Max Payne 3 Review
By Carolyn Petit, Editor
The PC version of Max Payne 3 is every bit as savage and satisfying as its console predecessors.
Max Payne's home has always been on the PC. The original 2001 gameand its sequel debuted on the PC, and though they received console versions--some of which captured the excellence of their PC counterparts and some of which didn't--it was on PC that he first made his mark. Times have changed for Max, and his latest outing hit consoles first and PC second, which may raise concerns about whether, this time around, it's the PC version that feels secondary and the console versions that feel definitive. As it turns out, such concerns are unfounded. Max Payne 3 is just as gorgeous and intense on PC as it is on consoles, and the pinpoint precision offered by a mouse makes the PC version the best way to enjoy this brutal and haunting shooter.
Wherever you go, there you are. It's a truth Max Payne knows better than anyone. Fleeing his New York life to take a job working security for a wealthy family in Sao Paulo, the hard-drinkin', pill-poppin' Max finds that his demons come along for the ride. Though the details of the plot add up to your typical story of conspiracy and corruption, of the rich and powerful preying on the poor and helpless to become even more rich and powerful, the writing, acting, and presentation elevate this tale well above a boilerplate video game crime story.
It's hard to stay ambivalent once you see the horrors being suffered by the innocent here, and you'll likely want to see Max's quest for vengeance through to its conclusion just as badly as he does. Max reveals a complexity here not seen in earlier games, as he hits rock bottom and must either stay there or face his demons head-on and make himself anew. Other characters, too, reveal a surprising humanity. You might be tempted to write off Marcelo, the youngest brother in the wealthy Branco dynasty Max is hired to protect, as the shallow playboy he often appears to be. But in moments of disarming honesty, he reveals to Max a depth that lies beneath the facade he presents to the world.
Cutscenes use multiple moving panels to pay homage to the graphic-novel-style storytelling of previous games without feeling beholden to it, and the considered use of blurring and other visual effects echo Max's state of mind, perhaps making you feel as if you're the one who has been hitting the bottle a little too hard. James McCaffrey does an excellent job reprising his role as Max, bringing a wider range of emotions to a character who has previously often been one-note. The writing is terrific; Max's world-weary wit is as bone-dry as ever, and as he ruminates on things like loyalty and loss, much of what he says has the sound of hard-earned wisdom. Subtle touches throughout the game make Max seem convincingly alive, such as the complex look that crosses over his face at the start of one stage when bloodshed seems inevitable; it's as if he dreads what's coming, but does his best to mentally prepare himself for it.
Max Payne 3 has far more sunlight and color than earlier Max Payne games, but the menaces Max faces here are at least as dark as those he's faced before. The locales Max has to gun his way into or out of are alive with authenticity and detail. Nightclubs throb with dance music and light shows; children play soccer in the favelas; run-down hotels are packed with leftover junk from their earlier days of luxury. And it's not all tropical locations and bad Hawaiian shirts for Max Payne here; a few great flashbacks that take place in Hoboken, New Jersey, reflect the snowy weather and urban atmosphere of earlier Max Payne games, as well as Max's previous fashion sensibilities, and connect his new life with his old one.
Max hasn't lost his ability to blow bad guys away by the hundreds, but in Max Payne 3, reflecting modern sensibilities and perhaps his own age, he takes things slower and makes judicious use of a new cover mechanic. Yet the addition of this currently common element doesn't mean that Max Payne 3 feels like every other third-person shooter. Far from it. The game is differentiated from its contemporaries by several qualities, not least of which is its unflinching violence. Bullets visibly tear through bodies, leaving holes that spurt blood as your enemies die. Each encounter with a group of enemies ends with a bullet cam, showing your final, fatal bullet soaring through the air and striking its target in grisly detail, and giving you the option to pump excessive, unnecessary ordnance into the poor bastard. It's a cathartic and satisfying way to end each firefight.
Bullet time, the defining mechanic of the Max Payne series, lends gunplay a cinematic intensity that remains exhilarating from the start of the substantial campaign until its finish some 12 hours or so later. When bullet time is enabled, you can see every pellet that bursts forth from a shotgun, every bullet that whizzes past your head. Windows break apart beautifully; concrete shatters to reveal the rebar underneath; and all other sorts of believable destruction to the world around you takes place as you and your enemies try to gun each other down.
