Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Masterpiece"

You hear Max's droning voice yet again, telling you how he has failed, yet he has to push on. The gate opens, and you are confronted by five heavily armed thugs, you're not on any of their Christmas card lists. Max dives for cover, the game slows down, and you masterfully take out two of them with headshots, Max lands on his side yet your quick reaction lets you gun down two more, the last guy hits you, hard, Max is bleeding out, in a last stand covered in blood you get one chance to nail the guy, you do it! Max gets up and it's time to carry on. This is the adrenalin fuelled Max Payne 3.

That old chestnut.

The story isn't going to show you anything you haven't seen before, but it is far from a quickly penned excuse to shoot some bad guys, the story like a rollercoaster has its ups and downs, the moments you see coming yet you can't help but clench you knuckles in anticipation, the twists and turns that throw you out of your seat, and it rarely stops to ask if you're ok.

I enjoyed the Plot in this game, max is a believable if somewhat self centred and self destructive character, he often says he want to help others, or it's all about helping others, yet he never stops focusing on himself and his failings. You never really get the feeling he's whining, but you sometimes want to just grab him and say "give yourself a shake man" and that's good, the game makes you care enough to want him to shape up, its characters are so well portrayed you'd have to have a heart of stone not to find something to relate to.

That sounds nice.

The sounds in the game is immersive and realistic, you don't find yourself jarred away from the action by tinny gunshots or bad voice editing, everything as is fluid as a Hollywood blockbuster.

The sound score is worked so well into the game and fits flawlessly with the action keeping the immersion complete. The sound effects are top notch you almost feel every pang of a bullet off the wall your hiding behind, and when an explosion happens near you, your ears ring for a few seconds after making you feel like you're the one that just avoided the blast not Max.

The voice acting is so superbly done and edited that you can be engrossed by what the characters have to say and never have that immersion broken, the lines flow together and are so expertly executed that you'd be forgiven for thinking you're watching a movie and not playing a video game.
Looking Good.

The graphics in this game are some of the best I've seen in a third person action game. in cut scene's there is no clipping and the model animation just flow and move smoothly and effortlessly, once it cuts to game. The fluid action movements and satisfying gun animations make the game a real piece of eye candy.

Now that's entertainment

Now to talk about the game play, the meat and bones of what makes a game, and Max Payne 3 surely isn't lacking in that department. firstly let me say, I played the game with free aim, i can see how someone on a console would use auto aim, but on a PC there is no competition for satisfaction than when using free aim. The movement and cover system really makes you feel in control of Max's movements, every lunge leap and limp can almost be felt as you either chase or run from your enemy.

The enemy AI is far better than I had expected, they often spray blindly to cover their friends advance and I found myself in situation where they had simply outmanoeuvred me and I was at a major disadvantage due to their "skill" in cornering me. When I made a forceful push and killed a few of their allies they would often hold back and take cover, enticing me to come for them making for fluid and exciting action sequences.

The gunplay itself feels satisfying and controlled, every bullet feels like it's been placed by you, with the exception of some SMG's that is they have a very bad recoil and as such couldn't hit water in the Atlantic. This is easily forgivable as the rifles feel powerful and accurate, the shotguns feel rightfully devastating at close range and the pistols ooh the pistols what fun they are, having Max's fly through the air with two pistols is his iconic trademark, and there's a reason for that, if feels utterly magic!

That's a wrap folks

What else can I say about Max Payne 3, nothing but go and buy it. If there has been a great example of recent gaming, that ticks all the boxes and could be used as a "how to" manual for the other developers, this is it.

A must own game.