Max Payne 3

First off, if you liked Max Payne 1 and 2, chances are you will lap this up. As other reviewers have mentioned, I too grew up playing this series and having now just finished the story mode, it makes me really want to go back and play through the whole trilogy.

Max is back and his own brand of depression is incredibly funny, the writing and voice acting are in perfect harmony. Considering Hugh Jackman won an award for his turn as Wolverine for the game of the film, James McCaffrey should be getting an Oscar nod for this. I laughed a lot through the game, so much so that at one point I thought 'they should make a film of Max Pay...oh wait :('.

The physics they're plugging on this game are immense. While I agree with one reviewer's opinion that Max moves very much in the way of Rockstar's other male leads in their games, this isn't a bad thing and the AI characters move very naturally, particularly in how their bodies react to being shot. At the same time, you don't feel like you're seeing the same animation for the kind of shot you deliver; it all depends on the situation and bullet trajectory/force etc, which is great.

The story, in my opinion, is great. The whole world of Max Payne has always been a strange mix of gritty realism, pain, humour, chaos and ridiculousness, and this is no different in that respect. I was dubious of the action moving to Brazil, but it feels natural and becomes a welcome change of scenery. With this change though, they've opted for cutscenes to do a lot of the storytelling as opposed to the old 'comic book' style, for want of a better description. This was odd at first but I soon loved it and the way it blended into the action. Like many have said, the whole experience is like playing through a great film. In that way, it was a bit similar to Metal Gear Solid 4. I disagree with the detractors though, I don't think there are too many cutscenes and in no way is it 5 minutes of cutscenes then shoot a few guys, next cutscene, etc. Don't let the people saying this put you off. When you load the game, it recaps by way of a comic covering the last things that happened to refresh your memory - a nice nod to the old storytelling method.

There's a lot of value in the game:

- Story mode on lots of difficulties (I found their normal setting to present a challenge on many occasions)
- Arcade: score attack
- Arcade: time attack
- Multiplayer
- Collectables (golden guns and clues through story mode - I actually cared about finding these, have that Naughty Dog!)
- Grinds (stats to achieve and trophies/achievements to earn - Rockstar really make you earn these so provide good longevity)

An absolute thrill ride, can't recommend it enough.

Initially I was blown away by the style and look of the game while being utterly awful at it - I played numbers 1 and 2 on a PC so had to adapt to using a controller and a slightly bizarre button layout (seriously, why do virtually no games have completely customisable controls???)

Now I'm in the final chapters John Woo-ing it all over the damn place, loving the story (Max has more of a sense of humour thanks to the inimitable writing of Dan Houser) and knowing that the moment the credits roll I'll be starting up again so I can blast me some fools without smacking my head into walls again and again.

The controls are tight (just weird - reload is defaulted to circle for some unimaginable reason), the visuals are stunning with enormous production values in the attention to detail and the multiplayer is a breath of fresh air to boot (things can get particularly hectic when everyone's setting off bullet time at the same time - time jumps around almost as much as a Michael Bay movie).

Anyway I pre-ordered this and have absolutely loved every second of playing it (though don't worry if you didn't pre-order, the bonus is just a small multiplayer perk that wouldn't be missed). Glad they brought Max out of retirement.

the first time i met max payne was on the ps2 back in 2001... or was it 2002. I had never played a bullet time game ,and that was one of its key features.
All i remember was how mature, serious, and dark atmospheric the game was. It was a journey through a dark and horrid world of violence, gangsters and the gutter.

It was one of the best action shooting noires in existance. Max payne was a great character.

All these years later since max payne 2.. we have a game which takes us to sunshine brazil.

SO first of all i was worried this would take away the dark gloomy atmosphere which made max payne such a fright to play. And something which mentally would stick with you.

THE GAMEPLAY
-its fluid , brilliant.
-it can really absorb you into the action, the animations and cutscenes glimpse rockstars attention to detail since la noire.
-the action in the game is stylish , great to look at , its dynamic allowing tactical decisions based on space and enviornment.

THE GRAPHICS
-superb
-facial appearance character models and scenery is fantastic.

NOW THE GIFT AND THE CURSE...............................

rockstar are brilliant at storytelling. The are good at absorbing you into their game ..

and thats the problem, youl play it alot and it will be finish before you know it. It took me one week to finish this game. Playing an hour at night. I adored the story and the game , espeically when it goes flashback new york , brings back the memories of max payne on the ps2.

The story will keep you hooked to this game for its length. So my only problem with the game is its length, which is great .. but also leaves you wanting more.

maybe in the future we need action games to become the same length in rpgs ?

the multiplayer i found is great , but similar to RDR. and its definetly down to taste.

OVERALL

this game is a must buy , a must play a must experiance.

But beware the length... depending how good you are.

is it worth 40 bucks ????>

im not regretting a single bit of it .. its money well spent , even tho i finished the game within a week.