Bullet time slows your enemies down significantly, letting you aim and fire faster than they can respond. But despite the significant edge this gives you over your foes, they are no pushovers. They make smart use of flanking tactics, so you need to stay aware of what's happening on all sides, and, yes, you need to make effective use of cover. There are still situations aplenty where an old-fashioned head-on approach can get the job done, but by and large, you need to approach combat in Max Payne 3 a bit more defensively than in past games. This measured approach allows for individual moments to stand out; rather than losing yourself in a constant flurry of gunfire, you can take satisfaction in a particularly skillful shot, and lining that shot up with a mouse is easier with the precision afforded by a mouse than it is with a gamepad.
By Carolyn Petit, Editor
Carolyn Petit has been reading GameSpot since 2000 and writing for it since 2008. She has a particular fondness for games of the 1980s, and intends to leave the field of games journalism as soon as she hears that her local Ghostbusters franchise is hiring.
j3rrry
The gun fights in this game are absolutely epic. How many times have Max had to be air-borne and shoot down a mob of baddies in slow mo? Absolutely become ecstatic when I get those scenes. What about those memory flashbacks he gets and they are in actual fact another gun fight scene.
A bit odd the creators chose Brazil. Didn't know it was that bad that a single drunk depressed ex cop would have to go around destroying it, literally.
Graphics? Could have been better.
violenus
Didnt think i would like this but its great,started playing it after mass effect 3 so they felt a tad similar...too much cover,way too much for a max payne game i must say. Story reminded me how great stories used to be,just kept escalating, Rockstar got me there,keep it up people!
SkooManiac
is this game an "open world" game like GTA , True Crime, Saints Row ??and which is better Max Payne3 or Saints Row the Third ??
omnimodis78
SkooManiac It's not open-world, but it's not a "rail-shooter" either. I enjoyed every single minute of this game. It's nothing like GTA or True Crime - very different pacing, action and I must say "feel". This game is like a blockbuster movie, except you're playing it. It's an 'A' title for sure.
bigmac219
omnimodis78
I agree!
dragonlance1989
Ratpoison_m Wow how can you have so much contempt for ... just a game ?
Atrax2k8
The only details (by my opinion) that made this game not deserve a perfect 10 were just solved in the latest update.
That's all I'll say, and now I have to go back and play it for the fifth time, got all of the clues, now some missing gold parts to find.
franizarduy
It got the favelas and the brazilian atmosphere just right, the rage engine works wonderful, i never get tired of shooting people, another excelent product by rockstar.,
Kryptonbornson
franizarduy Change "excellent" with "solid" and I'd agree with you. Nothing about Max Payne 3 excels. If you throw out anything that could be considered negative and just rated on it's positive qualities, it's merely solid.
franizarduy
@Kryptonbornson I meant as an overall product, ok, nothing really excels but If you think of it as a whole ( multiplayer, single player, content, etc) ...its worth the bucks,
p4kman88
i had fun playing this game...made me want to watch "Collateral" again....the story is a different opinion though....i understand that his is a video game but really compare the story arc from max payne 1 and 2...and then comparethat with 3.....you can clearly see a difference....but that's my little pet peeve about the game other than that the action mechanics is really solid and controls are very fluid
jmrwacko
Tripwolf The game scored a 9.0. How much higher do you need the score to be?
rgoulart
Tripwolf PC fanboy
iloveyourface
one of the best games i played so far this year. loved the story, the voice acting was good. rock* did it again. hope there's another.
rip-a-stitch
Personally I thought this game was great. I was thinking an 8.5 and Gamespot gave it a 9. I don't see why everyone says the score was because they got paid. I totally think this game deserves the score it got and for good reason.
Kryptonbornson
Standard 3rd person Call of Duty title. Skippable unless you feel like you need to be a part of every new overhyped game. 6.0 at best if you like Max himself. 5.0 if you find Max pathetic as I did.
