Max Payne 3 (2012)

I will only say this. Max Payne 1 and 2 was a combination of sarcasm, irony and drunken stoic philosophy of a cop inside a tornado of corruption, deceitful people, toxic business with no moral compass no scruples. Amidst all of this, he did try to do the right thing. Heh, as we all do in life. But, his lessons were not yet finished. Mix emotions with logic and reason, you will get hit by a "train".

This third iteration returns as a dark sinister story of a version of max swirling inside the fall from the second iteration. The only thing i am complaining about are the never-ending cinematics, breaking my experience. The story, it is boring at times, but it is filled with thrills that actually connects and molds his growth as a character. Does he learn from his past? You will find out for yourself. Gameplay mechanics are 10/10 and they complete perfectly with the animations that follows. It is different, i wanted more sarcasm and a bit of comedy but i guess this is Max's story. Hope to see a 4th iteration. In my opinion, Max Payne is one the best characters written in our last 2 decades of gaming.

The third Max Payne title is a gritty, cinematic third-person shooter that delivers intense gunplay and a gripping narrative similar to the previous entries. Set years after the previous games, Max is older, more broken, and addicted, his descent into Brazil’s criminal underworld is both brutal and stylish. The game shines with its tight shooting mechanics, the iconic bullet-time slow-mo, and polished visuals powered by Rockstar’s RAGE engine, so no big news when it comes to the core game mechanics.

Its cover system and physics-driven action elevate every firefight, making them feel dynamic and satisfying, the cover system was a trend at the time, every single TPS implemented this because of Gears of War. The story is dark and violent, supported by top-notch voice acting and an atmospheric soundtrack. While more linear than its predecessors and lacking the noir monologues of old, Max Payne 3 is a worthy sequel. Though the most skippable one out of them all just by the lack of the uniqueness of the noir monologues.

The weighty animations and Euphoria physics make every dive, stumble, and last stand feel visceral, while the sound design sells the chaos of each shootout. The OST deserves special mention, with its pulsing electronic score dynamically reacts to combat, heightening tension and giving the game a distinct, almost hypnotic rhythm that sets it apart from other shooters of its era. That said, the experience isn’t without its frustrations.

The frequent, unskippable cutscenes and constant camera cuts can disrupt the flow, especially on replays, making the game feel overly cinematic at the expense of player control. Rockstar’s depiction of Brazil also leans heavily on stereotypes, which can feel uncomfortable and dated. Even so, this title remains a technically accomplished and emotionally heavy shooter, one that trades the introspective noir poetry of the originals for raw spectacle and misery, leaving a strong, if divisive, final impression. And although I highly prefer the previous entries more original style, I can still recommend this as a solid shooter overall.

Great gameplay mechanics, some nice attention to detail in animations, overall polished core mechanics. Had some trouble with the covering that the game encourages at some points-it's less of a run 'n gun this time around. The levels tend to get stretched out and feel repetitive at some points, even though there are bunch of set pieces here and there to combat the issue. Another issue I had with the level design is how every shootout is hastily followed by some short, action packed cutscene that doesn't always accomplish anything. I missed the quiet, puzzle-like parts of the previous games where you could kinda explore the environment. They added so much to the character of the game.

Max has become far more talkative than the previous games, with plenty of self-deprecating humor, plus some typical action hero dialogue not befitting of his character IMO (yet tolerable thanks to the late James Mccaffrey's iconic voice). The story is...not as good as the previous games if you really sit and think about it, but it gets you through the game and is fun while it lasts. I guess I'm just upset about how it doesn't sufficiently acknowledge the previous games. These are all personal and sentimental gripes I have with the game though; the game is great, manages to stand out in a sea of identical cover shooters, and has aged gracefully. I just can't shake the feeling that it doesn't quite feel like a proper Max Payne title. All things considered I totally recommend it for at least one playthrough.

Good to see you finally retire, Max! Especially in my country!

Look, Max Payne 3 is a fine game.

I had a lot of fun with it and loved finally concluding this trilogy. The gameplay was improved from the previous one, they managed to successfully change the environments and the game's tone. The writing is still pretty cool and Max is still a badass protagonist. Voice acting alone could convince you to fall for this game, in fact. Even if it feels, at times, quite forced, with exaggerated plot points and murky point of views. But it IS supposed to be a moody noir game after all and they manage to sell this through storytelling, bloody set pieces and frenetic gunplay.

