User Review : Max Payne 3

An older style action game with new ideas

Max Payne 3 is an ode to the older action games. It has a classic game feel while implementing new game ideas and trends. It has a classic game feel, especially clear with the; noir dialogue, hard boiled feel of the story, characters and the same relentless gameplay that was heralded in from the first Max Payne game. As well as this classic feel is the addition of new game ideas and trends. Collectables and achievements such as; “Golden Guns” that you can find around the levels, medals that you can earn after you reach certain milestones and a multiplayer system that isn't simply tacked on to add another talking point on the back of the box.

Max is a man who is still mourning over his past. The game takes place 9 years after the second one, yet he is still very much haunted by the pain of the death of his wife and daughter.

But Max Payne 3 isn't just a copy of these old games. Yes it still feels like and plays like a Max Payne game, and it does include the classic 'Bullet Time' and 'Shoot Dodge' that it is known for, however it takes these features and moves them away from the dirty New York streets of the first two games and places them in South America, where the hardboiled noir of the story and characters create a large contrast with the beauty of the environment and the new color scheme of the world.

Max Payne 3 runs by it's own rules, it is story driven and takes a lot of control from the player to achieve this compelling and fully engrossing story. Max will comment on every move you make, he is always talking, always making you aware of his thoughts and feelings. After you get to know him, you feel for Max, eventually thinking and feeling like he does. You feel like you are Max and become part of his world. Adding to the immersion is how Max Payne 3 includes a lot of new visual effects during the cut scenes; line shifting, scan lines, and color disruptions all run rampant while the story unfolds, it creates some confusion at first but very quickly you will get used to it, and it will soon help you get lost in it's story driven world.

Max gets a job as Rodrigo Branco's (a rich businessman) bodyguard. Just in time too as his wife Fabiana gets kidnapped, and it becomes Max's job to find and rescue her. It is just the beginning to a much larger and more complex plot.

The music is absolutely breathtaking, it helps create a mood that can be felt at every stage of the game, the cool menu setup, the multiplayer and arcade game modes. Accompanying this is the brilliant script and voice acting by James McCaffrey (Max).

James McCaffrey has always been the voice of Max Payne, but what he has done here is better than anything he has done before. You can feel his bitterness and pain through the many elaborate metaphors Max's utters through every step of the game (as is the case in any great noir fiction). Even with all this dialogue, you are still never quite sure what his ultimate goal is. You do not know if he is truly trying to save his employer's wife, trying to find absolution from his past, or just giving up on the world because he has nothing left to care about.

As was expressed before the story is the driving part of this game but the combat is refined, simple and very satisfying (Hard mode = hard). Every hour is approximately a 60-40 split between actual gameplay and cutscenes. It balances out to about 5 minutes of gameplay then 5 minutes of story. It keeps this ratio throughout the entire singleplayer campaign. For me, this amounted to a total of 15 hours to beat the game on Hard mode.

The game is pure chaos, you will use Bullet Time and Shoot Dodge features all the time (on Hard mode, you will need to use the cover system or you will die very quickly). The environments are mostly destructible. Simply shooting objects around you as you walk, watching bullets whiz by in slow motion, glass shattering, the environments breaking and crumbling and the A.I enemies reacting realistically to your bullets is an exciting experience.

This game is extremely violent, as it has you killing hundreds of people, yet each death will be different than the last. There are no scripted animations or pre-rendered deaths, every person reacts differently to the bullets. Depending on; where they were shot, what caliber bullet, and the angle and speed of the bullet. The game has many visual flashes and technical devices. One of the most used and influential is the kill cam. It follows the bullet from Maxs' guns to the target and shows you the violence up close, you can even continue to fire into a dead target to see the manipulation of his body, or hold down the X button to slow down time. Shooting people in this game never really gets repetitive.

Multiplayer was also a nice surprise, it is genuinely fun. You can upgrade; weapons, yourself, get Bursts (which are essentially perks, think COD) and if you collect all 3 parts to a golden gun in the campaign, you will unlock it for multiplayer. This makes your guns a little bit stronger and gives them some small bonuses. The multiplayer also includes Bullet Time and Shoot Dodge and is used in a way that only affects the people in your field of vision so that the game never slows down for everyone else. It works extremely well and changes the dynamic of the generic 3rd person shooter multiplayer landscape to a great extent. If you want a comparison it is a lot like a mix between MGS4 and Red Dead Redemption with a little slow motion abilities thrown in for some mayhem.

If you care little about story and want more of a traditional action title, this is not the game for you. Unique integrated story elements make this a truly innovative and special title that fans of actions games with more depth will really enjoy.