Max Payne 3

 PC
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3066 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,142 out of 3066
  2. Mixed: 604 out of 3066
  3. Negative: 320 out of 3066
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  1. Knudsen
    Jun 20, 2012
    6
    I bought this game on steam and completed the storyline in less than 13 hours of gameplay. Ridiculously disappointing. The storyline didnt even come close to matching the first or the second game. The controls were also off and very annoying for me at times. Max will sometimes run at regular pace even while aiming which throws me off completely. And instead of using bullet time just aboutI bought this game on steam and completed the storyline in less than 13 hours of gameplay. Ridiculously disappointing. The storyline didnt even come close to matching the first or the second game. The controls were also off and very annoying for me at times. Max will sometimes run at regular pace even while aiming which throws me off completely. And instead of using bullet time just about anytime you want you stick to taking cover over half the time. I have no interest in doing the time attack, new york minute, or multiplayer modes. Definitely not a game that's worth 60 bucks. I bought it because of the old max paynes and this one definitely does nothing to live up to those standards.… Expand
  2. ns0l
    Oct 1, 2013
    5
    This game made a big fuss before its release. And after it is released I waited about a month to buy it until I checked the success well, then I bought it. I run the game and I started to play. At first I've found nothing interesting. I said maybe it's just the beginning, the game will improve in the next chapter. so I played for another hour. Still nothing, nothing impressing or new,This game made a big fuss before its release. And after it is released I waited about a month to buy it until I checked the success well, then I bought it. I run the game and I started to play. At first I've found nothing interesting. I said maybe it's just the beginning, the game will improve in the next chapter. so I played for another hour. Still nothing, nothing impressing or new, nothing unique. I finally realised that the whole game is big failure. Rockstar earned large profits from this game due to the older versions, but also lost the confidence of many fans. That's my own opinion, and I totally disagree with the critics. I do not know what really impressed them in this toy.… Expand
  3. Notger
    Jun 21, 2012
    5
    Nice graphics, nice cutscenes, very good voice-acting, but the shooting somehow lacks and the situations seem artifical and set up. All in all, half-way through, it begins to become boring and veeeery predictable.
  4. peaco110
    Jun 6, 2012
    6
    As a big fan of the original Max Payne games and Rockstar games in general, I had high hopes for the latest incarnation. The game does live up to some of its promises. Graphics are excellent, supporting DX11 and runs smoothly at full settings on a year old rig. The storyline is well written, although somewhat hackneyed at times.

    However, the single player game is fraught with annoyances    As a big fan of the original Max Payne games and Rockstar games in general, I had high hopes for the latest incarnation. The game does live up to some of its promises. Graphics are excellent, supporting DX11 and runs smoothly at full settings on a year old rig. The storyline is well written, although somewhat hackneyed at times.

    However, the single player game is fraught with annoyances which get in the way of the journey. Short gameplay sequences are broken up with long cut scenes, which are almost entirely unskippable. The game claims the game is 'still loading' for the nearly 10 minute scenes between levels. This is despite a save game loading in less than 10 seconds. This is not a problem on the first play through a level, but is a major problem if you are into replaying chapters for collectibles.

    The game frequently takes control, or slows you down just to open a door, in places that could easily have been played out in real time. To make matters worse, the game often will take control and move you through a door (while locks behind you inexplicably) before you have had time to search the level for hidden collectibles. In one sequence that comes to mind, the game makes you walk slowly though an area which has no enemies, yet there is no reason why you can't run.

    Often after a short cut-scene, you will be placed in a compromised position facing multiple enemies. The game also has a habit of switching your main rifle or shotgun to a sidearm at the same time to make life more awkward at the same time. Max also seems to have forgotten how to sling a shoulder weapon, as he must drop any large weapons to dual wield his sidearms. While this may be a tip to realism (nobody in Max Payne 3 can't afford a $5 sling it seems), it removes the old ability of being able to choose a weapon at will that was present in the original titles.

    For a game which has so many cutscenes, it often will provide a sidekick nearby which /*constantly*/ will be telling you to get a move on. Often they will run off and get killed while you search for clues or gun parts.

    To make matters worse, i have twice now been forced to replay sections because the game has mysteriously forgotton the progress I had made in the game. I believe this is because I 'continued' a previous game by using 'chapter select' to replay the chapter before the one I was on and just playing on. Be warned, if you do this the game will not unlock chapters properly. Make sure you finish the entire game before replaying any chapters.

    Overall, the graphics are good, and gameplay is often well done, but the game seems intent on constantly reminding you that it is in control and it will make you play the game how it wants, not how you want. Giving you more control would have made this a 7, but the game provides just too many frustrations. The Rockstar QA team must have gone on holiday for this release...    … Expand
  5. unlimitednk
    Jun 21, 2012
    7
    After I finished the game, I tried to play it one more time....
    ...but then....
    ..... I got frustrated like hell..
    because I had to watch the long cutscenes again and again..
    I tried to skip them but I couldnt skip them most of the time
  6. Lordgrey
    Jun 4, 2012
    5
    Primitive graphics, stupid AI, scripts-scripts-scripts...this is dumb console trash. Not my favor good old Max Payne. Rockstar kill the great saga and morfe it into the ordinary pop-action.
  7. lucidanarchy
    Jun 1, 2012
    5
    I am rather confused with this title as I thought I bought a game and not a movie? When I get to play the game its good but its truely annoying when you sit watching cutscenes which never end and suddenly transition into the typical Max Payne jump, and you go oh gosh I am supposed to play now.
  8. Kaaristu
    Mar 15, 2013
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The single player campaign wow'd me originally, mainly because of the graphics but as the game went on it because more a nuisance because you die so many times even on normal... there's no content after you beat the single player besides 'arcade mode' which is basically trying to compete with nobody since the score is so ridiculously high... well that sucks.

    The multiplayer is so dumb because everyone starts out with ridiculously better weapons than you since they've been playing since release or something, and the melee feature is so overpowered and annoying that's one of the main reasons the multiplayer isn't fun for me.    … Expand
  9. Aeryx
    Apr 18, 2014
    5
    Been a big fan of the first 2 Max Payne games so when this went out I was excited... until the mixed reviews came out and decided to wait for a Steam sale. It came and got this for for $5.

    Holy **** It's far from the original and 'far' as downwards kind of 'far'. I don't know what Rockstar was thinking but Max has been turned into an gun-crazy GTA-style idiot. He always goes for the    Been a big fan of the first 2 Max Payne games so when this went out I was excited... until the mixed reviews came out and decided to wait for a Steam sale. It came and got this for for $5.

    Holy **** It's far from the original and 'far' as downwards kind of 'far'. I don't know what Rockstar was thinking but Max has been turned into an gun-crazy GTA-style idiot. He always goes for the crazy idiot gunfight approach. The bad guy is in a police station? Charge into the police station with guns in open armpit holsters in broad daylight through the front **** door! Trying to hide from the bad police guys? Run to the bus station and shoot everyone that follows! Trying to find the gang leader? Charge into their town with guns hanging from your holsters and start shooting everyone! The bad guy is in the airport? Charge through the front door and shoot everyone! Why not just go for a sniper rifle and wait for the bad guy to be less protected? No because that is gay! It feels so Grand Theft Auto bombastic testosterone crazy! Always goes for the stupidest cover! Kick down the door into a room full of bad guys and he goes for what? The metal trash can? The corner wall? The ledge? No! He goes for the **** standing suitcase as cover! Always goes for the flimsiest cover all the time! He tries to sneak in cinematics but always gets the enemies to see him and start attacking! **** STUPID! Also no dark brooding environments! The only thing this game has that is impressive is the dialog Max Payne makes when talking to the himself! All the other characters are stupid and behave like morons! What a shameless game! If you like stupid shooters super devoid of common sense this is for you!    … Expand
  10. SeverityOne
    Jan 5, 2013
    5
    First, let's talk about the good, because there is actually quite a lot of good in this game. For one thing, the surroundings look absolutely gorgeous. The character models are done really well, too. It's like you're looking at a film... and that's the game greatest weakness: it's treated like a film. It's been mentioned before, but the amount and length of cut scenes is truly bizarre.First, let's talk about the good, because there is actually quite a lot of good in this game. For one thing, the surroundings look absolutely gorgeous. The character models are done really well, too. It's like you're looking at a film... and that's the game greatest weakness: it's treated like a film. It's been mentioned before, but the amount and length of cut scenes is truly bizarre. Come on, Half Life 1, which is rapidly reaching the 15 year mark, did storytelling better. But even with all those cut scenes, and with having to replay certain parts over and over, the game is remarkably short. That's the second gripe.

    But it doesn't end there, unfortunately. Whilst the character models are great, animation is sometimes wooden. For some things, it's obvious that motion capture has been used, which makes the non-motion capture animation stand out even more. And the facial animation is possibly worse. There doesn't really seem to be any, despite what's claimed in the credits. It's like everybody has a bad case of botox or Parkinson's disease.

    The game play is generally good, but there are some really obnoxious elements, especially when your health reaches 0. In that case, you use a painkiller, and you automatically go into some sort of slow-motion and aim at the one who shot you. But what if your need to reload at exactly that moment? Yup: you die, but it takes easily five seconds of slow motion where you already the outcome, and you can't skip it or restart from a checkpoint during that period.

    Worse: Max automatically takes the #1 slot weapon, so if you have a pistol and an assault rifle, you have to change back to your rifle every time you need to replay a certain scene. And there are quite a few of those instances. That is, if Max hasn't decided to ditch that assault rifle in between two scenes for absolutely no reason.

    Finally, I don't really care about Max' problems. Maybe some characters like Gordon Freeman don't talk enough, but Max just won't shut up, Yes, we all know that he drinks too much and uses too many painkillers, but does he really have to say so every second time he picks up pills? Not to mention, all the clichés that have been beaten to death.

    What's left is a game, for want of a better word, that looks absolutely fantastic, but leaves you feeling empty. You end up not caring for any of the characters, including Max, and once you strip the gloss (and those incessant cut scenes), there's very little left.    … Expand
  11. mneedes
    Feb 13, 2013
    5
    The graphics look good, the voice acting was good and the story was decent although I was only able to stomach about 75% of the game before I stopped playing, so I can't comment about the ending. While the first 10 interactive shooting scenes were fun, there was nothing to break up the monotony except for the endless movie cut-scenes or the hunt for the silly golden guns. TheThe graphics look good, the voice acting was good and the story was decent although I was only able to stomach about 75% of the game before I stopped playing, so I can't comment about the ending. While the first 10 interactive shooting scenes were fun, there was nothing to break up the monotony except for the endless movie cut-scenes or the hunt for the silly golden guns. The slow-motion effects got so nauseatingly repetitious that I uninstalled the game. Since the game is tightly woven with the story I'll forgive the single-threaded nature of the game but the boring game-play killed it for me.… Expand
  12. Rebelsoul
    Mar 14, 2013
    5
    I've read some reviews before I bought the game, and they all said it was a good port, that Rockstar made a good job... well, I disagree. How can you call it a good port when you have to hit Enter, which is located away from both hands in an action game with mouse aiming, to do a lot of things? That's the worst choice, really. There are a lot of cutscenes, I mean, really... A LOT. WhenI've read some reviews before I bought the game, and they all said it was a good port, that Rockstar made a good job... well, I disagree. How can you call it a good port when you have to hit Enter, which is located away from both hands in an action game with mouse aiming, to do a lot of things? That's the worst choice, really. There are a lot of cutscenes, I mean, really... A LOT. When they say you spend most of your time watching things happen than playing, they are not kidding. But that's ok, no big deal, it's a way to tell the story... but what makes me really mad about it is that they placed some checkpoints BEFORE some cutscenes. Not long cutscenes, but when you watch the same damn thing 10 times, you get pretty upset. I mentioned the story, which was absolutely great in the first game. This one? What a joke. Max adventures in Brazil are very cliché, and since I'm actually from Brazil, it bothers me even more that it's all wrong. Galatians F. C.? What the If you can't put the team's name for licensing issues, please come up with some name in Portuguese, not a generic american soccer team name. Gameplay is frustrating in the beginning, it took me like 2 hours to really get used to it. After you learn how to deal with the AI and the mechanics, it's not bad at all, kinda funny the bullet time, jumping slow-mo, kill cams, etc. The graphics are good (for a console port anyway). But honestly, I expected much more from this game. Oh, I almost forgot! I bought it on Steam, but to actually play it, I had to create a Rockstar Social Club account and login into it every time.… Expand
  13. cspectre
    Nov 23, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is essentially a series of cutscenes with some player interaction in between, not the other way around. In one part for example, you leave a cutscene, walk about 20 metres very slowly with nothing happening around you and enter another cutscene. Why even bother. Why not just make the whole game a cutscene and be done with it. Too often, the cutscenes end with no real signs that you have control and you watch yourself die in various ways before thinking "Oh. I had control there did I?".

    The combat is good, but its not Max Payne, more generic cover based 3rd person combat (think GTA4) but with slow motion button. Shootdodge is generally suicide due to the open environments of the game. The crosshair is very small, as in the previous games. The difference is the cross hair doesnt show when you're in cover, so when you jump up to shoot, you have to wait for it to appear.

    The game also has a tendency to choose the wrong camera angle for the corner at hand so the enemy can see you before you see them. This can be rectified but requires going into cover at various angles to get it to change. If you activate slow motion, the enemies start shooting before you even leave cover. Literally as soon as you toggle slow motion, they start shooting. If you have an assault rifle out and enter a cutscene, you will probably leave the cutscene with that pistol you have with no ammo and you probably "dropped" the assault rifle somewhere as you no longer have it. If you're in good cover during a cutscene, you can be sure that Max will run out into the middle of the enemies before giving you back control and allowing you to run straight back to the cover you were just in.

    Moving on to the story, its just frustrating. The game makes all the important decisions for you, and in almost every case Max just does something absolutely stupid. For example, running out from good cover into the middle of a room full of enemies and hiding behind some suitcases. If you want a game where you are essentially the damage control for your characters endless stupid decisions, this is it.

