So, out of curiosity, why does this game need so much hard disk space?

[MiskatonicFox]

I'm not a technical guru by any means, so could anyone explain to me why Max Payne 3 is a 27+ gig game? I know that games are getting larger, and I would understand if it were say... Grand Theft Auto V or a game like it with a huge map and lots to stream in. But Max Payne 3, while detailed and fairly good looking, doesn't feel like it needs THAT much ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hard disk space. Even RAGE at least justified it with its megatextures, but I don't see anything like that here either.

I do know Rockstar has shifted gears to console development ever since GTA III, and that more often than not the PC versions are a little buggier and less optomized. Forgive me if I end up sounding like a blithering idiot with this next statement - again I don't know jack squat about programming or the technical aspects of making a game - but is it possibly because Rockstar didn't bother to compress the data or something or maybe the code is just kind of loose? I love this game, but I hate having it on my harddrive because it always takes so much space and it doesn't feel like it really NEEDS that space. But despite my lack of technical knowledge I am interested in that sort of thing, and would be curious if someone with advanced technological knowledge could explain to me what's up with the filesize.

[Peter Pan]

I'm guessing it is the cutscenes.

SW:TOR was also a very huge download for a MMO, and it is also cutscene-heavy.

[johnskyrim]

35gb is nothing for a game that looks as good as Max Payne 3.