Max Payne 3 (PC/PS3/360 - May 15th)
Rockstar’s resuscitation of the Max Payne name (because Marky Mark almost killed it) is out in little over a week. Industry analysts already posit that MP3 will outperform some of May’s other weighty contenders the likes of Dragon’s Dogma and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. The real clash in sales will be between Rockstar’s sequel and another oft delayed threequel by the name of motherfuckin’ Diablo III. We’re talking about bullets versus swords; noir versus fantasy. Whichever game comes out on top, wins all of May. Not that that matters.
I’ll say this about Max Payne 3 – and it should very much be noted that if you hear me say the following about a game it means you’re probably mistaken because I never say this about a game – but the multiplayer is drawing me in more than the story campaign.
Oh, I’m definitely anticipating the hardboiled melodrama of Max’s depressingly brutal world (and who looking for a good time wouldn’t be?), but Rockstar’s take on cooperation in a versus setting, which includes vicious tug o’ war matches where you fight to hold onto territory, or steal it, might be the most promising multiplayer offering this year has seen yet. Peep video proof hereabouts.