What's in a Name?
From it's opening moments, Max Payne 3 promises explosive action.
Max Payne is likely the most aptly named character in video games, save perhaps the actual characters of War and Death in the Darksider series. Despite his relative humble beginnings, Max is a man who's only real skill is in dealing pain and death to anyone in his way. For his third outing Max decides to take his unique brand of justice to the crime filled streets of Sao Paulo in one of the bloodiest, angriest action games I've ever played.
The Max Payne series has never received as much attention as some other classic games, perhaps owing to the fact that despite being in existence for over ten years there's only three games in the entire series. The first game, released in 2001 by Remedy (who would later go on to make the Alan Wake series) was an interesting break from other games of the time, with the dark noir story of Max's struggle do deal with his murdered wife and daughter. The second game in 2003 saw Max now dealing with forces much larger then him as he attempted to aid the fem fatale Mona Sax in her quest for answers.
The IP lay dormant for some time as Rockstar and Remedy parted ways, but finally Max returned to the small screen in 2012, this time courtesy of Rockstar themselves and despite sharing the same name, this was a whole new game.
Dime-store Angel of Death
If you didn't play Max Payne 1&2 don't worry, as the events of those two games are barely referenced at all, and it's clear that Rockstar were distancing the series from the original games. The set up is that Max is a disgraced former NYPD officer turned alcoholic, and has found work as a private security guard for one of the wealthiest families in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Things quickly go wrong as the family is repeatedly targeted and kidnapped by a local gang called the Comando Sombra and Max finds himself fighting a seemingly endless roundabout of people trying to kill him.
It's a dark and twisted story, owing much to the noir films of old. Max is older, angrier and almost suicidal throughout the experience and shows a lot more character then in the older games. This is helped by a great performance from James McCaffrey, who also provided the mo-cap for Max. All around the production value is Rockstar's normal quality of absolutely astounding with top quality acting and motion capture all around.
It's the character of Max that's likely the most interesting part of Max Payne 3. Like I said, this Max is older and angrier, and his inner demons have certainly done an impressive number on his psyche. He's a pill-popping drunk, and a few years of inactivity has put some meat on his once athletic body. There's more then a few grey hairs on his head, at least before he shaves it all off, and his beard is a tell-tale sign of a man that no longer takes care of himself. This is Max Payne for the new decade, tired of everything around him and constantly wishing that the next bullet will put him out of his misery.
Payne Killer
A moment of relative peace in Max's turbulent travels.
Make no mistake, there will be a lot of bullets. Payne attracts more unwanted attention then most other protagonists combined and despite it's noir narrative this is one of the most action-heavy shooters in a long time. Exact numbers are hard to come by, but it's estimated that throughout the 8-10 hour campaign you'll gun down north of 500 people, all in gruesome detail. You'll blow up cars, drive boats, and most importantly, fling yourself around in unscripted John Woo-esque slow motion dives to score fatal headshots and avoid enemy fire.
Rockstar has stated that they've purposely never made a first person shooter (prior to GTA V HD), and they consider Max Payne the closest they've ever gotten. What that means is that Max Payne 3 is, without any doubt, one of the smoothest, most fluid third person shooters I've ever played. Few games ever achieve the type of action that Max Payne 3 creates and, with very few exceptions, the game is able to constantly deliver damn near perfect gameplay. Everything in Max Payne 3 works flawlessly, whether it's popping out from behind cover to take down an enemy or flinging yourself through the air.
You'll do a lot of flinging, probably more then Max's body should be able to take. You'll do this because it slows time to a crawl and lets you score headshots. You'll do this because you'll constantly need to avoid enemy fire to stay alive. You'll do this because god DAMN it looks cool to spray bullets as you descend from the heavens like a heavily armed messiah. Bullet Time has always been a trademark of the Payne series and here it's reached it's absolute pinnacle. Despite the cover system in place I often found myself lunging towards waves of enemies, taking them head on as I rolled around the geography returning fire with ease.
Facilitating this constant flinging in Rockstar's in-house animation and physics engine, appropriately named the RAGE engine. RAGE first saw use in GTA IV, but here it's been refined to perfection, with frighteningly realistic animations. While the animations and physics on Max looks great, the engine really shines in the firefights, where it creates constant cinematic experiences dynamically.
Elite Squad
Throughout the game Max remarks on the divide between rich and poor in Brazil.
That's the key word in Max Payne 3: Cinematic. This is cinematic gaming at it's absolute best, never sacrificing the actual game for the movie-like experience. Max Payne 3 constantly feels like a high end action film in the best way possible, something like The Raid or John Wick. Not to dumb, but simple enough to understand.
Problematically, this leads to some of Max Payne 3's biggest issues. First and foremost is the linearity of the game. I'm all for a straight-forward game sure, but Max Payne 3 is linear almost to a fault, occasionally actively discouraging any exploration with Max himself chiding you for taking to long. There is a bit or replayability, thanks to the included arcade mode and hidden collectibles, but you'd be forgiven for only playing this game once.
There are other stumbles, like occasional glitches in animation. The worst one is during a last stand, where you're given one chance to kill the man that shot you in return for a second chance at life, the camera becomes locked and you won't be able to actually hit your target. It's a bit hard to explain, but if it happens it can ruin a good run.
Max Payne's pacing is also all over the place, acting like less of a rollercoaster and more of a ship at sea caught between several separate storms at once. The story makes like Max himself and constantly flings itself in several directions, ranging from Hollywood action to morose self reflection in just seconds time. It's jarring, and maybe in a certain light refreshing, but newcomers to the series might not get what's happening and can be turned off.
Long Hard Goodbye.
Max is constantly living in a world of shifting shades of grey, with almost no real moral compass.
Max Payne may not have received the following some of his early 2000's counterparts did. No one cos-plays as Max Payne and there hasn't been a slew of sequels. But none of that really matters because Max Payne is a fun, enjoyable, and interesting game to play and stands a reminder of why Rockstar is considered one of the best developers in the industry.
Max Payne is shooting perfection, and a rare type of game in today's market. With a strong script, great voice work, excellent animation and visuals, and explosive action, Max Payne 3 is a game that reminds me why I like games so much. It's a hard-boiled, no-nonsense game and it's a hell of a good time.
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