Original Tracks from THPS/THPS2:
Bring the Noise – Anthrax featuring Chuck D
Superman – Goldfinger
When Worlds Collide – Powerman 5000
Heavy Metal Winner – Consumed
May 16 – Lagwagon
No Cigar – Millencolin
You – Bad Religion

New songs:
The Bomb – Pigeon John
We the People – Lateef the Truthspeaker
Marathon Mansion! – Pegasuses-XL
Teenage Blood – Apex Manor
Please Ask for Help – Telekinesis
Flyentology (Cassettes Won’t Listen Remix) – El-P featuring Trent Reznor
USA – Middle Class Rut

THPS HD will release sometime in June on the PS3 and Xbox 360

It’s been nearly 10 years since we’ve seen Max Payne sulk through the New York alleys; he’s decided that he’s had his fill of the big apple and is moving to São Paulo, Brazil for the sun, babes, and gangs. With Remedy being too busy working on whatever it is they’re doing (please be Alan Wake 2) Rockstar decided to pick up the third entry in the series. With the trade of gloomy New York for sunny São Paulo don’t go thinking that things are any more cheerful; Max starts out in the shitter and slowly gets in deeper as the game continues that culminates in possibly Rockstar’s darkest game yet.

The game is quick to remind you that Max is still leaning on the booze and pills to keep him running, but things start to look up a bit for him when he moves to Brazil and gets a bodyguard position to protect a wealthy family. That lasts a good five minutes before things start to hit the fan and Max is thrown between protecting the family and controlling his own substance abuse issues. Besides the new cover mechanic not much has changed in how you play compared to the previous titles. You can take cover if you want, but be prepared for enemies to start flanking your position to deliver a healthy dose of ass whooping. It’s the Matrix styled shootdodge mechanic that’s going to be your main source of dealing out death. You’ll see a meter to the right that shows how much time you can spend in this mode and can be refilled quickly be simply scoring kills outside of shootdodge. With the added euphoria engine that powered Grand Theft Auto 4 and Red Dead Redemption, you’ll be greeted to some amazing moments from shooting enemies and seeing them stumble around to diving in the air over a desk, spinning around, and quickly sending a few thugs to meet their maker. Did I mention the physics? Almost everything can be smashed apart and it will with clean rooms looking like a wrecking crew drove through after gunfights. For fans worried about Rockstar dumbing down the game fret not because painkillers are still your only source of health in this game; only multiplayer has slowly regenerating health, not on hardcore though. I found Max to be stupidly brittle even on normal difficulty. I’m always up for a good challenge but later missions really punished you for using the shootdodge mechanic and I found myself starting to use cover more and more. Painkillers can be somewhat difficult to locate if they’re not in plain view, but the game thankfully refills your health each time you die so at least you can’t screw yourself by walking into a situation with little to no health. You’ll find ‘grinds’ to do through both the singleplayer and online. You’ll find a variety of menial tasks such as finding golden guns, and tougher ones such as shooting grenades in the air or scoring kills while on your back.

Besides the 10+ hour campaign and grinds to, excuse the pun, grind through you’ll also have New York Minute and Score Attack to keep you playing. Score Attack rewards you with points for kills, more points the more impressive the kill, with a focus on keeping your multiplier up. New York Minute on the other hand is meant more for speed-running players with each level starting you out with a timer that continually trickles down; the only way to get more time is to score kills.

So when you start up the playlist you’ll think Max Payne 3 has quite a lot of game modes to play, but in reality out of the either modes you see, there are only really 3 different ones. There’s Rookie Deathmatch/TDM, regular Deathmatch/TDM, large Deathmatch/TDM, Payne Killer, and Gang Wars; there are also hardcore variants you can unlock once you get 5000 kills. The idea behind Payne Killer is that two players will play as either Max or Passos while the other team has to work together to bring them down. The player who deals the most damage to either character is re-spawned as that character loaded to the teeth with painkillers, guns, and adrenaline. It’s a neat mode that has you bouncing between trying to deal the most damage to Max or Passos, or trying to let your teammates whittle down their health so you can score a final kill. You’ll get points for dealing damage/killing Max or Passos, but the real numbers start flowing in when you play as either character; winner at the end is the guy with the most points. The marquee mode here is Gang Wars though; in it you’ll take the role of one of the various factions and complete various staged objectives. Each map has its own little story that snugly fits with the main game and you’ll go through various objectives such as defending checkpoints, assassinating targets, straight up elimination, and more. The neat thing is that you’ll never get the same sequence of objectives twice with each game having a completely random set of objectives that change depending on whether you won or lost the previous one. It’s something I’ve loved since Killzone 2 and really hope more games start to implement it.