I also really liked how they set this one in Brazil. Not only for the necessary change of pace that the game (and character) needed, but also from the perspective of someone who lives in a coastal city in São Paulo. They hyperbolize and dramatize the country's crime gangs A LOT, but they did it in an interesting way, nailing a few of the environments, from the rich to the poor ones, as well.

What mostly fucks this game up are problems from the past, though. The same things I hated back in the previous both games are still present. Somehow improved, sure, but still a mess. Clunky aiming, weird cover system, too edgy, mindless shooting endless enemies, repetitive level design, weak replay factor, Max Payne's life is made of thin paper and too many bullet-sponge-soldiers. I swear, you could shower someone in bullets but some fuckers just refused to fall. Felt like Gears of War, but without sense, because you fight humans here.

Playing this game on harder difficulties must not be fun at all.

I also felt like this game took longer than it should. Outstaying your welcome by doing the same flaws, repeating things over and over, just isn't good. Especially right at the end of a trilogy, with an actual cool story. It just kills the rhythm.

So, yeah, I'm glad Max finally retired. It was a fun ride and I do recommend this game if you've played the other ones. But, honestly, I'm pretty much done here. Enjoy Bahia, Max!

NOTE: Review originally posted on March 29, 2018. Some edits have been made to correct spelling mistakes & remove mentions of a (AFAIK) dead Discord server. Also, I've never played Max Payne 1 & 2 (aside from the brief time I played the first game on my phone, but I never finished it)!

Max Payne 3 was released in 2012 (May 15 on PS3/360 and June 2 on PC) to a gaming landscape that had drastically changed in Max's absence. Cover-based shooting had become prevalent in third-person shooters thanks to Gears of War. New consoles had arrived on the scene and were themselves on their way out with a new generation of console gaming kicking off the following year. But before that, Max Payne returned. But a nearly 10-year absence and changing hands from Remedy to Rockstar Games changed Max. But that doesn't mean that Max Payne 3 is bad, just different from previous games.

CHAPTER I: CAMPAIGN: Max Payne 3's single-player campaign is the most linear game Rockstar has made in a long time. Yes, the missions in their open-world games are very linear, but MP3 is at nearly COD levels of linear with most missions funnelling you through linear corridors or similar such pathways (except for the final level and the Nightclub level). On the surface, the story is good, but while very well told, there are a lot of plotholes I won't mention here (spoiler-free here everyone!). There also isn't a concrete main villain for most of the story and the one we end up with is very underwhelming. Many fans also point out that Max's character arc is a retread of Max Payne 2. While I can't verify, the reasoning given is sound and they may very well be right, but I can't say for sure having not played MP2. The gameplay is very fun and a highlight, but in a story-driven game like this, the story should outshine the gameplay, not the other way around.

CHAPTER II: MULTIPLAYER: First off I would like to give a very special thanks to Youtuber Raycevick for providing me the chance to play this game's multiplayer with people around the same level! My opinions on this game's multiplayer wouldn't be all that accurate if it wasn't for the MP sessions he ran for his Years Later video (I even appear in some of the footage in the video!)! I'll also note that I haven't progressed far in the game's progression system so this is more of an impression than a review.

