Dan Houser, the Rockstar co-founder who co-wrote much of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, isn't happy with how Max Payne 3 turned out. Speaking to IGN for its IGN30 Icons series, Houser, who was the lead writer on the 2012 shooter, explained that the game's linear structure, lack of loading screens, and movie-like presentation felt like a cool take on digital noir to him at the time. Players, he admitted, largely didn't see it that way.
"So I got that completely wrong. I know Sam Lake well, and he's a very good guy and really talented. I thought we'd done a good job of doing another Max Payne game. Some people liked it; lots didn't. So we got it wrong, or I got it wrong. I failed. My bit was not a success. The game is beautifully made, and it wasn't as successful as it should have been. So I would say a large amount of that failure was on me as one of the people making the decisions and also as the writer, when people really missed his writing."
Houser took a large share of the blame himself, and said fans really missed the writing of Sam Lake, the Remedy creative director behind the first two games. Interestingly, Max Payne 3 wasn't panned by critics at the time, but fans did not really like it. It reportedly sold below expectations, and its sunny Brazil setting and louder tone did not sit well with longtime fans of the gloomier originals.
The series is heading back to its roots anyway. Remedy is remaking the first two Max Payne games with Rockstar publishing, though there hasn't been much news lately. The studio last mentioned over a year ago that it was in full production. Rockstar, meanwhile, has its hands full with GTA 6, due November 19.
Source: TechPowerUp News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing