The game would not release until May 2012, amid a wave of publicity, most notably including an advertising slot during half-time of that year's Champions League final. The development process was anything but.īy expanding on the original liner and modest 'Red Dead Revolver' and making it an open-world behemoth, development ended up spiraling out of control.Ī simple project ended up ballooning to a game with a budget of over 100 million dollars, and allegations of crunch were widely reported in gaming media at the time.Ī 2010 article from reported that employees at Rockstar were expected to work 12-hour days, including on weekends, to get the game out the door.Ī letter signed by "determined devoted wives of Rockstar San Diego employees" pointed to an emerging problem within Rockstar as a whole.ĭevelopment of 'Max Payne 3' was similarly troubled, with reports from early 2010 alledging that developers on the game were working under crunch conditions.Ī source told Engadget that the game had undergone three rewrites in the space of two years, and that by January 2010 the studio was doing everything it could to release the game in August 2010. The studio were riding high off 'Red Dead Redemption' in 2010, a supposed wind-down project after the stresses of 'Grand Theft Auto 4' that ended up becoming a smash success. Rockstar Games had the blessing of o riginal 'Max Payne' developers Remedy to put their spin on the franchise, and on paper the Rockstar boys coming in to take charge of the franchise made sense. Rockstar Games simply couldn't make a purely arcade experience in the HD era, and instead strived for a cinematic experience that sounds better being described than played.ĭescribing a game where you fly through the air picking off enemies one-by-one in slow motion sounds exhilarating, but in practice, the game plays with all the pace of a World War 2 documentary being played at half-speed. Their animation style mandated lifelike models instead of their more memorable striking character designs from the 'San Andreas' era.Īs 'Max Payne 3' turns 10 years old, we reflect on the game that set Rockstar down the path of no return. It simply wasn't enough for their games to be simply pure fun, their proprietary physics engine had to laboriously simulate real life as much as possible. The anarchic, free-spirited nature of their games faded away as the developers reached the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era. The 'Grand Theft Auto' games horrified parents and agony aunts everywhere and became a favourite game of practically everyone.įor a short while, Rockstar could go no wrong. Much like Manchester United in the later years of Sir Alex Ferguson, they were on top of the world. Once upon a time, Rockstar Games were exciting.
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