Rockstar News - Max Payne 3 and L.A. Noire PC

Some big news from Rockstar in the last few days. Involving an old IP that Rockstar is now developing in-house and their newest hit franchise as well.

Max Payne 3 Release Date

Several reports have popped up on the Internet stating that those who have put in early pre-orders for Max Payne 3 have been notified that the retailers has updated the release date based on information from the publisher. Letters from Amazon posted by RockstarWatch state that the Max Payne 3 release date has been set for December 1st, 2011. That means we’ll finally be able to see the latest in this neo-noir saga that has been pushed back several times.

There is a lot of trepidation, which I share over, the new look and setting of the game. Rockstar’s track record speaks for itself however, so those counting out the series, should probably prepare themselves to happily eat crow. ComputerandVideoGames questions the how the game-play style of Max Payne 3 will hold up in today’s “next-gen” world, with particular scrutiny paid towards the bullet-time feature. An interesting article, a little too pessimistic, again given the company involved, Rockstar, and the previous quality of the Max Payne series.

L.A. Noire to PC

The other big Rockstar news, which shocked me, was that L.A. Noire would be coming out for the PC “in the fall”. On one hand it makes complete sense that Rockstar wishes to take their newest blockbuster franchise (even if it’s underperforming based on some people’s estimates this is still a big-time game) and translate that over to the hardcore PC gaming sector; those that don’t also own consoles. On the other hand they didn’t do this with Red Dead and their port of GTA IV was so awful that people are still complaining about it to this day, and also still having trouble getting it to run.

What we do know about the PC version is that it will be able to look better than your console. This is of course based on the quality of your machine. What interests me, as well as tempts me to purchase the game a second time later down the line for PC, is that modifications are almost sure to come at some point. They did with modern GTA series, and I don’t see the engine being changed significantly enough to prohibit that for L.A. Noire. Don’t be surprised if the PC version of L.A. Noire gets some “exclusive content”.

As mentioned, L.A. Noire PC comes out some time in fall and the Max Payne 3 release date is set for December 1st, 2001, until we hear differently. When pre-orders have more detail or limited or collector’s editions pop-up, I’ll post a preview.