RSS Feeds NGN on Facebook NGN on Twitter NGN on YouTube
Friday March 29, 2024
Header logo
  1. Index
  2. » Articles
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Max Payne 3

Max Payne 3 Review

One thing you could count on: you push a man too far, and sooner or later he'd start pushing back

Posted by on
The presentation in Max Payne 3 has been revamped, but not without some hitches. Gone are the series staples comic book cutscenes, instead replaced by in-engine cinematics. The visuals and most animations are decent here, and the developers tried to replicate some of the original aesthetic by adding a dizzying filter to most of the scenes as well as text overlays. The text looks OK, but the screen tearing/duplication effects really don’t work, instead growing to annoy you with time. It starts off reasonably, but by the time our hero has a clear (and bald) head, there was no reason to keep these effects going. Another notable issue lies with sound during cutscenes - which can inexplicably disappear, requiring you to load an older checkpoint in order to enjoy important bits of the story. 
 
Max Payne 3
 
Max’s original voice actor James McCaffrey is once again present, and he is able to pull off both dramatic internal monologues and screaming at enemies at the top of his lungs. The said dialogue though is nothing out of the ordinary, and lacks much of the self-aware comedy that underlined the original games. There are still some good one-liners here, but the memorable quote status is never reached. In fact, and again I am starting to repeat myself, the dialogue works great alongside the action when it’s all-out mayhem, without attempts to reflect on Max’s past or throw in another flat self-degrading comment.
 
In addition to the campaign, Max Payne 3 features a couple of arcade modes. Classic New York Minute returns and once again challenges you to complete each level before time runs out, with kills adding a few precious seconds to the clock. Meanwhile Score Attack rewards players for performing specific shots or kills, including racking up multipliers. All of your results from these modes are tallied and can be compared on leaderboards via the Social Club. Both arcade modes provide quick action and a reason to play through the game’s campaign again.
 
Max Payne 3
 
For the first time in the franchise, the game has some solid multiplayer options as well. The gameplay mechanics of using cover and carrying a limited number of weapons remain unchanged, included alongside some online-specific tweaks for up to 16 players per match. Players earn XP and cash to unlock/buy new weapons, characters, and special perks called Bursts. Bursts offer special abilities to players, including cool ideas like appearing as a teammate to enemies, seeing the map more clearly, and even Bullet time. Rockstar Games have managed to make this special mechanic work online, by implementing it via line of sight. It works wonderfully well, but sometimes you can get sucked into bullet time from across the map if the engaging player sees even a tiny portion of your body, which can be a disadvantage to your own nearby firefight.
 
 
Comments
Max Payne 3
Max Payne 3 box art Platform:
PlayStation 3
Our Review of Max Payne 3
78%
Good
The Verdict:
Game Ranking
Max Payne 3 is ranked #595 out of 1957 total reviewed games. It is ranked #57 out of 145 games reviewed in 2012.
594. Blur
PC
595. Max Payne 3
Related Games
Max Payne 2 Max Payne 2
Platform: PC
Released: October 2003
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Max Payne Max Payne
Platform: PC
Released: July 2001
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Screenshots

Max Payne 3
14 images added Apr 13, 2012 22:57
Videos
Max Payne 3 - First Trailer
Posted: Sep 15, 2011 01:15
Max Payne 3 - Design and Technology T...
Posted: Nov 20, 2011 14:31
Max Payne 3 - Weapons Trailer
Posted: Jan 21, 2012 23:40
Advertisement ▼
New Game Network NGN Facebook NGN Twitter NGN Youtube NGN RSS