Versions tested: PS3
Max Payne 3, developed by Rockstar and is available for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. The first two games was developed by Remedy Entertainment and if you’re a fan of the first two, you might be disappointed with the third one like how I was.
Like previous instalments, you play Max Payne, a cop turned vigilante after his family was killed. He’s been abusing alcohol and painkillers before a man named Raul Passos offered him a job to be a bodyguard to the wealthy Branco family in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Of course, bad things start to happen and Max Payne finds himself on a killing spree again.
Whatever charm that the previous instalments had, it’s missing in this one. Rockstar basically made Generic Shooter 3: With Bullet Time. There are a lot of cinematic to gameplay transitions which really interrupts the flow of playing. I spent as much time watching the game which was fine if the cutscenes were good, but they weren’t. Rockstar used a lot of blurry scenes and discolouration to show the effects of the substance abuse on Max Payne but after awhile it just started to get annoying.
The comic book style storytelling was replaced with lots of panel transitions which didn’t have the same charm compared to the previous Max Paynes. One of the bad things about the cinematics are, the constant need to change back to the gun I was using prior to the scene. Max Payne keeps changing the equipped gun in practically every scene and when it transitions back over to gameplay and you’re standing in a room full of baddies wanting to fill you up with holes, it can be extremely annoying.
The game features a cover system but it felt like it was an afterthought. There are no cover to cover movement and getting into and out of cover feels slow and sluggish. Character controls doesn’t feel good either, he can be a little hard to control at times. The game also keep throwing baddies at you, which kind of feels like a cheap way to make the game more difficult.
The environments, although very linear and the ability to backtrack is non-existent here, it is extremely nice to look at and feels very detailed. Sao Paulo was rendered very nicely by Rockstar and visuals is probably the game’s strongest point. Animation is also very nice to look at, dive with Max and he will fall realistically and stays on the ground where you can continue to fire at the bad guys and continue to fire when getting up which feels great. There is of course, bullet time, push a button and everything slows down, diving will slow down time as well and it uses an adrenaline meter which fills up when you’re firing at or getting shot at by bad guys. Another thing I liked was the minimalist approach to the HUD (heads-up display).
The game is fairly long, took roughly 10 hours to finish but the grind and repetitiveness of it all made me feel fatigued and when it was over, I was glad it was. There is multiplayer to lengthen the experience, it was a little fun in the beginning but after awhile, it too got a little boring. There is no need to key in a multiplayer code which was good.
Should you buy this game? Yes if you like shooters but only if you can get it for a much cheaper price. It’s not worth full retail. This game has too much Hollywood fluff and flair and not much substance to it.
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Excellent review!
Thank you, and yeah pupunoob. It was either that or Sergeant Penile Envy
That was a well-written review, and I can respect your opinion, but I have to respectfully disagree. I agree with you about some of the mechanical stuff (like the gun switching between scenes, and the controls could’ve been tightened a bit), but I loved the story. Max Payne 3 has some of the best dialogue I’ve ever heard in a game. When I rented it, I figured I’d burn through the campaign in a couple of days then send it back to get the next game in my queue. But I’ve been addicted to it for a while now. It’s a good thing I don’t rent games from Redbox anymore; at a couple bucks a day this would add up quick. That’s why I’m thankful one of my coworkers at Dish talked me into giving Blockbuster @Home a try: there’s no telling how much money it’s saved me from feeding those kiosks. I rather enjoy the multiplayer too. I like FPS competitive multiplayer a bit better than 3rd person, but aside from maybe GoW this is the best 3rd person multiplayer I’ve played!
Thanks for the comment, I didn’t have any problems with the story. More like how the game was advancing and how the story was presented. I was a fan of the previous 2 games
Still playing through the game now, and yes I agree about the issue of gun switching between scenes. It really frustrates me that I had to keep changing back to the previous gun I was using after the cut scenes. I also find the controls really difficult to use especially when there is a room full of guys with bigger guns trying to get you. Maybe I was too used to playing Max Payne on the computer as I did with the last 2 instalments, so I guess it’s just about getting use to it (PS3). Good review, really explains the game from a gamers point of view. After reading your review I wasn’t going to get the game, but it was a gift and was a big Max Payne fan in the past so had to try it. Lil disappointed. Cheers
Thanks Kelvin. Yeah I try to write my reviews from a gamer’s perspective basically telling them what I liked and didn’t like about the game and hope it can help them make better purchases
Hey dude, nice review. I’ve hammered this game and certainly from an initial playthrough I was a bit dissapointed. But on further playthrough I found some different moves that helped greatly with the experience. For starters you have to play the game a bit more thoughtfully than the others….no run and gun rambo styles here. A bit of waiting and taking note of who’s reloading who’s beind cover and not firing at you can help you make a safer assualt. Also there were two abilities that completely eveded my attention the first playthrough. When performing a dive and once you’ve hit the ground you can actually get up straight into cover simply by pressing the cover button, as long as you’re close enough to cover Max will quickly get up into cover behind a desk/table/counter whatever. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about how the dive is now useless because of the time it takes to get up from the move. Point is, don’t use it out in the open unless you’re killing the final couple of guys in the room in a single dive, use it to move from cover to cover, if land close enough to the piece of cover your aiming for you can quickly go straight from the floor into a crouched covered position with a single push of a button. lIkewise if you’re too far from the cover you aimed for (presuming its a desk or counter) you can also get up into a crouched position by just pushing crouch whilst your on the ground, this way you can get up and start moving but are most likely still low enough to get cover from the desk or counter in front of you as you make your way towards it. Doesn’t sound like much but it made a huge difference cos i was getting the crap shot out of me when i used the dive and attempted to get up from it whilst being shot in the face a million times. Anyways I enjoyed the game much more cos I found I was playing better because of these factors.
Hey Adam, thanks for the thoughtful comment.