Rockstar brings back our favourite dour uber-violent hero. Here's everything we know so far...

Max Payne is finally back. It’s been considerably longer than a New York minute since we last saw him in action, six years in fact since his last outing in Max Payne 2 in 2006, and we’ve honestly missed him. The original Max Payne games hold a special place in the heart of many PC gamers, stylishly charting the suffering of the cynical, gun-toting detective as he monologued his battles with the addicts, gangsters and scum of New York City – pretty much at the cost of everything he held dear. But everything must change, and rather than just return to familiar Payne territory, current developer Rockstar Games is looking to reveal a new side to our long-suffering hero. “We’re starting a new chapter of Max’s life with this game,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games, when Max Payne 3 was announced.

“This is Max as we’ve never seen him before; a few years older, and more world-weary and cynical than ever. We experience the downward spiral of his life after the events of Max Payne 2 and witness his last chance for salvation.” This is the first time Max’s story isn’t being told by the Finnish team at Remedy that created him, but in-house at Rockstar Vancouver, whose parent company Take-Two Interactive acquired the rights to the character and franchise in 2002.

And in the hands of the team that developed controversial sandbox adventure Bully, a very different Max Payne tale is beginning to emerge. No longer the handsome, bitterly wisecracking Max we all know and love – this is a man who lost his wife, child, best friend and ‘lover’ in violent circumstances, and is left all alone in the world. And despite avenging them, his life is empty and hollow. Haunted by the memories and his own sense of failure, 12 years on this is Max with nothing to lose and at his most dangerous… As you can imagine, Rockstar is keeping a lid on exactly what happened in the time between games, but we do know that having left the NYPD under a dark cloud, Max has wandered the world these past 12 years.

Like many former cops, he’s been adroit at finding employment for his unique skills doing odd jobs, usually for shady characters, in security and consulting. And just looking at the screenshots, you can see that isn’t the only change, as he’s barely recognisable – having gone from a handsome, square-jawed, and bitterly grinning New York cop, to a muscled, bearded, scarred bear of a man (reminding us of Bruce Willis’s recent turn in Die Hard 4.0). It was initially jarring, but the developer claims the new design is an outward manifestation of the world-weary path he’s trodden. Drink and drugs have become a sole refuge from the horrors of his past, leaving him racked by alcoholism and an addiction to painkillers that have taken their toll on his bod. This will be reflected in the gameplay, and it’s safe to say that we’ll start the game with Max at the very lowest point in his life.

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