Rockstar’s Biggest Fumble Ever: GTA 6 Must Revive a Lost Combat System From An OG Series That GTA 5 Failed to Deliver

Max Payne 3’s combat is a near-balletic display of third-person shooting and remains one of Rockstar Games’ most significant achievements. Yet, curiously, despite all the praise heaped onto it back then, the combat mechanics have remained absent from the company’s subsequent titles, leaving it shelved and forgotten.

Now, however, the upcoming GTA 6 offers the perfect opportunity to revive that combat system and elevate it to greater heights with a few grounded and realistic tweaks.

Rockstar Really Needs to Bring back Max Payne 3’s Combat in GTA 6

So, what made Max Payne 3’s combat so irresistible? Well, at the system’s core, there was a perfect synergy between bullet time mechanics and fluid, responsive gunplay that was still somewhat lacking in the previous two entries.

Plus, it’s just the simple fact that Rockstar went above and beyond in ensuring that every encounter felt meticulously designed to allow players to weave through gunfire using Max’s skills like a choreographed dancer.

The system wasn’t just about style, though – it was a functional masterpiece where precision, physics, and player agency converged. The system’s responsiveness made every shot count, every movement a vital step towards living a little longer, as though players were well and truly a part of Payne’s dangerous, spiraling world.

Yet, despite all of its brilliance, Max Payne’s combat has languished in obscurity. While Max himself was quite literally given a ride-off into the sunset, Rockstar has all but let his signature mechanics slip away.

This is why Max Payne 3 is the best third person shooter of all time and why Rockstar should have this combat in GTA 6 pic.twitter.com/puaRtVNqwH

— Ameer (@SynthPotato) October 4, 2024

It’s a damn shame, too, as neither GTA 5 nor Red Dead Redemption 2 delivered the same refinement found in that game. The shooting in these two titles, while competent, felt static and excessive in hand-holding by comparison.

Not to mention, for a studio famed for innovation, it’s just baffling how the combat mechanics of Max Payne 3 have been left to gather dust, unused in the games that followed.

Not bringing this combat system to GTA 5 was Rockstar's biggest fumble ever

— FPSthetics (@FPSthetics) October 4, 2024

Now, with GTA 6 on the horizon, Rockstar has been given the perfect platform to reintroduce this system. As the upcoming title promises new mechanics and a more immersive world than ever before, why not integrate a refined version of Max Payne’s iconic gunplay?

We say this because a more grounded rendition of that system could seamlessly fit into the overall vibe and chaos of Vice City, offering players not just spectacle but a visceral, precise experience in all the firefights Lucia and her yet-to-be-named partner go through.

Max Payne and Everything About the Series Deserves Better Treatment

That is to say, Rockstar’s handling of the Max Payne IP has been, at best, conservative and, at worst, horrible. After Max Payne 3’s release—which itself was mired in a hellish development cycle—the series has seen little more than a simple and quiet farewell.

While Remedy has, thankfully enough, been given reigns on remaking the first two games, you just can’t help but feel that Max Payne’s world still has many stories left untold.

Much like the John Wick universe, Max Payne’s gritty, noir-infused universe is ripe with potential for more narratives and expansions. But what’s the likelihood of Rockstar returning to this world? Slim to none. Let’s be honest, too. With all eyes on GTA 6, it seems unlikely that Rockstar will divert attention from its biggest endeavor yet to revisit Max Payne anytime soon.

It’s just that the third game’s combat system really doesn’t have to stay forgotten. By weaving that system into GTA 6, Rockstar could breathe new life into its action sequences, adding depth and intensity to a game that is already poised to be revolutionary.

But with all that said, what are your thoughts on Max Payne 3’s shooting mechanics? Would you like to see them return in some shape or form in GTA 6? Let us know in the comments below!

This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire