While there was a lot to see at New York Comic Con the very first stop I made was to the Rockstar Games booth to get a first glance at Max Payne 3. I never really got into the first two games in the series but after being shown a live demo of the game I can’t wait to walk in Max Payne’s hungover, pain pill poppin shoes. Read on for my impressions of the game.

From what I was shown of Max Payne 3, Rockstar is bringing back all the staples that defined the game in the past while making great improvements in the graphics and game mechanics. MP3 will take place several years after the events of the second game, Max is still in New York but he is a deeply depressed and haunted individual (still sporting his usual dark hair and black leather jacket) who tries to escape from his memories and his life in the bottom of a bottle. The demo started in Max’s disheveled apartment, where he invites his friend Raul Passos in for a drink. Raul tells Max that he should leave NY and join him in the private security business but Max declines the offer, that is until a mobster shows up with his crew to kill Max for killing his son.

It’s at this point the player takes control of Max. The camera uses a free aim system while shooting, which can give Max a 360 degrees of shooting area even when lying in a prone position on the ground. Max has to make his way down the hallway of his apartment building while fighting with bad guys inside and outside of the building. While trying to target some guys shooting down at Max from on top of the roof of the building next door the demo player went into the games signature Bullet Time and took them out. The player also pulled up a Weapon Wheel to switch between weapons. The wheel will show what ever 3 weapons Max is carrying. He can carry two single handed guns that can be combined for dual wielding and he can carry a two handed weapon like a shotgun. Max used a machine gun he picked up off some dead enemies to take out some more bad guys in the hallway. The Bullet Time mechanics looked great and if you think that you can use it all the time well think again because similar to “Dead Eye” in Read Dead Redemption, a Bullet Time meter drains every time you use it and it slowly refills over time. So you will have to use a combination of using good cover (a first in the series) and sharp aiming to take out enemies.

As Max made his way up to the roof and shot the last enemy the camera view switched to a “Final-Kill” camera where you follow your last bullet out of the chamber of your gun and into the body of your enemy. The “Final-Kill” cam helps the player know when they are finished with a wave of enemies, plus it just looks bad ass especially since you can control the speed of the bullet as it reaches it’s intended target.

As Max peers at the cold New York skyline he reconsiders Raul’s offer and next we see him in sunny São Paulo, Brazil. The demo jumped into a section a the game where a now bald, bearded, sweaty Max is running away from the Crachá Preto (a paramilitary group) with Raul’s Passos’ girlfriend, Giovanna, trying to wait it out in a bus depot until Raul gets to them. Of course they get spotted and the inevitable shootout commences. This area was filled with wave after wave of enemies and I was able to really see how Max takes damage from bullet hits and appreciate the animation. Every bullet strike will show blood on Max’s body, you can see sweat and perspiration build up if he’s in a long battle. The health meter does not regenerate on it’s own, you have to take painkillers (found throughout the levels) to replenish health. Also if Max happens to be fatally wounded while still holding on to painkillers he will go into “Last Man Standing” Mode where  the game automatically goes into Bullet Time and gives Max a chance to shoot an enemy. If successful Max will regain some health at the cost of a painkiller, if not it’s lights out. It was a pretty nifty feature especially when you get surrounded by a lot of enemies.

Another thing that was impressive was the amount of detail that has gone into giving the characters the most realistic animations. From leaping over a barrel to running into a wall, all the characters interact accordingly with the object they touch or hit by. For example, as Max was running away from some gunfire he ran into a wall, but he actually puts up his hand to brace himself for the impact of running into the wall. This was not in a cut scene, this was during actual gameplay. I was also shown how when laying down on the ground in a prone shooting position Max can shift his body position from laying on his back and shooting in front of him to rolling onto his side and eventually onto his belly, all thanks to hundreds of hours of motion capture resulting in incredibly realistic and rich animation.

The enemy AI is also improved with smarter thinking and sometimes unpredictable behavior. For example when the enemies were searching for Max I was told that they will not just stand around and wait for you to pop out, they will start to search for you under cars, and in any potential hiding spots. They won’t just glance around and leave, if you stay hidden in one spot for too long they will find you. They will also take good cover and move if they can find a better spot to take you out. Rest assured these gun fights will be a challenge.

The demo ended with Max trying to get through a warehouse filled with the Crachá Preto soldiers. In a very spectacular John Woo move Max leaps from a metal catwalk to grab a hook hanging from the ceiling, swings down on said chain and starts blasting away at anyone and anything within his sight. It was quite the epic moment. Unfortunately the demo ended right there but I was very convinced that this was the next Rockstar Game I was going to get lost in.

Some last little tidbits about the game, for a game that isn’t coming out until March 2012 (on PC, PlayStation 3, and XBOX 360) the game looked fantastic so far. I was told that after the first initial load screen when you start up the game there will be NO LOAD TIMES AT ALL from start to finish! A bold statement that I will have to see to believe. Max’s usual tried and true sections of internal dialogue return in the form of full motion Graphic style comic cut scenes which were pretty slick. And speaking of dialogue, actor James McCaffrey not only is back to provide Max’s voice but he is basis for Max’s physical features as well as his movements. One thing that was not discussed, only mentioned, was that there will be online multiplayer for the game which should be VERY interesting. Hopefully we will hear more about that soon but in the meantime gaze at some of the latest screenshots from the game. Keep it here for any new news we get about Max Payne 3.