    The game scores 5 in my opinion because when it works its good fun, but its let down far to frequently by just pure irritation.    … Expand
  14. Xafur
    Apr 27, 2013
    6
    While I enjoyed the experience the main problem was the aiming system and the re-appearance of things I had just blew up 5 seconds ago. The game play is sluggish compared other 3rd person shooters and they failed to keep it up with the other max payne games. The whole bodyguard thing doesnt suit the persona of the guy from the original 1 and 2 games too. Feels more like a marketing guysWhile I enjoyed the experience the main problem was the aiming system and the re-appearance of things I had just blew up 5 seconds ago. The game play is sluggish compared other 3rd person shooters and they failed to keep it up with the other max payne games. The whole bodyguard thing doesnt suit the persona of the guy from the original 1 and 2 games too. Feels more like a marketing guys idea because Spec: Ops The Line came out.… Expand
  15. Osmium
    Jul 30, 2013
    6
    A huge disappointment to me. Has nothing to do with Max Payne 1 or 2, which are both way better third person shooters, with much better atmosphere and gameplay. This game however sometimes felt more like an interactive movie than an actual videogame. If I wanted to watch an action movie, I will watch one on TV. If I want to play videogames, please let me play. This "game" simply does notA huge disappointment to me. Has nothing to do with Max Payne 1 or 2, which are both way better third person shooters, with much better atmosphere and gameplay. This game however sometimes felt more like an interactive movie than an actual videogame. If I wanted to watch an action movie, I will watch one on TV. If I want to play videogames, please let me play. This "game" simply does not let you do that. In some situations you watch a three-minute cutscene, are handed over controls for less than two minutes, and then watch another two to three minute cutscene. Also, I found the difficulty level of this game to be totally unbalanced (ridiculously easy in some parts, very frustrating in others). Somehow not what I had expected. A decent game as it stands for itself, but no match whatsoever for the first two Max Payne games.… Expand
  16. Dyscivist
    Aug 4, 2013
    6
    There's no denying that the core gameplay is solid and the game plays fun and fluid, for the most part. The problem is that the atmosphere and story was a big part of what made people love the original Max Payne, and it's just not there in this game, I'm sorry to say. The constant cutscenes are also annoying, especially when you have to sit through a story that to my estimation doesn'tThere's no denying that the core gameplay is solid and the game plays fun and fluid, for the most part. The problem is that the atmosphere and story was a big part of what made people love the original Max Payne, and it's just not there in this game, I'm sorry to say. The constant cutscenes are also annoying, especially when you have to sit through a story that to my estimation doesn't even attempt to capture any of what made the story of the original game in the series compelling.… Expand
  17. gietek
    Mar 31, 2014
    5
    Fairly good as a game, greatly disappointing as Max Payne. Stripped out of comic story telling and chronology. Instead we have inhumanely long and boring cutscenes, achievements and collectibles.
    This leads to situations like this: the person you're protecting from tens of enemies says "Come on Max, they'll be more here in a minute!" and you're like "Ok ok, hang on a minute, there might    Fairly good as a game, greatly disappointing as Max Payne. Stripped out of comic story telling and chronology. Instead we have inhumanely long and boring cutscenes, achievements and collectibles.
    This leads to situations like this: the person you're protecting from tens of enemies says "Come on Max, they'll be more here in a minute!" and you're like "Ok ok, hang on a minute, there might be a gun part in between these flower pots".
    Immensely annoying swapping weapons to your hand gun after EVERY FREAKING cutscene.
    The story is of a different kind. It doesn't feel like you're playing Max Payne at all.
    The constant screen flickering, decomposing and jittering is unnecessary and sometimes irritating too.
    Took me 9 hours on 'casual' and I absolutely suck at shooters.    … Expand
  18. gamesgonewild
    Mar 22, 2014
    6
    I bought this game on the strength of the last games, and I have to say i'm disappointed with the third.

    Pros: Great Graphics : Sometimes the dialogue can be entertaining cons: Have you seen how many pros there are! : Story line was predictable and basic, it must have taken them 5min to write : mechanics were a joke! You think that when a big game company like Rock star makes    I bought this game on the strength of the last games, and I have to say i'm disappointed with the third.

    Pros: Great Graphics
    : Sometimes the dialogue can be entertaining

    cons: Have you seen how many pros there are!
    : Story line was predictable and basic, it must have taken them 5min to write
    : mechanics were a joke!

    You think that when a big game company like Rock star makes a game (which is basically on rails, i.e go to this room then this room then down this corridor) they would have put more effort in on the story, and the game-play, but they never.

    One of the most irritating points in the game, was whenever it went to a cut-scene, (which in total must be the length of a feature length movie) it swapped my current weapon for the pistol, so while ive been collecting bullets for my assault rifle like a stupid idiot, Max decides to forget all that hard work and instead equip my basic pistol when faced with an army of bad guys! why!!!!

    They also added some disorientation to nearly every frame of the game which just got annoying towards the end.

    Only buy in a steam sale.    … Expand
  19. TheLagbringer
    Feb 1, 2014
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. An alternative name for this game would be "Linear Tales of a Frantic Headshooter". I've never played a more linear and stereotype game. Basically you only watch cutscenes and headshot enemies. Even the shooting and gameplay gets old quite fast. I was also extremely sick of the depressed over-emotional superhuman that Max Payne had become. No deep and meaningful thoughts or revenge to follow. Zero atmosphere, zero detective, zero immersion, only 24/7 whining over everything that happens in the game. Plus it's a brand new world, I was hoping that this game would bring up my memories from old Max Payne. Michelle, dark noir, flashbacks, the feels, the nightmares, the junkies, the story, snowing in the night. Nope, none of it. If you changed Max Payne object for some John Smith and changed 0.1% of the game, you would not even recognize it has to do something with Max Payne world.

    Also, I don't think the creators have played this game. After every cutscene Max switches from his whatever currently equipped to a simple beretta. Every time. Whatever you are holding, even it was the HUMAN DESTROYER MACHINE GUN 9001. And it is not even easy to switch back to the gun you held, sometimes you accidentally drop it during the switching. Not to mention many, many, many details and imperfections and annoying mechanics in this game, seriously ffs.

    I must say I wanted to recommend this game. For a long time I really wanted, I tried very hard. The only thing that wanted me to recommend were level design and music. Hell those things gave me genuine shivers. I got many "whoa omg wow much epic" moments because of it. It is the only reason why you should play it and trust me you will be stunned. However everything else perfectly balances out this epicness and I'm afraid in the end you are not going to be that pleased.    … Expand
  20. Hackattaque
    Oct 12, 2016
    7
    This game starts off SO promisingly: Great production values, great soundtrack, great graphics and great setting. So far, so Rockstar. But once you're about a third into the game, the flaws start to really reveal themselves.

    Despite the varied environments the game throws at you (nightclub, favela, dockyards) the basic gameplay just gets very repetitive very quickly. Cover, aim, shoot    This game starts off SO promisingly: Great production values, great soundtrack, great graphics and great setting. So far, so Rockstar. But once you're about a third into the game, the flaws start to really reveal themselves.

    Despite the varied environments the game throws at you (nightclub, favela, dockyards) the basic gameplay just gets very repetitive very quickly. Cover, aim, shoot -- over and over again. Worse, even if you try and shake things up by shoot-dodging and running from cover to cover, the game will sometimes punish you with an instant death -- so you'll have no incentive to use the game's most interesting mechanics. Yes, there are some great occasional set-pieces (the office block siege!) but the levels are often dragged out way longer than necessary. The game's weird obsession with forcing you to use a pistol a lot of the time doesn't help.

    None of this would matter if the story and script were top-notch but to be honest the plot is way too convoluted and the characters so unlikeable that you never feel much emotional connection with what's going on. It all feels like a character arc from GTA V -- minus the driving and sense of humor. Fun for a bit but no classic.    … Expand
  21. Minigun
    Jan 11, 2013
    5
    The first word that comes to my mind when describing the game: mediocre. I just finished playing on hard difficulty level. I was just a kid when the first Max Payne came out, but I did play it again at a later time also. It was not that polished, but still an enjoyable experience. Max Payne 2 on the other hand was spectacular. The action was flawless, shooting was really fun and the storyThe first word that comes to my mind when describing the game: mediocre. I just finished playing on hard difficulty level. I was just a kid when the first Max Payne came out, but I did play it again at a later time also. It was not that polished, but still an enjoyable experience. Max Payne 2 on the other hand was spectacular. The action was flawless, shooting was really fun and the story went on smoothly. I did not expect this third installment to be a masterpiece like the previous one, but I still did expect an enjoyable piece of action. Luckily, I got it from Steam sale and did not pay full price.

    The narration was repetitive and did not do really anything to move the plot. Cut scenes were really annoying, not only stopping any shooting action you might have had going on, but also putting you to some stupid starting position for the next fight. If you played Deus Ex: Human Revolution stealthily and were screaming during the first boss fight, that is the feeling you will be often having playing Max Payne 3.

    Controls were frustrating at times. The cover system is flawed as changing cover (by diving jump for example) is impossible, you always have to exit your current cover first and risk getting shot. Luck is heavily involved in most of the firefights, especially if you have to change cover (because the scripted nature of the game forces you to). I did not have problems getting head shots, but sometimes one bullet just was not enough and when there are more than five guys shooting at you, you need lots of painkillers to even try those head shots. Painkillers, or luck, or preferably both. Some scenes were incredibly frustrating and required many tries just to learn by heart from where and when the next enemy was going to appear. It happened too often that there were still one or two enemies standing, I had no ammo left, my health was almost gone and without painkillers, I had to make a run for the nearest weapon, exiting my cover. At that point, it was simply a matter of luck whether I made it or was shot. And usually it was the latter, which really was not fun after certain amount of retries. Even after succeeding, you did not get any enjoyment from an exciting firefight, you only felt you were glad it was over. The point of painkillers was simply that, given enough retries, you could make it to the next checkpoint. In the previous games, having lots of painkillers enabled one to try out some imaginative ways of dealing with the enemies, resulting in more fun; having no painkillers forced one to play it safe. Here, it is just pure luck and eventually you will run out of it, painkillers or not.

    The game also has good points, however. The graphics and sounds are fine, if nothing spectacular. A few scenes and even one or two cutscenes were genuinely fun. The game mechanics are simple enough that having all those weapon select wheels etc. from the console world did not distract too much. During my over ten-hour run, the game crashed just a couple of times. Still, I feel like cutting all the boring levels, dropping all the unnecessary cut-scenes and fixing a couple of frustrating firefights, the game would have been five hours at max a ride, but hugely more enjoyable. I would not recommend this, at least not with the hard difficulty level. Instead, try out Max Payne 2 if you fancy some nice shooting action.    … Expand
  22. dklingen
    Nov 27, 2012
    5
    The good: I got it on the Steam sale for $14.99 and the gun play can be fun.

    The bad: the amount of cut scenes is maddening. When people say shoot for a moment, cut scene, repeat they are not kidding - it gets old fast. The horrible: they keep doing out of focus and disorienting colors/perspective constantly - this eventually gave me a serious headache. I don't know if I have the    The good: I got it on the Steam sale for $14.99 and the gun play can be fun.

    The bad: the amount of cut scenes is maddening. When people say shoot for a moment, cut scene, repeat they are not kidding - it gets old fast.

    The horrible: they keep doing out of focus and disorienting colors/perspective constantly - this eventually gave me a serious headache. I don't know if I have the will power to go on...

