It’s been over five years since we last saw a Max Payne game, and fans have been been eagerly awaiting a return to the gritty film noir world presented in those games. Most people were initially pretty excited when the game was announced back in March, but since then some people have started to feel a little bit concerned that Max Payne 3 won’t live up to it’s predecessors. While the game does retain a lot of signature elements of the series, it does also break tradition in a lot of ways, and that has some fans second guessing the title. Here are some of the concerns fans are having:

– A Change in Creative Control: The mastermind behind the superbly pitch-perfect noir-inspired writing style of the previous Max Payne games was Sam Lake, who is not associated with this new project. Along with Lake, the developers who created the prior Max Payne titles, Remedy Entertainment, are off working on Alan Wake – leaving Max Payne in the hands of Rockstar Vancouver. Now Rockstar Vancouver aren’t exactly slouches, but people are worried the game might fall a bit short in new hands.

– A Change of Looks: Max Payne 3 brings the storyline ahead perhaps a little bit more than people were expecting. Only two years passed between Max Payne and Max Payne 2, whereas 12 years pass between 2 and 3. The initial concept art of Max just turned some people off – to put it plainly, Max looking pretty damned old and bald (which is partially explained by his downward spiral into alcohol and painkiller addiction). It doesn’t exactly jive with the John Woo-esque jumping and diving “bullet time” scenes in the series. However, Rockstar Vancouver assures us that those elements will be in the game – along with some new, fresh takes on bullet time.

– A Change in Voice: While it’s unconfirmed if the excellently narrated comic panel scenes that told the story in the first two games will return, we do know for sure that the voice actor behind Max Payne has been changed. A lot of fans felt that James McCaffrey’s voice is just iconic for the series, and are a little distraught that he won’t be returning. That said, Max is looking older and… thicker, so it probably wouldn’t make a lot of sense to use the same actor.

– A Change of Scenery: It’s kind of hard to think of a Max Payne game that’s not set in the oppressive shadows of a big city like New York. In a lot of ways, the city felt like an important character in the storyline for the games. Max Payne 3 takes Max way out of his element: he’s now in Sao Paulo, no longer a cop, but rather working private security for a rich family there. Apparently, much of the gameplay will take place outdoors and in the slums of Sao Paulo, and in broad daylight no less. People are comparing the screenshots to the likes of Uncharted, of all things. Given that everything in the previous games was shades of gray, some fans are having trouble adjusting their eyes. To ease concerns, the devs have stated this they’re taking a more “contemporary” view of film noir – stating it’s more than just a set of colors, but rather a way of thinking about the world.

– A Change in Play: This is perhaps the weakest criticism, but some fans reacted poorly to the news that there will be a cover system in the game. The series has always been more about maximizing the use of bullet time to mow your way through hordes of bad guys, so people are concerned that cover will take the focus away from that. Rockstar Vancouver has stated that cover isn’t going to be a focus of the combat, so hopefully there’s not much to worry about here.

Max Payne 3 just got it’s first major exposé in Game Informer magazine, and that’s just about all the info we’ve got. The game at least looks good, even if Max has let himself go a bit. While the game does present a bit of culture shock for fans, it may also win over a whole new crowd with the new look. Here’s hoping that the community is just being overprotective and that the game will end up living up to the series’ high standards. What do you guys think?