Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Innovative"

Max Payne 3. A game we've waited a long time for. In fact it got backed up numerous times with an original release date back in 2011. However, I'm not sure if I can say the amount of time that it was backed up necessarily helped the game out by any means. That is not to say this game isn't great. The nostalgia of rainy New York City, being a cop hell bent on trying to figure out who murdered your wife is no longer there. That nostalgia is what made Max Payne, Max Payne. Removing that element took part of the series away from me but definitely did not ruin it. Now as for a change in pace it was good, but I think sending the games location to South America definitely did not fit in, I'm not quite sure who came up with the idea of sending it there but that wasn't the best idea. I feel they should have sent it somewhere like Las Vegas, Detroit, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, or something along those lines would have been a better atmosphere. With that in mind let's get to the game itself. The graphics in this game are more than impressive, when max gets shot you can see the torn fabric and the soggy look of the blood stained clothes. His aged face, with the wrinkles, rough and course beard, and dimples are just another thing to love. Every character is well designed and original in look. The buildings and outer materials look as though they have been rendered multiple times and carefully colored and detailed. However when an enemy gets shot during bullet time pay attention to where he gets shot, the animation is horrid. It is almost sega genesis level bull crap, you do not see penetration, and the exit wound is poorly animated and looks like a blurry red blob that is over sized. The sound effects are perfect in almost every situation, So I need no further discussion of this topic. The controls are easily maneuvered but poorly explained while playing the game, you may get confused about how to do a certain move or two. Also it fails to use most of the controller to an advantage, they could have put in another feature or two with buttons that are not used. The biggest problem with controls comes with the last man standing function. When you are about to die and you still have pills left you go into bullet time and you MUST shoot the person WHO LAST SHOT YOU. When this activates its very glitchy and poorly programmed. If you are in cover it will nearly impossible to stay alive because you cannot see the enemy who shot you. If you think about this for a second this game is based on covered shooting so you almost always fail the last man standing, which renders it useless. The gameplay is where this game really shines. It is a full out third person shooter which is they way to make shooting games now. The realistic idea of how you get shot twice you die is there which allows for realism in the game. However, this does not apply to the enemy, which makes the idea flawed and awkward at times. The idea that it takes two shots to kill Max but thirty to kill the enemy seems unfair. The cover works very well but can have holes that will occasionally pop up but is a rarity. The variety of guns spices things up and the realism of having to drop the big gun to dual wield is a nice touch. The dual wield is by far the best way to go about. Having each gun have its strengths and weaknesses also increases the realism. When we sum it all up there are just a few points to really pick out. First and foremost is the glitchy aspect of some parts of the game, be forewarned. Two you will get the same annoying feeling coming from a lot of games. Give me more game less movie. There are sequences that should be played through not done by the computer. Three Graphics are top notch with the exception of bullet wounds which is very minor to pick it. Four and lastly the story line is very short and does not have the nostalgia of the first two games. A nicely made game but could have been tested and programmed a little better, however Rockstar nonetheless puts another amazing game out in the market.