    The ridiculous: kidnap one person and thousands must die (it might make sense by the end...I doubt it).    … Expand
  23. 176-761
    Jan 30, 2013
    6
    Positive things are nice graphics, movie-like gaming experience and quite ok storyline. Negative things are that cutscenes may start even if you don't want to proceed on level yet (no warning) and ALWAYS after cutscene Max changes his rifle to pistol, which is...aaaargh! At it's worst, Max Payne 3 is continous repeat of itself: walk-shoot-cutscene-walk-shoot-cutscene (boring!), mixed withPositive things are nice graphics, movie-like gaming experience and quite ok storyline. Negative things are that cutscenes may start even if you don't want to proceed on level yet (no warning) and ALWAYS after cutscene Max changes his rifle to pistol, which is...aaaargh! At it's worst, Max Payne 3 is continous repeat of itself: walk-shoot-cutscene-walk-shoot-cutscene (boring!), mixed with average storyline. As a whole, this game ain't nothing new or special, just a shooter with slow-motion and nice graphics.… Expand
  24. LT1derland
    Jan 15, 2013
    5
    Looks great, fluid movement from the characters and the environment is attractive and fun to explore. Action is fast paced and fun, the seamless load screen/cut scene makes it hard to put the game down, however, drag the experience down from the empty and poorly written story line that you can't skip through. This is not Max Payne either, Max was a ruthless emotionless man with nothing toLooks great, fluid movement from the characters and the environment is attractive and fun to explore. Action is fast paced and fun, the seamless load screen/cut scene makes it hard to put the game down, however, drag the experience down from the empty and poorly written story line that you can't skip through. This is not Max Payne either, Max was a ruthless emotionless man with nothing to lose, now he's a overly dramatic cry baby. The story and writing was so beautifully done in the first two games but unfortunately this falls well short and make you feel embarrassed for the clumsy misguided "max payne". Great game with a lot going for it, just not as Max Payne.… Expand
  25. Phix105
    Jul 1, 2012
    5
    I had to laugh at all the 10's. Rockstar had all their employee's, friends and relatives write reviews. I loved Max Payne 1 & 2 but this is crap, for all the reasons listed in the other reviews. I like to play a game not watch it. Do yourself a favor and wait till the price drops if you just have to have it. It won't hurt as bad when you find out what I'm telling you is true. Take all theI had to laugh at all the 10's. Rockstar had all their employee's, friends and relatives write reviews. I loved Max Payne 1 & 2 but this is crap, for all the reasons listed in the other reviews. I like to play a game not watch it. Do yourself a favor and wait till the price drops if you just have to have it. It won't hurt as bad when you find out what I'm telling you is true. Take all the 10's, 0's and 1's out and you will get a good idea of a correct score… Expand
  26. TheGrindeR
    Jul 10, 2012
    5
    The worst Max Payne ever made. Graphics, sounds and the storyline are okay. But the gameplay horrible. A lot of cutscene are we really want this? Of coure no. When i play as Max Payne i don't want to take cover, because Max no need cover. And the last stand the worst in this game. A lots of time i can't shoot the man because something hide the enemy or no ammo in my weapon and i die. ThisThe worst Max Payne ever made. Graphics, sounds and the storyline are okay. But the gameplay horrible. A lot of cutscene are we really want this? Of coure no. When i play as Max Payne i don't want to take cover, because Max no need cover. And the last stand the worst in this game. A lots of time i can't shoot the man because something hide the enemy or no ammo in my weapon and i die. This game 60-70% cutscene and 30-40% gameplay. Every 1-3 minutes cutscene and this is a fu**ing joke. And a lot of cutscene endings i found myself a bad cover and the enemies shooting at me. Every cutscene endings the game change my weapon to a pistol and it's also horrible. Looks like a console port, you can change a lot of graphics option but the gameplay and these bad things in this game because of console for ex. the cover because of noob console players who need a cover to not die.… Expand
  27. dryerlaw
    Jun 18, 2012
    6
    PROS: ()Good story and voice-acting; the game still retains its personality like the previous games, () Great and realistic graphics, although the design could've been more inspiring, () Fun action. CONS: It's the small things that ruin this game. () Shootdodge is practically useless as your mouse sensitivity changes drastically making you unable to aim; Shootdodge stops once you hit aPROS: ()Good story and voice-acting; the game still retains its personality like the previous games, () Great and realistic graphics, although the design could've been more inspiring, () Fun action. CONS: It's the small things that ruin this game. () Shootdodge is practically useless as your mouse sensitivity changes drastically making you unable to aim; Shootdodge stops once you hit a wall, and there are rarely instances where you're fully out in the open without obstacles; you are also very prone after Shootdodge, still with strange sensitivity, making you much easier to be shot. () Occasional stutter, especially in the cutscenes, () Mouse sensitivity sometimes change drastically without a reason, () Game switches your weapon to sidearms every time a cutscene ends, while you are mostly put in an open gunfight directly after cutscenes; this made the action sometimes frustrating, () Can be too hard for a lot of people, even in Easy difficulty, () Many features of the game are useless; sprint only adds to your runspeed 5-10%, rolling is not too useful, many rifles to choose from but they don't feel different, () The game lacks any too satisfying moments like memorable boss fights or creative ways to kill enemies.… Expand
  28. GoodDevilTr
    Jun 23, 2012
    5
    I really like Max Payne series. One of the best. And I admire Rockstar Games' work. But HOW THE HELL THEY LET THIS HAPPEN ?! First I bought the game and played the story my jaw on the ground..It was really stunning. Then I tried Multiplayer... What the hell ?! There were hackers all over the servers, in every game.. That makes the multiplayer unplayable and annoying. I give 5 because ofI really like Max Payne series. One of the best. And I admire Rockstar Games' work. But HOW THE HELL THEY LET THIS HAPPEN ?! First I bought the game and played the story my jaw on the ground..It was really stunning. Then I tried Multiplayer... What the hell ?! There were hackers all over the servers, in every game.. That makes the multiplayer unplayable and annoying. I give 5 because of the storytelling and graphics. Rest is rubbish… Expand
  29. EddyHan
    Jul 21, 2012
    6
    I am or was the biggest Max Payne fan, but after playing 3 I can't help but point out the flaws in this game since they stick out like a soar thumb! First, it's a port. The games core design was for console gamers and with this comes a whole load of issues. The biggest issue I find in this game is the mouse control. Even with the mouse acceleration turned off it still jerks aroundI am or was the biggest Max Payne fan, but after playing 3 I can't help but point out the flaws in this game since they stick out like a soar thumb! First, it's a port. The games core design was for console gamers and with this comes a whole load of issues. The biggest issue I find in this game is the mouse control. Even with the mouse acceleration turned off it still jerks around hindering my aim! Accuracy in MP3 is so bad that the sniper rifle and other precision weapons are useless. The only effective weapon is the shotgun, but even that is crap even at close range! Aiming is practically useless not only because of the lack of control, but because aiming doesn't zoom in enough or it does zoom in, but you can't move. Talking of moving, why can't Max run!? Running involves speed and yet R* can't get that right! Even the AI can run faster than Max can! I don't even know why R* put a cover system in this game. It's clunky and sticky! The cover system always restricts my movement which is the point of the game, being mobile and dodging bullets! Talking of bullets, where was all the fancy gun physics which R* showcased in their demos? Bullets don't drop at range in this game nor do they penetrate the target like they should. The amount of times I'm denied a head shot because the NPC puts his hand in the way was too frequent as was the amount of times buckshot from the hip completely misses it's target at mid to close ranges. High calibre rounds should penetrate through limbs, even body armor! The loading times are basically covered up by cut-scenes and boy there are a lot of those. If there is anything that does this game justice it would be that the graphics are really good and the slow motion effects are good as well, but that's basically it. Everything else is either a half-arsed or complete crap! Which has really destroyed my expectations from R* and GTAV! To sum this game up; if your a Max Payne fan and you really can't keep hands away from MP3, get the CONSOLE version. The PC one is duff! The overall gameplay is restrictive. Much like what Capcom does with their games, R* had gone for an Arcade style shooter rather than the Bullet Simulator that was promised. MP3 is an all right game, but it's no where nearly as good as MP2 or even Max Payne for that matter.… Expand
  30. DOSHU
    Jul 3, 2012
    5
    Its no doubt superb game even though the game play is a bit choppy. However that is mainly due to keyboard mapping not making much sense. Game is enjoyable with game pad as well. After finishing the game on hard difficulty, I must say it is also a lengthy game. Considering it takes a whopping 26gb space with most of the dlc content, it is not shocking. Although the Max's comments are pureIts no doubt superb game even though the game play is a bit choppy. However that is mainly due to keyboard mapping not making much sense. Game is enjoyable with game pad as well. After finishing the game on hard difficulty, I must say it is also a lengthy game. Considering it takes a whopping 26gb space with most of the dlc content, it is not shocking. Although the Max's comments are pure drunken poetry in motion, majority of the time Max plays himself, almost at every event cut scenes take over and you wait as the game throws you back into the action, sometimes right as you get shot at. I cannot tell you how many times I have died while playing hard difficulty because I am looking at an awkward direction while getting shot at after cut scenes. More over, gameplay is choppy because it often decides to switch 3rd person view from one side to another, it gets you killed during forced slow motion moments and around the corners often. Not to mention diving into the direction automatically after losing health and losing sight of the enemy which you need to kill to survive, while having 5 pain killers is pure epic fail. Similar things happen when you are out of ammo, or shot in the back and you watch Max try to turn his weapon around to shoot the enemy, as you slowly fall on the ground and die. But as you get angry at the game play, before you know it there is a long cut scene which makes you forget it ever happened.

    In short, you do not play Max Payne, he plays himself. You just die here and there. If Max Payne 3 was a movie (and it sort of is) It would have pwned Max Payne the movie, hands down, the story is that good. Game play however is subpar. Good thing they hyped the game up, they will need that money when Brazil namely Sao Paolo sues them.    … Expand
  31. Babyken
    Jul 15, 2012
    5
    No big deal... boring... graphic sucks.... slo-mo for ???
    Big title... dissapointed... yeah, i play from Max Payne 1....
    but, hey, you try some others game 2012, the Cinematic, Graphic, Scene.... all are greater, higher res textures, everything render more beautifully....
  32. lovespoon
    Jun 8, 2012
    5
    for singleplayer reference only.

    its sad that the entire game feels like its scripted, it doesnt matter what you do it never feels like youre in controll of anything. for youre 60$ you get about 1 hour of play time with allot of cutscenes and movies that wil make you want to alt+f4 after a while. i cant see how people actualy compare this to the original max payne or max payne 2. the key    for singleplayer reference only.

    its sad that the entire game feels like its scripted, it doesnt matter what you do it never feels like youre in controll of anything. for youre 60$ you get about 1 hour of play time with allot of cutscenes and movies that wil make you want to alt+f4 after a while. i cant see how people actualy compare this to the original max payne or max payne 2. the key part was action + wel placed (although sometimes bad) voice over.
    the commic book story explaining things to you between mission that you could SKIP !! if you wanted didnt realy interrupt game play that much. so with max payne and max payne 2 being a score of 8. this game as a max payne would be a 5... i realy dont need another half baked muliplayer game witch wont keep me bussy for more then a week. even though bullit time in multiplayer will make it interesting it makes it a joke for anyone who actualy likes FPS multiplayer    … Expand
  33. Xue_Fang
    Jun 14, 2012
    5
    A sad shadow of Max Payne gameplay, where are you going Max? A not interesting story, the computer play at your place, 4h of videos breaking the game rythm (max open a door, max make a step, max go to piss, max is moving eyes,...) everything are subjects to a movie... So borring! 35Go on the hard drive... what the hell?! >< After 3 chapters I directly uninstalled the game because I'm notA sad shadow of Max Payne gameplay, where are you going Max? A not interesting story, the computer play at your place, 4h of videos breaking the game rythm (max open a door, max make a step, max go to piss, max is moving eyes,...) everything are subjects to a movie... So borring! 35Go on the hard drive... what the hell?! >< After 3 chapters I directly uninstalled the game because I'm not going to watch a movie during 5h, I want to play that's all! If not I would go to the nearest cinema.
    Except beautiful graphics and animating Max Payne 3 is A FAIL!    … Expand
  34. topender
    Jun 9, 2012
    5
    Was a bit underwhelmed by this game. After having so much fun playing the groundbreaking 1 and 2 this game direction seems to have moved from run/jump and kill to watch movie. then hide behind something and take pot shots at everyone. Its a good game but not the great game it should have been
  35. Anark
    Jun 20, 2012
    6
    Nice game. The core gameplay is respected, gunfight are really fun with shootdodge and level design is nicely done.

    But this game is too narrative. Too much. I prefer play than be a spectator when i plan to play. I like keep hands on avatar, open doors, climb ladders, that sort of things. Cover ? Cover is useless in Max Payne, bullet-time is his cover. This is no Gears of War. Why    Nice game. The core gameplay is respected, gunfight are really fun with shootdodge and level design is nicely done.

    But this game is too narrative. Too much. I prefer play than be a spectator when i plan to play. I like keep hands on avatar, open doors, climb ladders, that sort of things.

    Cover ? Cover is useless in Max Payne, bullet-time is his cover. This is no Gears of War.

    Why do i gain pills when i die ? Where's challenge ? Why do you push me to the credits, I want play this game, retry when i lose !

    But where is the Max Payne's dark atmosphere ? Where are dream levels ? The story is only oriented to action and vulgar (GTA inside).

    Multiplayer = no need, bad, cheaters....

    It's a pity, the core were really good...    … Expand
  36. nutcrackr
    Jun 11, 2012
    6
    If it wasn't for the obstructive cut scenes I would have probably enjoyed the game a lot more. The bullet time mechanics are slightly different and the addition of cover takes some of the the sting out of the flow. Still I really liked the shoot dodging and some of the slow motion set pieces. Difficulty spikes, a mixed multiplayer and a fairly boring story brings things down a bit further.If it wasn't for the obstructive cut scenes I would have probably enjoyed the game a lot more. The bullet time mechanics are slightly different and the addition of cover takes some of the the sting out of the flow. Still I really liked the shoot dodging and some of the slow motion set pieces. Difficulty spikes, a mixed multiplayer and a fairly boring story brings things down a bit further. The whole - here's another cut scene of Max getting drunk again - routine just ran about 4 chapters longer than it should have too. I've spent a few hours with multiplayer and while it's ok it's probably not something I'll be playing for long.… Expand
  37. naber31
    Dec 6, 2012
    6
    I played this series from the start. I am the fan of that film-noir atmosphere, so this game is definitely not one of them. It's not a bad game overall, but it is not the original Max. Nice details, nice graphics, nice cut scenes but not the one it should be. Play it for the old times sake, but you'll get a sour wtf feeling at the end for sure.
  38. frankielee
    Apr 7, 2013
    6
    tldr; an ok -sometimes good- game but i wouldn't say this is a max payne game.

    this is definitely an above-average action game. what makes this game better than it normally is max himself but it also creates a huge dissapointment. the first two was my favorite 3ps while this game feels like it could not use its potential as a max payne game. the pratagonist could have been any guy;    tldr; an ok -sometimes good- game but i wouldn't say this is a max payne game.

    this is definitely an above-average action game. what makes this game better than it normally is max himself but it also creates a huge dissapointment. the first two was my favorite 3ps while this game feels like it could not use its potential as a max payne game. the pratagonist could have been any guy; he doesn't look like max payne for most part of the game, he talks like max payne but does not sound like him (his quotes were far more better in previous games) and his purpose for nearly killing every men in their 20s in brazil is not satisfying. i read somewhere that rockstar stated that not every noir should take place in new york. well after playing the game all i can say is it should have been. the only chapters i truely enjoyed were those chapters took place in new york. yes the scenery and view was more maybe beautiful in brazil but if i wanted a ghetto or a jungle tour i wouldn't playing max payne would i. THIS GAME IS NOT A NOIR. it is an action game with a former detective.

    the game looks beautiful and i would say really optimized for pc with high frame rates and advanced graphic options. i liked the level designs with nice graphics and they didn't feel like corridors although they definitely were. i have no problem with cinematics and i think they did a nice job mixing normal cinematics with payne style comic scenes (but i always prefer old school comics of payne).

    if there will be a next max payne i really hope in the opening cinematic max would wake up in his hole in new jersey and say "i had the worst nightmare. i was in brazil."    … Expand
  39. sengork
    Nov 24, 2013
    7
    This is not Max Payne that we know from Remedy. This is GTA style Max Payne the brand name. Although glimmers of hope arise throughout playing the game one does not have the same level of aspiration for Max compared to 1 & 2. Gameplay was great, story line was OK and what they've made out of Max's character is the unacceptable bit for me. Max from 1 & 2 was someone to aspire to but in 3 heThis is not Max Payne that we know from Remedy. This is GTA style Max Payne the brand name. Although glimmers of hope arise throughout playing the game one does not have the same level of aspiration for Max compared to 1 & 2. Gameplay was great, story line was OK and what they've made out of Max's character is the unacceptable bit for me. Max from 1 & 2 was someone to aspire to but in 3 he is just a non appealing character. Just go and compare the almost poetic quotes of Max from 1 & 2 to the low grade humour he attempts in 3 and you will see what I am referring to.… Expand
  40. giovannirv25
    Jul 27, 2012
    5
    I do not recommend this game to anyone. Some reasons that comes to mind now:

    -The game was made in a completely linear, with various interactive and cut scenes between every moment of gameplay. It is poorly-balanced, so that in certain parts where you get low on ammo or painkiller. After a few attempts, you automatically receive the items in order to pass the challenge. -The addition    I do not recommend this game to anyone. Some reasons that comes to mind now:

    -The game was made in a completely linear, with various interactive and cut scenes between every moment of gameplay.
    It is poorly-balanced, so that in certain parts where you get low on ammo or painkiller. After a few attempts, you automatically receive the items in order to pass the challenge.
    -The addition of the "cover", which was made ​​the brand franchise, Bullet Time, completely useless. Not to mention that the gameplay is truncated due to an attempt to make a more realistic character movement.

