Preface: I am a chick. I play video games. I write reviews about video games based on how I feel about them, their overall content and worth and if it's something that I think someone else should spend their money on. Just because I have breasts doesn't mean I can't break PS3 controllers with the best of them.

Max Payne 3: Bringing The Pain In A Whole New Way

Max Payne is another successful Rockstar game, bringing rich game play with a great, detailed story. With that said, it isn't a surprise Max Payne 3 pushes the envelope and brings better gameplay mechanics and storytelling than the first two games. If you played the first two Max Payne games or love detailed combat and a lot of shooting, this is the game for you. There were some perks to preordering it but I didn't have any interest in what GameStop was offering so I settled with the usual fodder from Wal-Mart.

Plot: After a decade of suffering and trying to forget the loss of loved ones, Max Payne heads to Sao Paulo, Brazil. He hopes to start a new life after being recruited for a security position by Raul Passos and working for a man named Rodrigo Branco, a rich man who "builds things and helps the people". During his new adventure, the wife of Rodrigo, Fabiana, is kidnapped by a street gang and Max goes on a mission to save the girl and bring more bad guys down. From shooting through a stadium, fighting in night clubs, and escaping a police station, Max travels across Sao Paulo to figure out the truth and bring down more baddies than he could possible imagine. Max has a revelation midgame which prompts his visual change; I don't like "bald Max" and the whole idea of "change my life / change my looks" concept was extremely hokey to me. Replacing the 'nightmare' sequences from previous games, there are flashbacks that explain how he ended up on Brazil and provides some more background information about him. If you play the first two games you might already know some of this but the flashbacks do provide some more detail.

Gameplay: Like the first two games, bullet time makes a comeback and it's better than ever. It still has the same effect on gameplay: slow down time so you can avoid bullets easier and aim easier to get the jump on enemies and take them down quicker. With improved graphics and animations, when you or your enemies fire, you can see the detail of your bullets and see places shot on your enemy with precision and accuracy. With the Euphoria engine, the way you shoot enemies determines their actions, such as shooting them in the legs can make them fall, or shooting them in the arms or chest staggers them to stop them from shooting. Depending on the impact of the shot and weapon you are using, it shows you how your enemies die or how they fall to their deaths.

Max Payne 3 combines simple third-person gameplay with first person precision; the intense gunplay makes Max Payne a shooters paradise with detail not seen in other games like Call of Duty Battlefield. There are many weapons you can use, such as handguns, shotguns, machine guns and other more and there is a special duel-wield option that allows you to use two identical weapons or two separate one handed weapons to devastate enemies. However, you can't holster a two handed weapon, so if you want to duel-wield again, you drop the rifle or machine gun you are using, but if you want to switch to a handgun, you automatically hold the rifle in one hand and hold the handgun in another, so you can still carry the long armed weapon, and it is noticeable in cut scenes as well. That sounds a little confusing but once you get the hang of it, it's a nice addition to the game.

As for movement, Max is slower than in the previous games but can still use shoot / dodge to dive into areas and take enemies out. An interesting side note is that even though shoot dodge still uses bullet time, when it is still empty, you still go into bullet time unlike the other games but since the game is more detailed with movement, it shows Max actually getting up and struggling getting up. So the delay getting up from being prone can get you killed, so be careful. There is no regenerating health, or to a small degree when you are near death, and the only way to refill your health is to take pain killers, which can be found throughout the game. There is a new mechanic that uses pain killer to resurrect you from the dead, called Last Stand, in which you get the chance to kill the person who shot you to death. If you can kill him in time, you take a pain killer and come back to life.

And taking a smidge from GTA 4 and Red Dead Redemption, there is a cover system that Max can use to take cover and plan out an attack or take a break. Enemies will try to storm you or throw grenades, so the game still forces you to run in with bullet time and take your enemies head on, like previous Max Payne games. However, compared to the other games, this one is more challenging with smarter Ai and less pain killers than the other games, so you have to plan out and make sure you don't run in guns blazing unless you have bullet time full and a lot of pain killers, otherwise you will die a lot. Luckily there is a checkpoint system instead of restarting the whole level all over again.

