I completely agree with you Cajun. For me, looking at this new Max they have designed, it makes me wonder why they chose this. I probably wouldn't have cared so much if they wanted to explore that whole path, but quite simply, the character does not look like an aged, bald, slightly-overweight Max Payne, he looks like an entirely different person.

I'm not bashing them, because it looks like it has the potential to be a great game. I do have concerns though, because it is a character that I enjoyed from many years ago, and I think a lot of other people feel this way as well. If you compare Max1 and Max2, you can see his character change in several ways, but still he retains some traits, as well as keeping with the noir-esque style. Example:

http://www.file-extensions....

http://www.beyond3d.com/ima...

The differences here are pretty significant, and in many ways it was a change going from a much younger looking character, but they still kept a lot of the style and traits. But then going to this: http://www.pcgameshardware....

He basically has nothing that could distinguish him from an assortment of other bald protagonists in games nowadays. Nor do I believe he bares much (if any) resemblance to what he would have actually looked like with all these changes. That's my opinion anyway. I still reserve my full decision for when the game releases, because I could be very wrong and it might have the entire feel that Max Payne is synonymous for. Since no one has had the chance to play it, we could be jumping the gun, but as for right now, I think I will keep some skepticism until we do see something more substantial.

By the way, on a side note, I am assuming that this means they decided to ignore the Max Payne 2 "Dead on Arrival" special ending? I hope they figure a way out to tie that in somehow.

By the same token, don't we already have enough grizzled, stubbly, bald shooter protagonists?

Granted, I don't have a problem with the character redesign. But so far it really feels like they're just changing for the sake of change, to differentiate their version of Max Payne from Remedy's.