    Anyway, not worth your time (and money) spent.

    OBS: Translated from Portuguese in Google Translator. Sorry!    … Expand
  41. winj3r
    Dec 2, 2012
    6
    This game has top notch voice acting, from the Brazilian thugs sound amazing to Payne's monologues, everything is of excellent quality. The graphics are good, but the hair and expressions on most characters seem very stiff and plastic.
    The game-play suffers a lot, or rather, it makes the gamer suffer a lot. The third person perspective shooting is poorly made, and frequent deaths occur    This game has top notch voice acting, from the Brazilian thugs sound amazing to Payne's monologues, everything is of excellent quality. The graphics are good, but the hair and expressions on most characters seem very stiff and plastic.
    The game-play suffers a lot, or rather, it makes the gamer suffer a lot. The third person perspective shooting is poorly made, and frequent deaths occur because of that, making the game a lot more difficult and very annoying. It is necessary to always maintain your right side clear, because you can't make transitions to a left side stance while aiming, but many times that is not possible, making you take unnecessary exposition to enemy gunfire, and getting killed. On top of that, the game is constantly changing your weapons and throwing the gamer into instant action, meaning that you will have the wrong weapon many times and again getting killed because of that. It is not understandable how a AAA game like this gets released with so many game play problems, that just break the game to a point that it is almost unplayable.    … Expand
  42. yloquen
    Jul 16, 2012
    5
    First, this isn't Max Payne - it's Gears of War, only without the good shooting and smooth controls. Second, this isn't a game - it's a movie, a machinima with short game segments thrown in. I think there isn't an uninterrupted sequence of play, longer than two minutes. And even then, you're constantly bombarded with Payne's witty musings, as if the writers were afraid you'd forget what aFirst, this isn't Max Payne - it's Gears of War, only without the good shooting and smooth controls. Second, this isn't a game - it's a movie, a machinima with short game segments thrown in. I think there isn't an uninterrupted sequence of play, longer than two minutes. And even then, you're constantly bombarded with Payne's witty musings, as if the writers were afraid you'd forget what a smartass he is ... As for the gameplay itself - it's very mediocre. I tried playing with a M/KB and gamepad and both didn… Expand
  43. BeoMauz
    Jul 9, 2012
    5
    Its an average Game.

    Why ? Well the Story is quite nice, and Max has some Bad Ass attitude but that wont wash away all the things that a re so utterly wrong with this Game. First of all the Cutscenes well they were always Special but i dont want to get Pakinson from it. Second worst is the Difficulty, i mean the enemies hit you so hard and so precisely it isnt even fun cause of    Its an average Game.

    Why ? Well the Story is quite nice, and Max has some Bad Ass attitude but that wont wash away all the things that a re so utterly wrong with this Game.

    First of all the Cutscenes well they were always Special but i dont want to get Pakinson from it.

    Second worst is the Difficulty, i mean the enemies hit you so hard and so precisely it isnt even fun cause of the lack of Painkillers.

    Third Place of **** gets the Hardware Requirements iam running an GTX680 OCed and well it sometimes laggs, even though the game looks like it was made 2-4 years ago!

    4th. Place is the Scripting it happens WAY too often that enemies spawn behind you or even better IN YOUR FACE with a Shotgun but why ? Has nobody freakin played it and watched over that ?

    5th. Place is stuff like Laserpointers they should help but they make the aiming even more freaking worse i hit a guy in the face about 32 Shots and nothing happened.

    I regret buying this game even though it got patched an i buyed it late to avoid this stuff it didnt help this Game ist NOT RECOMMENDED !    … Expand
  44. humnyar
    Jul 3, 2012
    5
    Well it's no GTA, no Red Dead, not even LA Noire. I really wanted to like this game as it's Rockstar and after seeing Edge give it a healthy 7 and IGN an impressive 9 (altho they gave Red Dead Undead and MW4 a 9...) I thought it might be better than I expected. However I'm finding it quite tedious, there's no exploration, no decision-making, no intelligence, just here's a nice setting, nowWell it's no GTA, no Red Dead, not even LA Noire. I really wanted to like this game as it's Rockstar and after seeing Edge give it a healthy 7 and IGN an impressive 9 (altho they gave Red Dead Undead and MW4 a 9...) I thought it might be better than I expected. However I'm finding it quite tedious, there's no exploration, no decision-making, no intelligence, just here's a nice setting, now shoot some bad guys, here's another nice setting, repeat. With its duck and cover system in a way it's like a beautiful and elaborate whack-a-mole, and I admit it is addictive. But after an hour or so I'm burnt out and the wobbly camera makes me feel a bit nauseous. Pros:
    - beautiful graphics and perfect animation
    - good cinematography and slick presentation
    - slo-mo shootouts are fun, the triumph probly being the matrix-style office scene where everything gets smashed up

    Cons:
    - cheesy predictable dialogue (is it meant to be? like Naked Gun?)
    - constant cut scenes seem a bit unnecessary
    - shaky camera makes you feel a bit wur after a while
    - lack of variety in gameplay, there's only ever one way of doing things
    - too linear
    - lack of intelligence overall Have played up to chapter where he's invading old hotel, can't wait to finish it so I can play something a bit more stimulating for my brain muscle rather than my index finger muscle!    … Expand
  45. Suspect1001
    Jul 9, 2012
    7
    Max Payne 3 is a fun game. It brings back that old feeling from Max Payne 1 and 2. The story is exciting and fun, but does not relate well with the later games well. This game plays like a movie, which I found to be nice and it kept me engaged in the game. The game play is very similar to the old Max Payne games so it was refreshing for me at least. I would recommend this game to peopleMax Payne 3 is a fun game. It brings back that old feeling from Max Payne 1 and 2. The story is exciting and fun, but does not relate well with the later games well. This game plays like a movie, which I found to be nice and it kept me engaged in the game. The game play is very similar to the old Max Payne games so it was refreshing for me at least. I would recommend this game to people who played the previous Max Payne's or someone who wants a story driven fps.… Expand
  46. Escherichia
    Jun 17, 2012
    7
    Very good shooter, but it does not seem like a Max Payne's game.
    You know, Max Payne wasnt just bullet time: It had a dark atmosphere, a story of personal revenge, the drug fueled nightmare levels, the witty remarks, it even had a good (albeit dark) sense of humor.
    This is just some angry dude shooting his way out of situations, why didnt Rockstar name it "Badass in Brasil" or    Very good shooter, but it does not seem like a Max Payne's game.
    You know, Max Payne wasnt just bullet time: It had a dark atmosphere, a story of personal revenge, the drug fueled nightmare levels, the witty remarks, it even had a good (albeit dark) sense of humor.

    This is just some angry dude shooting his way out of situations, why didnt Rockstar name it "Badass in Brasil" or something like that instead?
    Anyway...

    Pros: -Great graphics.
    -Good port to pc.
    -Overall fun to play.

    Cons:
    -Does not feel like a Max Payne game.
    -Not enough weapons, or way too similar weapons.
    -Inability to skip cutscenes.
    -Bad implementation of the Shootdodge ability.
    -Relies too much on taking cover.    … Expand
  47. specialx
    Jun 8, 2012
    7
    I am pleased for the game it is, but i wouldn't call it part of the max payne series.
    1. I do not like this new writer, i dont think this story had the dark and depression of the second one.
    2. I also we didnt have enough controll. I really miss the comics of the first 2. 3. As far as mechanics goes, it is spectacular, and visuals are amazing too. 4. Multiplayer i think is brilliant.    I am pleased for the game it is, but i wouldn't call it part of the max payne series.
    1. I do not like this new writer, i dont think this story had the dark and depression of the second one.
    2. I also we didnt have enough controll. I really miss the comics of the first 2.
    3. As far as mechanics goes, it is spectacular, and visuals are amazing too.
    4. Multiplayer i think is brilliant. There are a lot of connection issues and hackers, but i do hope they fix that because i would like to continue playing it.
    5. Was there really a need for the cover system?    … Expand
  48. Longtime
    Jul 29, 2012
    5
    I'm glad I bought this game on deep discount. The shooting and carnage is fun and pretty but there are so many other terrible things that made my teeth grind. I usually play single player on high difficulty to extend the playing time and challenge, but dying and repeating LONG unskippable cutscenes of boring dialog ("I'm such a drunk, I'm so pitiful, let's go shoot some baddies" x repeatI'm glad I bought this game on deep discount. The shooting and carnage is fun and pretty but there are so many other terrible things that made my teeth grind. I usually play single player on high difficulty to extend the playing time and challenge, but dying and repeating LONG unskippable cutscenes of boring dialog ("I'm such a drunk, I'm so pitiful, let's go shoot some baddies" x repeat 1,000 times) was just too much. I lowered the difficulty about half way through and it was still too boring to finish. Also, the way women are depicted is absolutely pathetic. All they do is scream and run into gunfire. In one scene, a female character actually drives your vehicle into a building. A big, obviously stationary building. "Help me Max, help me!" Eye rolls all around.… Expand
  49. Endolphins
    Jun 4, 2012
    7
    The game has an interesting shooting mechanic, very nice graphics, a plot (good or bad, it's still obvious somebody thought about it at some point) and BulletTime(TM). All in all this makes for an enjoyable experience. The cut-scenes are an interesting story telling tool, but the implementation is kind of rough. There's just so MANY of them and oftentimes you're struck in the face with aThe game has an interesting shooting mechanic, very nice graphics, a plot (good or bad, it's still obvious somebody thought about it at some point) and BulletTime(TM). All in all this makes for an enjoyable experience. The cut-scenes are an interesting story telling tool, but the implementation is kind of rough. There's just so MANY of them and oftentimes you're struck in the face with a cut-scene before you're done exploring an area. It's still worth playing, although in hindsight I would've waited 'til the price had gone down a bit.… Expand
  50. WestLil0
    Jun 1, 2013
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The ONLY reason to download this game is that you love first person shooters. This gives the player more than enough opportunities to shoot all kinds of bad guys. Apart from that, it's probably one of the worst games I've ever tried. The old Max Payne is gone. First, the sign in and download process is long and cumbersome. You can't save the game when you want to, so if you're at the end of a long killing spree and the last guy happens to hit you, then you have to start that scene all over again. What a Payne! The flashing screens that make it seem like the character is always on drugs or something, the boring dialog he continues to spout throughout and the many many times that you are killed seemingly without effort by the enemies makes this a tiring and boring game. No theme other than trying to find/save some rich girl in Sao Paulo Brazil. Really a shame, since I enjoyed the first Max Payne so much and just was willing to give this one a try despite the low user score.… Expand
  51. Kenjiro
    Jun 16, 2012
    7
    This game is good, but has some problems: AI mostly cheats like hell (also being stupid), moving is sluggish, graphics sometimes is buggy (object or texture blinking), cover system work with only selected objects and many more. Of course this bugs are not critical and overall game is good, play is enjoyable, graphics has its moments. Definitely worth buying.
  52. Timson
    Jun 10, 2012
    7
    There is everything great in this game, except the story. There is no characters written good enough to be interesting to me and to involve me in story as it was in MP1 and 2.
    The game is totally disconnected from first two parts and all characters are new except for Max himself. So I just run through it without caring too much about all that on "Hard" difficulty and is was still very    There is everything great in this game, except the story. There is no characters written good enough to be interesting to me and to involve me in story as it was in MP1 and 2.
    The game is totally disconnected from first two parts and all characters are new except for Max himself. So I just run through it without caring too much about all that on "Hard" difficulty and is was still very satisfying. The combat is great, all bullet-time mechanics really improved and polished, great graphics and level design, great voice-acting. It is enjoyable game, you just have to keep in mind that it's not Remedy game anymore, so don't expect too much drama.    … Expand
  53. BlackbirdObyri
    Jan 2, 2013
    5
    Max Payne 3 is a typical example of a capitalist age. It's no more than making money based on a good series of games without upholding the standard of that series. And anybody who claims otherwise has either not played that much games yet to compare others to this one, or is getting payed to rate well. There is absolutely no excuse to rate it high otherwise. Sad but true. I'll explain whyMax Payne 3 is a typical example of a capitalist age. It's no more than making money based on a good series of games without upholding the standard of that series. And anybody who claims otherwise has either not played that much games yet to compare others to this one, or is getting payed to rate well. There is absolutely no excuse to rate it high otherwise. Sad but true. I'll explain why now.