The graphics in this game on PC look pretty much like console, smooth framerate, etc at 1080p, sharp textures (excpept for the odd texture here and there that seems to have been upscaled, if they all weren't), but the graphics aren't impressive. They do get reasonable complex like a Call of Duty game, but you won't be impressed by any lighting or shading even fully maxed out in DX11 it's not BF3, Crysis 2, or Alan Wake American Nightmare on that front. Some people might describe the graphics as outdated. The game would be around the same size as Rage if not for the HUGE movies on PC.
You'll make your own decisions about this game, but keep in mind Gamespot has to take care of the people that spend big money advertising on their site.
fearless_alive
Kryptonbornson How did CoD get into a Max Payne review... Don't get people here. The graphics are fine and optimized for the PC, finally Rockstar got it right(not a GTA4 style PC port). The game looks really good, gets the job done. The action is really good, the gameplay is awesome, the new cover mechanic is really there for a purpose. Finished it like 3 times and will start again. The animations are cool, sometimes a bit weird when landing but it's still really cool :D. The character of Max is awesome too. The empty shell of a man who went through everything. The dry monologues reflect his emptiness. He was the same in the first 2 games. The story is good, you really want to make it to the end and the campaign is long. The multiplayer is also really enjoyable. Little goofy at times as it was pointed out in the Review too, but still really really good. You can spend a lot of time in this game and has a really high replay value.
Kryptonbornson
fearless_aliveAnd I never said it wasn't optimized for PC. It's much better than the GTA 4 port. You wouldn't notice the difference between this and console the port is that good. If you don't notice the CoD-esqueness of Max Payne 3, either you haven't played Call of Duty, Max Payne 3, or you just like blockbuster games that play super okay, but are an overall letdown.
I've watched alot of movies and read alot of books my friends. Max Payne's 3 story is crap compared to most. I know it's hard writing for interactive media, but this is just bad. They do better off sticking to good spoof B movies like Bad Ass, Machete, Grind House, you know, that kind of stuff that's good pulpy fiction with the charm of an old voiced over kung-fu flick. Maybe Max Payne 4 will get it right.
amirohossein
Kryptonbornsonits funny. you are talking like you played a better game before tell us if there is any :D
its the top level of games nowadays
max payne 3 is the best for its own class
and i dont say its best its story is not strong like before but everything else is so good i know there was something good too but just look at it and dont compare it with games like cod and you should support creaters of this art and thank them for this because if they dont make such this games we dont have any thing good for playing
awww man open your eyes because it doesnt satisfied you, you came here and write something like this u dont like this dont play it
fearless_alive
Kryptonbornson Don't compare to story to books. For one an action game doesn't have to have a really deep story. You get a basic story of a sort to take the action and here the story is really about knowing Max a bit more. Yeah it's a blockbuster game. But it's a really good one. All the hype was worth it. There were bigger letdowns than Max Payne 3. I was expecting something way worse, considering a new studio made the game. It turned out to be good and it's challenging on higher difficulty. The end of the line is, it's really good.
Kryptonbornson
amirohossein Name a game that isn't better than Max Payne 3. If I wasn't tired after getting off work, I'd go further...and I wouldn't stop to make sure it's a 3rd person shooter when I'm comparing. Kane & Lynch was one I mentioned that is better than Max Payne 3 in it's class, but doesn't have as good as shooting. Games are about the entire package, not about the act of pressing buttons alone. Most games are similar that way. Rage, Bulletstorm, Duke Nukem Forever, Alan Wake and Alan Wake American Nightmare, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Battlefield 3 single player and co-op, Gears of War, Space Marine...the list goes on. Max Payne 3 would be forgettable if I only rented it. I'm here to warn people not to buy it. That's all.
