Max Payne 3

 PlayStation 3
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 981 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 739 out of 981
  2. Mixed: 139 out of 981
  3. Negative: 103 out of 981
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  1. AenimaD
    Jun 4, 2012
    1
    Maaan, this is a shame. No more old-school Max, just an old man in fancy clothing wielding guns and trying to make a depressive but cool anti-hero impression. After watching hundreds of non-skipable cutscenes I wondered myself, what Rockstar Games published here: The Action is always interrupted by numberous cutscenes, the story itself is just horribly dumb, except for some gas-canistersMaaan, this is a shame. No more old-school Max, just an old man in fancy clothing wielding guns and trying to make a depressive but cool anti-hero impression. After watching hundreds of non-skipable cutscenes I wondered myself, what Rockstar Games published here: The Action is always interrupted by numberous cutscenes, the story itself is just horribly dumb, except for some gas-canisters (almost) no interactions are available using the environment, the difficulty is way too unbalanced and there's no 'character'-development at all. Another point: grenade-throwing is possible in multiplayer, but not in story-mode. Why??? When playing online the throwing-mechanics are actually so bad, you often get yourself killed using cover and throwing the grenade right at the wall you're using FOR COVER. I almost freaked out.

    Get yourself Stranglehold, its much cheaper but still has tons of better gameplay than MP3 has. I'm really disappointed by the s*** Rockstar Games published here, if I could I'd get my money back. If you see it for 10 bucks: get it. Otherwise just accept the fact that Max's dead and avoid this piece of boring, uninspired gameplay... (I'm german, forgive mistakes in grammar etc.^^)    … Expand
  2. Svintus
    Jul 25, 2013
    1
    Do not buy, you will be angry. Honestly! I was screaming at my TV like an idiot. So if you are like me who gets easily frusturated, don't buy.

    I've played all GTA's (literally all of them), Red Dead Redemption. Enjoyed all of these RockStar games, except some of Gay Tony missions, due to frustrating Helicopter scenes(which this game reminds me of). I've played Max Payne 1. I never    Do not buy, you will be angry. Honestly! I was screaming at my TV like an idiot. So if you are like me who gets easily frusturated, don't buy.

    I've played all GTA's (literally all of them), Red Dead Redemption. Enjoyed all of these RockStar games, except some of Gay Tony missions, due to frustrating Helicopter scenes(which this game reminds me of). I've played Max Payne 1. I never liked it that much due to grim athmosphere and always feeling alone, but I enjoy all the slow motion. This is one way less dark in nature. it's all sunny in this one. That would be a negative for some, but I really don't care. Reason why I bought this is all of the high reviews in magazines.

    I really don't care about story line. It's kind of weak in my opinion. But come on, you just shoot dudes up. Yes Max Payne is a grumpy old dude that has a remark about everything, some might like it I didn't. That is still OK. I personally think graphics are pretty good and this game has very good sound. I don't get the whole flickering off the screen. I'm fien with that.

    MY biggest problem is the GAMEPLAY!!!! They F*ed it up pretty BAD. Yes there are cool moments when I blow dudes up in slow motion and doing some movie like bad assery, but there are some parts that are super frustrating. By the Law of Life, one F*ed thing just blurs one hundred things that were done out of the way. And this one has too many for me too concentrate on the good. Let me list why I'm unhappy with this game:

    CUTSCENES: Can't skip most of them(super annoying if you trying to get golden weapon by coming back). It always keep changing my weapon. If you don't like too many cutscenes don't buy this game.

    CROSS-HAIR: I remember few times I had really hard problem seeing the crosshair. I know you can change them in settings but that doesn't help much. It would be nice if they let me choose the color or customize them( as in Unreal 2004).

    ENEMIES: These guys have some of the fastest reflexes in video game I've seen in the while for Normal setting. This game would be unplayable if it wasn't for adrenaline slow mo action. It get annoying. They can also see through bushes, smokes and debris.

    MAX SHOOTING AT THE SEALING FOR NO REASON: Sometimes I would find myself wasting rounds by shooting up at the ceiling.I don't know if they did that on purpose, but it would be nice if he just didn't shoot if the weapon didn't align with cross hair.

