Max payne 3 is a great game. It's part shooter, part interactive movie.. mostly the latter. And I paid less for it ($12, steam sale) than a real movie ticket would have cost. The graphics are superb. I absolutely don't agree with the negative reviews of this game. I'm a diehard PC games fan, and I was actually almost not going to buy this game because of the negative reviews. But I'm glad I did. Fight scenes are pretty realistic, and weapon handling and mechanics are realistic and good too (you can only carry 2 handguns and 1 big gun). Story is pretty good, but I didn't follow some stuff (i'm retarded like that). The only problem is that the game weighs in at 30 GB which is massive (it obliterated my download quota).

I don't really care about multiplayer, but the single player rocks! I also didn't mind the trippy visuals, like some people did.

I think PC game fans are being very ungrateful. Even if this is a console port (I absolutely detest consoles and consoletards), they've done a superb job of it and it is eminently playable on PC.… Expand

The first question everyone asked themselves, is it going to be another console port? Well it runs smooth for me so it has been optimized well but sometimes it sucks up all my memory so then the game crashes... I'm a hardcore Max Payne fan, and I've been waiting for this game a long time. I've completed it on medium, I've tried out the multiplayer so here's my review. The single player is good fun, and it lasted about 7 hours for me. The weapons are nicely done, and the graphics are pretty good. I would had given this a 9 or a 10 if Rockstar didn't shove a huge amount of cutscenes in this game. You cant skip quite a few of them because it just says "Still Loading" when it should be clearly loaded in 5-10 seconds. It just goes, wave, cutscene, wave, cutscene. It's quite annoying since I want to kill stuff and blaze through the levels. As for the cover system its ok, it makes the game more tactical when to shoot and what weapon you'll use. I also hate that when you're being shot at, it makes it unclear where the bullets are if you're not in bullet time. If you're low on health then the enemies sometimes shoot and you have no time to react or anything. You just die. Also bullet time runs out so easily which is annoying, it needs to last longer. Multiplayer is good, it works. You can customize your models which is awesome. The shotgun is overpowered though in deathmatch... Aside from that, the game is pretty good. Its just that the cutscenes are mainly annoying.… Expand

Excellent continuation of the cult franchise. Great game. Bravo Rockstar.
Max Payne 3 is a great shooter with an extremely fascinating script and storyline that totally succeeds in delivering a perfect noir tale! The pacing is just the right speed and I personally had no trouble playing this game nonstop for more than a couple of hours.
Max payne has always been my favourite game but i was a little worried about the third part bcoz it wasnt remedy making the game but no disrespect to Rockstar they are awesome specially i thnk so after playing max payne 3 it is an awesome game great story driven action heart pumping gameplay and brilliant multiplayer i must say i am thrilled after playing it and have to say rockstar have not let us down again and hasnt let the game die instead has made it famous.
Bravo Rockstar.… Expand

This is not a game at least not a full price one. Many games for iPhones and Android have more gameplay to offer! It is an interactive movie and should probably be reviewed in the movie section. Yes graphics are great but gameplay and story??? Ridiculous attempt and it feels so forced. 3 out of 10 for the graphic effort from Rockstar but as a game I wasted my money as it is fun for 10 mins (and it does not feel like you actually play more than this overall anyway) but then remains dull and just plain stupid. Warning!!!
ONLY BUY THIS IF YOUR IQ IS WELL BELOW AVERAGE OR YOU WISH TO EMPTY YOUR BRAIN FOR A WHILE!… Expand

I'm so happy I got this on the steam sale. Max Payne 3 is one of those games that make you clear one area, and after this you move on to the next. If you get killed, you have to start over again. Sometimes the 'areas' turn out to be much larger than one would have thought and after completing a challenging part of a level, you move on, looking around (more about this in a second) only to get shot and restart something that you already did. I know there are people that like this kind of thing: if that's you, you might like the game. But that's not the only shortcoming of the game.

