Review

Max Payne 3

The Max Payne series has to be one of the best there is when it comes to third-person shooters. By successfully combining a film noir story with John Woo styled action and implementing the action-slowing bullet time mechanic, Max Payne easily stood out among its competitors. So when the originators, Remedy Entertainment, announced that they were no longer developing the series, the newly proposed installment was met with both anticipation and anxiety; the hype surrounding this title would be hard for any other developer to live up to. However, after playing through Max Payne 3, it’s safe to say that Rockstar was the right developer to pass the reigns to!

Max Payne 3 picks up a few years after the events of the last game. Max, who’s no longer a cop, spends most of his time consuming large amounts of alcohol and pain medication. To say that he hasn’t gotten over the events of the first games (the death of his loved ones) would be a gross understatement. It seemed that the rest of Max’s life would be filled with years of guilt and an empty bottle of scotch. At least until an old friend finds him in a bar. Raul Passos, a former colleague from the police academy, offers Max a high paying security job in Sao Paulo, Brazil. All they’d have to do is provide protection for a rich family while enjoying an extended vacation from New York. Compared to what Max has been through, this sounded like an easy job at the time. Of course, this being a Max Payne title, it is anything but easy.

One of Rockstar’s main goals was to make one of the best cinematic, action titles for today’s gamers while still maintaining what made Max Payne a success in the first place. And for the most part, they’ve achieved this goal. This is first evident in how the story is told. In the past the story was portrayed via graphic novel cutscenes with noir style narration done by Max. This new title still has Max narrating but doesn’t use static panels. Instead, the game uses a motion-comic effect that combines in-game footage with text and Max’s voice; reprised by the original voice of Max, James McCaffrey. Basically Rockstar is telling a good story by using upgraded visuals with an old, yet enhanced mechanic!

Speaking of visuals, Max Payne 3 looks amazing. Rockstar is no slouch when it comes to the fine details of the in-game world. Gang tags and graffiti on the walls in the slums, condemned buildings littered with trash and debris, fading paint on a car; all of these things make Max’s journey seem real. The high level of detail definitely submerges you into the environment of a Sao Paulo night club or run down factory turned drug house. The environment is by no means static either; objects will react to bodies colliding with them. Environmental design is only a small part of the equation, however. Rockstar modeled each and every individual bullet from all the weapons in the game. Not only that, they modeled what the resulting bullet hole would look like depending on the weapon you were holding and what you were shooting. A glass partition riddled with shotgun pellets looks differently than a door shot up by an SMG. Just try to image what it looks like during a shootout with bullets whizzing back and forth. Picture shattered glass flying everywhere with stacks of paper being kicked up from an office desk and a nearby wall being violently shredded as Max runs for cover, all while returning fire. Just…amazing!

The same level of detail went into modeling bullet wounds. During a fire fight, when max is about to kill the last enemy, the game will automatically go into bullet time. The camera will zoom in on the person you’re shooting, showing how each bullet tears through their clothing before creating large holes in their body. Trying my best not to sound morbid, it’s satisfying to see this graphic display of violence (especially if that last enemy was a tough one to take down). Watching the camera follow your bullet from your gun all the way to a gang member’s skull in slow motion makes you feel like a real action hero. If you’re a fan of Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, or Hard Boiled, then you know what I mean.

Another way each encounter is made to feel more realistic is through the integration of NaturalMotion’s character behavior system, Euphoria, and Rockstar’s RAGE engine. This gives every character, including Max, a real sense of weight. It also allows bodies to react realistically to falls, melee attacks, or the impact of a bullet. For instance when Max dives in slow motion, if he hits a wall his body will react to the impact. This will cause his aim to be off and his dramatic dodge to be cut short (you know, because he can’t go through a wall). Also, after diving, Max will stay prone while continuing to fire at enemies. When getting up, he’ll put his hands on one leg, shift his body weight and then push off. What’s cool is that this doesn’t hinder gameplay…much. It will require you to think before acting but at the same time won’t mean instant death if you make a mistake.

The last way that Rockstar envelopes gamers in the story is through the use of sound. While Max is in Brazil he’ll come across people speaking Portuguese. Because Max doesn’t know the language, Rockstar choose not to give us subtitles. The gamer will share the frustration he’d feel from not being able to understand someone or the fear of not knowing if someone means him harm. At least, that was my experience. This was particularly true during a segment where Max had to walk through a bad part of Sao Paulo unarmed. The soundtrack also adds to the experience. One of the best moments in the game for me was found during the final chapters. A large wave of enemies was descending on my position and I was getting ready to mow them down when the song “TEARS” by HEALTH kicked in. It was a perfect way to heighten the action; not only did it get the blood pumping but it spoke to me in a way that made the rest of the game seem dull in comparison. And that’s saying a lot! I really hope they keep that track for the inevitable sequel.

