Be Excellent To Each Other

It's on two discs. LA Noire came on two discs. I'm worried.

The multiplayer looks to be good fun. But I still haven't completed RDR (or LA Noire, not that I'm going to) plus it's getting "average" 7s in shitey games journalism land.

I'll just wait for the GOTY with all of the DLC missions.

So far so good. It's not a typical shooter that's for sure - the emphasis is squarely on telling the story. Still, blowing a hole in someone's face hasn't been quite as visceral as this in a long time. Mind you, one thing is annoying me: it's got this weird strobe thing going on though, ALL THE FUCKING TIME THROUGH THE CUT SCENES.

Did you play the first two games?

If so, how does it compare?

Played them both to conclusion but it's been so long I can't remember what the gunplay was like. This is different though; the story is woven through the action. Oh, y'know what it reminds me of... you remember the good levels from Kane & Lynch? It's like that but with bullet time and, of course, done well. Max seems a little "stickier" than I remember him though. Very Niko-ish (but nowhere near as bad). The level of detail in the levels are really good though, which plush apartments, stairwells and dance clubs looking all real-world-ish-y.

Is that the original Max Payne voice guy?

Yup.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0564548/

Got it pre-ordered on the PC, will be all over it like a cheap suit as soon as it's released.

LA Noire was on 3 discs on the Xbox.

I've never played a Max Payne game.

Max Payne 2 still holds up well today, and will probably run nicely on a toaster.

The original hasn't aged quite so well though, and has the horrible screaming baby nightmare levels which are a royal pain in the arse.

Even at the time I didn't think much of it.

Never really grabbed me, hence why I never bothered with them. Was the first one famous for the 'bullet-time' effect or am I thinking of something else?

I haven't played the first one, but I loved the second.

I loved the first two to bits. MP3 has been delivered to work, and I'm not back until Wednesday.

Yes, and contrary to popular opinion, they didn't steal it off The Matrix, as the game was in development long before The Matrix was released and bullet time was already incorporated into the game.

I got a pirated copy of Max Payne 2 (off Trousers nonetheless!) and I'd finished the game long before it was in the shops.

I dutifully walked into Game and bought it on release day, and to this day I've never so much as taken the discs out of the box.

Aren't you in Greece? Shouldn't you be floating in the pool with a can of Mythos and going "Ahhhhhh!"

I came back yesterday!

I just don't know if I like this or not. It's entertaining but repetitive. The gunplay isn't as much fun as I remember Max Payne 1 & 2 being, but I can't really remember those games anymore or maybe better pew pew's have come and gone. It's reminds me so much of Kane & Lynch it hurts; that's not to say its anywhere near as bad but there's just something about the endless duck shoot that's grating. The character has lost my interest as well since he used to be a torn cop but now I'm infiltrating a South American gangsta army base using a silencer dressed like a fucking commando. Something ain't right here, but I can't put finger on it.

And that fucking strobe thing is still strobing the screen for what reason exactly? No. Fucking. Clue. Ah, it's "cool" is it? Fucking ridiculous; almost as bad as Battlefield 3's menus BUT IN THE GAME.

They should have contrived for him to have a new family in a new city (Chicago!) and then have them brutally murdered by drug dealers.

It should be a different protagonist, like his brother, Moore Payne.

Or his brother, Phil Payne.

Or his shit at lying cousin: Winda.

His Irish cousin, World O'Payne.

Come on, it has to be his British cousin Gary Payne, though everyone calls him "Gaz".

I have created a Crew in the Rockstar Social Club for those who wish to join:

http://socialclub.rockstargames.com/crew/be_excellent

Or his German cousin, Bach Payne.

Or his mum, Mrs Payne.

So, I was a bit worried about this what with a) Remedy not being involved and b) nine years since MP2, and was even more so when the intro started and it wasn't set in New York.

However, as soon as I took control of Max it felt right, just like a Max Payne game should. I can see the Kane and Lynch references, but those games had shitty controls and wafer-thin plots (plus Max Payne did it a long time before in the first two games).

I'm currently working my way through the , but so far I'm impressed. The controls are tighter than GTA IV/RDR and the cover mechanism works well. Despite bullet-time being massively overused these days, it still feels fun and bad-ass when you gun down four of them in a row. It's not too easy on Medium difficulty either, though. I've died quite a bit.

So yeah, first impressions are promising.

It's difficult not to enjoy some of this slow mo action.

Don't make me buy this

Whoever thought its be a good idea to map the aim function to the left stick when aiming down the sights of a weapon (that has them) needs shooting. Just... well, it's fucking stupid.

Not even the cool feature of being able to pause the game and rotate the camera around like a scene from Swordfish, can save its stupidity.

Eh? I'm using the right stick to aim at all times.

What about aiming down the sniper scope and red dot famas?

You two should deathmatch to settle this dispute.

I can't remember, I've only used the sniper rifle once so far. At no point have I thought 'shit, the aiming is on the wrong stick!', though.

You've probably got it set to Spack Hands.

Them's fighting words! I say first to 10 Halo Reach assassination kills. Everyone likes Halo Reach.

Dimrill doesn't. You and him should have 10 squad deathmatch games in Battlefield 3 to decide who's right. Everyone loves Battlefield 3.

Battlefield 3 is gash. Being able to go prone is little consolation for not being able to rebind the spotting button nor the horrendously unbalanced unlock system.

Is this the response you'd set the bait for?

Myp and Meaty should have a 10 hour head to head Dark Souls marathon (highest levelled character at the end wins) to decide whether or not I should battle Dimrill in Battlefield. Everyone loves Dark Souls.

While that sounds "hilarious", knowing what we're like we'd be playing bumper cars in Forza and/or passed out drunk within five hours.

There are some amazing set pieces in this. Plus when you get to

If there's one thing Rockstar knows how to do, it's put game worlds together.

Gah! Still a week until I can play this!

I had to stop and watch those kids an' all. I couldn't figure out if it was a canned animation or what, it looked that good. It was just that but it was still lovely.

I'm a bit fed up of shooting people mind. I'm going to stop playing it for a bit or I'll lose interest.

Right stick for the red dot Famas, btw. Seems like you're the one with the Spack Hands settings.

Boom!

Well, that's Max Payne. Lots of shooting in slomo interspersed with cutscenes, mainly of him feeling very sorry for himself.

What's the deal with all of your new names? Dapper Bandit, Salmon something, something something Elk.