    1. It lets the fans down. Not the most important reason for all but still VERY important. The whole atmosphere is gone and max is turned into some rambling Duke Nukem kind of figure, lost and depressed. The bullet time is still active and however people tried to something new with it, it's much worse than the first two games. 2. It's nothing more but a shooting gallery. You keep trying to kill punk after punk, and they try to kill you. Nothing less, nothing more. A mediocre story isn't enough to change that. Max payne 2 for example, still had it strange dreams and character developing to keep the interest of the player. Minutes of pointless walking (and shooting) in part 3, does not.
    3.It's still FULL of bugs. Such as when you get in cover mode, Max gets stuck a lot so he can't do anything else. If this happens, you must hope you get either shot so you fall on the ground, somebody gets close enough to melee hit, or you have to restart at the last checkpoint, which looks like a cheap way out to get around these bugs.
    4. They lost the funny aspect of the game, there is not a single fun side in the story, not even a good dark humor part. Also they changed your arsenal to some **** load-out: a handgun left, a handgun right. If you use a rifle or shotgun that's OK, but as soon as you dual wield two handguns, Max drops the larger gun like a baboon on acid, and you have to pick it up again. Also you can't use a secondary skill such as grenades anymore. I give this game a 5/10 for the shooting and bullet-time, but the gameplay and bugs are really messed up, boring and stretched down a road you had to made by all the money you needed to put down for this game that wasn't worth it.    … Expand
  54. The_Ommadawn
    Oct 16, 2012
    6
    This is a copy of 'wilddeer' review (see June 15th 2012). He/she said exactly what I feel about this game so I therefore used his/her words -------------------> Shooting gallery, cut scene, shooting gallery, cut scene, nothing, cut scene, shooting gallery, painfully long cut scene. Max, may i open that door? No, cut scene will do. Max, may i enter the room and shoot the bastards? No, cutThis is a copy of 'wilddeer' review (see June 15th 2012). He/she said exactly what I feel about this game so I therefore used his/her words -------------------> Shooting gallery, cut scene, shooting gallery, cut scene, nothing, cut scene, shooting gallery, painfully long cut scene. Max, may i open that door? No, cut scene will do. Max, may i enter the room and shoot the bastards? No, cut scene will enter and choose the most stupid cover for you, and you will do the shooting. Max, may i look around through the sniper rifle scope while nothing happens? No, cut scene will look around for you.… Expand
  55. Mystril
    Aug 11, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have just finished Max Payne 3, and to me it has way too many "minor" annoyances, to warrant anything but an average score. In my case I give it a 6. Too many times where you die because of Max Payne moving in some weirdo way, or having the game force you to defeat a person in a certain way that is definitely ridiculous (one fight where the guy is in cover behind a fence or something where you have to shoot the ceiling out from above him to get him out of cover...). Sometimes your left wondering how many goons each of these supposed rich people have at their disposal, too many of the levels just keep on going and goons just keep on coming at you. I like a long game but when the length is ridiculously done like in Max Payne 3, it gets too much.
    I liked the gun play, I liked how much bullet time control I had, I very much liked the graphics, too much whining about his life though inbetween shootouts.
    When I was done with the game I had a rather sour taste in my mouth and kept thinking "how many goons do I have to kill?" in essence it just seems like some of the fights on the different levels go on for way too long. That said some levels are very well designed, like the abandoned hotel, that level was beyond awesome, and would deserve something like 8 or 10/10.    … Expand
  56. ref
    Sep 19, 2012
    6
    Max Payne 3 isn't a bad game, it just does not feel like a Max Payne game if you've played the previous two. The story is fairly straight forward in MP3, you're trying to rescue someone... in Brazil... in daylight most of the time, anyone who's played MP1/2 it does not have the same film noir feel as the others. That's the biggest problem I have with the game honestly, it just doesn't feelMax Payne 3 isn't a bad game, it just does not feel like a Max Payne game if you've played the previous two. The story is fairly straight forward in MP3, you're trying to rescue someone... in Brazil... in daylight most of the time, anyone who's played MP1/2 it does not have the same film noir feel as the others. That's the biggest problem I have with the game honestly, it just doesn't feel like a Max Payne game.

    Besides that, it plays extremely well and looks great. Mechanics of the weapons feel and handle great, and feel 'realistic' while still maintaining that arcade-like feel the other Max Payne's had. Max is still voiced by the same guy and performs very well, it's just a shame his inner narration did not sound authentic. Sam Lake just has this great way of writing I suppose.

    The score is also very unique, and for the most part, very good.

    That's really all I can say, it plays great mechanically and looks fantastic, to me though it was not an authentic Max Payne game and easily could have been sold with another title. Oh, the 1/2 NJ levels were the best as they reminded me of the 'real' Max Payne I remember.    … Expand
  57. R4Z13L
    Jul 23, 2014
    5
    Sorry, this is just not a Max Payne game. It's some type of tech demo for a Rockstar engine. To be honest it took me more time to download than I have played it, so you can imagine how it made me feel. Graphically not that amusing, gameplay is boringly repetitive and the designers just don't know how to trigger events any other way than "five steps then five enemies". Highly disappointingSorry, this is just not a Max Payne game. It's some type of tech demo for a Rockstar engine. To be honest it took me more time to download than I have played it, so you can imagine how it made me feel. Graphically not that amusing, gameplay is boringly repetitive and the designers just don't know how to trigger events any other way than "five steps then five enemies". Highly disappointing and not happy with the critics.… Expand
  58. RedAFX
    Aug 20, 2012
    7
    An adrenaline fueled behemoth of an action title, but the disturbing plot may be too intense for a few casual gamers, this is third person gunplay at it's most refined.
    The game however is held back by repetitive multiplayer and poor replayability.
  59. ghostrider90
    Aug 7, 2012
    6
    I really don't know what to say about this game,it's relatively mediocre,but is very well optimized for PC,has amazing graphics.There are also some issues:The cover system is too solid,the game play feels like a rail shooter and the mechanics are very repetitive.So i will let the others judge it better.
  60. spangen13
    Oct 28, 2012
    7
    Max Payne is back and he is angrier and more miserable than ever. I´d say Max Payne 3 is a decent 3rd person shooter. The game-play was fun and the physics and graphics very good. The story though isn´t really touching. I´d hoped for a deeper story and characters to sympathise with from Rockstar! So in a way MP3 is a dissapointment. Some lightglimps in the story but mostMax Payne is back and he is angrier and more miserable than ever. I´d say Max Payne 3 is a decent 3rd person shooter. The game-play was fun and the physics and graphics very good. The story though isn´t really touching. I´d hoped for a deeper story and characters to sympathise with from Rockstar! So in a way MP3 is a dissapointment. Some lightglimps in the story but most it just feels like a pretty cheesy transport actually. But like I said, still a decent shooter and I had quite some fun playing it.… Expand
  61. dadamo
    Nov 30, 2012
    6
    We all (well, older ones at least) remember insane playability of the first Max. The fun of shooting bad guys and wipe them out, and all in a very climatic noir settings, with cool dialogs. Moreover, many mods made a game even better.

    And Max 3... well, does not have it any more. It's a nice game, all right, it has it's moments. Bullet time is still a feature worth to play with, there's    We all (well, older ones at least) remember insane playability of the first Max. The fun of shooting bad guys and wipe them out, and all in a very climatic noir settings, with cool dialogs. Moreover, many mods made a game even better.

    And Max 3... well, does not have it any more. It's a nice game, all right, it has it's moments. Bullet time is still a feature worth to play with, there's a plenty of stuff to kill people with. And this is a major pro for MP3 - killing those moving pixels in slow motion IS fun. As for Cons:
    -The story background is not so bad as I expected after lately GTAs, yet it is not very special either. Dialogs and monologues... well, Max became a whiny male version of Carrie Bradshaw and Paulo Coelho in one. The same "deep" thought (omg I'm such a l0000ser, i drink and girls are dying on me *sob*) repeated over and over again. I just switched off my speakers after 3h or so, because I could not stand it anymore. Oh, about the story - Passoss arc is very dissapointing in a vanilla game. I smell a $DLC.

    -The most irritating part of MP3. Is. CUTSCENES!! Beneath them Rockstar decided to hide INCREADIBLY LONG LOADINGS. If you thought that unpatched Witcher 1 had long loading screens you will have to update your info. Since these cutscenes hide loadings you can't just skip them until the loading ends. And the cutscenes are (well, more less) 1/3 of the entire game. Ok, cuts are longs, what else? After a cutscene you will probably end with your primary hand gun in a worst possible cover. Yes, it switches your weapon, and you will feel the payne of this solution very quick, when you'll have to react in a split of a second to kill the pixel bastards.
    Moreover, if you forgot to check some part of the previous corridor, maybe for a golden gun, you won't be able to go back. Once the cutscene is fired, you have to push forward.

    -The game is heavily scripted. Which means that the very same guys will pop out from the very same places in a very same time. No surprises included. Some of you might think this is an advatage, for me is a con. This was good way for first Medal of Honor, not the recent games.

    -DLCs - not much to say here, so let's keep it short: Rockstar tries to become another EA. It's not nice. Period.

    I can't say much about multiplayer because, apart from standard team deathmatch, I had never any chance to play other mods. There's simply no one playing anything else than TDM. It's a pity.

    Summing it up - this game might be fun if you have patience. Or you are reading A Song of Ice and Fire (or any other long book). And assuming that you can buy it in a sale, because I would be very angry if I bought it for a full price.    … Expand
  62. morfil
    Nov 1, 2013
    7
    Max Payne and Max Payne 2 were groundbreaking and innovative games that were released more than a decade or so ago. Everything about them was awesome, like the never seen before bullet time, the cool looking comic-page cutscenes, and the amazing story and gameplay. Skip to 2012 and Rockstar release Max Payne 3, this time more different in many ways to its predecessors. Firstly, while theMax Payne and Max Payne 2 were groundbreaking and innovative games that were released more than a decade or so ago. Everything about them was awesome, like the never seen before bullet time, the cool looking comic-page cutscenes, and the amazing story and gameplay. Skip to 2012 and Rockstar release Max Payne 3, this time more different in many ways to its predecessors. Firstly, while the previous games were set in the cold, dark, snowy nights of L.A., this game is set mostly in the blaring heat of Sao Paulo, Brazil and I didn't really appreciate it because it didn't feel like Max Payne anymore. Secondly, the comic-page cutscenes are gone as well to be replaced with motion scenes and I was a bit bothered as well by this because it was starting to feel less and less like the Max Payne we knew and loved. Another thing about the cutscenes in this game was that there were too much and control was taken away from the gamer a lot, yet the cutscenes were awesome and worth it. I could keep comparing the game to its predecessors but I think you get my point.

    Max Payne has a strong storyline supported by great animations and brilliant voice acting. No character feels or sounds cheesy thanks to the animations and the talent of the cast members. The animations, while although can't compare with Crysis 2 or God of War 3, are still pretty neat and clear. As you travel through the slums of Sao Paulo you begin to see the insane amount of detail put into buildings and the environment around you. The story is different this time around, Max is still haunted by the memories of his murdered wife and and child, but this time he is protecting some rich family. Obviously things don't go well and someone gets kidnapped and its up to Max to wreak hell and get her back. The ending was a bit predictable but overall, the story was very immersing. One of the main things we as an audience love about Max Payne is the amount of ass he kicks. The game has strong violence and strong language as well yet in a game like this you cannot have one without the other. As you face waves of enemies after enemies, you have no choice but to spray the walls and the floor with their blood. There a different guns to choose from yet all of them have the same objective: kill. The use of bullet time is really handy in this game and it is crucial for you to use it in order to survive certain parts of the game. Plus, the game looks hell cool in slo-mo.

    Overall, while this game might be different to its predecessors, it doesn't mean that it is bad. It is a great game yet not a game worthy of then. I urge every gamer to play it.    … Expand
  63. Murther
    Dec 2, 2013
    5
    I don't understand why the reviews for this game are so high. We're talking a linear shooting gallery with lots of cut scenes. I enjoyed a few things, the story's dark noir feel which is in line with the previous game, and the bullet time effects are cool. Enemies respond realistically to being shot (most of the time) which I also enjoyed. It performs well on PC, and doesn't feel like aI don't understand why the reviews for this game are so high. We're talking a linear shooting gallery with lots of cut scenes. I enjoyed a few things, the story's dark noir feel which is in line with the previous game, and the bullet time effects are cool. Enemies respond realistically to being shot (most of the time) which I also enjoyed. It performs well on PC, and doesn't feel like a port. The shooting mechanics are pretty smooth, and the game is challenging. That's about it though, you have no freedom in this game whatsoever. Most of the time I was moving the game even forced me into one particular path. On that path is shooting galleries in which I barely moved. You will watch loads of cut scenes too. The length is awful, It took me thirteen hours to complete the campaign on normal (and I died many times), and at least two hours of that play time was spent watching cut scenes. There's just not enough content or game play to warrant to warrant such a high score.… Expand
  64. RateRationizer
    Dec 7, 2013
    6
    I found this game in between the lines of awful and fantastic. The main thing that killed part of my love of
    Max Payne 3's amazing game was that he, lost his good sense of humor and become a depressed person who wants to kill him self constantly The gameplay and graphics were brilliant I loved the co-op and muiltiplayer mode the bullet time ideas were fantastic and I would recommend.
  65. RdVortex
    Dec 8, 2013
    5
    This is a great "game" if you like watching a ton of cut-scenes and then walking few meters while going for the next cut-scene. Literally at worst after one cut-scene you'll walk down a stairway just to watch another one. I'm really glad I bought this game for cheap from a Steam sale. Such a same though since I really liked the original Max Payne games made by Remedy.

    Personally for me    This is a great "game" if you like watching a ton of cut-scenes and then walking few meters while going for the next cut-scene. Literally at worst after one cut-scene you'll walk down a stairway just to watch another one. I'm really glad I bought this game for cheap from a Steam sale. Such a same though since I really liked the original Max Payne games made by Remedy.

    Personally for me even the story isn't as interesting as in the previous games which makes the long cut-scenes even more tedious.

    On a positive note the game works OK and game play wise (shooting etc.) it plays quite similarly to the old Max Payne games.    … Expand
  66. CptFlippy
    Jun 11, 2014
    5
    Its an OK game. The story line is OK, it works for a video game. The mechanics, fit for Max Payne. The graphics are pretty good.

    Some things that really f'n bother me. W T F with the asinine cut scenes. I am not saying they sucked or that there were too many, but why in gods name do video games want to think for me. Two instances: The first one, when you are in the slums and there    Its an OK game. The story line is OK, it works for a video game. The mechanics, fit for Max Payne. The graphics are pretty good.

    Some things that really f'n bother me. W T F with the asinine cut scenes. I am not saying they sucked or that there were too many, but why in gods name do video games want to think for me.
    Two instances:

    The first one, when you are in the slums and there are three people being held in a room at gun point, you just fought an army to get here and instead of giving you the chance to AT LEAST SLOW TIME THROUGH THE DOOR and kill as many as you can, NO, you are going to be a dumb ass and walk in and try to talk it over. W T F.

    Second instance, having the shootout with another army of bad guys at the graveyard, which is way over the top of realism, but works for a PC arcade game, there is a sniper in the tower, your mission is to flank him and take him out, but you must do it it parts as you have to run to cover. Every time you run to cover a bunch of bad guys come out of this building and you have to shoot them to move on, finally flanking the sniper and killing him. This is all fine and dandy, BUT THEN LIKE YOUR F'N BRAINS FELL OUT WHILE YOU WERE WALKING UP THE STAIRS TO THE BUILDING THAT ALL THE BAD GUYS WERE JUST POURING OUT OF, you casually walk inside looking to hide and BAMN! instantly surrounded by all of the bad guys that had yet to run out and get shot by you. W T F.

    I understand that story writing is a disappearing art, but really, you cannot find better ways for the story to progress then to take a character that is supposed to be experienced and have them do all of these smart things, and then walk into situations like he just fell off the F'N turnip truck.

    Please, STOP MAKING DECISIONS for gamers during game-play. It is bad enough when a game is so linear that I have to follow a line that any sensible person knows is going to end up badly, but this game takes those options off the table. Not only must you follow that line, but you will watch in a form of stupification on what you had to do, then watch a cut-scene where you infinitely facepalm yourself for realizing that even though you knew this was going to end badly, there is not anything you can do about it.

