This brief discussion on Rockstar Games and their use of generic conventions originates from a very intriguing comment found on our favourite website in the whole wide wo…web, Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Over there, my half-assed ass-essment of the company as “soulless” in my earlier post, On The Love Letter, was earnestly brought into question. The question is as good as any and the topic actually warrants a brief discussion.
This time, I am not referring to Rockstar Games as “faceless”, “insensitive” or “corporate”, although we have actually taken the company to task for that as well. Instead, I’m talking about their use of ethics and morals in their games. (more…)
Max Payne
The End of a Decade
This year was a curious one, and I don’t mean to refer to the VG industry alone: 2009 was, after all, the first full year of The Slowdown for us three, and boy, it sure went past real fast. For various reasons, this year has also been a very trying one for each of us, yet we were still able to find the time and enthusiasm to write and post together. Taking up writing, I’m certain, has only worked to enhance our enthusiasm and interest in the medium. As if to commemorate the very end of the decade, though, my relatively recent motherboard had to be shipped over to Germany for replacement recently.
You’ve probably also noted how we’ve yet not engaged ourselves in the “best of” discourse, at all; we enjoy making lists just as much as the other guy, sure, but perhaps unsurprisingly also tend to get over-analytical and –intellectual with the concept.
Therefore, as our final post of the year, the three of us have jotted down our personal lists of the decade. The simple rule was not to make it too difficult for ourselves. Therefore, I have sought to paint an impression of the zeitgeist, warts and all. Very subjective. Nabeel wanted to paint a portrait of himself as gamer, and Richard hoped to be accurate and inclusive. The games listed below have not been included based on their perceived merits or qualities; instead, we selected them with the aforementioned focuses in mind.
All three free-form lists after the jump. Here’s to a new gaming decade, everyone!
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Max’s Brazilian Wax
Max Payne 3 so far: The main character’s identity removed. The location, look and feel changed. The gameplay mechanics altered. The original voice actor, James McCaffrey, replaced. Multiplayer added. Max Payne 3, Rockstar promises, has “…Max as we’ve never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever” 1)Rockstar Press Release, March 23, 2009
Changed, changed, changed utterly. Let us go back in time for a moment, back to the year 2003, and seek to recall the scenes that made the most sense, made the most out of its thematic elements in the second instalment, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne: What about the part where Max escapes his sealed apartment block with the aid of some of its colourful inhabitants – or the lock-up bust, with Mona contained at the police station? Or the very beginning of the game, with Max waking up in the hospital, when you come face to face with the doctors and nurses?
References
Max Payne 3
Guys, I don’t know how to put this nicely. I solemnly swear, The Slowdown won’t be turning into Negative Gamer any time soon, but… do forgive us, for just one post, while I try to explain this to our advantage. When Max Payne 3 was first announced, we collectively voted, in unison, to absolutely hold our judgement – after all, we’re nothing short of massive fans of Remedy and the Payne franchise. I recently completed ‘The Fall Of’ no less than three times, in the row, during the previous xmas holidays.
Yet this is what we all thought: The new logography seemed to be a poor man’s combination of the ‘Impact’ font and grunge cross-hatches. The reimagined Max seemed as if he had been suddenly relocated, against better judgement, from film noir territory directly into the realm of Kane & Lynch. Everything that was iconic about Max Payne seemed to have been conveniently axed.
Mind you, we thought we had it all wrong. I guess this is where we have to come to terms with the fact that things have really changed somewhat; VG247 happen to be showing off an unfocused photograph of a forthcoming GameInformer cover, and… boy, it does not look pretty. Kotaku, on the other side of the tracks, are hinting at a potential multiplayer feature.
I don’t know what to think. Do you?