I played and beat Max Payne 3 and can definitely say that it's one of the best games I've played in a long time, as far as shooter goes anyways. Seeing this great character brought back after a long hiatus, with his unending cynicism, torment and witty remarks was, amidst the overflow of generic military shooters the past five or so years, refreshing. It served as a reminder of just how very few video games can tell stories effectively, in a way that truly resonates with the player.

That said though, there is one bit in the game where I was left scratching my head in confusion and a bit of irritation. In one of the flashback levels, Max Payne is contemplating his wife and daughter's grave. He then says this: "I still can't forgive myself for the Mona business. I know it was just grief."

Maybe anger is not the right word, but I want to say that hearing this bit of monologue angered me a little for what it represents. This one line basically dismisses all of Max Payne 2 to the point of shitting on it. I don't know what the writer was thinking, but Max Payne 2 had a fantastic story about overcoming the demons of the past and finding love amidst violence and bloodshed. By having Max constantly reminiscing about his wife and daughter throughout the entire game, and then having him say this line, makes me think the writer wanted to completely disregard the second opus as if it had never happened or never meant anything. At the same time, it dismisses everything that happened between Max and Mona.

As someone who holds Max Payne 2 close to heart, I am left saddened by the way Rockstar treated the previous game and, by extension, the story Remedy tried to tell with it. Am I the only one who picked up on this ?

I found the game played really well, but the characters were awful. The writing just seemed to go nowhere, and shit was just hitting the fan over and over for no particular reason, I don't really understand why he was even there. Anyone else would have said fuck that quite a few times through the story, who knows. Anyway, Remedy are much better writers than Rockstar, the only really great story and characters they've done is in Red Dead Redemption.

As somebody who thinks Max Payne 2 isn't very good or interesting, I'm glad the writer took a dump on it. It makes sense anyway. He's chasing a femme fatale with no real reason while he's wrestling with the death of his family in the prior game. They throw Max Payne 2 under the bus anyway, even at the end when he says, "my wife and baby were dead, but it was alright," that was his acceptance. I guess not, according to Max Payne 3. If anything, that line bothered me a ton.

Yeah, I remember that line. I thought it was garbage too. 
I can see why they would brush MP2 under the rug in MP3 though. MP2 was the more cartoonish/comicky of the two originals, something that does not jibe well with the story they wanted in MP3. MP1, for as silly as it was with its valkyr and shadow organizations, didn't have a white-suited metrosexual russian throwing bombs at you from a chandelier.