I normally love games with a good story. Max Payne attempted to be cinematic, but it failed miserably. The way they created his character is just cheesy. You've got an ex-cop, who's a pill-popping alcoholic, who takes a bottle of pain killers and chases them down with a bottle of vodka or whiskey or whatever is his poison. All that Max does is complain about being a failure, monotonously. His wise-cracks are just like he is as a character: miserable and predictable. And, always banging on the same drum, ultimately boring. I know that sometimes protagonists of video games are supposed to be stereotypical, but its hard to find something less enthralling than a whining alcoholic. Other characters aren't much better. There also is a small technical plot hole. If you're bent on finding somebody, and time is of the essence, the game should encourage you to charge, or at least try to get to your goal ASAP. But it doesn't. Oh no. It does everything to discourage you, it even award you for not doing so. You have to find clues and parts of golden weapons as bonus objectives (remember when bonus objectives were a real part of games that made you do a level 5 or 6 times to get everything right?) Here its just the opposite. You have to canvas entire areas looking for something that might be a clue, or a weapon part. Which can be ludicrously hidden at times. Again, this isn't something new, and games such as Black had this.

The game also has too much cliches. You have the favellas bit (Fear 3, Modern Warfare 2), escaping a burning building (EVERYTHING last year)... What it lacks is innovation. And being fun.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Upon further playing I have come to realise this game is actually fantastic. Think about it Max was done in New Jersey and this was portrayed brilliantly in the flashback section of the game. All the nods to the previous games are a nice touch especially the piano playing. It leaves a few important things unanswered but it is somehow ok.… Expand

Absolutely superb game. beautifully optimised for PC with loads of lovely DX11 goodness added. Wonderful looking game and every bit the Max Payne I wanted it to be. If you liked the first two you must get this.

Okay, a few things to be understood about this game before purchasing: YES it is a linear third-person shooter, YES it has a lot of cut-scenes, and I don't find either of those factors to be a problem. Max Payne 3, like so many other Rockstar games, tries to craft a good story, and I find that it does a better job of doing this than most other story focused third-person or first-person shooters. The voice-acting is good, HEALTH did an excellent job with the soundtrack, and the graphics and settings are very nice. The game knows exactly what it wants to be and pulls it off. I did have the game crash on me a few times and there are issues with the "Last Stand" mechanic, but overall I was very satisfied with the experience. Before getting this, be aware that it plays a lot like a movie interspersed with a third-person shooter, but I find it worked very well. If you don't care for cut-scenes than this is not the game for you, otherwise I would recommend Max Payne 3.… Expand

Okay so I played this on Xbox 360 but waited till the PC release to buy it and I must say, there is a difference. I have recently just migrated to PC gaming as I have no intention of buying a new console and I built a very high mid range so it runs it very well, and Max Payne 3 runs smooth and very pretty. This looks so much better than any game I have played on console, even Max Payne 3 itself. Runs at a higher frame than the 30 fps cap of console too. I must say I am very pleased.… Expand

This game is pure garbage. Tbh thats all, but i try to explain something.
This is pretty much an interactive movie, you see 1 min of movie, then you got a 1 min shooting stage, if you pass it you go to the next movie and so on.
If you die and need to redo a stage you will have to see again and again a short intro movie, and you cant skip it.
Also, if you have to redo a session, the game will switch the weapon you are using with the standard pistol every time.
Game is all on rails, you have zero freedom, its all heavily scripted, so there is absolutley no replayability, also the game is scripted in a manner that wanna be hollywood movie, so you must play rambo always, you cant choose to sneak or do something different.
The game is a console port, as usual for Rockstar , not so bad as they did with gta IV, but still its not a good job, beside the graphic which imo is not so important, the problem is about mouse movement, which is for some reason clunky, it feels glued to the screen sometimes, very fast in game, very slow in the menus and super slow in bullet time... its quite bad and even tryin to change settings there is a bad feeling about it, any pc fps is 1000 times better.
I can add also that the cover system plus the bullet time system adds a layer of gameplay wich is not really needed imo, and its not developed so good, max cant cover in many situations due to irregular surfaces, and / or cant detach so easily from some others.
At the end i really hope that developers will return to develop games where GAMEPLAY is the core, not those kind of hollywood wannabe interactive movies.
I give it a score of 2 cause the voice acting, the movie direction and photography are good, but as this is a game, i want a game not a movie.… Expand

The good: I got it on the Steam sale for $14.99 and the gun play can be fun.