The multiplayer of this game is a lot more fun than I ever thought it would be! While the mechanics are the same as the campaign, their used differently. While in the campaign you carefully plan your attack and (at least from my experience playing on normal difficulty) you take cover semi-regularly, in multiplayer you usually spray and pray with either an automatic rifle or akimbo pistols/SMGs, saving up adrenaline to shoot-dodge in Bullet Time, and spam grenades for kills. While standard Deathmatch is fun, the highlights are the game's unique modes; Payne Killer and Gang Wars. The former is a 2v6 mode where two players control Max and Passos and 6 other players control random thugs trying to kill them. The twist is that whoever kills Max or Passos becomes them until they themselves are killed. Whilst both can activate Bullet Time whenever they need, they don't have regenerating health like the other players do, having lots of painkillers instead. This balances them out and avoids them being overpowered. All this leads to matches being absolute chaos and loads of fun. The latter is similar to Battlefield 1's Operations mode but the objective changes every round, corresponding with which teams won the previous rounds, though TDM is always the last round. While not as chaotic as Payne Killer, Gang Wars is still fun, provides the sort of chaos that makes this multiplayer component so unique, and provides an example of what could have been with Operations mode in Battlefield along the way (though a D-Day operation in the rumoured WW2 Battlefield game coming out this year would be amazing...). I have some minor criticisms though: I can't tell whether this uses Peer to Peer connections or dedicated servers though I've had occasional crashes and disconnects regardless. One time during a Payne Killer match, the environment flickered when in certain areas. My major criticism though is that on top of the paid DLC, they split the playerbase further with both Soft Lock and Free Aim variations of the playlists on offer. Soft Lock only seems to F**k with mouse sensitivity on PC while Free Aim is much better for PC players.

CHAPTER III: GENERAL THOUGHTS: This game looks stunning for a late 7th gen game. Rockstar had a lot to make up for with PC gamers after the disastrous GTA IV port and so-so LA Noire port and this PC port delivers! The game runs at high framerates quite easily and is very smooth on top of providing a wide variety of graphical options. Though most cutscenes don't fill the entire screen on a 1080P display, that's a minor nitpick. The game's gunplay really lends itself to a mouse and keyboard with its pixel-precise guns (except for the AK). The soundtrack, done by the band HEALTH, is very good and suits the game's dark tone well. Controller support works very well, with hot swapping built in, though I still recommend a keyboard and mouse for this game.

CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION: Max Payne 3 is a good, albeit flawed, single-player experience and is worth playing through once, though keep in mind that is stylistically different from Remedy's games in the series. The multiplayer is a lot of fun with people around the same rank and provided me with plenty of laughs. I do recommend Max Payne 3 as it is a fun game with a well-told story and well-executed multiplayer that are worth experiencing.

Score: 90/100 or 9.0 out of 10

GAMEPLAY:

The game is incredibly fragmented, the control is constantly taken away from the player for the sake of a cut-scene or a cinematic perspective. This is a big problem, because as soon as you start immersing yourself in the game, you are immediately taken away from the gameplay to show you, in the absolute majority, an unnecessary cutscene.

This very quickly starts to annoy you, because the gunplay brings pleasure from the first seconds, although it feels more slowed down, due to the physics and animations of the character, when combined with bullet-time mechanics, the shooting feels more like Max Payne than the second one. Although I prefer the way it's implemented in Max Payne 2.

Bullet-time is spent when you use the shootdodge mechanic, which reduces the usual use of bullet-time to specific situations, such as after a cut-scene, when you're in cover and there are many enemies around who do not know about your location. This could be the end if it were not for a rather significant minus. Level design is mostly poorly and awkwardly arranged for bullet-time/shootdodge, so it's more convenient and efficient to do without bullet-time/shootdodge. In previous games, the player had a big influence on creating a “cinematic picture” through his play style, but here they take control away from the player every time to do it “in the right way”. Forced cover based system, nullifies all attempts of the player to speed up the gameplay.

Going back to the cutscenes, every time they are triggered, the character constantly changes the weapon in their hands, no matter what you were with when the cut-scene was activated. As a result, after the cutscene you have to constantly switch weapons, which is not convenient, considering that usually the cut-scene ends and the segment with a shootout immediately begins, and you have to spend extra seconds to change weapons, which can lead to a restart from the checkpoint or using an extra first aid kit.

The old save system was replaced by a modern system of checkpoints, thereby removing another element of gameplay from the player.

Juggernauts, as mini-bosses, are completely rudimentary and do not arouse any interest, killing is not interesting, it is not clear where to shoot to kill, also the timings of their spawning are simply terrible, they catch you with a cut-scene, which again suddenly tears you out of the gameplay segment.

The Last Chance mechanic mostly interferes, it constantly triggers when you are in cover, and puts the character in a shootdodge position from which you cannot aim at the target, because something is blocking it, so you have to wait until you die and start from the checkpoint. For some reason, the developers decided that the same guns with which you played the whole game, which showed themselves to be better in terms of shooting, should suddenly become completely unplayable due to the increased Recoil, because Laser sight.