Never move to a foreign country without first learning to speak the language.

Features: An interesting feature about Max Payne is that there are almost no loading screens apart from going to the main menu or loading a game. Because they are integrated into the cut scenes, transitioning smoothly from gameplay to cut scenes without you noticing as well as making the game more enjoying without waiting to play or watch some cinematics. The graphic novel pieces from the first two games are placed into the cut scenes as small blocks of blurbs from the commentary from the characters, along with a dazed and shaking from the scenes add a dark feeling to Max's personality, as well as the life he has been living after the first two games. That doesn't mean that you have to have experience with the two previous games but it does help.

There's also "arcade mode" which allows you to replay your favorite levels with different player skins from the main games as well as the Max Payne 1 and 2 character skins, making Max Payne 3 feel like the original two again. There are only two modes, unless more are added in DLC in the future, and there is "score attack mode", which makes you get the highest score possible and New York Minute Mode, where you have to complete the level in under a minute, but killing enemies adds more time. In single player mode, you can select codes to activate when you start the game, such as unlimited pain killers, ammo, bullet time and other features after you beat the game once. They require you to do something before you can use them such as collect all the golden guns, parts you can collect that make you do more damage and hold more ammo with a weapon, or clues that add more information to the background to the story, and beat the game on higher difficulties with free aim enabled. That means harder enemies with no aim assistance but with a great reward in the end.

There's also classic multiplayer, adding in elements such as gang wars, objective based missions like capture bags or eliminate enemies, and simple death match. Along with multiplayer you can create clans or groups which offer bonus experience to level up and you can carry over that clan over to Grand Theft Auto 5 [when its relased that is]. Trophies are available in the game, most of them are for single player but there are about a dozen for multiplayer as well. However, some trophies can be hard to achieve, such as collectables and bullet time set pieces that require patience and skill to achieve. And as a separate side note, there is no free roam option and no driving sequences, just a third-person shooter like the first two games.

Bottom Line: There are a lot of pros to the game like gunfights and combat and the detailing of the story keeps you hooked on it. You don't have to scuffle around with meaningless weapons, you do get some good ones from the start. Payne still has the same humor and crudeness as in the past two games. There are some cons to it like the inability to skip most cut scenes but the pros greatly outnumber the cons. This was worth $60.00 but I know I could probably get it for less in a month or so from The Exchange. There are still a lot of things to do with the game once you've made it through the first pass so there is replay value to it. While I don't like it as much as some of the earlier Metal Gear Solid games, it is a great effort from Rockstar and something that Max Payne I and II lovers will get in to. It's like a little kid, learning from mistakes and trying new things. If you are an action junkie then you need to check this out.

If you buy this at Wal-Mart you get a digital copy of Max Payne 1; in order to redeem this you need to go to the Wal-Mart website and enter the code inside the game case. That gives you a PSN code that allows you to download the content.  You are going to want to check the dates on this, it wasn't clear if this was a limited time offer.  I got the code after the second day because I didn't want to miss losing out on a digital copy.

There's no purchasable add-on DLC at present moment but you can go to the PSN and get the Rockstar Pass that gives you access to the upcoming DLC as a discounted bundle price. I liked the game but I'm sure if I liked it enough to go balls out with the Rockstar Pass for it.

Rated M for blood and gore, intense violence, partial nudity, strong language, strong sexual content and use of drugs and alcohol. It goes without saying that this isn't a game for kids.


The cover for Max Payne 3 is not basic black as show with this listing; it shows Max and a couple of characters from the game.



^V^ ©Freak369 - 2012 ^V^



Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
Spyro The Dragon: Year of The Dragon

Playstation Network $20.00 Card

Recommended: Yes