    LASERS & FLASHLIGHT: I couldn't figure out how to turn either one of them off. Shooting with laser is not fun, it is actually frustrating. This is not how laser sight works, it's a dot not the whole line that you cant even see where it stops and aims too.

    PAINKILLERS: I understand this is Max Payne's little trade mark, but health system is outdated. Some might like it this way, but I personally disagree with it.

    BEING AUTO AMMO DURING LAST CHANCE: When your health is low and Max has painkiller and you get shot the game goes into this mode where you have to shoot the guy who is little bit brighter then other guy kill them and end up lying on the floor. Well if you are out of ammo it would just making clicking sound and you have to stare at the slow mo screen for like 5 seconds before dying, and you can't switch weapons! That' is a waste of time. How about you make it so if I'm out of ammo I just die. Click...die.. or even better when that whole thing happens he just switches to a side arm with full mag(even if it was empty, it a video game). Man seriously I should be designing them video games.

    DIFFICULTY: I'm going to admit it. I hate replaying same thing over and over again. It happened few times in this game. I play a lot of video games, and I died in this game quite a few times. Most of dying and learning here is just memorizing the pattern where guys will come from. Normal should've been little bit easier. I'm too stubborn to switch to easy, it makes me feel like a B****. Guess what I switched to EASY in the last two chapters.. Rockstar you won, thanks for making me feel like a B*

    Next part of review is SPOILER SECTION:

    THAT F*$#ing LEVEL WITH THE APC SHOOTING AT YOU WITH MACHINEGUN AND YOU HAVE TO GRAB ROCKET LAUNCHER IS REASON WHY I'M GIVING THIS GAME SUCH A LOW SCORE. WHAT THE FREAKING HECK WERE THEY THINKIN? It took me like 10 tries to figure out how to grab that stupid rocket launcher in front of the barrier. I DROPPED MY CONTROLLER AND HAD TO WAIT A DAY CAUSE I WAS SO FREAKING ANGRY!!!! Next day I tried again and after dying like 12 times I saw another rocket launcher on the left side(could've been fixing by better lighting the leveL so players can see that asset) then them bad guys come out. I aim at them with the rocket and guess what? MAX IDIOT PAYNE shoots into the concrete barrier AND BLOWS HIMSELF UP!!! I was so freaking angry. I had to go and punch a pillow for 5 minutes away from my HDTV that i was about to break, because I was about to break it! SCREW THIS GAME. DON'T BUY!!!! THANK YOU.    … Expand
  3. strikkebil
    May 23, 2012
    3
    this game was a huge let down. its like a "last gen" game with "next gen" graphics. the game is too hard in a really cheap and unsatisfying way. rockstar also made this game for auto lock-on controlls which no one does anymore. the option is there for you to turn off, but the game then becomes unbalanced and really difficult. the 1990s mtv style presentation is awfull. max himself is likethis game was a huge let down. its like a "last gen" game with "next gen" graphics. the game is too hard in a really cheap and unsatisfying way. rockstar also made this game for auto lock-on controlls which no one does anymore. the option is there for you to turn off, but the game then becomes unbalanced and really difficult. the 1990s mtv style presentation is awfull. max himself is like a emo crybaby in adult form. do not get this game. rockstar i am disappoint.… Expand
  4. thepatient613
    Feb 16, 2016
    3
    Two words to sum this game up: Overhyped garbage. Max Payne has become a low life drunk piece of sh*** who can't even save himself for the best of him. He's old, tired and lame. He's not the Max Payne you came to know in the previous entries. He's more on par with the Duke Nukem of the reboot franchise than anything else.
  5. BalloonBollicks
    Jul 15, 2012
    4
    Am I the only one who thinks this is a let down? While all the fanboys piss themselves cooing over MP3 I cant help but feel this is one of the biggest missed opportunities of this generation, campaign was OK although it didn't really feel like Max's story the mechanics held up well. The weapons have zero character and the multiplayer is simply **** horrible, why bother putting it in if youAm I the only one who thinks this is a let down? While all the fanboys piss themselves cooing over MP3 I cant help but feel this is one of the biggest missed opportunities of this generation, campaign was OK although it didn't really feel like Max's story the mechanics held up well. The weapons have zero character and the multiplayer is simply **** horrible, why bother putting it in if you don't mean it? seriously half arsed attempt and a travesty to us real Max Payne fans, the best part of the game was the original theme at the start screen. Brazil? really?… Expand
  6. tribee666
    Jul 12, 2012
    0
    Max Payne 3 is a fantastic game that will be enjoyed by most fans of rockstar games. But if you ar looking for an open world romp like gta you won't get that here its a pretty linear story which takes you on a breakneck ride through brazil I had the game finished in roughly 11 hrs. There is multiplayer to keep you going once you have finished the campaign and I must admit its not just youMax Payne 3 is a fantastic game that will be enjoyed by most fans of rockstar games. But if you ar looking for an open world romp like gta you won't get that here its a pretty linear story which takes you on a breakneck ride through brazil I had the game finished in roughly 11 hrs. There is multiplayer to keep you going once you have finished the campaign and I must admit its not just you standard tacked on crap it's very addictive especially as it take the shoot dodge from single player and masterfully uses that online. Max Payne is a great achievement and will be a classic for a long time to come all I can say is BRING ON GTA V… Expand
  7. ps3fan-fornow
    Jun 3, 2012
    4
    Pretentious design and story, clunky aiming, lagging multiplayer, stupid cover based shooting, worthless bullet time, unskippable cut scenes. And no Mona Sax. Welcome to Max Payne 3.
    This turned out to be quite the disappointment. That's two in a row from Rockstar, as far as I'm concerned. The other one being LA noire.
    One thing is sure. This is no Red Dead Redemption, nor Max Payne 1-2.
  8. Mezzanotte
    Sep 19, 2012
    4
    New game, old formula. Awful control. Almost unplayable with joypad.
    The story seems decent, but the ps3 gameplay is frustrating. Play it on pc and with the mouse if you really need.
  9. Dog4life
    Feb 22, 2013
    4
    Big fan of max payne 1 and 2... but what the heck, the new cover system of max payne 3 ruins the whole game.
    Every shootout is boring as hell and repetitive, enter area, cover shoot cover shoot-- repeat till end of the game.
    You rarely can use properly the slow mo actions, cause you wil get raped by the enemies ! The game is just plain boring and repetive.... the great graphics and    Big fan of max payne 1 and 2... but what the heck, the new cover system of max payne 3 ruins the whole game.
    Every shootout is boring as hell and repetitive, enter area, cover shoot cover shoot-- repeat till end of the game.
    You rarely can use properly the slow mo actions, cause you wil get raped by the enemies !

    The game is just plain boring and repetive.... the great graphics and sound cant save it .

    Multiplayer is quite good, but there are many better shooters to play online.    … Expand
  10. twistidpair
    May 19, 2012
    0
    I am glad to see it is not only me that feels this is not a Max Payne game... It's just another Rockstar romp into mediocre story telling coupled with horrible control mechanics, bad textures and a voice over that never shuts up... why do we need to see spoken text highlighted on screen.

    MP3 (ha!!) is a game that wants to be Splinter Cell Conviction but ends up being a mishmash of bad    I am glad to see it is not only me that feels this is not a Max Payne game... It's just another Rockstar romp into mediocre story telling coupled with horrible control mechanics, bad textures and a voice over that never shuts up... why do we need to see spoken text highlighted on screen.