The bad: the amount of cut scenes is maddening. When people say shoot for a moment, cut scene, repeat they are not kidding - it gets old fast.

The horrible: they keep doing out of focus and disorienting colors/perspective constantly - this eventually gave me a serious headache. I don't know if I have the will power to go on...

The ridiculous: kidnap one person and thousands must die (it might make sense by the end...I doubt it).… Expand

Max Payne 1 and 2 were linear - completely linear. Mission one came before mission two and there were not that many routes in each mission. At a tactical level (how to clear a room) there is LOTS of choice - but like all the other MP games - it's linear. Controls are excellent, graphics are not up to much (cartoony - maybe a fraction better than Red Dead Redemption on the PS3 - but the PS3 is a 6 year old system using graphics hardware from the mid 2000's. Butr that's the end of my probelms. The game play very well indeed. The cut scenes are often but most ore not that long - but like I said at the top - this is the same as all the other MP games. This is MP3 NOT GTA Brazil. If it's standard Rockstar game mechanics you are after you might me a little dissapointed. Me? I love it… Expand

this has nothing to do with the original Max Payne 1 and 2. it's basically a bundle of cutscenes with occasional shooting. it's really embarrassing to call this thing a game. a game is something i would like to play, not to watch.

The problem with Max Payne 3 is, that it is not Max Payne. Cover: Max Payne doesn't need cover. The bullet time IS his cover. Taking cover is also way more effective than bullet time due to the narrow environments. Effects: the Kane & Lynch aesthetic is terribly distracting. Controls: clunky and unresponsive. Graphics: ok, but nothing special, the animations are awful especially in multiplayer. The 16 player matches are a clusterf* because of bad player spawn placement.… Expand

Max Payne 3 still gives off that le noir feeling; however, it's not as much as the first or second game. A point lost for not having the ability to skip cut scenes in the single player. Cut scenes are fine for the first play-through, but when trying out for the arcade mode they need to have a skip option. Multiplayer is fun and it would be a lot more fun if it wasn't for the peer to peer hosting Rockstar decided to go with. The lack of dedicated servers hampers the multiplayer experience.… Expand

This is a copy of 'wilddeer' review (see June 15th 2012). He/she said exactly what I feel about this game so I therefore used his/her words -------------------> Shooting gallery, cut scene, shooting gallery, cut scene, nothing, cut scene, shooting gallery, painfully long cut scene. Max, may i open that door? No, cut scene will do. Max, may i enter the room and shoot the bastards? No, cut scene will enter and choose the most stupid cover for you, and you will do the shooting. Max, may i look around through the sniper rifle scope while nothing happens? No, cut scene will look around for you.… Expand

Max Payne 3 can't decide whether it's a game or movie. It does both elements exceptionally well, but switches between them every 10 to 30 seconds. The first hour is pretty fun, but after that you'll come to loathe every unskippable cutscene or bulletcam sequence.

You will have to constantly battle the game for control. Half the time you can't tell whether you're in control or in a cutscene, because running, jumping and bullet time get disabled for no apparent reason, Max walks along a set path regardless of the direction you're looking, or the camera forces you to look at something.

To make matters worse, despite the constant theme of urgency, every level contains collectable pieces of "Golden Guns" that you have to explore every corner to find. As accidentally triggered cutscenes have a habit of blocking off visited locations, this quickly becomes tedious.

In short, this game is exceedingly frustrating. If Rockstar released a DLC that removed all the cutscenes, I'd buy it in a heartbeat; but until then, I regret paying money for this junk.… Expand

I absolutely loved this game. I can go into detail about all the graphics, gameplay mechanics, story and so on, but all I will do is URGE you to go and buy this game immediately if you haven't already. Breathtaking, amazing, hypnotic, mesmerizing, indulging - I just love it, and I'm definitely going to play through it again!

