Max Payne 2 - The Comeback of Storytelling?

[Barcik]

Remedy, the developers of "Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne" described it as a "film-noir love story". And they hit right the spot.
In a world where most developers see a storyline as no more than a nuisance ("Who cares about a plot? Look how great that zombie looks!"), Remedy managed to create a game focusing on characters and plot advancement. The familiar comic strip cutscenes are what matters most in this third-person shooter, not the excellent level designing, the cinematic feeling or even "bullet-time". The player plays and finishes level to progress the plot. For example, a rough count came up with 5 levels where the player doesn't need to shoot once! Just move forward and enjoy the atmosphere.
Quality speaking, there is nothing ground-breaking in the game's story, or the characters. But both are conveyed greatly, including the very touching end. The player really has a feeling that this is interactive fiction.
Riding on the success of its prequel and being an excellent game in its own right, Max Payne 2 will surely sell well. Can this mean a new trend in games? Will there be as much effort put in storytelling as in graphics, to make all us plot-lovers happy?
Personally, I doubt that it would bring a revolution. Game like Quake and Unreal will still throw a huge buck on improving their details and textures. But I am pretty darn sure that more plot-focused games will follow, and that 2004 will show a big rise in such games.

So what do you think? Can storytelling finally become popular in modern gaming?

[Chrille]

Max Payne 1 had all this as well, only the story didn't feel like a hollywood action sequel. It bothered me how they pretty much had changed Vladimir's and Mona's personalities completley.

It's still more fun in terms of gameplay than Max Payne 1 though, but it falls storywise. IMO.

[Barcik]

I think the second was more story driven than the first one. The first one was about Max getting to the killers of his wife, which is a basic "achieve the goal" type of plot, but the second one doesn't have a definite "pre-set" goal.

[Las Naranjas]

I think this was also coming through as early as Thief, and it's also evident in the Hitman games. It's somewhat inevitable if product differentation is to be achieved.

[Bionic Bill]

I liked MP2 if only for the fact that Sam Lake is listed as "writer" in the credits. Gives me hope that I might have a job one day.

[Minimi]

WTF! The game has only been release for, like a week.. and all you people have finished it already? I was planning on buying the game next week, and I DID played max payne 1, and enjoyed that alot! I played it 4 times.

The story is just soo cool, and the idea of putting cutscenes as cartoons in it, gave me the idea for my games

Im looking forward playing Max Payne 2!

[Barcik]

I think this was also coming through as early as Thief, and it's also evident in the Hitman games.

Despite a bit more emphasis on story, both these games still didn't focus on a plot, but on stealth and tactics. Perhaps they brought a new breeze in the industry, but they lacked true revolutionary potential (plot-speaking, not all that stealth stuff).

[Las Naranjas]

I know that it was not as developed as this example, but MP2 isn't a drastic change either, just another step in the adoption by other genres of a gameplay defining rather than framing, plot.

It's a good thing, but in the wider context it isn't a magical crucible of change.And as it stands, the plot is still rather daft. :p

[Ghormak]

I loved the storytelling in Thief 1 and 2. The cutscenes and sound effects were top notch. I bow to Looking Glass.

I also love how on the list of features in the new Max Payne game, story is the first item on the list.

I also loved the first Hitman game, but I'm not so sure about the second one. In fact, I thought the story ruined it in the sequel. When I played the first game, I saw the Hitman as a cold-blooded assassin who took jobs for the money, and didn't think much about why he did them. The second one had a little too much "let's get rid of world-wide evil and terrorism" stuff for me. I don't want to save the world as ol' Tobias Rieper. Give me old cheezy platformers for that, heh.

[Eggie]

I recently downloaded Duke Nukem 3D.

Lemmee tell ya'. It is a RELIEF to play somthing without a many-layererd storyline.

I honestly think a little more action games should concentrate on making games fun rather than trying to come up with a logical explanation for everything...

Cutscene Person: Argh! They destroyed the base and stole my reasearch and have used it to create a solar blam ray that will melt the earth! There is a chance to save it, if you enter the 17 access codes in the-
Player: Shut up! I wanna shoot some fire extinguishers!!

Now don't get me wrong. Storylines in action games CAN work...but mostly they just slow it down.

Metal Gear Solid had a great storyline, great atmosphere but it was still just a game. It was fun, there are weapons scattered about in random places, Snake can fit into a cardboard box but when you're playing it you just don't CARE.

So...in my humble opinion...A game is a game, a brief escape from reality and if they take themselves too seriously it can destroy teh magick!

[Barcik]

Eggie, I think there needs to be variety. Just as there are simply entertaining movies that are fun to watch, and there deep and intelligent movies that require patience (did somebody say 2001?). Unfortunately, most action games put plot at the bottom of the priority list.

[agswannabe]

max payne 2 is great, BUT i finished the friggin' game in two days!!! the story is great, but two days !? gasp, i'm glad i bought it from a pirate.

[|Alky|]

My favourite story driven game so far has got to be 'Deus Ex'. As well as its realism, non-linearity and excellent dialog (all voice acted and lip-synched). The number of people you have to kill to complete the game is in single figures, while the number of different ways to play the game is infinate. Plus, I'm actually intrigued by the storyline, which mixes sci-fi with a detective story, and considering it was written in 1999 it has eerie nostradamus-like under-tones (US-sponsored anti terrorist coolition, human engineering, stealth helicopters, secret organization controlling major governments, unstoppable plague...)

Another pioneering game was 'Half-Life'. It had a crap story, but it told it in an excellent way - immersing players within it instead of using numerous cutscenes...

[Darth Mandarb]

I HATE HATE HATE Max Payne 2!!!

Kidding

I don't play the game personally but my brother plays it at all hours and the bass from that friggin' game gets to me after awhile!  It shakes the shit off of my desk!

From what I've seen it looks pretty involving and the voice acting is funny.  "Don't let 'em fuckin' get me Payne!!  Save me!!" from that Vinnie fellow.  There's nothin' like the eff word in video games.

We've come so far!

dm

[c.leksutin]

I didn't like MP1 very much at all. It had such wonderfull potential and then they threw in those bogus "nightmare" levels, which, as far as I can tell were made to weed out those of us who no longer have uber-reflexes.  Since I eventually could go no further, I gave up on the game and therefore haven't played the second one.

The story was good though... as far as I could play into the game.

C.

[Privateer Puddin']

those levels required no reflexes, it was running on straight lines and jumping down a level..