Rockstar Changes Max Payne Voice Actor

[Andy Chalk]

Rockstar Changes Max Payne Voice Actor

Max Payne 3 [http://www.rockstarvancouver.com/] will feature an all-new voice actor for the titular character.

The studio decided someone older was needed to provide the voice of the disheveled, broken-down Max Payne in the upcoming game, according to a preview by Game Informer. As a result, James McCaffrey [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0564548/], who did such an outstanding job bringing the character to life in the first two games, has been cut loose.

His replacement hasn't been named but don't expect any kind of stunt casting in the new Max Payne; Jeronimo Barrera, Rockstar Vancouver's vice president of development, claimed the studio doesn't intend to hire an "established star" to take on the role. "We're good at [casting]," he said. And despite the fact that virtually everything has changed, the studio claims Max Payne 3 will include all the stuff that made the first two releases so good.

"All the Max Payne themes will remain intact - manipulation, betrayal, and the stuff that really made Max Payne," said Rob Nelson, art director on the project. "Will there be night-time levels in the rain? Probably, but level after level of that stuff would get old, so we thought it would be interesting to put him in this environment. You have the very rich living next to the very poor, and that creates a lot of tension."

Bullet Time will feature prominently in the game, of course, and Max will now be able to take human shields in combat and recover from near-death with a jolt of adrenaline that kicks in when he takes down his assailant with a "last-minute bullet." Not much else was revealed beyond what's already known [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/92300-Max-Payne-Puts-on-Pounds-Sheds-Hair-For-New-Game]: Max has packed on some pounds, lost his hair, moved to Brazil and become addicted to pain medication.

Despite the protestations, every time I hear something new about this game it sounds less like Max Payne and more like "generic shooter number 17." It's hard to take seriously the claims that all the Max Payne greatness will remain intact when virtually everything about the game, aside from the fact that it's about a dude with guns and a pill problem, has changed. Regardless of the reason, replacing the voice actor is a huge departure and a huge risk; it's not unprecedented, but some character voices are simply too iconic to be messed with and there's no doubt in my mind that Max Payne is one of them.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/rockstar-using-new-payne-voice-actor]


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[sirdanrhodes]

You know, the more I hear about this game, the more I hope it's a joke.

 

[Baby Tea]

You know, the more I hear about this game, the more I hope it's a joke.

Seconded. Oh well, at least the first two were good.
We'll just have to suffer a final, mediocre killing blow to the series.

 

[Andy_Panthro]

It does make you worry a bit.

I'm still optimistic for now, will wait and see how I feel when they release some game footage in the future.

 

[oliveira8]

Hmmm...This keeps getting worse and worse.

 

[pigeon_of_doom]

... I could take the concept shift in stride (just), but this seems unnecessary, and perhaps even disrespectful to the original VA's range.

 

[Keane Ng]

I don't feel like I know enough about the game to say it sounds like it's gonna be a generic shooter, but dammit, this sucks.

 

[Mike Fang]

Gained weight...lost his hair...moved to BRAZIL?!

There had better be some damn good explanations. The gaining weight thing I suppose could be just natural. Losing his hair, though, that's going to be a little tougher to explain. But the complete relocation to another country is going to cause a serious stir; it's going to take the established setting an completely chuck it.

Lastly, the new voice actor...this is going to be a setback no matter how you cut it. Max Payne has been popular enough that it's titular character has become almost iconic, and the sound of his voice is part of that image. If they don't get someone who genuinely sounds like an older, long-suffering Max Payne, people are going to jump on it like a starving squirrel on the last peanut on earth.

 

[sirdanrhodes]

You know, the more I hear about this game, the more I hope it's a joke.

Seconded. Oh well, at least the first two were good.
We'll just have to suffer a final, mediocre killing blow to the series.

You know, this actually does sound vaguely familiar to The Matrix...

 

[DarkMessiah]

*Sigh* I vote we boycott =]

 

[B-lockdown080]

Yup im not gonna play it anymore. Max Payne isnt Max Payne without his already established voice...i can take a couple of avatar changes but this is a massive screw you

 

[Jamash]

With his new look, degrading mental health, reliance on medication, life saving adrenaline jolts and South American setting Max Payne is sounding more and more like Kane and Lynch but with bullet time.

Not that's necessarily a bad thing, Lynch was an awesome character and playing a medicated psychopath is a good twist on the anti-hero theme... it's just a shame it's not all that original anymore.

 

[Xanadu84]

Now to be fair, though Max Payne was innovative at its time...would it be by today's standards? Slow Mo isn't exactly a ground shaking idea these days. If it feels like a genertic shooter, you could say that that's just maintaining its roots, and being true to them even in a modern setting.

Which is fine, if its well executed. Good execution of something tried and true can be better then poor execution of something new and different. And often times, even equal to something that's well executed, new and different.

 

[Ayjona]

If there is two iconic voice actors that never should have been replaced, it's Jim Raynor and Max Payne.

Peculiar how both of them have been just that within the space of a year.

 

[tendo82]

The new voice actor is clearly going to be Mark Wahlberg. I realize they said they weren't doing stunt casting of a popular celebrity, but they didn't say anything about thespian legend, which is clearly the category Marky Mark falls into.

 

[Utarefson]

Btw, did any gamer even want a third Max Payne game?
The first two were so good, it's hard to make a worthy succesor, especially because they have to update the game's features to the next gen...

 

[The Shade]

The new voice actor is clearly going to be Mark Wahlberg. I realize they said they weren't doing stunt casting of a popular celebrity, but they didn't say anything about thespian legend, which is clearly the category Marky Mark falls into.

Uh...you feelin' okay, there Tom?


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More likely what's going to end up happening is the new voice actor is just going to do his best impression of the previous VA. And that will get us nowhere.

 

[MrSnugglesworth]

Never liked Max Payne.


Well, they aren't helping me change.


Edit: So your a dog, Whats up with that? Oh well, tell your mother I said hi.

 

[searanox]

I hate it when voice actors get changed, especially in the case where the character being played has a distinct voice, personality, etc. Max Payne is pretty close to being as distinct as videogame characters get, so changing up the actors is definitely a concern. I don't want to say the results will be poor, and the difference might not even be that apparent (when Blizzard got new actors for World of Warcraft, few even noticed), but, well, it's the equivalent of replacing Tom Hanks with someone who looks almost like Tom Hanks, sounds almost like Tom Hanks, and does his best imitation of Tom Hanks - it's not necessarily going to be bad, but when you have an established character, any major change is going to be immediately obvious.

At least the new Emo Max look (as if the first two games aren't "emo" enough) and the ten-year gap in the story means it'll be easier to explain and tolerate the transition.