The flesh of fallen angels
Max Payne 3 reviewed by Doc D Strange
As a long time fan of the Max Payne series, Max Payne 3 is finally fucking here! WOW! I never thought I would be saying that. Rockstar Games took the reigns as the developer for this game when the first two games were developed by Remedy Entertainment who are hard at work with they're Lost/Twin Peaks inspired games in the Alan Wake franchise. Rockstar Games were the publisher's of Max Payne 1 and 2 which makes the 3rd game so different yet similar in many ways to the Remedy Max Payne games.
Story/Gameplay
After the trails and tribulations of the previous games Max Payne hasbecome less cynical and more depressed. He's addicted to pills andalcohol just waiting for death from overdose or a bullet in the head. Anold friend of his tells Max that he is working as a bodyguard for avery wealthy person in Brazil and would like Max to join him. Max takessome convincing but in the end decides to start over in Brazil with hisnew job. This is a Max Payne game so guess what shit goes bad quick andMax Payne is on the hunt for vengeance or redemption you decide.MaxPayne 3's gameplay is dual wielding Mac 10s and any numbers of differentguns spraying bullets into nameless thugs, mafia gangsters, PMCs andcharacters from the Jersey Shore. All while being the most down onhimself person in video games. Max can go into a state of slow mo dubbedBullet time, where murking fools is super satisfying. Max Payne 3 is aviolent game which likes to show you every little detail when it comesto pumping some lead into fuckers. There is a cover system that worksgreat most of the time, a few times I would be on my back shooting andthen trying to slide into cover and instead of Max crawling to the coverhe stands up while enemies are shooting at him and then he slides intothe cover, it can be frustrating sometimes. The Max Payne seriesgameplay was heavily based on the John Woo Hong Kong action movies fromthe late 80's and early 90's. Although I haven't seen any doves flyingin slow mo in the Max Payne games yet.
Graphics/Sound
Max Payne 3 is a great looking game and the devil is in the details. Like I was saying above, this game is fucked up when it comes to the realism of people getting shot with bullets. Rockstar Games really wanted to make the gunplay feel visceral from the camera work to the grittiness of each background riddled with bullets at the end of a firefight. Character models look realistic and move with realism. Max looks older and his movement shows it, he's slower and when diving through the air when he lands you can feel it and it will take some health away. When you go into Bullet time you can see every single bullet whizzing through the air, yours and the enemies.
When you activate slow mo the sound of the weapons change and sound fucking sweet. The voice acting is good and Im glad that Rockstar kept James McCaffrey as the voice of Max even though the writing could have been a little better Max's monologues can go on for a little too long sometimes. For a depressed alcoholic pill popper I guess they wrote the character fine I just miss the old Max and his dark sense of humor once in a while during the first two games. There is a ton of Portuguese spoken in the game which is a good touch. The Max Payne theme song is in there and as for the music in the game Rockstar Games really knows what to put in when it comes to they're games.
Multiplayer
This game has a love it or hate it multiplayer in my opinion. Rockstar has gotten pretty creative with Max Payne multiplayer, There's your standard TDM and DM but they have some cool new modes also, like Payne killer where one player plays as Max and who ever kills them they turn into Max kinda like a game of tag. You will be able to join what Rockstar calls Crews (pretty much clans but Rockstar wants to do there own thing as always) which in certain game modes there are Crew vs Crew which can earn you more XP or cash. When I first started MP I got first place almost everytime on my team. I don't know if Im just really good at the game or the MP is just easy for me.
Is this game any fun
I have my gripes with this game but when I get down to the basic fun factor of Max Payne 3, it's a great game. Play it! If your a fan of the Max Payne series definitely check this shit out. I would have gave this game a perfect score if Remedy made it because they just had all the great things from Noir to Address Unknown. Rockstar took a different and more serious approach with this game. It's not hard to noticed that Rockstar wanted to make Man on fire the game, also you can see that they really liked the movie Collateral. I love Max and would like to see Remedy Max one more time.
Beer of the Review
This has got to be the weirdest brew I have ever tasted. THIS BEER TASTE LIKE BACON!!! I know, right! Rogue's Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale is and no Im not joking a real beer. It's based on a doughnut shop in Portland that has doughnuts with bacon on them and Rogue brewery is based in Portland so the rest is magic. I have to warn you though it's a 14 dollar bottle of beer, it's a gamble if you don't like the brew. Having said that, to all you beer drinkers that like to take risks check this fucker out. Rogue doesn't make this beer all year round so pick it up now before they're gone. www.rogue.com