After finally beating this game, I have many things to say. First, the good things. 1. It's very good visually. It's pretty cool how the bullet actually goes through your character, and out the other side. 2. It's got a GREAT story. I would play through it again just for that. 3. It's true to the game play of the first two Max Payne games. Now for the downsides: 1. It Does WAY too many camera effects. 2. It didn't do any trippy flashbacks like in the first two games. 3. It was sort of predictable, not like the first one. 4. Multiplayer mode has that god awful auto assign for match play. I'm glad I bought it.… Expand

Ahh Max Payne, too long it has been since we had a fresh installment but like Hitman Absolution that is coming out this year it is great to have a new title in the series. Infact Hitman blood Money & Max Payne 2 are games I so enjoyed they have become mainstays in my games library and I go back to them a few times a year to blast through certain sections again.

Max Payne 3 is a worth addition to the series, however despite its amazing graphics and decent story I dont think it managed to surpass Max Payne 2 overall.

Graphically the game is incredible and the setting is quite good though I enjoyed the Seedy Favelas and the flashbacks to events in the USA most of all. Max Payne was always about gitty urban environments something that seems to have been a little lost in MP3. The Shooter mechanics I found suffered a little in this outting also. A cover mechanic was added which I found added little to the game and I found flind fire mostly worthless as it was innaccurate and did not deter the AI or force them into cover at all thus of no use to open up opportunities to move from cover to cover. The addition of this new mechanic also detracts from what made MP1 and 2 so great which is bullet time. Compounding this Bullet time no longer slowly recharges on its own (unless that was just a result of the difficulty i was playing on) as it did in the previous games but must be replenished by killing enemies.

As a result this made the gameplay experience feel slower and less like the john woo films the first two games were modelled after. Also slowing the game down even more were the custcenes. is the story good ? yes do the custscenes tell it well ? yes did we need cutscenes so frequently ? no did we need all of the cutscenes ? no like a good film some scenes would be better off left on the cutting room floor and a lot of the internal dialogue could have been conducted while roaming the levels instead of as fixed cutscenes.

Some of the fights are rediculous with waves and waves of bad guys throwing themselves at you and just trying to overwhelm you with sheer numbers which in a half a dozen sequences they irritatingly will over & over again until you get lucky and manage to get through.

Overall I enjoyed the single player experience. Multiplayer is interesting but the community is quite small and game hard to find in my experience. The other game modes are fun for a while but it doesnt last and there are really no particular missions from the main game I find myself wanting to go back and play more than once or twice and I put this down to the new way bullet time charges itself and the fact the game is designed around more cover based shooting now.

Worth a look but I still think Max Payne 2 is the best of the series thus far.… Expand

It's hard to spoil that kind of game - the recipe is simple and all one needs to do for a successful sequel is to follow it to the letter - but Rockstar managed to screw it up just fine. Boring story, boring gameplay, boring dialogue, and no graphic novels. Oh, and shaky camera. How novel! Yawn.

The first thing that comes out it you is a lengthy cinematic. It keeps going, and going, and going... eh? yes, still going. No, you can't skip it. For extra fun, you can't even quit the damn game while it's playing, either - the only button you have is to pause it (thanks for that! no, seriously, after the first 2 minutes of that intro I went and made some tea so I could have something to do while watching the rest of it).

While we're at it, the camera just drives me nuts. I understand that all the shaking and the occasional visual glitch effect is intended to convey the perma-drunken state of the player character, but WTF? I GOT IT ALREADY, NOW STOP IT, MY HEAD HURTS!

Dialogue... they tried real hard to copy the gritty wittiness of the original Max Payne, and failed just as hard. Max goes for irony in every second line he speaks, but it's all pretty stale and shallow, and gets boring very quick. The rest of his talk is mostly bitter complaining about how bad things are and how much worse they're going to be. Again, very repetitive, pointless and annoying. Practically no real essence in those lines, overall.