    MP3 (ha!!) is a game that wants to be Splinter Cell Conviction but ends up being a mishmash of bad elements from every other game made by Rockstar.    … Expand
  11. JabbaTheSlush
    Jun 2, 2012
    1
    After a bit this playing the same Rockstar game over and over gets old. Grand Theft: Auto, Horse, Facial Expressions and Slow Motion. They are making the same product over and over. Trivial story, amazing polish but it is like polishing a turd, and the now famous "awesome multiplayer" (gaming media uses this when they want to say the game is crap and it is hard to evaluate what oneAfter a bit this playing the same Rockstar game over and over gets old. Grand Theft: Auto, Horse, Facial Expressions and Slow Motion. They are making the same product over and over. Trivial story, amazing polish but it is like polishing a turd, and the now famous "awesome multiplayer" (gaming media uses this when they want to say the game is crap and it is hard to evaluate what one person's take on multiplayer is to the next) that will entertain for two weeks max. Pass. Wait for games, not products.… Expand
  12. TheDarkOnePl
    Jun 10, 2012
    1
    Piece of crap too many walking sequences dropping framerate , bad graphics i dont buy this only because its well known title. Search someting better like dragon dogma
  13. MNecromancer
    Aug 30, 2012
    3
    The story was dull and that's the only reason I bought it. It was dark, but impersonal. There was no connection to any of the characters and none of it effected Max. I was also hoping to see some of the bizarre psychedelic stuff from the first two. Sure, it's a much better story than say, Black Ops, but I expected more from Rockstar. The shooting is fine if that's what you're into, andThe story was dull and that's the only reason I bought it. It was dark, but impersonal. There was no connection to any of the characters and none of it effected Max. I was also hoping to see some of the bizarre psychedelic stuff from the first two. Sure, it's a much better story than say, Black Ops, but I expected more from Rockstar. The shooting is fine if that's what you're into, and there were plenty of explosions.… Expand
  14. mattrp
    Jun 7, 2012
    2
    Unplayable. As in, I bought it and after about three hours' play I've given up. Controls are sluggish and unsatisfying. Bullet time is no longer relevant eg firing at opponents 100m away. Gunplay is soupy (eg no aiming function) and there's no hand combat even though you often find yourself tripping over bad guys. Just baffled about what kind of game this is meant to be. Also, Max isUnplayable. As in, I bought it and after about three hours' play I've given up. Controls are sluggish and unsatisfying. Bullet time is no longer relevant eg firing at opponents 100m away. Gunplay is soupy (eg no aiming function) and there's no hand combat even though you often find yourself tripping over bad guys. Just baffled about what kind of game this is meant to be. Also, Max is now cast as a saggy, grumpy middle-aged man... if I'd wanted that, I could have just looked in the mirror.… Expand
  15. Godeternal
    Jul 3, 2014
    0
    This Game is more like a movie than a game. I buy video games to play them not watch a cut scene for 10 plus minutes. If I wanted to watch a movie that is what I would buy. This is just programers being cheap and not doing there job. It is a lot easier to make a movie with little or no interaction and use it as game filler to make it seem longer to the player. I feel very ripped off IThis Game is more like a movie than a game. I buy video games to play them not watch a cut scene for 10 plus minutes. If I wanted to watch a movie that is what I would buy. This is just programers being cheap and not doing there job. It is a lot easier to make a movie with little or no interaction and use it as game filler to make it seem longer to the player. I feel very ripped off I bought a game NOT A MOVIE!!!!!!!… Expand
  16. VileLeche
    Dec 28, 2012
    0
    I can not begin to even explain how much I hate this game. Considering how much I hated being a fat, unemployed European immigrant in Grand Theft Auto 4 I thought perhaps Rockstar was beginning to lose their skill. The shooting mechanics in my opinion are incredibly poorly implemented in conjunction with the cover system. Bad guys abound and all you have is your gun, your balls and aI can not begin to even explain how much I hate this game. Considering how much I hated being a fat, unemployed European immigrant in Grand Theft Auto 4 I thought perhaps Rockstar was beginning to lose their skill. The shooting mechanics in my opinion are incredibly poorly implemented in conjunction with the cover system. Bad guys abound and all you have is your gun, your balls and a ton of cover, sounds easy right? Instead as soon as you pop out to take a shot you're immediately getting ripped apart. That wouldn't bother me so much if, say, you could actually kill an enemy with just a few bullets there by limiting your need to pop out of cover. But no, you can dump 3/4's your magazine, watch the goon go down and he'll still get back up. Cover also in this game is pretty poor. Sure it covers and protects you while you frantically try to figure out what to do since that last guy took almost all your ammo and there are 3 more people to kill, but it literally takes an act of God to reposition yourself since you literally have to be standing in front of the cover to actually utilize it. Worse, I guess sticking to realism about Max's age means you move like turtles **** Bullet time is a bad joke, you move slow as hell already but go ahead and activate that bullet time so you can take a few quick shots while doing your best imitation of "slower than molasses". It doesn't even help mitigate or dampen the damage you take so that moron at the end of the hall will go ahead and aerate your internal organs for you. There is no way around it in this game, you have to fight tactically but it doesn't feel like an option at all. The initial shooting controls also completely clash with any other shooter type game I can remember playing.

