What do you think of Max Payne 3? Worth the wait? Beat your expectations? Another generic shooter? I think it's alot harder then I thought, even on medium, no rebounding health bar so you have to time your shots, and just running around jumping gets you killed if you don't got the pills.

It was better than I expected. Best Rockstar game I've played in...perhaps ever. Does some things quite well, but I'm not a fan of other things. Need to process it a bit more before I can really state how I feel. Still kind of mulling over my feelings regarding the climax.

Nothing has really sold me on it yet, other than the cool treatments the cutscenes get with overlayed graphics, panels and visual effects. But then I hear that they become a bit of an overkill with that stuff so I'll probably pick it up when it gets cheaper. Doesn't 'feel' like the Max Payne of olde.

@Quarters said:

It was better than I expected. Best Rockstar game I've played in...perhaps ever. Does some things quite well, but I'm not a fan of other things. Need to process it a bit more before I can really state how I feel. Still kind of mulling over my feelings regarding the climax.

Better then RDR? Really?

If it's as good as or better than Red Dead Redemption, I will explode.

Not out here till the 18th...

@Village_Guy said:

Not out here till the 18th...

Where?

@Baillie said:

If it's as good as or better than Red Dead Redemption, I will explode.

Dunno about good as RDR, you got to do so much in that game and had so much freedom to be a cowboy. However, this game you feel like a bad ass. The bullet damage is gruesome, barbaric even, haven't seen that in games in awhile. At least this detailed.

@Village_Guy said:

Not out here till the 18th...

This.

I'm having a lot of fun with it, but it just doesn't feel like a Max Payne game. It's not the lack of comic book-style cutscenes or the change in scenery, it's just the overall tone feels completely different.

To me, it feels much more like a GTA IV total conversion mod or something.

 and just running around jumping gets you killed if you don't got the pills.

@Paindamnation: I'm in Denmark, but I have heard other places in Europe already got it. So I don't really know what to think about it.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Paindamnation said:

and just running around jumping gets you killed if you don't got the pills.

Haven't played it but I doubt that. From what I've seen of the total knobs who played it like a cover based shooter, the game is TOTALLY designed to have you skillfully run around, slapping your enemies in the face and then blowing their brains out. You just need to abuse the game's physics and the character's weight and movement, be quick with the mouse and know how to jump in and out of bullet time.

It's not out on the PC till the 29th. Also you'd be more surprised. In all the reviews it shows how you are more vulnerable in the bullet time events and it's true. I'm on medium and if you just stick to a wall, they will come around the back and flank you, unless you have a high sensitivity for aiming they can light you up. The bullet time effects are great though, and I did play it with a little lack of sleep. (Playing on 360)

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Paindamnation said:

and just running around jumping gets you killed if you don't got the pills.

Haven't played it but I doubt that. From what I've seen of the total knobs who played it like a cover based shooter, the game is TOTALLY designed to have you skillfully run around, slapping your enemies in the face and then blowing their brains out.

You haven't played it, so you wouldn't know.

Ryan's critique on the Bombcast was pretty spot on. I beat it yesterday, and you can shoot-dodge the last two enemies in an area, but if you do that full-on in the beginning of a fight, you will die immediately. And a lot. Max takes quite a bit longer to get back up on his feet, and you can stay down shooting, or fire a little as you get up, but regardless, you better know what you're doing before you jump in the middle of a gunfight.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Paindamnation said:

and just running around jumping gets you killed if you don't got the pills.

Haven't played it but I doubt that. From what I've seen of the total knobs who played it like a cover based shooter, the game is TOTALLY designed to have you skillfully run around, slapping your enemies in the face and then blowing their brains out.

You haven't played it, so you wouldn't know.

Ryan's critique on the Bombcast was pretty spot on. I beat it yesterday, and you can shoot-dodge the last two enemies in an area, but if you do that full-on in the beginning of a fight, you will die immediately. And a lot. Max takes quite a bit longer to get back up on his feet, and you can stay down shooting, or fire a little as you get up, but regardless, you better know what you're doing before you jump in the middle of a gunfight.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Napalm said:

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Paindamnation said:

and just running around jumping gets you killed if you don't got the pills.