Kryptonbornson
fearless_alive Good for you. For people like me the mediocre action and story aren't good enough. I didn't expect much, that's why I'm not disappointed. It's not like the original two Max Payne games were best in their genre even then. They were just fun shoot-em-ups. I don't rate it much higher than Red Dead Revolver, which was also better than critics rated it. I'm just warning people not to waste their $60 on a mediocre title--at the very least lower their expectations.
amirohossein
Kryptonbornson oh god oh god :D
i don't believe it its so sad .
kane & lynch ?
i don't know what else to say
Kryptonbornson
amirohossein Have you played Kane & Lynch? It gives the overall impression of, it's not that bad. Max Payne 3 is doesn't give me that impression. It's slightly worse.
dragonlance1989
Kryptonbornson At first I thought you're the hard to please type. But then, you put in Kane&Lynch.
Then I guess you're the type that just has a "thing" for certain things (Kane&Lynch) and ... not has a "thing" for certain things (MP3)
Obviously, it's your feeling and impression. However, not everyone feel the same. Personally I think Max Payne 3 is great and that Kane&Lynch doesn't come close to it in any imaginable way.
ZOD777
It is nice to see a separate review for PC for once. It seems like most multiplat games get an XBOX review and that is it. Sure the review may only differ in the 1st paragraph and a couple of other tweaks, but it is still nice to know that the PC gamer hasn't been completely ignored.
samcrow77
its sad that the pc gamer seems to on the back burner for most devs these days glad MP3 wasnt 3mths later cause to be honest i wouldnt have bothered to grab it. assassins creed brotherhood for example nov 18 ps3 xbox pc the following march = fail
Diarma10
samcrow77 I don't care, as long as it comes out for the PC.
Aufmachen
What took Gamespot so long to get this review out,behind IGN and GT?This game kinda misses the point of gloomy,oppressive theme and is half ruined by flicking glares in some locales.the other half is still a great game
Whitebloodsun
Aufmachen
"This game kinda misses the point of gloomy,oppressive theme and is half ruined by flicking glares in some locales."
I'm totally agree with this.
xerxes1979
this game started the new age fore futur games,thank you rock star,max payne i looooooooooooooooooove you.
LordRork
This is a good game, but not as good as the first two. The regular cutscenes are irritating, the difficulty is sometimes badly out of whack, and the cover mechanic takes away some of Max's crazy cinematic heroism.
Regardless, the story and voice acting kept me playing. The graphics are great and, despite Rockstar's history with PC games, runs well.
Succumbus
CaptainSofa You're looking at the wrong aspects then. That's like saying Starcraft II is very forgettable because all you do is build bases up/amass your army/attack and strategize. You need to look into the corners that make Max Payne 3 great. Awesome voice acting, graphics aren't half bad, interesting and innovative art style, great soundtrack, even the characters have distinct personalities.
Don't let yourself grind away at bad aspects in certain games when they have other aspects that stand out in a much larger repose.
smkfreak
CaptainSofa WOW! You actually used the cover system??? must be a Max Payne noob... I finished the game the first play through, on hard, without using it!!! takes all the challenge and fun out of the game....Contrary to the review I found the shootdodge to be very effective ,the only thing that bothered me on hard mode, was that if you got shot to death and still had painkillers, you got one more chance and went into that slow motion falling, with the ability to kill the dude that last shot you...thus bringing you back to life...but lying down...it really annoyed me....HOWEVER once the game was finished and i got OLD SCHOOL MODE that ability was gone and I'm enjoying the heck out of the game..i just wish i could have played it on old school from the begining...I shoot heads not hide behind cover!
brain20035
great review. way to go Carolyn
Mehrdadmaskull
why isn't there a GRAPHICS emblem? dude, I hope u guys didn't play this on XBOX and review it for that, just like GT does....
MrShtirlic
the best games.
IamNick2k11
I miss the feeling of the first to Max paynes. This is a Max payne game and the shooting is fantastic but they sure did forget to include the main things from the first 2.1.Comic book style story telling should of been there still2.Trippy scenarios should still be there at the end of each chapter3.Missions like the fair ground in Max payne 2 should be there4.Max says Mona was a mistake.. Is that all you have to say Max, all of the first 2 games doing what ya doing and it was a MISTAKE? Dude, that's just a big No. no,5.The random Tv programs should of still popped up frequently6.Less Stranglehold gameplay more Max payne gameplay and over all feelBUT this game is an amazing shooter :) and I played it to the very end in a day, but boy did they miss the point.
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