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Co-founder of Rockstar GamesDan HouserHouser recently made a comment about Max Payne 3 that caught the attention of the gaming community. In an interview with IGN, he called the game a “failure.” PC Gamer’s Andy Chalk wasn’t impressed, and wrote an entire article, the title of which clearly states that Houser is wrong.
(Image credit: Rockstar Games)
What did Dan Houser say?
Houser played a significant role in Max Payne 3. In an interview with IGN, he called the game a “failure.” Explaining why, he said that heSam LakeNo. Sam Lake is Remedy’s creative director, having written the first two Max Payne games.
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According to Houser, the game was very linear, a slightly different experience from the open-world GTA games he was accustomed to. Nevertheless, he enjoyed making it. He liked the design aspect that the game didn’t have a lot of filler and that it was a game with no visual elements.12-hour filmHe also liked some of the visual experiments that the words on the screen presented.
They thought they were creating a stunning “digital noir” experience, but the general consensus at the time was that people didn’t like it. Houser admitted that he had completely misjudged it. The gist of his words is this: some people liked the game, many didn’t, and so either Rockstar or they themselves made a mistake. He also said that the game was beautifully made, but wasn’t as successful as it should have been. He took a large part of the blame for this failure, both as a decision-maker and as a writer, because people missed Sam Lake’s writing.
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Andy Chalk’s reply
Chalk writes that he would never dare tell the Rockstar co-founder he was wrong, except in this one case. In his opinion, Max Payne 3 is a “brilliant, powerful cinematic shooter.”
Their argument is that the game was two things at once. On the one hand, it was a full-on Max Payne game, with a gloomy and gritty atmosphere, bullet time, falling corpses, and sharp commentary on the bleakness of life. On the other hand, it was also a full-on Rockstar game, so it had a different flavor than the previous two installments. Fans who wanted the same old experience were bound to be disappointed.
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Chalk also listed the game’s features:
- Great cutscenes
- Industrial rock bandHealthThe best soundtrack of
- Strong performances by all the actors, especially in the title roleJames McCaffrey Of
According to him, McCaffrey found his true rhythm in this game and delivered many memorable dialogues.
What do the sales figures say?
Chalk admits that Max Payne 3 wasn’t a huge commercial hit. In 2012, publisher Take-Two Interactive said that sales of the game were “below expectations,” leading to a significant net loss for that quarter.
But he questions whether sales are the only measure of success. He points out that Take-Two made the same point at the same time.Spec Ops: The Linealso spoke about, and that game was praised then and still is for its bold and different story.
Opinions change over time
According to Chalk, Max Payne 3 proved to be a “slow burn” game. Over time, we’ve come to understand what Rockstar truly delivered. He cited a decade-old opinion by former PC Gamer writer Andy Kelly, who said that the risk Rockstar took in breaking the beloved framework established by Remedy has grown in value over time.
An interesting point in that opinion was that Max seems completely out of place in Brazil in this game. An American, wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt, and the game makes a lot of fun of this incongruity.
It’s rare to see a creator so honest about their work. Houser took responsibility for the failure, which is commendable. But Chalk also has a point: a game can be a cult hit in its era and still gain in value later. Sales and legacy don’t always tell the same story.
What do you think? Was Max Payne 3 a failure or a game ahead of its time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
