It's never easy taking over an IP from somebody else. Especially when that IP is so iconic. Luckily, Rockstar Games is the sort of company who rises to a challenge and rarely lets us down. Although Max Payne has been in development for what seems like an eternity now, the closer we finally get to launch, the better and better it looks.
I recently caught up with Remedy Entertainment, the original creators of Max Payne (and now Alan Wake) who sold the franchise to Take Two in 2002 for $10 million dollars and a motherload of shares of TTwo stock.
After playing a bit of Alan Wake's American Nightmare (which I quite enjoyed) Remedy's head of franchise development "Ozz" Hakkinen and I got to talking about other things. One of those things was Max Payne 3.
I asked him what he thought about what Rockstar has done with Max Payne. I mean, Max Payne 2 came out almost 10 years ago and Remedy has not been involved in the development Max Payne 3 nor has series writer and creator Sam Lake. Yet, none of that seemed to matter. His answer was simply one word. "Brilliant."
"We absolutely love what they've done and couldn't be more proud of where the series is headed"
"I mean, they don't really make shitty games, do they? It's as if the Rockstar logo has become this, "Seal of quality."
I agreed, but it was at that point that I brought up Manhunt 2 and we shared a laugh. Everybody gets one Rockstar... everybody gets one.
So Rockstar Games, if you're listening, keep up the "brilliant" work!