Haven't played it but I doubt that. From what I've seen of the total knobs who played it like a cover based shooter, the game is TOTALLY designed to have you skillfully run around, slapping your enemies in the face and then blowing their brains out.

You haven't played it, so you wouldn't know.

Ryan's critique on the Bombcast was pretty spot on. I beat it yesterday, and you can shoot-dodge the last two enemies in an area, but if you do that full-on in the beginning of a fight, you will die immediately. And a lot. Max takes quite a bit longer to get back up on his feet, and you can stay down shooting, or fire a little as you get up, but regardless, you better know what you're doing before you jump in the middle of a gunfight.

You haven't played it with a mouse, so you wouldn't know.

Have you?

@Paindamnation said:

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Napalm said:

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Paindamnation said:

and just running around jumping gets you killed if you don't got the pills.

Haven't played it but I doubt that. From what I've seen of the total knobs who played it like a cover based shooter, the game is TOTALLY designed to have you skillfully run around, slapping your enemies in the face and then blowing their brains out.

You haven't played it, so you wouldn't know.

Ryan's critique on the Bombcast was pretty spot on. I beat it yesterday, and you can shoot-dodge the last two enemies in an area, but if you do that full-on in the beginning of a fight, you will die immediately. And a lot. Max takes quite a bit longer to get back up on his feet, and you can stay down shooting, or fire a little as you get up, but regardless, you better know what you're doing before you jump in the middle of a gunfight.

You haven't played it with a mouse, so you wouldn't know.

Have you?

BOOM GOES THE FUCKING DYNAMITE.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Napalm said:

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Paindamnation said:

and just running around jumping gets you killed if you don't got the pills.

Haven't played it but I doubt that. From what I've seen of the total knobs who played it like a cover based shooter, the game is TOTALLY designed to have you skillfully run around, slapping your enemies in the face and then blowing their brains out.

You haven't played it, so you wouldn't know.

Ryan's critique on the Bombcast was pretty spot on. I beat it yesterday, and you can shoot-dodge the last two enemies in an area, but if you do that full-on in the beginning of a fight, you will die immediately. And a lot. Max takes quite a bit longer to get back up on his feet, and you can stay down shooting, or fire a little as you get up, but regardless, you better know what you're doing before you jump in the middle of a gunfight.

You haven't played it with a mouse, so you wouldn't know.

Have you?

I have not played it very long. It seems like a good game but I feel disconnected from the max payne universe.

@AhmadMetallic: Don't think your wild speculation overrules my actual experience, because it doesn't. Sure, the experience might be a bit different for you, but damage numbers Max takes and what you deal do not change unless the difficulty is changed.

@Napalm said:

but regardless, you better know what you're doing before you jump in the middle of a gunfight.

Yeah, the real key to the shootdodge is knowing where you're going to land to avoid exposure.

I found myself relying on acrobatics to survive more than staying in cover or simply walking with bullet time.

PC version is out on the 1st June here in the UK.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Paindamnation said:

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Napalm said:

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Paindamnation said:

and just running around jumping gets you killed if you don't got the pills.

Haven't played it but I doubt that. From what I've seen of the total knobs who played it like a cover based shooter, the game is TOTALLY designed to have you skillfully run around, slapping your enemies in the face and then blowing their brains out.

You haven't played it, so you wouldn't know.

Ryan's critique on the Bombcast was pretty spot on. I beat it yesterday, and you can shoot-dodge the last two enemies in an area, but if you do that full-on in the beginning of a fight, you will die immediately. And a lot. Max takes quite a bit longer to get back up on his feet, and you can stay down shooting, or fire a little as you get up, but regardless, you better know what you're doing before you jump in the middle of a gunfight.

You haven't played it with a mouse, so you wouldn't know.

Have you?

I wish ;( Which is why I'm merely speculating and theorizing.

Yeah we don't need a flame war. It's just harder without those controls but until you play it side by side for yourself it's all speculation like you said. I usually use the 360 controller on PC when I can. I was never a point and click TPS or FPS guy.

@AhmadMetallic: Don't think your wild speculation overrules my actual experience, because it doesn't. Sure, the experience might be a bit different for you, but damage numbers Max takes and what you deal do not change unless the difficulty is changed.