The part of the game where the only type of enemies are death squad UFE, armored fighters from head to toe, when you hit them, you only think about one thing, that you are fighting the "Inflatable Advertising Air Wind Tube Puppet" that can be seen nearby gas stations or roadside stops, because the Euphoria engine.

Although, with all that said, the gunplay is cool, you really enjoy shooting at enemies, the impact feels just great and the bullet-time moments manually placed by the developers are just great. Although, unlike previous games, in Max Payne 3 you want to take headshots as often as possible to minimize the interference of all the above-mentioned disadvantages of the gameplay.

PLOT:

In general, the very fact of the existence of the third game in the series is not clear to me. Max's story was completely closed, all aspects of his character were revealed, and the plot was complete. Therefore, the fact that Max Payen 3 saw the light of day can only be explained by the fact that Rockstar simply could and wanted to. The level of social commentary from Rockstar increases exponentially as we reach the favelas. Plot tropes, justified very weakly, Max finds himself where he needs to be and gets out of hopeless situations at the very first whim of the screenwriter, Mary Sue Payne. The coolest moment in the entire game is a shootout in an open hall at the airport to aggressively relaxing music, Redemption music, or so I called it. This game is not about Max Payne, but about Dick Justice. I wonder how many lines of dialogue Payne has in this game? I bet that at least twice as much as in the previous two games combined. Max's line in the final mission that he is a "Dump Move Guy" is a confession of the screenwriter, in this way he justifies his weak work on the plot, actions, and motivation of the character.

Technical Limitations:

The game looks great, even 10 years later, the art/visual style, the animations, the detailed environment, the game is really fancy in all ways. But non-main NPCs look plastic in terms of animation and face models, the way facial expressions were implemented in the first game of the series has aged better compared to the third. Having gone through the previous two games, I did not come across any bugs, the third part is a console game in first way, so because of it, I constantly have some problems. For example, lip sync doesn't keep up, or scripts don't keep up with my actions, and the gameplay itself is noticeably made with an emphasis on cover-based mechanics for a console experience. The level of bugs is honestly shocking, in fact, starting with Max Payne 3, you could see Rockstar's attitude towards the consumer. The mirror reflection quality is much worse than in the second game, that's when I noticed the game is a console port. The influence of the 6th generation of consoles on the “new” Max did not pass without a trace. In general, the game does not hide that it is was primarily focused on the console experience, although the shooting is clearly more enjoyable on PC.

P.S. The game is a Max Payne impersonation attempt by John McClane

I've just got done playing the entire series, and I've got to say I don't understand the hate for this one. Sure it's different but it's a worthy closer to Max's story. The cutscenes are a strange mix of adapting the graphic novel style of the originals and a Tony Scott film, a style which works for this neo-noir thriller. The cutscenes don't feel any where near as long as people seem to make them out to be but maybe I'm just used to Naughty Dog and other 'cinematic' style games. The soundtrack's phenomenal too and the details in the game, which plays beautifully, make a brilliant experience. Immersive, exhilarating, disturbing, and compelling. I couldn't ask for much more.

Like I said, it's certainly different, but still a fantastic piece of work.

Хорошая игра. Когда дают поиграть.

Главная проблема Max Payne 3 в том, что это кинцо: огромная кат-сцена, где иногда отдают управление игроку, чтобы он мог поиграть. Я не преувеличиваю: бывает, что дают пройти два коридора и опять врубают фильм. Визуальный стиль фильма, кстати, целиком заимствован у картины «Man on Fire». Все эти засветы изображения, искажения цветов и дрожания дополнены разделением экрана на панели, как в комиксах. Да, просто потому что так было в оригинале.

Игрока очень стараются убедить, что это именно продолжение. И относятся к серии с уважением. Вот только всё это имитация, хоть и не самая плохая.

Никакого «я обрёл покой» не случилось. Мы встречаем Макса бухающим в Сан-Паулу, где старый знакомый Рауль Пасос пристроил его телохранителям к семье местных богачей Бранко. Я согласен, что сделать Макса старым толстым алкоголиком — неплохая идея. По крайней мере, это логично. После всего пережитого. Но вот сама история...