    Max is a morally bankrupt, unscrupulous, cynical drunk and has probably punched a couple of babies in his day. I don't get at all how Rockstar thought this was the direction to take Max as a person, I was literally praying someone would permanently kill him just so he could stop hating everything and sobbing about his past. The only 2 decent things about this game to me are that I bought it for under 20 bucks and the graphics are pretty good. But this is all solely my opinion.    … Expand
  17. patogas
    May 17, 2012
    1
    the voices are not translated into another language for a triple A unsuitable.
    I buy a pair of binoculars to read subtitles. I will not buy GTA5 by Rockstar.
  18. EE061003
    Oct 27, 2015
    4
    The game is not for everyone. While high on cinematics and less on gameplay mechanics Max Payne 3 disappoints old school players. Shoot outs are great and Voice acting is top notch but the old familiar feeling is gone.
  19. fudzzz
    Dec 28, 2012
    3
    Initially I was extremely excited to pick this game up, since I was a huge fan of the first one on PC. However, I am very disappointed with the gameplay. I've tried giving the game a chance from time to time, thinking that maybe it's just me having gotten older and slower at shooting games, but alas, it is not fun on a PS3 controller. The aiming is HORRIBLE. This is the first game I'mInitially I was extremely excited to pick this game up, since I was a huge fan of the first one on PC. However, I am very disappointed with the gameplay. I've tried giving the game a chance from time to time, thinking that maybe it's just me having gotten older and slower at shooting games, but alas, it is not fun on a PS3 controller. The aiming is HORRIBLE. This is the first game I'm going to get rid of without finishing. If you must play it, do it on the PC, like another reviewer has already stated.… Expand
  20. DeusXCom
    Sep 21, 2014
    4
    Huge disappointment. I loved previous 2 games in the series, the original Max Payne was one of my favourite 3rd person shooters with amazing neo-noir mood, very innovative bullet time mechanic and top-notch visuals for it's time and the second game was holding the candle proudly. Max Payne 3 is developed by completely different team, so I was curious and my hopes were high, because IHuge disappointment. I loved previous 2 games in the series, the original Max Payne was one of my favourite 3rd person shooters with amazing neo-noir mood, very innovative bullet time mechanic and top-notch visuals for it's time and the second game was holding the candle proudly. Max Payne 3 is developed by completely different team, so I was curious and my hopes were high, because I recently played L.A. Noire and Red Dead Redemption from Rockstar, both extremely good, not so far from Max Payne themes, so I believed they can pull this off, unfortunately, something went wrong. Some of the really bad game design decisions and the overall wrong game direction went to hell. Gone is the mood, the atmosphere and the fun gameplay. This is basically a non-stop generic shooter somewhere in south america. All you do here is shooting hundreds, thousands, armies of enemies with no end. Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, go to the next room, another 10, shoot, shoot, shoot, cutscene, go to another room, shoot, shooot, shoot, cutscene, change of the location and... shoot, shoot, shoot and it's all over again, this is all you do the entire game and by the second half it's starting to get extremely annoying. There is a good effort in the story, not a script of the year, but they tried, music is very good, there is still Max Payne, pretty believable and good voice acting, but it's just a shadow of his former glory. This could have been much more, it's a pity, because I know Rockstar can do better, both, L.A. Noire and RDR were so much more interesting, with many things to do, but this is unfortunately soon turned into an extensive tedious shooting fest, nothing more. I was positive at the start, but that was going down and by the end I was so annoyed by all that repetitive shooting that I suffered to finish it to see the end of the story and I was glad that it's over, that's never a good sign. 4/10… Expand
  21. RomarinhoSCCP
    Jul 29, 2014
    0
    Esse jogo é péssimo. Ele se resume a 3 coisas. Andar pra frente, atirar em um grupo de inimigos e assistir cutscenes
    Não há liberdade alguma, mapas completamente lineares, sem variedade de objetivos/missões, sem variedade de inimigos, não há nada para se explorar o jogo, nem quebra-cabeças, nem passagens secretas nada!
    Extremamente repetitivo, 2 minutos de tiroteio seguidos de 5 minutos    Esse jogo é péssimo. Ele se resume a 3 coisas. Andar pra frente, atirar em um grupo de inimigos e assistir cutscenes
    Não há liberdade alguma, mapas completamente lineares, sem variedade de objetivos/missões, sem variedade de inimigos, não há nada para se explorar o jogo, nem quebra-cabeças, nem passagens secretas nada!
    Extremamente repetitivo, 2 minutos de tiroteio seguidos de 5 minutos de cutscenes até o fim do jogo.
    Isso não significa que ele seja fácil, ele tem muitos níveis de dificuldades podendo ficar bem difícil. Mas ele é repetitivo e tedioso de mais.
    Os únicos pontos positivos seriam a história, os gráficos... Mas se for para comprar um jogo que só tem histórias e gráficos compensa mais assistir um filme ou ler um livro    … Expand
  22. tsakiym
    May 15, 2015
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I do not have to say anything more. But i need to write one hundred and fifty characters. i think my score can describe it............................… Expand
  23. Tenbeat
    Mar 14, 2017
    4
    Not the worst game ever made, but it's absolutely the worst in the series and the worst "good" game of all time. It makes me yearn for a fourth game, one made by Remedy, so that Max won't be remembered by this disgrace.