@dekkadekkadekka said:

PC version is out on the 1st June here in the UK.

I'm sorry for your luck bro that sucks.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Napalm said:

@AhmadMetallic: Don't think your wild speculation overrules my actual experience, because it doesn't. Sure, the experience might be a bit different for you, but damage numbers Max takes and what you deal do not change unless the difficulty is changed.

Well let me ask you a few questions that'll help me here: 1. Can Max jump? roll? or is it shootdodging and vaulting only? 2. When enemies shoot, do they lock on you and keep blasting you, or is it more like MP1 and 2 where their bullets travel to where you are and allow you to jump aside and have them hit the wall behind you, which allows you to shoot back?

1. You can only slow-mo jump-dodge. The only way you can normally jump is if you initiate the jump-dodge and then hit the bullet time button immediately afterwards, but you'd be normally jumping, so it's not viable, unless you're trying to conserve your meter. There isn't any Stranglehold tactics of rolling on carts, or jumping off the wall to get a higher angle or anything like that. There is only a roll when you go to pick up a weapon that you are running over, which is actually quite useful.

2. I feel there's a ton of auto-locking on this game, which I think is the main issue. Once they draw a bead on you, you're kind of done unless you get to cover or kill them first, but towards the back-end of the game where you're up against eight armored guys with assault rifles, jump-dodging becomes a less viable strategy. While enemies do move around, it's the Grand Theft Auto IV symptom where they don't move around a lot, so in a relatively small space, you have half a dozen guys just pounding you with assault rifle fire, and one or two guys coming around to flank you, which is the whole thing Rockstar talked about, trying to get move out of cover, but you can't shoot-dodge in that scenario in any way that allows you to land behind cover because Max does take so much damn damage.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Napalm said:

@AhmadMetallic: Don't think your wild speculation overrules my actual experience, because it doesn't. Sure, the experience might be a bit different for you, but damage numbers Max takes and what you deal do not change unless the difficulty is changed.

Well let me ask you a few questions that'll help me here: 1. Can Max jump? roll? or is it shootdodging and vaulting only? 2. When enemies shoot, do they lock on you and keep blasting you, or is it more like MP1 and 2 where their bullets travel to where you are and allow you to jump aside and have them hit the wall behind you, which allows you to shoot back?

1. You can only slow-mo jump-dodge. The only way you can normally jump is if you initiate the jump-dodge and then hit the bullet time button immediately afterwards, but you'd be normally jumping, so it's not viable, unless you're trying to conserve your meter. There isn't any Stranglehold tactics of rolling on carts, or jumping off the wall to get a higher angle or anything like that. There is only a roll when you go to pick up a weapon that you are running over, which is actually quite useful.

2. I feel there's a ton of auto-locking on this game, which I think is the main issue. Once they draw a bead on you, you're kind of done unless you get to cover or kill them first, but towards the back-end of the game where you're up against eight armored guys with assault rifles, jump-dodging becomes a less viable strategy. While enemies do move around, it's the Grand Theft Auto IV symptom where they don't move around a lot, so in a relatively small space, you have half a dozen guys just pounding you with assault rifle fire, and one or two guys coming around to flank you, which is the whole thing Rockstar talked about, trying to get move out of cover, but you can't shoot-dodge in that scenario in any way that allows you to land behind cover because Max does take so much damn damage.

@Lebensbaum said:

@Napalm said:

but regardless, you better know what you're doing before you jump in the middle of a gunfight.

Yeah, the real key to the shootdodge is knowing where you're going to land to avoid exposure.

I found myself relying on acrobatics to survive more than staying in cover or simply walking with bullet time.

That sounds like a cool way to play the game if you can shootdodge your way from cover to cover.

I absolutely love it. The action never stops, the story has me hooked, and I cannot stop playing. Jesus, even the on rail sequences are exciting as hell. Rockstar did an amazing job with Max Payne 3, and I hope the series can live on with them.

@AhmadMetallic said:

That's disappointing. [...]

It's not a Max Payne game as you've come to expect, but it's still fun and has elements of those previous games. I think that character is in full force though, and the musical cues are great.

