We gamers are nothing if not a cynical crowd. When one of our favorite franchises makes a big change like, say, adding multiplayer to what had previously been a strong single-player-only series (see: BioShock, Mass Effect), we tend to…well, we tend to flip out. We proclaim the “offending” developer to be off their rocker, believing them to be doing it solely as a way to put another bullet point on the back of the box while simultaneously siphoning valuable resources away from the single-player campaign.
Reality, however, tends to not be so bad. In both BioShock 2 and Mass Effect 3’s cases, the online modes turned out to be rather inventive, and in fact took away precisely nothing from the solo game because the ancillary bits were crafted by separate studios. Noir-ish, hard-boiled detective Max Payne finds himself in a similar situation for Max Payne 3. And fortunately, the results appear to be even better for the boozing, painkiller-addicted former cop, as our afternoon with Payne’s trio of multiplayer modes left us smiling, satisfied, and eager for more.
All modes support 16 players, and we began our day with straight-up Team Deathmatch. Running around in two teams of eight, we adjusted ourselves to the weighty third-person controls (Max Payne 3’s physics engine is governed by an evolved version of the Euphoria tech seen in Grand Theft Auto IV) and began recklessly shoot-dodging our way around the “Bus Depot” map — a Brazil-set, expanded version of a single-player battleground. In fact, that’s what everyone was doing. It looked like a bunch of belly-flopping stuntmen simultaneously auditioning for the next John Woo film, but there was a method to the madness: bullet-time in multiplayer. Unlike other games that have used a “time bubble” that would slow down anyone caught in it (á la TimeShift), Payne’s multiplayer relies on line of sight to slow your foes. In other words, catch them in your crosshairs while shoot-dodging and they’ll be at an extreme disadvantage, moving at half-speed while your bullets travel towards them at full velocity. You earn XP for your kills, with extra XP bonuses available to those willing to risk taking the extra vulnerable time to loot corpses. That XP, in turn, unlocks better guns and attachments for said weapons.
Honestly, we remained skeptical after trying it out. While it was downright hilarious to watch other players leap off the parking garage rooftop — belly first — and take out their enemies from a horizontal position in midair (and endlessly satisfying to pull off the same move ourselves), it all felt a bit pointlessly chaotic.
All of our worries quickly evaporated when we moved to Payne Killer mode, however. Here, it’s Max and single-player ally Passos — both player-controlled — versus everyone else. Whoever does the most damage to Max and Passos when they die (in a smart move to prevent the frustration of kill-stealing, victory does not go to the guy who swooped in at the last second and scored the fatal shot) immediately assumes their identity and role. Max gets an extra supply of bullet-time that he can use at will as well as twin Uzis and a couple bottles of painkillers, while Passos’ leg up comes in the form of a large, fully automatic weapon. It’s not unlike the VIP modes you’ve played in numerous other shooters, but the addition of Max’s extra bullet-time — not to mention a buddy to partner up with — transforms the experience into an absolutely riveting one.
Max Payne 3’s signature multiplayer mode (though we ultimately preferred Payne Killer) was the intriguing Gang Wars. These story-wrapped scenarios essentially follow in Max’s wake, with you battling it out and/or cleaning up a mess where Payne had been earlier. Players are split into two teams — factions — and after each round the events of the previous round determine what happens next, i.e. what map and gametype follow. For us, our factions were fighting over a dock area, and so we appropriately began with capture and hold, where each side vied for a select bit of turf.
We narrowly lost, and so we moved to Grab Bag, in which we had to work together to collect suitcases (presumably full of money) and deliver them to drop-off points. Naturally, if you’re carrying a bag you can’t shoot or move fast, so you need to cover the player holding the suitcase. Next was Assassination, in which a secret player on the other team is a target and you must kill five of his friends in order to reveal him. After that the tables turned and we were the target (we didn’t last long). Finally, with a six-kill deficit heading into the final round — yes, scoring is cumulative — we rumbled in Team Deathmatch to decide the victor. We lost, narrowly, but had a blast giving our best.
All of these also make use of the various Burst abilities. Bullet Time is one of them, and depending on your loadout you’ll also have Sneaky (your tag briefly looks friendly to your enemies), Paranoia (the other team’s tags all look like enemy tags to each other), or one of several others. Add in the recently announced clan-like Crews to make the battles a bit more personal and it appears that Rockstar is on to something truly interesting here. Even if, like us, you end up a bit bored by vanilla Team Deathmatch, you’ll almost certainly be shoot-dodging across your couch to get into a Payne Killer or Gang Wars match as quickly as possible.
PUBLISHER: Rockstar Games • DEVELOPER: Rockstar Studios • MULTIPLAYER: Up to 16 players on Xbox Live • RELEASE DATE: May 15, 2012 • FOR FANS OF: Cliff-diving, South America, lots and lots of guns
