Max Payne 3 Features Time-Bending Plot, Classic Features And Even A Full Head Of Hair

Finally, some concrete details about Rockstar Games’ plans for Max Payne 3 are emerging, thanks to the latest issue of Edge magazine, which may make Max fans feel less uneasy about the change in direction for the decade-old series.

According to the cover story preview in Edge, Max Payne has left the New York City police department to focus on a career in private security, according to Scrawl‘s recount of the article. Max Payne 3 is reportedly set eight years after the events of the previous game, but Rockstar says it’s “always playing with time in the story.”

The return of Max Payne’s “classic narration” will likely help make better sense of the game’s time-bending plot. It appears that the comic book panel cut scenes will be swapped out for something more cinematic, with Rockstar “integrating storytelling into the gameplay itself through the use of hundreds of customized animations.”

Rockstar Vancouver will also be playing with Max’s ‘do. He’ll sport a full head of hair at some point in the game, but will lose those slicked back locks to become the bald, paunchy Max Payne we’ve seen in earlier previews.

Expect other well-known Max-isms to return, with bullet time gunplay, lots of shooting and bullet dodging, and Max’s original voice actor (James McCaffrey) reprising his role.

Max Payne 3 will also reportedly use NaturalMotion’s Euphoria technology, the same physics engine that powered Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption’s animation.

More details in the latest issue of Edge magazine, due out April 12.

Rockstar Promises “Sophisticated” Max Payne 3 [Edge]

Max Payne 3 detailed in latest Edge [Scrawl]