Max Payne 3 has some issues, but it's worth playing if you can overlook them. (singleplayer review only)
And you had better get used to seeing scenes like the opening… the game is filled with cutscenes right form the very beginning. Whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing is entirely up to you. I personally didn't mind it too much, although there were times where it felt like the scenes lasted a bit too long. This is, in part, because the plot of the game isn't anything too great. It's not bad by any means, but it's been done many times before.
Max is guarding a rich family in Sao Paulo. Things are going more or less okay; Max is enjoying his favorite poison, people are having a great time getting high/ drunk and the atmosphere is, overall, annoying but calm. It isn't long before a masked group sweeps in and kidnaps the two daughters in the family (each in their twenties) and Max sets out to save them. He succeeds in his mission, but a few weeks later, the same thing happens, and this time, the bad guys get away. From here there is drama and conspiracy aplenty, although I personally couldn't shake the feeling that I'd seen this similar kind of plot too many times before.
One redeeming quality to the story, however, is the writing. Max is constantly narrating in a gruff, world weary, cynical voice, and his script is incredibly well written. You can just hear the way the world has treated Max from the way he drones on and on and comments on how empty the lives of the rich seem to be. Not only that, but it adds some surprisingly dark humor to the proceedings. There are times where Max is just so dry and goofy in his wit that it's impossible not to at least grin.
This is in spite of the decidedly dark story, which treats human life with about as much value that dog crap will get you on eBay. That is to say, very little. No one is safe in this narrative, which does give it a slight air of unpredictability at times. The world of Max Payne is one of corruption, backstabbing and death, and this narrative definitely captures that feeling.
While the writing helps elevate the story, the gameplay is the main reason to take this ride. MP3 is a third person shooter that employs impressive bullet physics, slow motion and more traditional cover based gameplay to entertain the player.
Some may initially see nothing special with the game and, really, that's perfectly understandable if you're just looking at screenshots. You will be in cover for a good portion of the adventure, hoping that the enemies won't bring you down and popping out every now and again to take a few shots and hopefully eliminate the opposition a little. However, the game makes generous use of the well-known bullet time slow motion mechanic. It gives you an edge against increasingly overwhelming odds by allowing you to place precise shots with reflexes faster than your enemies. However, your meter for it is limited, and in order to refill it you must take more enemies down or take some damage.
Of course, there's also the shoot dodge mechanic that is nearly signature of Max Payne (from what I understand). Max will leap in a direction you specify, and, during the movement, he is incredibly tough to hit. The idea is that you're supposed to be able to take numerous enemies down in a row while you leap, since time slows and you have an opportunity to shoot some dudes while they fumble about trying to kill you. When you nail the move, it's hugely entertaining, and quite awesome to observe. However, sometimes it doesn't work quite as well as is preferable. You may dive head first into a part of the environment, at which point the animation stops and Max slowly gets up from the ground. During this time, you're a sitting duck, which can lead to a frustrating death. This makes it so you really need to plan if you want to use it.
This is on top of the fact that Max is fairly fragile (he's hardly a bullet sponge) and that the AI is insanely aggressive. If you simply wait behind cover and don't fire your gun enough, enemies will flank you, and you'll either end their life or you'll end theirs. Of course, if you have spare painkillers, you have a slight edge. You see, there is no regenerating health in this game, so damage is permanent until you can use painkillers to bring life back. If you are gunned down while you have painkillers, you are given a second chance. Max will slowly fall, but he can fire his gun at his assailant. If you gun the attacker down, you get back up and are thrown back into the action. It's a good system that requires you to be careful, but never so much that you can't take risks.
One of the reasons the game is satisfying to play is because of the gun physics and the kill cams. Bullets in this game pack a real punch. They will tear visible holes through enemies, utterly wrecking their bodies. During shootouts, when you kill the last enemy in the immediate vicinity, the game will automatically go to a cinematic and awesome camera mode that shows the bullet move in slow motion until it reaches its target. At this point, you are free to pump more shots into the enemy (just for the sake of being gratuitous) and admire the hyper bloody and cool bullet physics. This game, needless to say, is not for the faint of heart. It is easily one of the more brutally violent games available, and that's saying something since games are more violent than they've ever been.
But it's not just the blood effects that makes shooting so entertaining. It's that the bullets have a visible impact on the enemy. Shoot them in the leg and they'll fall down. Shoot them in the torso, and they'll clearly balk at the impact. Shoot them in the arm and they'll likely drop their gun for a second or two. This, combined with the excellent gore, gives the guns a hugely powerful feeling, and it makes it all the more satisfying when you finally defeat the last enemy on the field.
But how is the campaign itself? Well, it's quite fun. It takes you across a good variety of locales over its somewhat short length (it's about ten or so hours the first time through). No two stages look the same. In one, you'll be fighting your way through a night club, complete with flashing strobe lights and thumping music. In another, you'll be gunning down enemies in the slums of Sao Paulo. Each environment has excellent design and attention to detail. While they are fairly linear, there is some incentive for exploration in the form of golden gun parts. When you collect all three pieces to a given gun, each type of that gun you pick up after will be golden and will have some kind of upgrade applied to it such as extra ammo.
The only real disappointment with the campaign is that it doesn't mix things up a whole lot. That's not necessarily a bad thing since the shooting is so fun, but it would have been nice to have more sequences like in the second chapter where you have to snipe. That being said, a few different attempts to mix things up don't really pay off enough. There is a boss fight (pretty much the only one in the game) late in the game that, unfortunately, is more frustrating than fun, since it's tough to figure out exactly what to do.
The graphics are uniformly good. They aren't the best ever made, but they are still quite good, especially during cut scenes. Max himself is incredibly well animated during both story scenes and battle, and other characters have just as much detail put into them. The sound is excellent, though. The gunfire sounds powerful, the voice actors give great performances (especially the actor for Max) and the other various sounds you'll hear are great.
Overall, Max Payne 3 is a good shooter for fans of the genre. The AI is challenging without being unfair, the gunplay has impact and production values and writing are top notch. The story feels a tad generic, and the game could stand to have more variety, but, all in all, MP3 delivers where it counts. So long, and thanks for reading.