    Graphics 7, audio 7, gameplay outside of pre-made decisions 6, story line 6, linear game 5, constantly kicking the player in the nuts after every fight or unchangeable decision 10, but this really is a negative aspect so 1.

    The game is not state of the art, and the decisions the hero makes reverses any amount of coolness you may have just pulled off in bullet time. Over all the game gets a 5.

    Rockstar, we all know you can do better. Please stop settling on this crap.If you need guidance, look at your other games like L.A. Noire and GTA V.    … Expand
  67. gruia
    Jun 4, 2012
    7
    A great game, here's what it needed to be more. By most standards this app is awesome, but for me there's a killer dealbreaker: Character develompent. Max and the rest of the characters are weak and one sided, there is no progression, there is nothing to love about them. It reminds me of Breaking Bad, the same static feeling, people passing through life without learning a thing. And theA great game, here's what it needed to be more. By most standards this app is awesome, but for me there's a killer dealbreaker: Character develompent. Max and the rest of the characters are weak and one sided, there is no progression, there is nothing to love about them. It reminds me of Breaking Bad, the same static feeling, people passing through life without learning a thing. And the second worst issue is the facial expressions.. they barely exist. Just because everything is done with so much detail, sound, graphics, mechanics .. its just sad to see the feeling, the immersion of the game being the weak point.

    Hope they improve    … Expand
  68. Abdicator
    Jun 4, 2012
    6
    In many ways SOOO AWESOME... in a lot of ways TERRIBLE. Lucky for me I don't mind the cutscenes and the voiceower and I think that Rockstar did a great job continuing the story - it deffinitly still have the vibe and feel of the old series, but with a new fresh blow of air. The not-so-good-things are the BUGS! As other members have mentioned the bullettime-im-about-to-die camera is crap,In many ways SOOO AWESOME... in a lot of ways TERRIBLE. Lucky for me I don't mind the cutscenes and the voiceower and I think that Rockstar did a great job continuing the story - it deffinitly still have the vibe and feel of the old series, but with a new fresh blow of air. The not-so-good-things are the BUGS! As other members have mentioned the bullettime-im-about-to-die camera is crap, and other cam erros as well, the cover controls are for the most part fine, but it isn't still working. Mind that im playing on hard and i haven't played normal; AI is STUPID, some needs 2 clips to die, others 3 rounds. The graphics are great BUT the AA feature is not working, only FXAA, which looks ok but it's still ugly. It's sad that a game that PERFECT has minor bugs that turn into HUGE IRRITATIONS !… Expand
  69. Yddraiggoch
    Jun 3, 2012
    7
    I felt the need to give this game a but of praise... but also a thoroughly reserved arse kicking.

    This very much has the old Max Payne feeling. It's all there - bullet time, bullet dodge and the story style is very much the same. The problem this time is that there's.... Too. Much. Story. It seems that around every five minutes there's a cut scene. I understand, and appreciate that    I felt the need to give this game a but of praise... but also a thoroughly reserved arse kicking.

    This very much has the old Max Payne feeling. It's all there - bullet time, bullet dodge and the story style is very much the same. The problem this time is that there's.... Too. Much. Story. It seems that around every five minutes there's a cut scene. I understand, and appreciate that the story is part of the game but geez, it's not mean to be there to (I feel) disrupt the actual gameplaying experience.
    This is made worse when some of the checkpoints have not been thought out properly. I decided to start the SP experience on hard (not a good idea - my Max Payne skills are a bit rusty!), so having to run and gun several attempts to get to the next checkpoint wasn't my idea of fun - more of an uncontrollable opportunity to swear very loudly! Bearing in mind some of the restart points are preceded by cut scenes (which are unskippable) then this can get incredibly frustrating very quickly.
    Still, bad points aside it's a fun game and I can't give it a low score purely on a couple of bad points. But the message to Rock* is -

    FFS PATCH IN AN OPTION TO SKIP THE CUT SCENES!!!!!!!!!    … Expand
  70. JakeSTALIN_RUS
    Jun 10, 2012
    7
    First of all I have to say that I am a great fan of Max Payne 1 and especially 2. The story - is the main point in computer games for me. Speaking about the story in Max Payne 3 - I can say that it is terrible and moreover I dont like the long cut scenes aswell.The fights in the game are brilliant but they become a bit boring in the end.The multiplayer is just ok - nothing more.I haven'tFirst of all I have to say that I am a great fan of Max Payne 1 and especially 2. The story - is the main point in computer games for me. Speaking about the story in Max Payne 3 - I can say that it is terrible and moreover I dont like the long cut scenes aswell.The fights in the game are brilliant but they become a bit boring in the end.The multiplayer is just ok - nothing more.I haven't excepted anything from Max Payne 3 but i must say - the game is nice but i dont really like it.… Expand
  71. MsSpecialEd
    Jul 6, 2012
    7
    Good game series and story, but Max Payne 3 had a few glitches and issues where i died and shouldn't have. Plus the game was NOT worth $60, a very short game for that amount. Next time ill wait till its on sale.
  72. hawkeman72
    Apr 7, 2013
    7
    Max Payne 3 is a very tough game to review, at times it's blundering, overly cinematic and linear, at others its brilliantly violent, dynamic and clever. I have yet to play a game with this many ups and downs in my opinion on it. However, I finished the game with a huge smile on my face and an eagerness to go through it again.

    The first thing you will notice is of course the change in    Max Payne 3 is a very tough game to review, at times it's blundering, overly cinematic and linear, at others its brilliantly violent, dynamic and clever. I have yet to play a game with this many ups and downs in my opinion on it. However, I finished the game with a huge smile on my face and an eagerness to go through it again.

    The first thing you will notice is of course the change in setting, Max Payne 3 switches the grimy streets of New York for Sao Paolo brazil. Max Payne is no longer a sharp wisecracking detective but an aging, incompetent drunk. The sequences of him drinking and popping painkillers and talking about how much he hates himself get old really quickly, however within this overused cliche Rockstar develops a strange relationship between the character and the player. Much of Max Payne 3 is spent watching Max act in extremely stupid ways (in one scene he busts into a hostage situation, outnumbered 10 to one and just says "drop the guns", in another, he wanders down the streets of brazil in a Hawaiian shirt asking people for directions before inevitably getting robbed.) and you, the player, having to bail him out of his situations withy our superior shooting skills. You, the player, will come to hate Max as much as he hates himself, whether it is intentional or not it was a clever way of getting the idea across.

    The game is made up of cinematic sequences (QTE style set pieces), escort missions, vehicle levels, occasional "boss battles" with heavily armed enemies, and open ended shootouts with multiple enemies. It is when Max is alone, outnumbered and has to shoot his way out that the game really shines. The gunplay is generally brilliant on a level not even achieved by MP1 or 2. Environments are almost fully destructible, the rag-doll physics are really well done, and shoot-dodging has a whole different feeling to it. Max now interacts with his environment. if you shoot dodge into a wall, max will hit his head and land on his face, having to correct himself before being able to get a clear shot at anything, this means shoot dodgning is no longer an easy answer to everything, it can go horribly wrong and you actually have to plan your moves. It is in this mechanic that the game truly shines, each gunfight plays out differently depending on your actions, and is generally a joy to play through. The other sequences on the other hand, can be god awful. Vehicle sequences drag on and seem ridiculous, escort missions missions get obnoxious as the game plays a cutscene of your buddy dying if you fail to meet certain perameters which the game is not clear to you about. This can be extremely frustrating. In one sequence I managed to outsmart a sniper by hidning behind the wall he was sniping from, the game then played a cutscene of max wandering out into the open (despite the fact that i was taking cover) and getting shot, meaning i had to restart the sequence. The game does this a lot, requiring you to do EXACTLY as the game intended, even if there are other solutions, and punishing you by playing a cutscene of Max or one of his friends getting killed and a "Mission Failed" screen. This is not OK in my book, the game can be disgustingly linear during these sequences. Luckily near the end of the game, Max goes it alone and these sequences become less plentiful. The last 4 or so levels of the game are brilliant, featuring almost exclusively brilliantly sculpted shootout.

    Like the gameplay, Max Payne 3 doesn't know exactly what it wants to be storywise. The first 6 or so hours feel like a michael bay movie, with cheesy dialogue and really stupid cutscenes. Eventually things take a turn for the darker, max payne is left with no one to talk to but himself as he must unravel an intricate plot in neo-noir fashion, and a lot of people die. The game sort of finds itself and resolves beautifully, despite its many misteps.

    The story took me about 12 hours, at the end there is both the option to play through each chapter of the story, even allowing you to load individual checkpoints to skip all the crappy levels, or Arcade mode. Arcade mode allows you to play through the levels with a score counter, trying to beat the high score, you can also choose your player skin (including old school max payne, which is hilarious) and other paramters. I had a lot of fun doing this, the replay value on this game is very high for a story based shooter.

    A lot of people here are saying that you can't skip cutscenes, that is not quite true. You have to watch cutscenes while the game is loading, however once its done loading you can skip them, most of the mandatory pre game sequences which you have to watch after you die last 5 seconds at most, so its really not that bad. One big complaint is that on the PC version you cannot alt tab, this is a big problem.