@Napalm said:

@AhmadMetallic said:

That's disappointing. [...]

It's not a Max Payne game as you've come to expect, but it's still fun and has elements of those previous games. I think that character is in full force though, and the musical cues are great.

this

@Paindamnation said:

@Quarters said:

It was better than I expected. Best Rockstar game I've played in...perhaps ever. Does some things quite well, but I'm not a fan of other things. Need to process it a bit more before I can really state how I feel. Still kind of mulling over my feelings regarding the climax.

Better then RDR? Really?

I can't stand RDR. I found it boring, repetive, and utterly obnoxious. I actively dislike modern Rockstar(though some of their PS2/XBOX games are alright). I wasn't hostile at all towards MP3.

@AhmadMetallic @Napalm There's actually totally a roll. Accidentally discovered it this morning. Hit A/X(depending on system) while running, and you roll. The game's really weird about telling you some of the stuff you can do, and absolutely never mentioning certain things. I didn't even know you could vault until I actually had to in order to continue a level.

And I have dodged a shot before. It's not easy, but possible. For the most part, they lock on pretty hard. Machine guns MESS YOU UP.

The inability to skip the very long cutscenes between chapters is really annoying and they are pretty boring to add insult to injury.  The gameplay itself is good but the story is just blah, the presentation I don't care for at all.  Game is a one and done for sure, rental at best.

I've completed it and I really love this game .I think if Rockstar tried to make it like the previous 2 ,It wouldn't work as well .Mainly because Remedy has such a distinct style and quirkyness in their games that only Remedy can pull it off . The way Rockstar made it their own is the right move. I agree with Ryan i do really miss the flowery language I've used so many lines from that in my song writing .

I think people forget that MP 1 and 2 had quick saves so you could slow-mo dive all the time and if you failed quick load and try again right where you were . I remember Max also being very fragile in the MP 1 and 2 as well .

I like it. I don't think it's a rental at best because the multiplayer is still there. It does mix with the Splinter Cell KINDA way of the dialogue on the screen,

@sins_of_mosin said:

The inability to skip the very long cutscenes between chapters is really annoying and they are pretty boring to add insult to injury. The gameplay itself is good but the story is just blah, the presentation I don't care for at all. Game is a one and done for sure, rental at best.

You can't skip the cutscenes because in lieu of having load time screens, they hid them behind the cut scenes, which I personally think is great, I can eat something, check email all while letting it play out. I think the presentation is not TOP notch but is still pretty good considering how it's been almost a decade since the last max payne.

It was 3am before I quit. The way the single player flows with no load times between chapters makes it VERY hard to stop and put down. Loving it. Its not like the other two Max Payne games in a lot of ways but it is still fantastic.

@Demoskinos said:

It was 3am before I quit. The way the single player flows with no load times between chapters makes it VERY hard to stop and put down. Loving it. Its not like the other two Max Payne games in a lot of ways but it is still fantastic.

Quit playing or beat it?

@Paindamnation said:

I like it. I don't think it's a rental at best because the multiplayer is still there. It does mix with the Splinter Cell KINDA way of the dialogue on the screen,

@sins_of_mosin said:

The inability to skip the very long cutscenes between chapters is really annoying and they are pretty boring to add insult to injury. The gameplay itself is good but the story is just blah, the presentation I don't care for at all. Game is a one and done for sure, rental at best.

You can't skip the cutscenes because in lieu of having load time screens, they hid them behind the cut scenes, which I personally think is great, I can eat something, check email all while letting it play out. I think the presentation is not TOP notch but is still pretty good considering how it's been almost a decade since the last max payne.

Unskippable cutscenes are fine until you want to replay the game or grab collectibles. Then they're the worst. And these are some really long cutscenes/load times.

@bwheeeler said:

@Paindamnation said:

I like it. I don't think it's a rental at best because the multiplayer is still there. It does mix with the Splinter Cell KINDA way of the dialogue on the screen,

@sins_of_mosin said:

The inability to skip the very long cutscenes between chapters is really annoying and they are pretty boring to add insult to injury. The gameplay itself is good but the story is just blah, the presentation I don't care for at all. Game is a one and done for sure, rental at best.