Начинается всё с похищения Фабианы Бранко, а заканчивается, спустя пару флешбеков в заснеженный Нью-Джерси, кучу трупов и повороты сюжета вроде «Пасос не учился с Максом в академии!» — заговором продажных копов, торговлей органами и взорванным самолётом. Только вот в таком пересказе это звучит интереснее, чем есть в игре.

Печаль в том, что сценарист здесь Сэм Хаузер — ведущий автор сценариев ГТА. И всё проблемы сценариев из ГТА он принёс и сюда. История перегружена ненужными и неинтересными персонажами, страдает от роялей в кустах, а все персонажи чересчур многословны. Особенно Макс. Он комментирует всё и вся, к месту и нет. Он даже болеутоляющие не может взять без комментария! А все дурацкие поступки Макса объясняются его алкоголизмом.

Зато всё, что касается стрельбы, сделано замечательно. В общем-то, в геймплее почти ничего не изменилось. Основной упор сделали на физику тел и псевдореализм. Макс может носить с собой только два одноручных оружия и одно двуручное. Причем он не убирает их в карманы, а носит в руках, зажимает подмышкой, когда жрёт обезболивающие и прочее. В игре совершенно охуительное количество качественных анимаций. За их счёт Макс и ощущается как старый алкаш. Поэтому перестрелка тут выглядит примерно так: Макс вылетает из-за угла, ударяется о стену, падает, залезает в укрытие и осторожно раздает хедшоты. И укрытия тут в тему, потому что враги меткие и их научили заходить с флангов. Даже на среднем уровне сложности примерно с середины становится сложно. А в последних двух главах игра тебя буквально ебёт.

Всё-таки это не «Max Payne», а качественная имитация. Сама идея кинематографичного шутера тут исполнена в другом стиле. Если в первой части при прохождении вспоминались боевики Джона Ву, то теперь — сборная из боевиков нулевых с более тактичными перестрелками и отчаянно рефлексирующими героями. Но всё же стрелять здесь очень приятно, а сценарий лучше, чем во второй части.

P. S. Игру портят две технические особенности, за которые снижать оценку нельзя, но и молчать невозможно. Первая: после каждой заставки Макса отдают под управление игрока исключительно с одноручным оружием, чаще всего пистолетом. Это ужасно неудобно. Вторая: заставки плавно и бесшовно переходят в геймплей, а загрузка уровня происходит во время заставки. Поэтому играть в аркадном режим — пиздец уныло.

This is the best TPS game out there, the shooting is amazing and Bullet time allows for tons of crazy moments that more traditional TPSs would never have. Rockstar's RAGE engine is the best thing about this game: enemies react to shots, grab the bullet wounds, fall over railings, get pushed away by powerful shotgun blows, sit up and shoot in a wounded state, when downed. The shooting is done in a "realistic" way, so that a simple handgun will allow you to take out a later-stage enemy in full armor, because any gun can instakill with a headshot. The difficulty itself comes from being severely outnumbered and that's where the Bullet time comes in. Max can dispatch up to a dozen of enemies in one Shootdodge if you're quick enough. There's a cover system which works well, but is not necessary, as the game turns into a generic 7th gen cover shooter when you use it. Bullet time is a powerful enough tool to allow the player not to use cover but instead clear the areas in a couple of stylish shootdodges. The game also looks great, has some very meaty gore and an amazing soundtrack from Health. 2 issues I have with this game:

1. There are too many unskippable cutscenes. PC gamers can use this fix to force-skip them, but it comes with its set of restrictions.: PCGamingWiki entry
2. It's completely linear. MP1 and MP2 had some interesting quiet moments, you could explore the world, even interact with other NPCs without having to shoot them. Max Payne 3 is all action, which doesn't really feel repetitive, since the mechanics are so solid, but still feels like a missed opportunity. There are brief scenes of walking from A to B while observing the game's world but it doesn't come close to Mirrors are more fun than Television.

All in all I'd say it's my favorite Max Payne because of how fun the shootouts are. I can replay them over and over and they always seem to play out differently.