TalonBot
03-18-2009, 09:11 AM
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion (http://www.wowinsider.com/category/analysis-opinion/), Machinima (http://www.wowinsider.com/category/machinima/), WoW Moviewatch (http://www.wowinsider.com/category/wow-moviewatch/)
Warning: Long movie is long!
While I'm clearly a WoW junkie nowadays, I wasn't always that way. On the list of games which defined my life as a geek, the classic "Max Payne (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_payne)" was top among them. That detective-noir feel and epic "Bullet Time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_time)" just went a long, long way to blazing a permanent fondness across my skull. So, you might be able to imagine my excitement when Varath released Max Payne Noir Undercity - Chapter 1: The darkness inside (http://myndflame.gameriot.com/videos/Max-Payne-Noir-Undercity-Chapter-1-The-darkness-inside#play).
Varath has basically taken the premise and some sound from Max Payne 2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Payne_(series)#Max_Payne_2:_The_Fall_of_Max_Payne), and laid it overtop World of Warcraft-style animations. This piece isn't based of in-game footage. Instead, since the middle of 2008, Varath has used custom editing and 3D models to completely reanimate the movie. The effects are astounding. The film style captures the gritty, noir feel of Max Payne, and his action is convincing and fun. Stylized freeze-frames and comic-book effects are clear homages to Varath's original material, but work well in the context of the brooding, ponderous script.
Any review of Varath's story would simply be a review of Max Payne 2's story, which isn't something I'm trying to do here. While I'm not normally a huge fan of genre mashups, I look at Noir Undercity in context of WoW-Noir. In that light, it works. The imagery is strong and effective, even if the overall viewing time is longer than your average effort.
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
(http://www.wowinsider.com/category/wow-moviewatch/)Previously on Moviewatch .. (http://www.wowinsider.com/category/wow-moviewatch/)http://www.wowinsider.com/media/feedlogo.gif (http://www.wowinsider.com)WoW Moviewatch: Max Payne Noir Undercity - Chapter 1. (http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/03/18/wow-moviewatch-max-payne-noir-undercity-chapter-1/) originally appeared on WoW Insider (http://www.wowinsider.com) on Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Read (http://myndflame.gameriot.com/videos/Max-Payne-Noir-Undercity-Chapter-1-The-darkness-inside#play) | Permalink (http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/03/18/wow-moviewatch-max-payne-noir-undercity-chapter-1/) | Email this (http://www.wowinsider.com/forward/1491590/) | Comments (http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/03/18/wow-moviewatch-max-payne-noir-undercity-chapter-1/#comments)
More... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WowInsider/~3/HgLv6Qc5FxM/)
Warning: Long movie is long!
While I'm clearly a WoW junkie nowadays, I wasn't always that way. On the list of games which defined my life as a geek, the classic "Max Payne (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_payne)" was top among them. That detective-noir feel and epic "Bullet Time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_time)" just went a long, long way to blazing a permanent fondness across my skull. So, you might be able to imagine my excitement when Varath released Max Payne Noir Undercity - Chapter 1: The darkness inside (http://myndflame.gameriot.com/videos/Max-Payne-Noir-Undercity-Chapter-1-The-darkness-inside#play).
Varath has basically taken the premise and some sound from Max Payne 2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Payne_(series)#Max_Payne_2:_The_Fall_of_Max_Payne), and laid it overtop World of Warcraft-style animations. This piece isn't based of in-game footage. Instead, since the middle of 2008, Varath has used custom editing and 3D models to completely reanimate the movie. The effects are astounding. The film style captures the gritty, noir feel of Max Payne, and his action is convincing and fun. Stylized freeze-frames and comic-book effects are clear homages to Varath's original material, but work well in the context of the brooding, ponderous script.
Any review of Varath's story would simply be a review of Max Payne 2's story, which isn't something I'm trying to do here. While I'm not normally a huge fan of genre mashups, I look at Noir Undercity in context of WoW-Noir. In that light, it works. The imagery is strong and effective, even if the overall viewing time is longer than your average effort.
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
(http://www.wowinsider.com/category/wow-moviewatch/)Previously on Moviewatch .. (http://www.wowinsider.com/category/wow-moviewatch/)http://www.wowinsider.com/media/feedlogo.gif (http://www.wowinsider.com)WoW Moviewatch: Max Payne Noir Undercity - Chapter 1. (http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/03/18/wow-moviewatch-max-payne-noir-undercity-chapter-1/) originally appeared on WoW Insider (http://www.wowinsider.com) on Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Read (http://myndflame.gameriot.com/videos/Max-Payne-Noir-Undercity-Chapter-1-The-darkness-inside#play) | Permalink (http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/03/18/wow-moviewatch-max-payne-noir-undercity-chapter-1/) | Email this (http://www.wowinsider.com/forward/1491590/) | Comments (http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/03/18/wow-moviewatch-max-payne-noir-undercity-chapter-1/#comments)
More... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WowInsider/~3/HgLv6Qc5FxM/)