You can't skip the cutscenes because in lieu of having load time screens, they hid them behind the cut scenes, which I personally think is great, I can eat something, check email all while letting it play out. I think the presentation is not TOP notch but is still pretty good considering how it's been almost a decade since the last max payne.

Unskippable cutscenes are fine until you want to replay the game or grab collectibles. Then they're the worst. And these are some really long cutscenes/load times.

Yea their definitely is that "oh i wanted to grab that thing but I loaded the cut scene bit" to anyone who beat it and played it again, can you skip them the second time around? AND if you watch the quick look you can skip somee of them.

Hate to be a downer but this is a really average game to me. I'm only on chapter 4, but so far the game mechanics feel like such a generic shooter that I'm bored with it already. Maybe I've played way too many shooters this generation but it's like I've already gone through this gameplay over and over. Here's the asian restaurant, here's the parking garage, here's the part where you fly around in a helicopter shooting, here's the part where you snipe at baddies.... fuuuck, I'm so bored with the same scenarios being hashed out over and over in shooters.

The only area where this could have stood out is the cool matrix slow motion from the previous games, but that got totally gimped, to where it runs out way too quickly and even if it lasted longer I would hardly even WANT to lunge in the air shooting because when I do I'm just exposed. I'm also playing on hard so it's not like I can take many shots, so maybe on lower difficulties you can have a little more fun with matrix lunges, but the feeling of your super power is clearly not to the level of the past games... bah. :(

@bwheeeler said:

@Paindamnation said:

I like it. I don't think it's a rental at best because the multiplayer is still there. It does mix with the Splinter Cell KINDA way of the dialogue on the screen,

@sins_of_mosin said:

The inability to skip the very long cutscenes between chapters is really annoying and they are pretty boring to add insult to injury. The gameplay itself is good but the story is just blah, the presentation I don't care for at all. Game is a one and done for sure, rental at best.

You can't skip the cutscenes because in lieu of having load time screens, they hid them behind the cut scenes, which I personally think is great, I can eat something, check email all while letting it play out. I think the presentation is not TOP notch but is still pretty good considering how it's been almost a decade since the last max payne.

Unskippable cutscenes are fine until you want to replay the game or grab collectibles. Then they're the worst. And these are some really long cutscenes/load times.

Yea their definitely is that "oh i wanted to grab that thing but I loaded the cut scene bit" to anyone who beat it and played it again, can you skip them the second time around? AND if you watch the quick look you can skip somee of them.

I beat the game yesterday.
 
I like the game quite a bit. It's a great TPS action game that never lets up on the action but it does have it's quirks and flaws. 
 
People complain that it's a departure from that special "thing' that made the first two games great which to me is ok seeing as how i don't remember much from those games outside of his wife and child being dead. 
 
The gunplay is satisfying once you wrap your head around the movement/aiming. A lot of people (mostly the Max Payne enthusiast/purists) feel like if you're not constantly shoot dodging or using bullet time then you're not playing it right. This thought process is straight up bullshit. Aside from the game being versatile enough where you can take charge and jump into the thick of things or hang back and use cover, there are AMPLE situations where if all you were to do was to charge enemies head on, bullet time or not, you WILL get your ass handed to you. No questions asked. I don't care what anyone says. That's not to say that the game suddenly turns into gears of war where your in cover every 5 seconds but you need to make the best of both worlds in terms of being aggressive and using cover. 
 
The presentation is well done if not over done. The whole "flickering" in cutscenes can get annoying after a while. I think had they played it more subtly it would have went a long way. It would have been cool if they used it according to how max was in the cutscene. So if he was trying to recall something but found it difficult (due to the all the drugs and alcohol) it could have kicked in a bit or if he was anxious and on edge. Things like that. I also like the way words show up in cutscenes but again it's a bit over done. It seems like they use it to emphasis words and phrases that don't really need emphasizing. They should have just went the Man on fire route and used it to translate and emphasize important things to the player when someone was speaking in a foreign language and/or just use it to emphasize Max's melodramatic quotables which he recites every other sentence
 
A lot of people seem to be gravitating towards the multiplayer (one review even suggested it was better than the SP) but me?, not so much. There's things i don't really like about it but i don't really like competitive MP in any game so i may be a lil biased. I don't like the fact that you have to choose your weapon from the weapon wheel. There should be a way to seamlessly do it without having to essentially stop and bring up a menu. I also hate the fact that the grenade doesn't have it's own button. You have to equip it by opening the weapon wheel as if it's a gun and then use the shoot button to throw it. On way hand it stops people from using the "throw a grenade at my feet when i'm about to die in order to take us both out" tactic but at the same time i feel like it slows things down because essentially there's more of a commitment involved when using a grenade. Not to mention i feel like the grenade take a tad too long to explode anyway.

