Lebensbaum (Level 17)

Max Payne 3! Dudes diving out of windows in slow motion, a unique enough spin on the shooter.

Plus the crew system makes it easy to set up private games with other GB members.

@AcidBrandon18: Yeah, I think it's mapped for all attachments.

Same thing happened to me first time through and I ended up walking passed plenty of weapons.

Press select to disable it and revert to the normal crosshairs. (courtesy of another thread somewhere!)

@Forkstik: I love their distinct guitar reverb, the brief interlude track "Pills" has really grown on me despite its length:

The Panama theme has a great overall vibe to it as well. I felt like a total badass when that drum kit started playing onboard the cruise ship.

Kill screen comin' up, guys, kill screen, potential Donkey Kong kill screen comin' up if anybody wants to watch.

If only you could unlock them in the regular story mode with all the cutscenes... but at least arcade lets you witness his mouth animate in certain scenes.

It's strange, given the emphasis during a death screen on where you were hit, that shots don't inflict different levels of damage based on the body part. Rockstar already seems more serious about the multiplayer, however, so we should expect further balancing alongside the DLC releases if they want to keep people playing.

Max Payne 3 OST is now available to download Personally, I didn't know anything about HEALTH before this game. But man did that score blow me away; one of the best I've heard in a game (subdued tracks for downtime moments beautifully combined with synthy layers and percussion that build up tension during a shoot out). Even the licensed track by Emicida I thought perfectly set the tone for entering the favela.

Anyone else enjoying the soundtrack and/or plan on downloading?

EDIT: Free bonus track from R* SoundCloud:

@ShalashaskaUK666 said:

I just found myself having to resort to bullet-time-in-cover headshots to avoid getting shot myself

Man, that sounds like a miserable way to play this game. Shootdodging is a must if you want to deal the most damage while taking the least.

First playthrough on normal must've built my confidence, because playing on hard the second time through seemed much easier.

Doctorchimp has some good, helpful tips above. If I had to be reductive about it, nearly every encounter I relied on a horizontal shootdodge to line up multiple headshots. Once you've seen a few level layouts, you'll realize cover is intentionally arranged so you can choreograph moves like this.

After each jump it's important to decide whether to keep shooting from the ground or risk getting back on your feet in time to dodge again. Using the cover button directly from the prone position can speed up the animation process, or you can keep your momentum after each dodge by holding the stick in the same direction.

@Knetic2341: “I’d been sitting at the bar for three hours, or about five years depending on the way you looked at things."

Chapter IV is such a great nostalgia trip. Speaking of the music, do you happen to know the song that plays once the gunfight ensues? More than one plays during the bar scene, but the one I'm thinking of, the only chorus I can make out sounds like, "it was wild in the street."

@UberExplodey: Oh snap... must be another clue I missed in the third act.

Just found a creepy guy hiding under a bed right before you exit the favela brothel. Sadly, they don't give you a chance to kill him.

I had similar skepticism leading up to release, with all the marketing videos seeming desperate to emphasize "innovations" in the genre. It wasn't until I actually played the game that I realized this is Rockstar's most polished work to date. It's as if leaving out the open-world afforded them so much more attention to detail and diversity to every environment. You can really tell how much their real-world research paid off in creating an authentic look and feel.

I can see how the contemporary noirish presentation might be off-putting to fans of Remedy's style, but there are enough references made to the originals that you walk away feeling like they treated Max's legacy with respect while still managing to modernize the game elements.

@rebgav: by full range I mean unlike in other Rockstar titles, Max keeps his shooting arm extended at all times and properly pivots his body while turning without any loss of aim. I know what you mean by the stutter steps though. He doesn't change direction instantly but you'll notice his weight realistically shift when strafing.

@hbkdx12: Well, if you chose a bad spot to dive in the first place then you'll be vulnerable regardless of what you do. It's a risky move in multiplayer unless you have adrenaline stored up, but at least the smoother transition out of prone will get you back on your feet so you can return fire.

@hbkdx12: I'm playing on the 360 and haven't experienced those issues, but then again the DualShock controller has never been great for shooters in my mind (placement/feedback of the sticks, squishy non-triggers). Grenades do have a delay for some reason and I wish the trajectory arc would appear immediately instead of right as it's left my hand. I've never found a use for the roll but I assume it's designed for evading fire during bullet time.

When you're shootdodging you have to hold the same direction while you're getting up to keep your momentum or else you're a sitting duck like you said.

@rebgav said:

The problem with that theory is that all of Rockstar's other protagonists have handled in a similar fashion. The game has clunky controls because Rockstar games have clunky controls. If they can disguise that as a conceit of the fiction it's cute but not really an acceptable solution.

What exactly do you find clunky about the controls? They give you full range of aiming, the precision of a first-person shooter, and realistic movement.

@ShalashaskaUK666 said:

Do you guys have any control tips for sensitivity or layout that would make it feel more like the previous games? Or gameplay tips in general? How have you been playing, more like the older games, or have you adapted a new approach?

Adjust your aiming acceleration to remove any "friction" on the reticle; that's the most important step to fix your aiming issues. I suggest switching to free aim so you can accurately land headshots, otherwise the auto-lock takes too much control away from the player. Also enable both the target tracking and slowdown settings so your reticle has some magnetism.

It all takes some getting used to and can be frustrating at first when you don't know what to expect from the enemy. As for not being able to react fast enough, that's what bullet time is for. I found shootdodging the most effective way to handle combat, usually killing 2 or 3 dudes per dodge - you just have to decide where it's safe to land. Ideally, you should stay in motion during gunfights with the occasional pause behind cover to reload or to survey the area.

I'm told that manually activating bullet time with the stick and then strafing around enemy bullets is doable as well but I always had trouble keeping my adrenaline up and thus relied on shootdodging more than anything. And never did I need to use the roll maneuver.

@Ghostiet said:

I felt it makes sense with the overall theme of the character. 1 & 2 had Max's emotional struggles moving the plot, while halfway through 3 he finally wrestles control from his personal shit and is simply doing things because it's the right thing to do.

Along those same lines, I interpreted Max's desire to protect Passos and Giovanna's unborn child as a sort of vicarious resolution.