Whew, now that the cinematic is over, I can haz some slo-mo pistol headshots and stuff? Yup... for about one minute. Then it's another two-minute unskippable cinematic. Then another minute of action... and so it goes. What's worse yet, the whole purpose of those periods of no control seems to place Max in precisely the point where he (you!) will have the hardest time dealing with oncoming waves of enemies. Like, say, kicking the door into the room chock full of bad guys, and running to the most wimpy piece of furniture that can still be used for cover - standing in precisely such a location that enemies running in through any door will get a convenient shot should Max peek out. For extra fun, regardless of which gun you were using when the cinematic started, by the end of it Max will always be holding the pistol, even if it ends with a bunch of guns with shotguns barging into the room right ahead of him. Have fun practicing those pistol headshots, you'll have about a second before they unload...

As a result, unlike the original game, where judicious use of bullet time and careful approaches made it possible to progress through the game without being hurt at all, here you're guaranteed to soak damage - it's impossible to avoid being shot when you're stuck in "cover" where all you can do is peek out left or right, and there are five guys with submachine guns and shotguns all shooting at you when you do that. Hope you can get to the next batch of painkillers fast enough. Oh, but not to worry - when you reload from checkpoint, your damage is conveniently reset to zero (on "average" difficulty, at least). So in practice the sole purpose of painkillers is to get you from checkpoint to checkpoint - except that you don't know where the checkpoints are, since there's no indication that you're at one (though any cinematic is guaranteed to have one at the end).

Overall, given that most of the charm of the original game was in the well-executed noir graphic novel style, which seems to be mostly abandoned here (and the remaining elements, poorly done), I don't see much point - the gameplay alone is certainly not enticing.… Expand

I didn't like the first two Max Paynes, but I loved this one. Great game, and one of the most enjoyable I've played in the last few years. I play several different games a week (play, not complete), and complete a good number of them in a year. I think this is the best Max Payne, and the gunplay was just plain fun to me. Although, I didn't like towards the end of the game where enemies all had bulletproof vests and you have to headshot them for a kill. That's never fun. But throwing your arm around a corner and planting 3 bullets in a guy's chest and watching them drop is great fun.… Expand

A game that tries to be a movie accompanied with console-port performance and controls while forcing us character story down our throats with a plunger. Nothing more to be said about this one than STAY AWAY. Watch walkthroughs if you want to know how everything plays out as an old fan instead of flushing your money down the sink.

Is the shooting fun? Yes. Are the graphics nice? Yes! Do I wish I could play for more than 30 seconds without being interrupted by cutscenes? YES! When I am playing, it is enjoyable, I think, but the action comes in such short bursts between cutscenes I can't get involved in the game. It's a perpetual game of "just the tip," never letting me go too long on my own. The first two Max Payne games perfectly melded gameplay and storytelling, whereas this does so incredibly clunkily. I am taken totally out of the game, and can't enjoy what I think is actually pretty good gameplay. Not to mention the visual "style" of the cutscenes is so blatantly trying to be "cool" it makes me literally nauseous. The saving grace is that the multiplayer is quite robust and enjoyable (and not interrupted by cutscenes!), so I think that's where I'll be spending my $60 worth of time.… Expand

It's just another generic shooter with the Max Payne name slapped on it to sell copies. Poor sequel to the excellent MP and MP2. Cutscenes and cover, cutscenes and cover. Blah. Skippable.

I played the PC version of this game. The graphics are very good for the PC version, but the game is very tedious and boring. The dialog is boring (a group of guys with fake accents), the story is boring (dude meets spoiled rich girl, dude tries to save spoiled rich girl), the shooting mechanics are boring (all weapons sound almost the same and handle the same). Apparently it is possible to kill guys at long range with 1 shotgun blast :(. I first tried medium difficulty and then I lowered the difficulty to easy, muted the volume so I could finish it and toss it in the trash can. I tried single player and multi-player. Both are extremely boring. The fact that cut-scenes cannot be skipped is a joke. They are the most boring part of the game. The game would be more interesting without them. This game is not worth $60, and also not worth $30. There is a good chance that this game will be in the bargain bin in 6 months for $20 with no multi-player community to speak of.