    Overal max payne 3 had me cheering at bits and screaming and cursing at others, its a flawed game, but the brilliant gunplay makes it worth it.    … Expand
  73. meediocre
    Jun 7, 2013
    7
    Fun, to a point. Ultimately this is a corridor, utterly linear shooting adventure from start to finish. Max Payne's narrative, some nicely coded locales and settings, and overall gunplay battles is what keeps the game better than mediocare. Having never played a Max Payne before, this game conformed to my expectations. It's a solid FPS with an achingly unoriginal story-line. But what let'sFun, to a point. Ultimately this is a corridor, utterly linear shooting adventure from start to finish. Max Payne's narrative, some nicely coded locales and settings, and overall gunplay battles is what keeps the game better than mediocare. Having never played a Max Payne before, this game conformed to my expectations. It's a solid FPS with an achingly unoriginal story-line. But what let's it down is the distinct lack of freedom to do anything other than follow a cut-scene to action based continuous script. In the game you truly are either watching some dialogue and pre-sequenced action scenarios, or you literally pointing and shooting. That's it. However, apart from some issues with the cover-system and annoying ability of the goons to find pinpoint your exact location at all times, it was generally a fairly enjoyable experience. I persevered, had a bit of fun, but won't be coming back. Liked Max though, what a hero!… Expand
  74. ultraviper
    Nov 13, 2012
    7
    Max has been turned into John McClaine from Die Hard. One-liners, over-the-top action scenes, and even his appearance. The grittiness from the first Max Payne games is mostly gone. The graphic novel cutscenes are gone. Bullet time stayed and is just as fun as ever. However it's still an enjoyable experience for what it is, even if it isn't "really" the Max Payne we remember. Also, it seemsMax has been turned into John McClaine from Die Hard. One-liners, over-the-top action scenes, and even his appearance. The grittiness from the first Max Payne games is mostly gone. The graphic novel cutscenes are gone. Bullet time stayed and is just as fun as ever. However it's still an enjoyable experience for what it is, even if it isn't "really" the Max Payne we remember. Also, it seems Rockstar has FINALLY remembered how to make a game run well on the PC.… Expand
  75. Heresticus
    Dec 27, 2012
    7
    Good graphics, nice cutscenes, wonderful environmental details. It's fun for a few hours but after that you just start to look for ending in a pain. Oh wait, the biggest problem is that this game has no freedom even you are able to open a door if a cutscene allows. And please someone warns Rockstar about their unnecessary collectables. Those collectables could make Max Payne 3 neitherGood graphics, nice cutscenes, wonderful environmental details. It's fun for a few hours but after that you just start to look for ending in a pain. Oh wait, the biggest problem is that this game has no freedom even you are able to open a door if a cutscene allows. And please someone warns Rockstar about their unnecessary collectables. Those collectables could make Max Payne 3 neither wider nor fun.… Expand
  76. dumle
    Nov 25, 2012
    7
    Max Payne 3 have pretty big shoes to fill and the games manages to get it right in some areas while it falls flat in others. The action in the game is pretty damn good. They have changed it from the old formula by adding cover-based shooting to the mix which makes the gameplay a little bit slower than it was in the previous games. The old health-system is thankfully still intact and evenMax Payne 3 have pretty big shoes to fill and the games manages to get it right in some areas while it falls flat in others. The action in the game is pretty damn good. They have changed it from the old formula by adding cover-based shooting to the mix which makes the gameplay a little bit slower than it was in the previous games. The old health-system is thankfully still intact and even though the action is a bit slower than it was earlier it never feels like its entirely based around covers. The old jump and gun action is still there and it works and looks great and i personally have no problems with the addition of the cover-system. One problems that i have is that the slightly left/right behind camera angel feels awkward and you often get the feeling that Max have clear view of the target while you dont. Story-wise the game follows in the footsteps of its predecessor and is pretty great. The old visual-novel style story telling is gone and the story feels less self-aware of its own silliness than in the previous Max Payne games. That doesnt change that the story and narrative by Max is pretty damn good and i wholeheartedly
    enjoyed it. The biggest flaw of Max Payne 3 though is the cutscenes. The problem is not that they look bad, the problem is that they wont stay away. I have no problem with a shooter being linear but in this game the narrative takes total control over every action you make and it feels like you are only allowed to play the shooting parts since the games is worried that you might screw up and make it look bad. In the first hour of the game there were probably more cutscenes or "gameplay" in cutscenes than there was real gameplay. Thankfully it gets a little bit better later in the game but its still always there. In some areas it gets totally absurd when you arent allowed to control the sniper-movement the few second between the shootings. It totally kills the immersion and you are left wondering why cant i do that. Why arent i allowed to do all the cool stuff that happens in the cutscenes? It feels cheap and it really hurts the
    game. The worst part of it is that it makes the game feel like its following a formula. Cutscene-->Shootout in a small area--> Cutscene and so on. I still had a good time with the 10 hourish campaign though and i would still recommend playing this game for all fans of action games or old Payne-fans. I wouldn't recommend paying 40 bucks for it though.    … Expand
  77. arjunbkool
    Jul 29, 2012
    7
    I found the gameplay much more advanced and easily adaptable..Rockstar games never seem to disappoint us...great graphics..only thing i found lacking was the absence of our original max payne, with his black leather jacket, washed in the rain, always hiding behind the shadows..original poets of the fall theme was fantastic..this time, i loved the final score called tears..it really got myI found the gameplay much more advanced and easily adaptable..Rockstar games never seem to disappoint us...great graphics..only thing i found lacking was the absence of our original max payne, with his black leather jacket, washed in the rain, always hiding behind the shadows..original poets of the fall theme was fantastic..this time, i loved the final score called tears..it really got my adrenaline pumping to play the final chapter in style..overall it was fun… Expand
  78. Dangqi
    Jul 29, 2012
    7
    Max Payne 3 is an odd beast. It may be just what some fans wanted, but it may be hard to like for new-comers. At times its mechanics come together to make a pretty good action game, and at other times, they collapse on themselves. The story mode is about a broken, alcoholic, painkiller addict with an irresistible urge to kill bad guys. It's not pretty, and certainly never happy, and theMax Payne 3 is an odd beast. It may be just what some fans wanted, but it may be hard to like for new-comers. At times its mechanics come together to make a pretty good action game, and at other times, they collapse on themselves. The story mode is about a broken, alcoholic, painkiller addict with an irresistible urge to kill bad guys. It's not pretty, and certainly never happy, and the writing does well to deliver an engrossing tone which is very well supported by the good voice acting. Meanwhile, the presentation is stylistic, and the graphics are quite nice. You'll find yourself in various environments which display the graphics engine's staying power, but not much in visual flair or varying colors. The levels just look like the places they're supposed to be, no unique art style or tone; you've been to these places in other games, making Max Payne 3 overall a bit bland to look at. On the PC, the additional settings available are very welcome, including DX11 support and an actual counter to tell you how much VRAM you're using. Its Rockstar's GTA IV engine essentially, so you'll see the aging this time around like low poly edges, less roundness in the environments, and not-the-best facial animation. Additionally, watch out for the install size which nears about 25GB of space.
    Throughout the game, you'll be treated to extensive cutscenes that merge pretty seamlessly into gameplay. Unfortunately, extended play will reveal that these cutscenes seem overdone: Max's monologues, though well-written and voiced, are consistently pessimistic, sarcastic, and just self-defacing, all the time. Max hates himself, and is fully aware of the terrible situations he's in, which is fine until he decides to tell you about how crappy things are over and over again. It's gets annoying, often I found myself wishing he'd have something else to say, like something more creative than another sarcastic line about how these rich people were terrible or how crappy the situation was. The next things to get irritated were my eyes. The game does 2 stylistic things in its presentation: words from the dialogue pop up on-screen and the screen often wigs out of focus or has TV lines obscuring part of it. This makes the game look unique, sure, but they irritate my eyes. The screen falling out of focus and such so often was not comfortable to watch, and as much as it could be selling the hung-over old dog in an overstimulating world experience, it becomes too much for tolerance. Then there are the words that pop up: they tend to be emphasized words in the dialogue and they pop up for no discernible reason, there really isn't any gameplay significance at all and unless you're dying to see what gets pointed out next, it's a pointless novelty. At least the music is okay, but nothing that really caught my ear.
    Basically, the game goes cutscene -> linear cover-based shooting level -> cutscene, and there isn''t much deviation from the pattern. As a game, Max Payne 3 still has the trademark Bullet-time mechanic that's essentially a limited (be refillable via killing and waiting) supply of player-triggered slow-motion. You also have the shoot-dodge jump which slows down time as Max dives in a chosen direction, but stops abruptly once he runs into something, leaving him to awkwardly take his time to stand back up. As opposed to other 3rd person shooters, there is no regenerating health in the single player, so you need to rely on consumable painkillers which will not heal you 100%. If you're shot fatally with a painkiller in your inventory, you'll go on a Last Stand sort of slow-motion event where you can kill the guy who shot you to live. It's nice to have seeing as how easily you'll get shot from people out of nowhere. You can't take many hits to begin with, and enemy AI is often aggressive and flanking. You'll need to take cover to survive. This is where Max Payne doesn't feel like Max Payne. You WILL need to take cover, lest you die. And you'll often be using bullet-time to peek out of cover just land a shot without getting hit, instead of diving or running-and-gunning, as you would expect of this franchise. Do anything else, and you'll probably die. This game is pretty strict and doesn't allow much for creativity. Enemies spawn in unfair places, and the slow-mo final kill cams can be misleading when you walk a few steps and find yourself in another encounter with no cover. No cover traversal means you'll get shot trying to get to cover, which is extra annoying with the unusual controls, and Max's own lumbering but well-animated movements. Sprinting is slow, and Max stands up completely after a roll before moving again. The Rockstar atypical single-white-dot aiming reticule makes a return, and at times can be indiscernible in the scenery, thou    … Expand
  79. Beefygoblin
    Jul 29, 2012
    7
    The gameplay is old fashioned arcade style, and therefore often starts a level from cutscene of you literally running into the fight guns blazing. This doesn't allow for the same old strategies most fps gamers have accustomed to, and therefore has caused a great deal of butthurt amongst youngsters who feel they should be allowed to pick what weapon he has out and get to enter the room onThe gameplay is old fashioned arcade style, and therefore often starts a level from cutscene of you literally running into the fight guns blazing. This doesn't allow for the same old strategies most fps gamers have accustomed to, and therefore has caused a great deal of butthurt amongst youngsters who feel they should be allowed to pick what weapon he has out and get to enter the room on their own accord.
    The whole novelty of this game is that some of the game plays style actually predates the first Max Payne game, while using truly up to date graphics and a remarkably cutting edge game engine.Plus some modern touches like the cover system.
    There isn't much re-play value and the multi-player system is rather weak, but if you have the Hardware to play this at it's full graphical glory then I highly recommend it. Also there are some audio issues if you try to use spdif to dts surround I believe due to dx9 audio. So if your computer is integrated into your home stereo system that way, then set it for stereo instead of surround or use headphones (it sounded great through my akg701s). Be sure to check graphic card compatibility and such before you buy the game and to download the latest drivers, because I've read some reviews where people with the wrong hardware where having hissy fits. For example a mac user duel booting into windows... that review was hilarious    … Expand
  80. Lefort
    Dec 1, 2013
    7
    Max Payne 3 is a great shooter with a respectable story, with enjoyable characters, and well done cutscenes that meld into the gameplay (which are your loading screens as well). However the game is absurdly difficult due to fantastic ai and you having the same hp as them(until later levels where they get body armor making them stronger then you) and that you can get one shotted in the headMax Payne 3 is a great shooter with a respectable story, with enjoyable characters, and well done cutscenes that meld into the gameplay (which are your loading screens as well). However the game is absurdly difficult due to fantastic ai and you having the same hp as them(until later levels where they get body armor making them stronger then you) and that you can get one shotted in the head or by shotguns. You too frequently have to spam bullet time (which dries out too fast considering how reliant on it you are) and rely on quite a bit of luck to get through later levels. A lot of these probablems could be fixed if you were given grenades, friendly npcs, or better map layouts to aid you in fight but no, prepare to be bogged down by 5-8 guys who can one shot you in a heartbeat breaking up the awesome gunfights unfortunately. As for the multiplayer it shows massive potential but also is bogged down by horrendous balance issues and a lack of dedicated servers, the unbalance gameplay is has mostly to do with duel pistols which can outgun most weapons at most ranges and body armor does little negate dmg from them even though they slow you down. It's sad that Rockstar abandon what could've been a very addicting online teamfights. All in all a great game when you get a flow going, but can be frustrating at times but worth the buy for it's price when it drops on its frequent sales.… Expand
  81. Xelion
    Jan 15, 2013
    7
    It's a good game, visually awesome, but too short and overrated. It's very linear, you only end up shooting and shooting all the time... could have been much better, overall it felt really short.
  82. IBuyAnyCheapCra
    Feb 11, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The gameplay feels just as good as MaxPayne 1 and 2 but there is one thing that destroyed the game. MaxPayne is too stupid. He is always drunk and surrender to anyone with a gun in the cutscenes even thou you could do 30 headshots before they have time to blink using bullet time.… Expand
  83. hateabsolution
    Mar 17, 2013
    7
    I've seen this movie already it's called Man on Fire. Yes, the un-skippable cut scenes definitely kill the replay value of this movie, err, I mean game. Technically, you may skip the cut scenes when they are finished loading, but that can take a long ass time depending on your hardware, and usually you're merely loading another cut scene. Max's monologue gets very redundant as well. I'mI've seen this movie already it's called Man on Fire. Yes, the un-skippable cut scenes definitely kill the replay value of this movie, err, I mean game. Technically, you may skip the cut scenes when they are finished loading, but that can take a long ass time depending on your hardware, and usually you're merely loading another cut scene. Max's monologue gets very redundant as well. I'm pissed that I have to log into Social Club to play. But still, the plot is good (for a videogame). The environment looks great and is highly detailed. The gun play is very satisfying and the gratuitous, slow motion violence makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. This game is really is a mixed bag, but if you're remotely interested in putting bloody holes in peoples faces close up and in slow-mo then I'd say pick it up if it's on sale. I want to rate it a 6 but I'm a whore for violence so I'll add another point.… Expand
  84. c_doody_1999
    Mar 24, 2013
    7
    Max Payne the third is a mixed bag. Firstly you have to say that they have tried to rejuvenate the series taking it to new settings whilst continuing Max's story and there have been, once again, tweaks to the bullet time controls and some core gameplay mechanics, Overall you can see what they have tried to do but honestly it doesn't work when compared to the first two. The Good, TheMax Payne the third is a mixed bag. Firstly you have to say that they have tried to rejuvenate the series taking it to new settings whilst continuing Max's story and there have been, once again, tweaks to the bullet time controls and some core gameplay mechanics, Overall you can see what they have tried to do but honestly it doesn't work when compared to the first two. The Good, The shooting, that their is, when it works is still sublime, the pin point precision of the bullet mechanics is visceral and satisfying, additionally the story that is told is not one so much of plot but of the continued journey of max payne and as it is, it is entertaining to watch the man transform and get the preverbial kicked out of him in the favelas of southern America. you realise that he is a very human character and as we go through the story we are constantly receiving his thoughts and musings which make us like him more and more.

    The bad,

    Well well well, some where along the line Rockstar forgot how to make games, the game is broken in many places, apart from the fact that it is rather consoleified (sadly its better played through a gamepad now) their are large sections where control of max is arrested from you as the story is played and then suddenly you are expected to be ready to play instantly after minutes of twiddleing your thumbs. add to this the graphical issues with corouption and other gameplay glitches causing broken movement and deaths it don't stack up well.

    Bottom line:

    MP3 is a fine game for those who want to continue the series and story of this character but control issues and directorial decisions regarding the pace and type of gameplay result in it feeling clunky and it is broken in areas, if you just want a bullet time shooter go pick up the vastly superior max payne 1 or 2.    … Expand
  85. FilliasFrog
    May 23, 2013
    7
    Developers Rockstar changed the face of "Max", his style, and thus left virtually untouched mechanics. It is possible that fans of the game still will not be accepted. Like, as much as possible our bald Max yes, but with a beard, but still at a resort surrounded by Latinos! But face it Max Payne behind the numbers "one" and "two" came out so long ago that there are now very few peopleDevelopers Rockstar changed the face of "Max", his style, and thus left virtually untouched mechanics. It is possible that fans of the game still will not be accepted. Like, as much as possible our bald Max yes, but with a beard, but still at a resort surrounded by Latinos! But face it Max Payne behind the numbers "one" and "two" came out so long ago that there are now very few people care about, in what clothes walked hero and what there was an atmosphere. Now it is important that the new "Max", despite the delay in the release, we got a great shooter bloody, tense, scary fun, albeit a very old-fashioned. And those who are confused by a departure from the canons can assume that the third part of the ideological is not related to the previous ones. In a sense it is.… Expand
  86. NevNav
    May 30, 2013
    7
    Entertaining shooting game with great combat system story is abit weard it should have been at new york or something Not quite as good as Max payne 1 &2 at the time but still a decent shooting game
  87. NecroMnemic
    Aug 26, 2013
    7
    Good game that doesn't reach it's predecessors but still an enjoyable experience. Wish they would cut down on the non-stop cut-scenes. Also max payne going bald and thw hole setting... meh.
  88. Izoeros
    Jun 20, 2022
    7
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  89. exKid
    Aug 14, 2012
    7
    Max Payne of old with all the crap of modern shooters added. Too many cutscenes, too much scripted action and far too much cover and narrow environments. I played the game through for some of the core Max Payne game but could not help but be disappointed. It is worth playing if your a fan but bare in mind you will be constantly annoyed by all the new elements added to the game that serveMax Payne of old with all the crap of modern shooters added. Too many cutscenes, too much scripted action and far too much cover and narrow environments. I played the game through for some of the core Max Payne game but could not help but be disappointed. It is worth playing if your a fan but bare in mind you will be constantly annoyed by all the new elements added to the game that serve to remove the core game play and induce cover based nonsense.… Expand
  90. MustisTheCat
    Jul 15, 2015
    6
    One would expect much more from this game. Max Payne 3 has hardly any assets its predecessors had. In few spots Rockstar`s charm shows but that is too few and far between. What we get is a mediocre shooter that might have been great if not for some costly mistakes.

    GAMEPLAY Mindnumbing and unsatifsfactory. Very saddening for me since all the other adventures of Max were great action    One would expect much more from this game. Max Payne 3 has hardly any assets its predecessors had. In few spots Rockstar`s charm shows but that is too few and far between. What we get is a mediocre shooter that might have been great if not for some costly mistakes.

    GAMEPLAY
    Mindnumbing and unsatifsfactory. Very saddening for me since all the other adventures of Max were great action games with great controls and nice shootouts. None of that here so the whole game is ruined because of that. First of all the controls are sluggish and unresponsive. All the control sequences like flips or taking cover feel like separate figures. You hit the buttons but Max responds with big delay. For example the player cannot do a smooth transition from a flip to taking cover and receives needless hits. Also the bullet time dives are awkward as they rarely help in any way but to get Max out of cover into enemy fire.
    The levels are claustrophobic with only one way to go. The level setting through the whole game is this : you enter a level, you shoot swarms of enemies, cutscene, repeat. And even if the cutscenes are somewhat good, you can`t help but think that again all you will be doing in a moment is exactly the same.
    So as I said, there are swarms of enemies - all of them run around, take cover, shoot. Pretty standard. But for Max to kill them you need a headshot, eitherwise the goons are bullet sponges. So you get into an office room with a 45ammo Uzi and have to deal with 7-10 guys, every one of them take 1/3 of the clip to be killed. The other scripted scenes don`t surprise in any ways and are painfully predictable.
    So the player keeps mashing the mouse button in hope something interesting might happen but no, nothing like that comes into play.
    There`s hardly anything interactive in the levels so you feel like walking into a box. Everytime you walk into the next level, a trap door closes and you can`t go back. There is no freedom here, just stiff shooting in poorly made settings.

