Review: Max Payne 3
Max Payne 3 and I go way back. I was hoping for a third game in this series as soon as I watched the ending credits of Max Payne 2. When I heard that a third installment was announced, I was wild with joy and anticipation… but that wore out quickly. The severance of Sam Lake and Remedy from the production of the game combined with Rockstar taking over every aspect of the new game had me worried. Then the first images began to come through, revealing daylight, musky equator weather, and a fat, old, and bald Max. People were quite outraged like I was, and then Rockstar decided to mention the inclusion of a Max Payne who wasn’t bald. The more I read about the setting and the plot, the more I decided this simply wasn’t a Max Payne game I wanted any part of. I’ve never hated any Rockstar game I’ve played but that would soon change. What I began to notice was that those who were liking the revealed content for MP3 never played the first two games – it became clear to me that they were in love with the game play, the setting, and maybe even the rugged, weathered man on the screen. That is okay, it really is – if this game were named anything else I’d probably think it was a decent(but short) game. Reviews for the game were positive and my friends were telling me I was being stubborn for disliking a game I haven’t played. I decided to give the game a try and got it from my local GameStop. I beat the game in two days and here was what it was like:
I started the game on the hardest difficulty, I figured this would be a piece of cake since I rocked Max Payne 1 and 2 at least 10 times each. After about an hour of frustration on the third level I downgraded myself to medium difficulty. Perhaps 10 minutes later I sank into easy mode and stopped caring about trophies. I was just not having any fun. There is a strong sense of frustration in this game after playing the Remedy games. Enemies come running out in lines while you have absolutely nowhere to go for cover. Bullet Time is insanely short to the point of uselessness and don’t even bother using Bullet Time if you didn’t reload – that very cool reload spin Max does in the second game is gone. I guess the dev team only played Max Payne 1 when researching Bullet Time. Sometimes I’d go into Bullet Time… shoot a few people up and then DIE while still in the mode. What gives? Okay I figured maybe I was just being rusty. Let’s keep playing and try to get into it despite not being in New York City. Finally the best thing in the world happened – a level in New Jersey. Okay, it isn’t New York City, but hell! It is dark, and gritty, and cold. This is the Max Payne I know and love… oh wait… he’s in a bar getting drunk. Since when was Max an alcoholic? Last I checked his vice was strictly in the realm of painkillers. Alright, alright, the guy is depressed and unemployed… he can get drunk. I found the cut scene with him and the punk kids pretty amusing. I enjoyed running through the slum apartment building, and I really liked the bum who blew himself up. Yep… this is Max Payne. Wait… chapter over. Back in sunny Sao Paolo we go. Bummer. A few more hot and sticky levels go by and I continue to crave another snowy, American Noire level. Bam! We’re now in a cemetery with Max Payne looking down at the grave of his wife and child. Perfect. Shoot up a few mobster goons and… back in the bright daytime of the equator we go. Ugh. I zoomed through the levels hoping there would be one more little taste of the Max I knew and loved but there was none. All I got was a shitty ending and a cliff hanger.
I’d like to give a bullet run down of why I disliked this game:
- Very little reference to Max Payne 1 and 2, if any. Max simply says he lost family “more than once.” What does that even mean? Mona DOESN’T DIE nor was she ever family. Does he just mean his wife and child? Ambiguous and annoying.
- No more graphic cut scenes. The graphic novel style cut scenes defined Max Payne as a series, removing this was a huge mistake. The Rockstar style cut scenes reminded me of the cover of Grand Theft Auto. Vice City to be specific.
- Watching T.V in this game was awful. Turn on the boob tube and it takes up the whole screen. I’m watching a crappy Baseball Bat Boy video(the only real Max Payne reference here) but I feel like Nico Bellic while doing so. What happened to Lord and Ladies?
- The cut scenes leading into Max Payne shooting while hanging off of a helicopter, etc., is just absurd. This never happened in the other games. I now feel like Lance Vance on the whirly while listening to V-Rock.
- Poor dialog. Max Payne didn’t curse in the first games, and he said some very deep and philosophical things. He was intelligent and always thinking and analyzing. This Max Payne curses and says “literally” too much.
- Why the hell is Max always drinking? I’m so tired of watching him get drunk in every chapter.
- What happened to Mona Sax and Jim Bravura?
- Everyone speaking Spanish. I enjoyed hanging behind a wall to listen to the Cleaners or other goons chit chat about their wives, their bosses, etc. Even Max expresses frustration at not understanding the conversations.
- Rockstar even screwed up the piano playing. Whenever Max saw a piano, I’d walk up to it… and depending on how I timed my commands, Max would play and he would get better with each piano I came across. In this game it’s a damn cut scene just one time and he notes that it’s the tune of his life. How touching(sarcasm).
Overall, I really hated this game despite trying my best to give it a chance. I think if this were a game about some random idiot who gets tangled up in some crazy family while playing bodyguard, this game would have been decent. I say decent because the plot and game mechanics were very flawed and the ending was rushed and obnoxious. Nothing could cover up poor writing and bad mechanics… but once you add this to the Max Payne franchise – a game known for its old school detective noire feel and then remove everything that made the series so memorable… the game becomes worthy of the trash can. On a side note, I think this is the last Rockstar purchase I’m going to be making for a long while.