@hbkdx12: Nice synopsis duder, I'm nearing the end of the Act III, really curious to see how the clues and story threads wrap up.

I agree that it avoids mundane cover based 'whack-a-mole' gameplay by giving you enough freedom to choreograph different moves. Cutscenes were distracting to me at first but my love for the Houser's signature touch has kept me hooked. I eventually opted for no subtitles and instead just let the visual effects, voice acting and on-screen words do the storytelling.

Haven't had any trouble with the weapon wheel - it allows you to keep your character moving while making your selection. Also, I think you can tap LB/L1 to throw a grenade without having to equip it. Haven't put much time into the multiplayer but it sounds like it has potential with crew rivalries forming in the future. From what I've seen it's ridiculously chaotic which seems like a no-brainer for TNT.

That was legitimately informative thanks @hbkdx12

Wait, what?! There's grenades? I literally played the entire game without even knowing that!

I think the game is pretty great. Some of the best third person combat I've played this gen. The soundtrack is pitch perfect, the writing is sharp, and it's well paced. Looks great as well.

There are some things that I don't think it does quite as well as Max Payne 1 and 2. Mechanically and visually it's obviously advanced far beyond those, but some things creatively aren't quite as cohesive as MP 1 and. Doesn't have as much charm a those, or even other Rockstar games.

But on its own, I think it's a pretty damn good shooter. And the multiplayer is surprisingly fun with a bunch of crew members.

just got to the 2nd disk in single player. and did a couple rounds of multiplayer.

the singleplayer...is pretty damn awesome. great gunplay, AMAZING animations. pretty good enemy AI that keeps you on your toes. the game is actually pretty challenging even on normal. which is awesome. already looking forward to playing through on harder difficulties. the bullet time is well done and extremely useful. i heard people say shoot dodging isn't very useful. but i use it ALL THE TIME. just make sure you land behind cover and you're good. the story is pretty good. everything super gritty and brutal. those killcams are crazy.

multiplayer... i only did a couple rounds but from what ive seen it'll be my multiplayer game for awhile. it handles good. TONS of customization. and lots of strategy being used makes for fun games. i'm a sucker for deep customization in multiplayer games. this has it in spades.

personally so far this year. this is the best game ive played. i'd gladly recommend it to others.

Absolutely love the campaign so far. I'm about half way through at this point. Even as a huge fan of the original games, I'm really digging the tonal shift the series took. It definitely has Rockstar stamped all over it, but I feel like that stuff works. Max himself is still a great character, and his still-stylish but more to-the-point way of speaking lends itself to his constant self-pity and cynicism in a way that makes him even more of a badass and occasionally pretty amusing. I'm enjoying every bit of dialogue this game puts forth. The gameplay takes some getting used to, but it is incredibly satisfying once you finally do get a hang of it. The way the sound effects, animations, destruction, and violence come together makes for some of the most visceral and cinematic combat I've seen to this day. The aiming never feels quite right though, even having tooled around with the sensitivity options. However, it doesn't get in the way too often.

The multiplayer is another story. The wonky aiming does everything in its power to make trying to shoot human players as unnecessarily tough as possible. This is definitely one of the most frustrating multiplayer experiences I've had in a long time. Not that there aren't moments that I really enjoy it, but more often than not, I'm struggling to get a beat on anyone. I either end up shooting right next them and narrowly miss, or I overshoot my aim and miss by a mile, both of which lead to a quick death. Funny, I seem to get one-shotted quite a bit within a second of coming face to face with someone. I must be missing something.

@hbkdx12: Oh, ok. That makes a lot more sense.