Max Payne 3 Review

The sun, the tropical heat, the beautiful women and the masses of dead bodies and spent bullet casings is the creed of Max Payne 3. It has been 9 years since Max has graced us with his monotone voice, his sour demeanor and his amazing ability to devour painkillers as if they were some sort of after dinner mints. Full review after the Jump!! 

Max Payne 3 sees Max roaming through Brazil with his partner Raul Passos protecting a businessman by the Rodrigo Branco. The whole story starts out simple enough with a kidnapping or two but then evolves into a conspiracy chockfull of twists and turns that can be seen coming from a mile away. The main story is indeed strong albeit one that may seem predictable to players who have been paying attention but it is the execution of the clichés of that are well done with great set piece moments and brilliant voice acting by all the actors especially by James McCaffrey who assumes the role of the titular character. The game also throws in the side story of how Max got into the protection job in the first place and it is here you see how much things have changed for our hero since the last game. Another thing that needs to be mentioned about the story is that it represents a shift away from the cheesy and noire style that we seen in Max Payne 1 and 2 and I am fine with that because the story in Max Payne 3 does a good job in adding to the franchise as a whole. 

The game's atmosphere is excellent. Level design in the game is varied, one level involved me ziplining at the Panama Canal while another had me exploring the seedy underbelly of a Sao Paulo favela. This sheer variety of levels in this game just adds to the charm and look of the game and every new chapter felt so fresh and inviting. The fact that everybody in Brazil speaks Portuguese just adds to this atmosphere and it really makes the player feel that Max is alone and alienated in this new country. As an added bonus there is some of that traditional Max Payne humour that we have come to love and...yes Max Payne's piano skills have improved very little since the last game. 

I'm sure no one will suspect me with this shirt on. 

The gameplay of Max Payne 3 is fast paced, violent and over the top. The franchise’s traditional slow mo shooting returns in glorious form, the player can slow down time to get better aim, dodge and shoot multiple enemies or dodge into cover.  The slow mo gunplay not only aids in the gameplay sense but it gives the player a sense that the bullets they shoot are doing massive damage to the enemies and this is rightly seen when the player takes down the last enemy of every skirmish where the camera is shifted to this poor individual with every single seen to rip him apart in the most glorious slow motion. 

Max's hobby includes diving into slowmo, walks on the beach and killing entire gangs single handedly.

The game also introduces a cover mechanic and for the most part works but the transition from cover to cover seems weak. The recharging healthbar seen in most games nowadays is ditched in favor of a more traditional healing system granted instead of medkits Max uses painkillers to heal himself which forces the player to think about his or her next move rather than just waiting for their health to recharge. The enemy AI is very decent, they take cover, they throw grenades accurately, lay down suppressing fire and they will attempt to flank you. However the difficulty of putting down an enemy in the game is very cheap, most of the enemies will take quite a few rounds for them to be put down permanently and this is made worse when you meet even tougher enemies with body armour and even more powerful weapons.

 The game also tosses in golden gun parts strewn in all levels of the game, the golden guns are basically stronger forms of the guns seen in the main game and if a player finds all golden parts of the same gun (it usually comes in 3 parts) he is not only treated to a more powerful version of the gun but it is also blinged out in glorious gold plating. This is basically a way to make the player replay the game multiple times to find for the rare and glorious golden gun parts. 

Here hang onto this bullet for a while. 

Multiplayer in Max Payne is interesting to say the least, there are your standard deathmatch modes available but other interesting modes include Paynekiller and an objective based mode called Gang Wars. Paynekiller involves two players assuming the role of the main story stalwarts Max Payne and Raul Passos facing off against other players who assume the role of gang members. If any player kill either Max or Raul they will assume the role but this is no easy task since the players playing as Max and Raul are not only armed to the teeth but also carry large amounts of painkillers as well. Gang Wars involves two opposing gangs/teams carrying out various objectives throughout the game for example one team gets to plant a bomb and the other prevents the bomb from being planted whichever team achieves their objective it means that they have serious advantage as the game goes on. There are perks throughout the multiplayer segments called bursts as you would expect each burst will help you and your team out in several ways from arming yourself with more powerful weapons to becoming disguised as a member of the opposing team. What is surprising is the inclusion of the slow mo effect from the single player portion but to keep the game balanced only players within the line of sight of the player who activated the slow mo is effected.

It was at this point that poor old MaxPayneDev2 knew that his days were numbered. (heheh)

All in all Max Payne 3 is a cracking good time with brilliant acting, set piece moments, solid multiplayer and solid and highly replayable gameplay. Max Payne may have left us for years but he has returned to glory in the most over the top, painkiller consuming, slow motion jumping and bullet firing way possible. This game not only earns a solid score but also the coveted Macho Man Approval Picture which is only reserved for the best games. 

Max Payne 3
Developer: Rockstar Vancouver 
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
Platform Used for Review : Xbox 360
My Purchase Date of the Game: May 2012.