So you know I love me some customization in my multiplayer games; it’s not so much that I want other people to see how my character looks, it’s just that I’m so narcissistic that I enjoy seeing how I look. There are half a dozen factions, each with their own look/style, that you can change from head-to-toe with gear you’ll acquire by simply leveling up. You’ll also be able to select how you want to look for straight deathmatch modes and you can unlock story characters by achieving either a platinum in each level in score attack or prestiging. So as you kill other players or loot their bodies you’ll gain adrenaline which fuels both your bullet time and your bursts. Bursts are a sort of perk that grants you a special skill divided into three tiers as you fill your meter up. For example, equipping the heavy firepower burst will give you more damage for 20 seconds, the second tier will replace your guns with a powerful LMG, and the final tier gives you a grenade launcher. Players have to be quick to think if they want to spend what adrenaline they have on an extra kill in bullet time or with a burst. Just as in most shooters, you’ll be able to set up various loadouts that will allow you to change your tactics throughout a match. You’ll be able to equip up to three weapons, a head item that gives effects such as not being affected by flash grenades, body armor, your burst, your projectile/grenade, and three pieces of gear. Gear is a sort of passive skill that doesn’t run on adrenaline; with over a dozen pieces of gear you’ll see ones like a lucky coin that grants more cash from looting or a walkie-talkie that puts any enemy player your teammates see on your radar. The game can get quite unfair though, since it seems to not care who it matches you with and will throw you into games with people at level 50 (max rank). These guys will be rolling around with grenade/rocket launchers and bursts that let them appear as allies which makes fighting them some serious bullshit.

The graphics are damn impressive and the attention to detail in all the environments is just mind boggling. Rockstar also had the noise rock band Health to score the game which ended up being another smart move by Rockstar who have a smart taste for music. Rockstar really has a knack for bringing out the best of their voice-actors with James McCaffrey (the voice of Max) pulling in probably his best work here. The sound team should really get acknowledged for their work on the game because the way everything sounds, from the guns to the environment getting shredded during gunfights, is phenomenal.

The Final Word
Max Payne 3 is a great grab for newcomers to the series, but even more enjoyable to players of the previous two games. With a hefty amount of singleplayer modes and a pretty solid multiplayer component, besides the bit of unbalance, MP3 is definitely something that you won’t be trading in anytime soon.

- MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good

Matches can host up to 20 players at a time with various modes and a starting line up of six maps. Weapon customization and “vanity” items to style up your character are available. There is the standard leveling up, earning perks and abilities thing but the unique feature that stood out to me is the active reload, a la Gears of War, which is a nice touch for the genre.

Developed by ACONY Games, Bullet Run is expected for release in the Summer. If you’re curious, check out the official website for beta registration details and more information.

“Our community has always preferred a single worldwide launch date, and while we couldn’t make it happen for the console versions, we decided to work toward a global release for Max Payne 3 on PC,” said Jennifer Kolbe, VP of Publishing. “Due to production and logistical issues we could not bring the European launch forward, so we worked with US retail to align with the original European launch window and set a new global release date of June 1.”

The Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions released May 15. Rockstar has detailed the DLC schedule following the release of Max Payne 3.

Developed by Kinesthetic Games, a small games studio founded in 2011, Kung Fu Superstar promises multiple movie sets, characters, and fight choreographs to mimic. At least giving you the pretense that you’re learning martial arts. Check out the dubstep sounding trailer below.

Check out the release date announcement trailer below.

Along with the announcement, a PC version is expected for release later in 2013. Capcom Unity has provided details on a new supporting character in the Devil May Cry title, Kat.

Kat

Kat is a former runaway that joined The Order very early in her life. She is a medium and a gifted psychic who can see into Limbo, the demon realm, but not directly interact with it in the way that Dante does. She is the right hand girl of the Leader of The Order and devotes her very life to him, often putting herself in grave danger to gather intelligence from Limbo.

There is a sweet innocence about Kat’s world view and logic, but when it comes to her specialist subject, the demon realm, she is an undoubted expert. Kat is The Order’s ‘eyes and ears’ and is tasked with guiding Dante on his mission through Limbo.

Along with our weekly dose of news, be sure to check out our reviews for the latest games.

Diego pulls out his pickaxe to craft together his review of the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft:

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Review

Prepare for zombies and difficult moral choices with Diego’s review of Telltale’s latest adventure game, The Walking Dead: Episode One:

The Walking Dead: Episode One Review

Check out the news below:

DiRT Showdown Delayed to Next Month

Traveller’s Tales Got Some Legos in my Arkham City

Omerta City of Gangsters Brings the 360 into the Family

Arkham City Shows its Feminine Side

Happy Gaming