Max Payne 3

I'm not gonna write a review, even though i think Max Payne 3 is a masterpiece, just like the other 2 Max Payne games. But I came here to just say that James McCaffreys voice and likeness as the protagonist can never be replaced by anyone. If anything, he's the only reason I even kept playing through the whole trilogy, It's a damn shame we lost someone who wasn't even that old yet. Rest in peace, and i still need to play Alan Wake 2 to see your last performance. To quote him "Birthdays are like regrets, they just keep coming, each one a new scar that slowly drags you closer to your grave"- Max Payne.

The fact of the matter is that the only way to really appreciate and avoid some valid criticisms of Max Payne 3, one must see this game as more of a new envisioning of the franchise.

What made the original game stand out aside from the bullet time gameplay was minute details; the fact that groups of enemies had hilarious conversations between each other, or the ingenious narrative with catchy phrases that practically defines the noir genre, and the entire dark shades and tones that overtook the graphics- Max Payne 3 does not so much do away with these things as update and modernize the series to meet the standards of today.

For some players, immersion may be instantaneous from the hook, and for others, it may take longer, and there may be those who essentially give up because they find it mundane, however; the game is best seen like a playable movie that, by the second disc, truly shines: The narrative becomes more astute, the character of Max Payne becomes polished, and the story begins to pick up with quite some twists and turns.

The gameplay is so refined that this game is the pinnacle of its genre and with the graphics and attention to detail being by far the best for action shooters thus far, Max Payne 3 truly shines as the must have and must play for anyone who wants an experience beyond anything out in the market.

Another important note is the surprising amount of replay value and goodies, such as collectible "clues" and "golden guns" placed throughout levels that encourage exploration of detailed environments. This adds a definitive flair to what would otherwise be a straightforward shooter. The only real downsides are easily compensated, with the first being the minute skewering throughout some of the longer cut scenes, which is really just the game loading and also done deliberately for style, and also some of the numerous of cut scenes throughout levels – these can be skipped.

However, the fact that there are absolutely no traditional load times throughout any of the levels again strongly contribute to making this game one of the best of its genre, and between this and the 360 degree gameplay, polished and refined bullet time, a duck, cover and blind-fire system that is effective and at times necessary, and a script with clever dialogue that eventually does pick up throughout the second disc, Max Payne 3 is an authoritative must have for absolutely any fan even remotely interested in the genre.

Pros Gameplay, production values, graphics, sound, audio , script, replay value

Cons Long cut scenes cannot be skipped

Score 9.8/10

First of all, if you are familiar with the Max Payne series, or even Rockstar games, the game is basically what most would imagine. It does shine in specific areas.

Max Payne, the protagonist, is a serious bad-ass. The story immerses you in Max's horror-ridden past, and showing him at his worse. Max is an ex-cop with a dead family, a drinking problem, nothing to lose, a temper, and a gun. Sounds somewhat cliché, but his intense bad-ass-ery makes up for it.

When Max gets roughed up, it looks so painful and gritty, you can almost feel it yourself. Every bullet, every punch to the face, leaves a painful obvious mark. And damn do you see every bullet hit. Aside from max taking 8 bullets in a day, his suit shows its wear and tear with him, a bullet to the leg will make max bleed until the end of the level. The bad guys have it just as bad, ill spare you, but it is quite gruesome to see someone shot up and down. They do deserve it though.

The story makes this game so damn awesome, Max is a valiant hero by no means, but he does have a sense of good that he tries to make out... With guns. Max's emotions are intense, and when Max becomes angry or breaks down in tears, you forget that he isn't real and someone is acting. James McCaffrey is the voice of Max Payne. Perfectly, might I add... And Rockstar overlooks no detail in projecting a cinema quality video game. Even the sound track is perfectly picked for this game.

-Gameplay-

Max Payne is a third person shooter, mostly over the shoulder. Max has the ability to slow his perception of time, and get a couple well placed shots. This is what makes the game so unique. Max can leap in any direction while slowing time, and shooting like mad. Every gunfight seems like an epic movie scene *untill* you fudge up and smack your head on a wall.

Most often, Max will engage a battle guns blazing, leaping through a window or down a roof, hoping to shoot as many bad-guys as possible before hitting the ground. This Rambo like approach to the game encourages you to take out as many enemies as possible as quickly as possible, sometimes before they even know whats going on. In some cases, I was able to leap sideways into a room while carrying a machine gun, and clear a room of a dozen bad-guys. Its quite fun to do, and watch happen, making Max that much more of a bad-ass.

This game is quite difficult. While some might argue that the game is too hard, turning the difficulty down and turning on aim assist is always available. You can get through this game despite your skill.

You control Max through the entire game.

sometimes controls can be clunky, my only con was max's collision with the world. Hard to understand why he cannot literally step over a suitcase on the ground. But that happens rarely.

Max has health, and it does not regenerate, with the exception of the last tiny bit of his life. He can pop a few pain pills and regain some health.

Max can only carry three guns, two in holsters, and one two handed weapon. Ammo is plentiful, however you cannot carry quite as much as you might prefer, encouraging you to make your shots count during long shootouts.

Again, this game is damn hard. When playing on harder difficulties, you MUST go guns blazing, make every shot count, and dodge thru the air to get the first shot in. Really encourages the player to be less *boring* so to say.

That being said, I applaud Rockstar for another great game, an artful display, and keeping me on the edge of my seat!!

Played this game around the time it came out in 2012 I was young at tIme and I liked renting games from my local game store and one day I rented Max Payne 3 and never got to finish it. Fast forward 2018 and I buy the game on steam and after that I fell in love with it the shooting mechanics were the best I've seen in any game the gunplay, the guns, the gore, I can go on forever about how good this game is. I've played every year since then. But none of that is why it's one of my favorite games of all time it's because the soundtrack. The main reason I fell in love with this game is because of the music in it. This game shines in every aspect but where it lifts off for me is with its soundtrack, I can say it has one of the best soundtracks in gaming. 'Health' is the group that created the soundtrack for the game and I can say rockstar hired there best cause the music in the game is done so well in every part of the game. I've played lots of video games throughout my life and this game beats all of them in terms of its score it might be might opinion but I believe it's the best soundtrack in gaming.

As most of you are aware, Max Payne 3 has hit the stores, and I gotta say, it's one hell of a game. let's start by telling you how the story was with out giving any hint of the ending or parts that matter. It's fantastic. The levels are long, the environments are beautiful, a bit lighter then previous games (MP/MP2), so a couple of fans might find this a disappointment, but it makes it unique. And the best part, that most game companies have forgotten, a dark, yet bad-ass story that makes this game worth it. And now to the multi-player. It really surprised me how good it was, at first, I thought it would fail, but it succeeds so well, that it might be one of the best, and when I say the best, I mean the best, multi-player that I have had in a while. the way you can customize your character and how they accomplished making bullet time working in multi-player, is just incredible, you can level up, unlock guns and make some EPIC moments using bullet time. The graphics, are great, good light affect, rain affect, the atmosphere is fantastic and the voice actors did an amazing job in this game, especially James Mccaffery (Mx Payne voice actor).

This got to be one of the best games that you could get today, it has superb multi-player, a fantastic story and some of the greatest voice acting that you could get in a video game ever, this has been one hell of a ride that you shouldn't miss. Thank you for reading.