do to heal himself in the game, a fog seems to fall around Payne and the world for just a second, everything seems to dull. In gameplay the world seems constantly in motion, as if twitching around him. He hallucinates moments from previous games, remembers himself as a younger, more fit, more hygienic Payne. The game's cutscenes often involve Payne with a bottle in his hand. Signs of Payne's clear addiction to both whiskey and painkillers are threaded throughout the game. It is a game that weighs the violence of video games and dishes out real world repercussions to its hero. "It is playing the game (and the previous games) that has, to some extent put him in this state." "We wanted Max's hazy drunken perspective to also feel vaguely similar to when he is in Bullet Time, as if Bullet Time, which is when he is at his best and almost super human, is also something of an addiction to him - like the moment when he feels most himself," Houser said. "From a visual design perspective, we wanted the visual effects to give the impression of a blurred somewhat hazy look that would give a sense of someone stoned on booze and heavy painkillers."Įven the game's notable use of bullet time is intertwined with his addictions, Houser said. "From a narrative standpoint, (addiction) is entirely central to the game - the story depends on it, and it is built into the story, and the entire flow of the game is built around it," Houser told Polygon. But everything from the deep narrative to the stunning visual effects of the game were informed by Payne's dual addictions to painkillers and alcohol, said Dan Houser, vice president of Rockstar Games. You play as a solid, gun-toting ex-cop shooting it out with a bunch of bad guys in a variety of settings from the alleys of New York City to the favelas of Sao Paulo. This sequel doesn't just remember that, it embraces it.Īt first glance, Max Payne 3 may look familiar to fans of video game shooters. Max Payne is a functioning alcoholic and drug addict, a byproduct of all of those lives lost in previous games.
Max Payne 3 is, in the vernacular of video games, a third-person action shooter, but in the hands of Rockstar's deft artists the game approaches an interactive character study, an antidote to the consequence-free, non-reality of most video games. The latest game from the people who created the rich, wide-open world of Grand Theft Auto is a comparatively singular experience, the story of a man whose wife and daughter were killed, who has taken hundreds of lives and who survived so many shootouts with a seemingly endless supply of painkillers. Max Payne can't cope without a glass bottle in his hand, or a plastic one in his pocket.
Colors separate, glide apart to form double, triple visions of the same scene. The lights are so white they bloom and bleed together. Max Payne 3 is a character study about a damaged, addicted ex-cop
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