    GRAPHICS
    Mediocre. Some textures are terrible, some are ok. Everything has been dated since the release of this game. The colors are purposefully washed out to improve the game mood. Both the levels and actor models look artificial. None of it makes a realistic impression.

    STORY
    Well written. Some cliches are here ofcourse but that couldn`t be avoided imo. Max` story is a sad and painful one, exactly how it should be. The cutscenes where he drinks or wakes up after a drinking night are surprisingly amusing. This influences all the other scenes where he`s just a stupid gunman for hire, killing hundreds of different people. For this reason alone the story is engaging as the player want to stick with Payne to the end of game.

    MUSIC/FX
    That is a second and last good part about Max Payne 3. All the sounds are very nice and immersive. The guns and explosions sound exactly like they should. The dynamic music does everything it can to empower story scenes and shootout scenes. Dialogues are worthy of listening to and some sequences like the Brazilian discoteque stand out among other similar games.

    So suming it up it ain`t a bad game. Great at some points but mostly boring. I`d give it a 7 but the extensive DLCs and obligatory Social Club account (another worthless account) make it even worse and even good multiplayer in this game cannot make up the plethora of lost opportunities.    … Expand
  91. valid8
    Jul 1, 2014
    7
    Got MP3 on Steam for about 9€ with all DLC included. I haven't played other max payne titles so I'm not particularly attached to franchise in any way, nor did I had great expectations.

    For a 3rd preson shooter PC game, the gameplay and mechanics are well thought and the graphics are pretty good. Textures have reasonable. Physics and environment destructibility are also OK, but nothing    Got MP3 on Steam for about 9€ with all DLC included. I haven't played other max payne titles so I'm not particularly attached to franchise in any way, nor did I had great expectations.

    For a 3rd preson shooter PC game, the gameplay and mechanics are well thought and the graphics are pretty good. Textures have reasonable. Physics and environment destructibility are also OK, but nothing to radical.

    On the campaign and the story as a whole it's pretty meh...I mean it's not bad it's just nothing out of your ordinary action plot, and sometimes you might even predict certain outcomes. The story is also pretty linear. The quantity cutscenes in this game may not appeal to some, but I suppose it's part of the action driven movie formula kinda game...Overall it's a good a game for less than 10€.    … Expand
  92. filippo333
    Dec 26, 2015
    6
    Max Payne 3 is so on rails it's heading straight off a broken bridge at full speed. I haven't played a more quick-time event heavy shooter which feels the need to inconvenience the player at every possible situation. You're constantly stripped of your weapons and put in the worst cover areas imaginable before unskippable cutscenes.

    The game quickly becomes incredibly frustrating and    Max Payne 3 is so on rails it's heading straight off a broken bridge at full speed. I haven't played a more quick-time event heavy shooter which feels the need to inconvenience the player at every possible situation. You're constantly stripped of your weapons and put in the worst cover areas imaginable before unskippable cutscenes.

    The game quickly becomes incredibly frustrating and expects you to know where every single enemy will come from. It's not fun to shoot 50 bad guys at every single encounter, with ammunition and bullet-time being so scarce it becomes tiresome pretty quickly.

    I have no idea what Rockstar was thinking turning Max Payne into some AAA cover shooter, the ending isn't gratifying either. The story elements are predictable forcing every depressing lame line of dialog out of the protagonist every 5 minutes. The game plays and paces like a typical bad Hollywood movie with plenty of explosions to keep the more simple minded players engaged.

    I did not have fun and I don't believe many others will either, even fans of the cover shooter genre. I don't have much good to say other than the graphics and animations are excellent along with the voice acting. Max writing is pretty dry and relies on his persistent hard boiled nature too heavily; he just comes across as a depressing low life fool wishing to be killed at every opportunity. Great game 5/10.    … Expand
  93. JimCorbett
    Mar 24, 2015
    5
    Max Payne 3 is lifted up by its story telling and graphical presentation. It unfortunately falls due to wonky controls, poor optimization, and totally generic gameplay. The story starts off well and has you interested in what happens next but about half way through the game you'll have figured everything out and it just doesn't have the suspense it did at the beginning. On PC, the gameMax Payne 3 is lifted up by its story telling and graphical presentation. It unfortunately falls due to wonky controls, poor optimization, and totally generic gameplay. The story starts off well and has you interested in what happens next but about half way through the game you'll have figured everything out and it just doesn't have the suspense it did at the beginning. On PC, the game has a subpar control scheme and if you want to take advantage of all the mechanics in the game you'll have to do some serious rebinding. My biggest disappointment was the gameplay. I heard about bullet-time and how great it is but it just feels like a gimmick that doesn't make sense and really isn't any fun. The gunplay without the bullet-time is not particularly fun nor well done. My biggest disappointment however was how short the story was for what i expected to be a singleplayer oriented game. I finished the story on medium in around 8 hours. There's not much of a reason to want to replay the game since half of it is cutscenes which are unskippable because of how long the levels take to load. They added an unnecessary multiplayer mode because evidently every good singleplayer game needs to be ruined by the inclusion of such a mode. It's not good and nobody plays it either. Overall I'm highly disappointed in this purchase and recommend everyone staying away.… Expand
  94. wojtasemzi
    Nov 28, 2018
    6
    Gra jest mechanicznie bardzo dobra, ale przez chwilę płaczesz nad flaszką i później zabijasz ogromne grupy pionków.
  95. zarathustra
    Oct 22, 2017
    6
    Just finished playing through MP3 & am a bit miffed. It's an ok third-person shooter but just doesn't have the feel of a Max Payne game.

    Epicly-long unskippable cut-scenes, constant eye-irritating 'effects' & the game deciding to switch out your main weapon for a pistol at every opportunity are some gripes. You will discover others...
  96. Qoke
    Oct 20, 2012
    7
    I had issues with the DVD, which meant I couldn't play for 2 months whilst that got sorted out, but it was a fun game while it lasted, but it felt a bit short. The graphics was pretty decent, and the story was engaging, but for such a short game, a bit of user-guided selection to the plot would have been nice. That way you could play it through again with a different approach and get a bitI had issues with the DVD, which meant I couldn't play for 2 months whilst that got sorted out, but it was a fun game while it lasted, but it felt a bit short. The graphics was pretty decent, and the story was engaging, but for such a short game, a bit of user-guided selection to the plot would have been nice. That way you could play it through again with a different approach and get a bit more gametime for your money.
    On harder difficulty there is a good challenge, and that's always nice for a second run-through. There were a few environmental issues like line-of-sight and walking through objects that would have been nice to clean up before release, but it didn't ruin the game completely.    … Expand
  97. Radek
    Aug 16, 2012
    7
    Good game, well optimised for PCs. Graphics is nice and the game keeps you busy. The story is trustworthy.

    Gameplay is a bit weak. All you are asked to do is cover-slowmotion-shoot and all over again. The shooting itself became boring after two or three chapters. The story kept me in the game until the end.
  98. chronoT
    Sep 5, 2012
    7
    This game is pretty satisfactory overall with a few flaws here an there, but if you liked the previous MP games you'll like this as well. To start off, the damn game is about 26 gigs, which is bigger than GW2! Secondly, you will need a pretty damn good computer to run it, I am using a Geforce 670 SLI and it runs perfectly smooth. If you have the space and good enough card, this is a uniqueThis game is pretty satisfactory overall with a few flaws here an there, but if you liked the previous MP games you'll like this as well. To start off, the damn game is about 26 gigs, which is bigger than GW2! Secondly, you will need a pretty damn good computer to run it, I am using a Geforce 670 SLI and it runs perfectly smooth. If you have the space and good enough card, this is a unique shooter in that it allows you of course to slow down the scene and carefully plan shots. This makes for a lot of fun, but to be honest, after about 6-7 hours the game seems to get a bit repetitive. Max Payne 3 will only take you 9-10 hours tops on normal, and maybe a little longer on harder difficulties. I will admit right now there are 5 difficulties and the hardcore and old school are no joke. Overall I still don't understand why this game is so big in file size, the graphics do look nice but not 26 GB nice. This game really is a personal preference, hit or miss for people.… Expand
  99. plotlesviolence
    Apr 27, 2016
    7
    [OVERVIEW = 7]
    A third-person shooter defined by time slowing and shootdodging, “adding” cover-based combat and only 2 weapon slots.
    [PRESENTATION = 8] (Visuals = 9) It looks like it’s running on the same (gorgeous) engine as GTA V, with garish flashes in the Tony Scott “Man on Fire” style that fits the South American setting. The levels have great variety while all looking realistic.    [OVERVIEW = 7]
    A third-person shooter defined by time slowing and shootdodging, “adding” cover-based combat and only 2 weapon slots.

    [PRESENTATION = 8]
    (Visuals = 9) It looks like it’s running on the same (gorgeous) engine as GTA V, with garish flashes in the Tony Scott “Man on Fire” style that fits the South American setting. The levels have great variety while all looking realistic. And it’s cool that Max holds the unused rifle in the other hand while firing his pistol…once…and hardly worth the 2 weapon limit.
    (Sound Effects = 6)
    (Voice Acting = 7)
    (Nvidia 3D Vision = 7) Looks good in 3D, a few shadows are slightly fuzzy.
    (Physics = 8) The Euphoria engine that procedurally mixes ragdolls and animations is beautiful, but while levels have more physics-reacting objects to shoot than most games, it doesn’t appear to have more such objects than Max Payne 2. Certainly there’s no true destruction a' la Stranglehold/BF:Bad Company/Red Faction.
    (Vibration = 4)
    (Plot = 7) This is Rockstar’s version of “Man on Fire,” and while it’s well above ordinary videogame fare, it’s never reaches the overdramatic ridiculousness of the first twos' takes on New York-noir, and I miss the graphic novel-style cutscenes. Cutscenes become skippable after the next bit finishes loading.

    [CONTROLS/MECHANICS = 7]
    (100% Third-Person Shooter = 7) It’s a third-person shooter with the recharging abilities to slow time to aim better, or dive forward to invincibly pick off enemies at the risk of being extra vulnerable upon landing. Rockstar Games has hurt this winning formula by adding the cover system from GTA V, which works, but it makes the game less fun than the previous run-n-gun system; at least on “normal” you can ignore taking cover for the most part.
    Mouse controls work well, but the right analog stick for joystick control aiming doesn’t “scale” well: I SHOULD be able to fast-turn by pressing the stick all the way and aim carefully by barely moving the stick. You can adjust the sensitivity, but you either get a joystick speed that’s too fast for careful aiming or too slow for switching directions. A quickturn button (works in slow-mo) helps a bit.
    The other big change is the 2-weapon limit, which DOESN’T come from GTA V, it just comes out of nowhere and ensures that you have less fun than before and run out of ammo constantly. And bizarrely, you have to use a weapon wheel to switch between just three options (dual wield, single wield, rifle) where one “weapon switch” button would be the obvious way to go.
    There’s also no dedicated melee button, which forces you to waste some ammo at near-point blank range until you get closer. And the guns are unimpressive: pistol, shotgun, machine gun.
    There's also a "last stand" limited opportunity to shoot the enemy that killed you to come back to life, and I'm
    disappointed that this has been the ONLY beneficial new mechanic added to the Max Payne formula: There’s no Dead-to-Right-style disarms, or Stranglehold-style rolling trays or railings to ride, or Stranglehold-style physics objects to drop on enemies, no Crackdown-style special attacks or Bulletstorm-style kicking enemies into hazards; it’s just Max Payne 2 remade into the GTA V engine with a few mostly negative tweaks.
    (Camera = 8)
    (Physics = 8) I love the way dives get interrupted if you collide with walls or railings, which makes you assess when to use it, and I like the way the GTA V Euphoria ragdoll engine can have enemies go down without dying, so you have to pump a few extra rounds into enemies to be sure. You can also dive into enemies to knock them back.
    (Friendly AI = none) "Allied" movement appears to be entirely automated.
    (Enemy AI = 7)

    [DESIGN = 4]
    [Technicals = 0] I bought the Steam version, but the first day it wouldn’t work because the Rockstar Social Club website that runs their anticonsumer DRM was offline, costing me an hour of my life trying to figure out if I forgot to install something. Steam really needs to put its foot down and refuse to sell games unless they eliminate their SECOND layer of DRM (i.e., GamesforWindowsLive/Uplay/etc.). From then on it ran fine, although loading times are an ass.
    (Menus = 7)
    (Level Design = 7) Levels are linear, and I like the mixing between run-and-gun, rail shooting, dodging a sniper, being a sniper, etc.
    (Difficulty Curve = 7)
    (Upgrade System = none)
    (Modes = Singleplayer campaign (10 hours, 5% padding), Challenge modes, Competitive Multiplayer)
    It’s a good campaign with only a few enforced-slow-walk sequences and collectibles you can ignore. The multiplayer works fine (it’s a normal shooter but any player can put his bonus time-slow into effect that affects everyone) but didn’t hold my attention, and these days online play is uninhabited by human players.

    [OVERALL]
    Fun enough, but kind of a disappointment given that Max Payne was previously one of my favorite series. Stranglehold, a game 5 years older, took the mantle of being the better third-person shootdodge/diving game.    … Expand
  100. peterf28
    Oct 31, 2014
    7
    It a very good game, but not the same fun as GTA series. I did not even finish it, it started to become boring. Maybe I just love to drive a car like in GTA :)
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Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Best PC Game of 2012
9
#9 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
10
#10 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 13, 2012
    87
    Max Payne 3 feels like a PC original, in a very good way. [Aug 2012]
  2. PC Master (Greece)
    Aug 31, 2012
    91
    Its deviation from the mood instilled by its predecessors might annoy some purist fans, but Max Payne 3's undisputed quality standards in all accounts will make them look the other way and enjoy the game as it is. [July 2012]
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jul 29, 2012
    90
    Max Payne is god and it really doesn't matter that he is not the fair one. He is the most interesting action character these days and the game itself is one of the best you can get. [July 2012]
See all critic reviews »