Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Worth the wait"

Max Payne has suffered beyond reasonable limits. (It's all in the name.) Nine years have passed since the last game in the series, yet little has changed for its long-suffering protagonist, who remains deeply traumatised by the death of his wife and child. 'Trauma' is the key word – in Greek, it means 'wound', and Max is someone who has never let his fully heal. To move on would be to forget – a betrayal of those he loved – and so instead he chooses to wallow in the past and the pain, with the help of brown liquor and white pills.

But thankfully, Max Payne 3 isn't content to simply relive the past, and makes bold stylistic and narrative decisions to avoid stagnation. And though these choices have significant consequences on the game's pacing that may prove divisive, Max Payne 3 is overall a brilliant, darkly-engrossing third outing for one of video games' most troubled characters.

Ostensibly, Max Payne 3 looks very different from its predecessors. The rundown tenements and shadowy sidewalks of New York have been replaced by the hedonistic nightclubs and baking heat of São Paulo, where Max has taken a job working private security for wealthy businessman Rodrigo Branco. Unsurprisingly, things don't work out for Max: Rodrigo's trophy wife, Fabiana, is kidnapped on Max's watch, which sets in motion a chain of events that draws Max into a much larger, more sinister story.There are plenty of games which are celebrated for their gameplay but lack anything in way of story or character. Max Payne 3 is a different type of proposition. The gameplay is simple yet satisfying, but it's entirely in the service of a strongly-authored narrative. Players aren't at the liberty to roam, to explore, or to shake things up. Some might find this too controlling, but in return for your freedom, you're rewarded with a mature genre piece which is also a finely-realised character study. Action games continue to inch the dial towards 11, sometimes at the expense of their narrative integrity. Max Payne 3, however, has the conviction to reign in the action, imbue it with purpose - the spectacle still sparkles but it also makes sense