    It's insane how people think this game comes even close to perfection when it is filled with poor design choices from the location to the movement controls. Not to    Not the worst game ever made, but it's absolutely the worst in the series and the worst "good" game of all time. It makes me yearn for a fourth game, one made by Remedy, so that Max won't be remembered by this disgrace.

    It's insane how people think this game comes even close to perfection when it is filled with poor design choices from the location to the movement controls. Not to mention the abysmal filter. Plus Max has lost all of his character and has seemingly forgotten that, despite his sadness at his wife's death, he's OK with it now. It's like Rockstar had no idea what they were doing, and so they made a mediocre third-person shooter with bullet time, made some references to Max's time in New Jersey/New York and hired the same voice actor to play Max.

    The writing is standard Rockstar fare, which is to say that it's good enough, but it doesn't have the Max Payne tone. Graphics are alright, but non-main character models can look downright terrifying. The series was always difficult, but this game has a few infuriating moments that can send a man into a rage, especially when on hard difficulty or higher.    … Expand
  24. metacritic12121
    Feb 19, 2022
    2
    Impressive gameplay sequences and solid graphics, but the story telling, character development and dialogue are atrocious compared to first two. Not really Max Payne, but an admittedly well coded and visually pleasing knock off.

Awards & Rankings

11
#11 Best PS3 Game of 2012
7
#7 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2012
12
#12 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
  1. PlaySense
    Jul 9, 2012
    90
    An engaging story, extremely satisfying shoot-outs phenomenal graphics turn Max Payne 3 undoubtedly into one of the best shooters of 2012. It's a shame that Rockstar doesn't seem to know where to place their checkpoints.
    Read full review
  2. Gamer.no
    Jun 29, 2012
    90
    Max Payne 3 brings back the depressed and trigger-happy former cop, in a new and surprisingly entertaining chapter of his life. Rockstar has brought the story to São Paulo, equipped Max with a few new tricks and made everything look a bit more polished and updated. The addition of a well-rounded multiplayer proves to be a stroke of genious that adds loads of extra hours of fun gameplay.
    Read full review
  3. Eurogamer Portugal
    Jun 22, 2012
    70
    Max Payne 3 is an excellent farewell, but ultimately it's not as relevant as it was in the past. It has nothing to teach to the "new" shooters.
    Read full review
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