Say what you will about the game itself, but James McCaffrey's third turn as Max Payne is amazing. He really gives you the sense that Max is being pushed further to the edge. It was awesome to hear Max scream and swear and scream some more! All the voice acting was top-notch, but it was nice to see that the lead performance was definitely the strongest. How did you guys feel about it?

And to think they originally weren't going to get him back for the game. What were they thinking? I'm glad they came to their senses in the end.

I personally love the game. Rockstar tweaked it a bit, but at it's core it's definitely a Max Payne game. It's fun, dark, challenging, and even has some charm. Also, all the voice acting and performances are above top-notch.

I still hadn't played it, but it's one of the top games that I want to play most, even if I'm not really that excited about it right now.

The voice acting in Max Payne 3 is amazing. McCaffery is Max Payne, and no one else can be.

Gets a lot of unwarranted hate but I thought the story was interesting in this sort of "man haunted by past finds a reason and a way to move on with his life"

I disliked the beginning and end of Max Payne 3, but in the middle it was super awesome. The voice acting throughout was pretty top-notch and really, it wouldn't have been the same without James McCaffrey.

He was amazing this time round.. It's just super unfortunate that there weren't better writers ti give him so better dialogue to chew on

While I did enjoy Max Payne 3, I wasn't particularly invested in the story. But you're right, though, James' performance was still fantastic. It surprises me at how little voice work he's done.

Also Holy Shit, he was the voice of Carnby for that Alone in The Dark reboot?!

Fun fact. Alot of people complain "I hate this voice actor! Why didnt they get the old voice actor of Max Payne!?"....feel free to face-palm.

I loved the story, the gameplay and voice acting. It was a wonderfull game that people just for some reason switch off reason and start complaining about the game, for every small detail like be it true or not... as detailed above.

While Max Payne 3 is my GOTY and I consider it a real sequel, I gotta say McCaffrey's voice acting was a bit too lively. The timeless coolness in his voice from the first game is lost in this one. I mean I liked it, and some of the quotes in MP3 are amazing, but still, would've loved to hear him speak in that laid back thinking-out-loud cool tone.

@AngeTheDude said:

Say what you will about the game itself

@Akyho said:

people just for some reason switch off reason and start complaining about the game, for every small detail like be it true or not

@Humanity said:

Gets a lot of unwarranted hate

I didn't realize the game gets that much hate.. I thought it's the regular fanboy hate that comes with every big games that is precious to the fans, like the Diablo 3 hate for example.

@AhmadMetallic: Some of the D3 hate is completely warranted. At least about the lackluster endgame. Here's hoping the Paragon stuff will make it fun again.

Just a shame the narrative isn't interesting, I struggled to make it past 3 hours or so because it really was just corridor shooting. I get that the old games were like that too but I definitely found they gripped me at least.

I think Remedy have great writers.

Yeah, he's pretty good, even despite the fact that his voice changed a bit.

@AhmadMetallic: 

Still my GOTY so far, no contest.

@AhmadMetallic said:

I didn't realize the game gets that much hate.. I thought it's the regular fanboy hate that comes with every big games that is precious to the fans, like the Diablo 3 hate for example.

@Sooty said:

Just a shame the narrative isn't interesting, I struggled to make it past 3 hours or so because it really was just corridor shooting. I get that the old games were like that too but I definitely found they gripped me at least.

I think Remedy have great writers.

Sorry to call you out Sooty. Just using you as an example, your opinion is fine.

Ahmad much like Sooty has said. It was a mess of opinions varying from "Its too much like an old school game with just modern graphics!" to "Its too modern and not like the old games!"

The latter was more fanboyism coupled with people looking for something that dosnt exist and/or cant exist in the next few years to a decade.

Sooty has a better base for their opinion. It is very old school while being a new game and its just up to taste to like it, The story is hard to say you are right to love or you are right to hate. Its such a different take and that's probably the problem.

Max Payne 3 was a controversial game, not for something sensational and scandalous. By being the best mix of old and new, people dont like one or the other and with both mixed in the one game to such a high degree. Conflict of interest would be high.

I loved macaffery in the game. He made it. His delivery on some of his lines gave me literal goosebumps. My brother was watching that firefighter tv show Dennis leary and I heard macafferys voice from the other room and flipped out. Apparently he plays hus brother. Call it a man crush, I don't care.

A reminder of how fucking great of a character Max Payne is.

@Ghostiet said:

@AhmadMetallic:

On a side note, you really impressed me with your open-mindedness about MP3 considering your input before it came out. That blog write-up was a great read.

You're just too used to the internet mentality of eternal hate or eternal love. We're human beings with flexible minds, the fact that someone changing their mind is impressive is sad to me.

I'm not being rude, thanks for the kind words, I'm just saying my worry and dissatisfaction for what MP3 seemed to be and my enjoyment of what it actually turned out to be should be a very normal human transition.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Ghostiet said:

@AhmadMetallic:

On a side note, you really impressed me with your open-mindedness about MP3 considering your input before it came out. That blog write-up was a great read.

You're just too used to the internet mentality of eternal hate or eternal love. We're human beings with flexible minds, the fact that someone changing their mind is impressive is sad to me.

I'm not being rude, thanks for the kind words, I'm just saying my worry and dissatisfaction for what MP3 seemed to be and my enjoyment of what it actually turned out to be should be a very normal human transition.

Yeah, I kind of wanted to call you out on that however didnt feel it was appropriate. You fought long and hard against the concept of Max Payne 3. However once you played it and completed it you changed your tune. Then wrote that love letter of Max Payne and was surprising yet welcomed attitude.

McCaffrey was fantastic, he gave one of, if not the finest performance in a game, in my opinion. Still my GOTY.

Way better performance than before, he sounded really hammy in the old games. That fit the style at the time, but still.

@Seroth said:

And to think they originally weren't going to get him back for the game. What were they thinking? I'm glad they came to their senses in the end.

I don't think it was a matter of their personal choice. I'm pretty sure it was just that he wasn't available originally. Rescue Me was still going when it got announced, so maybe it was that.

I loved how tired he sounded in this one. Hell, I thought Rock Star pulled off an amazing feat with the final chapter of Max Payne, especially in the soundtrack department. The airport scene alone had both my adrenaline peaking and my mind in zen mode.

Ah man, his pissed-off reaction toward the bad guy from that twist on top of the hotel roof is so great. It really gives the right amount of "my life sucks and I need to drink" tone toward the story. You're right, MacCaffrey's a plus for that game.

I really enjoy the Max Payne character. He did a great job with the VA.

I enjoyed every scene with Max and Da Silva immensely. It was great to observe Max talking in real-time, hearing his retorts and frustration outside of a narrator role (much more than the first 2 games, to be fair )

His performance was excellent, one of the best I've heard in a game. The scene on the roof of the hotel being a stand out, that was brilliant. The narration and his entire style was much more serious and just tired and defeated rather than the slight corniness of the first two games.