So far I’ve talked mostly about this games story, sound quality and graphical prowess. That said, the heart of every game is found in the gameplay. Max Payne’s gameplay is a mixture of old and new, just like everything else. Majority of the time it follows normal third-person shooter conventions. You’ll move from area to area, taking cover while dispatching a group of foes before moving to the next area. There is a little searching (for bonus/unlockable items like story clues) but for the most part you’re pushed down a linear path. This isn’t so bad early on since the fire fights are epic in nature. Being able to shoot, dodge, and activate bullet time keeps things fresh and fun. Taking out multiple enemies while sliding across the floor on a push cart in slow motion is so classic John Woo. The last half of the game, however, felt bloated with enemy encounters; it seemed like the game could have ended but was padded to extend one’s play time. This, of course, was a minor gripe but one that should be noted. Also to be noted was Max’s over reliance on single-handed weapons during the campaign. Max can hold up to three weapons at a time; two single-handed weapons and one two-handed weapon (like a shotgun). During the cutscenes, if Max has a two-handed weapon, he’ll switch to something like a pistol for no apparent reason. It looks silly to have him holding a rifle in one hand and pulling his pistol with his other hand, right before battling a large group of enemies. What makes matters worse is that the game will give you control over Max (often right out in the open) right after a scene with the wrong weapon equipped. To be fair, it didn’t ruin my gaming experience and sometimes his pistol pulling made sense within the story. That didn’t stop it from being annoying at the times when it didn’t make sense!

Moving from the campaign, Rockstar was nice enough to include multiplayer options. Everything from the amazing attention to detail to gameplay mechanics like bullet time can be found here. The action is as crazy as you’d expect it to be without being overly chaotic. When it comes to the match types the normal choices like Team Deathmatch are available. The two modes that stand out are Payne Killer and Gang Wars though. Payne Killer puts two players (as Payne and Passos) against everyone else. Points are scored by injuring or killing these characters. You’ll also get bonus points for becoming Payne or Passos, by inflicting the most damage to them before they go down, and by looting their bodies for ammo after they’ve been killed. That said, Payne and Passos are no push overs; they start with better weapons and abilities. These matches provide a crazy, yet fun experience where you team up with players to take down someone at first, only to be the one shooting them a minute later.

Gang Wars is also crazy. This mode is made up of multiple, mini-matches that are all linked via a side story. Two teams will need to complete different objectives that change dramatically between each match, depending on what happened in the previous one. For example, the starting match might require your team to take down a targeted player on the opposing team. If you succeed then the story will change a little, and the next match will feature a new objective based on that change. The same thing goes if you lose a match. Once all of the story matches are complete and the points gained from them are tallied,  you’ll be presented with the final match which is just Team Deathmatch. Each team will start with the points they acquired during the story, giving the better team a lead in points on the deathmatch score board. At the end of the final match, the team with the most points wins. This mode never gets old as the objectives are always changing. What’s cool is that the effects of completing an objective remain relevant throughout the matches; if your team blew up a bridge in the first match, that same bridge will be gone in the final one.

On top of these awesome modes is a ranking system, where taking down other players and completing tasks grants you XP. Leveling up will unlock more weapons, gear, and items, as well as earn you the cash to buy it all with. These items and weapons can be assigned to different loadouts (your starting gear) used based on how you prefer to play. What’s cool is that most of everything you place on your character has realistic physics and functions. Putting on a large bullet proof vest will allow you to take more shots before going down but will also make your movements slower due to the extra weight. You’ll also get to pick out a burst; a special ability that takes adrenalin to activate. They range from being able to make members of the opposing team look like enemies to one another (Paranoia) to instantly receiving an ammo upgrade (Trigger Happy). The more adrenaline you have the better the effect of the ability; level two Paranoia will not only confuse the opposing team but will also turn on friendly fire. Awesome!

I had three issues with the multiplayer components; the grinding nature, the connection problems, and the overpowered dual wielded weapons. I’m not sure if the connection problems were due to a huge number of gamers all playing at once, but there were many times when I couldn’t join my friends during a game. I’d get a message saying I was “blacklisted” or that something was wrong with my data. Basically meaning I couldn’t play with them unless I restarted my Xbox. This happened to nearly everyone on my friends list that played this title during launch week. When I did get to play, it felt like it was taking forever to level up. Even after playing for hours (winning and losing) I’d barely made it past level ten…and there are 50 levels total. That didn’t matter too much because even when I unlocked that new rifle, it was out done by a starting weapon. It seems that dual wielding pistols is a much better tactic than using a long ranged weapon. The only time when that wasn’t the case was when the person I was shooting was too far away for the pistols to be effective. It didn’t make sense for my long ranged weapon to be less effective than the pistols because it wasn’t like I was missing my targets. When I finally gave up and switched to duel wielding, I was able to drop people in one or two shots from varying distances. It almost seemed unfair at times!

All and all, Max Payne 3 is one of the best titles released this year. In spite of the problems found in multiplayer, it is an awesome addition to this title and the series as a whole. The story is told in a great way, graphically it’s superb, and it can be unbelievably fun at times. Rockstar even threw in an Arcade mode that allows gamers to play through modified versions of the campaign (one that’s all about high scores, the other is all about speed). After experiencing all that is offered, there’s no questioning it…you need to own this game!