I seems that Rockstar tried to emulate call of duty in 3rd person. I can honestly say that this game gets my vote for the most disappointing game of 2012 so far. I am giving the game a 4 out of 10 simply because of the graphics. The game has nothing else going for it.… Expand

A+ Single Player (ofcourse free aim)
with an A grade Multi-Player (free aim as well)

Gorgeous graphically, engaging story and gameplay, wonderful mechanics; and most of all- Does Max Payne franchise JUSTICE and perhaps past nostalgia is the greatest of the series. Must buy. GOTY candidate!

An instant classic - the graphics are staggering, and it runs great on both of my PCs (and I really wasn't expecting it to, after seeing the recommended requirements). There's also a flurry of PC only settings and the PC only textures are great. The sound design is good, the monologues are superb, and the gunplay is satisfying and responsive (there were one or two points when it felt a little sluggish, but I reckon it was down to the fact my framerate was jumping around a bit in that scene).

Sure the storyline is essentially 'Man on Fire', sure there are a lot of cutscenes. But I haven't seen 'Man on Fire' before, and I'd much prefer to see it presented in a stylish video game form than a movie. It's an instant classic - and one that I be playing for time to come.

The arcade mode where you rack up points replaying the campaign levels also adds to the replayability, so that's nice too.

Don't buy it if you don't like cutscenes though, you won't like the game ;)… Expand

Uno de los mejores juegos a los que he jugado últimamente. La historia y estilo narrativo de la misma, engancha desde el primer momento. Si a eso le sumamos el estilo de juego que sigue el patrón de la primera y segunda parte aunque en un entorno muy diferente (Brasil, representado de una manera que te hace sentir verdaderamente allí), obtenemos una tercera parte que está a la altura de la saga y que no defraudara ni a los que jugaron a las anteriores partes, como a los que se sumerjan en el mundo y vida de Max Payne por primera vez.… Expand

I'm glad I bought this game on deep discount. The shooting and carnage is fun and pretty but there are so many other terrible things that made my teeth grind. I usually play single player on high difficulty to extend the playing time and challenge, but dying and repeating LONG unskippable cutscenes of boring dialog ("I'm such a drunk, I'm so pitiful, let's go shoot some baddies" x repeat 1,000 times) was just too much. I lowered the difficulty about half way through and it was still too boring to finish. Also, the way women are depicted is absolutely pathetic. All they do is scream and run into gunfire. In one scene, a female character actually drives your vehicle into a building. A big, obviously stationary building. "Help me Max, help me!" Eye rolls all around.… Expand

Hahaha notice that all the reviews which give this game a 10 are posted 1-4th of June 2012, just when the game was released. I guess rockstar (wisely) didn't trust real gamers to write positive reviews.

Since the reviews wont tell you what you get with this game, I will: it's a bad console port. One can't change the controls, it is 100% corridor shooter, gameplay is run & gun for two minutes followed by a long cutscene, rinse and repeat.
Graphics are fairly poor, gameplay is worse the handholding is so heavy and the cutscenes so frequent it's effectively a slightly interactive movie. Oh yeah, and it REQUIRES that you register online for a "social" account before you can play.

Possibly the most disappointing game I've played in two years. Really sad to see how far the Max Payne franchise has fallen.… Expand

Pure epicness! Can't believe that Rockstar did such a good jon with the PC version of this! It's incredibly well optimization PLEASE GO BUY IT NOW! Its Too Amazing!

Max Payne of old with all the crap of modern shooters added. Too many cutscenes, too much scripted action and far too much cover and narrow environments. I played the game through for some of the core Max Payne game but could not help but be disappointed. It is worth playing if your a fan but bare in mind you will be constantly annoyed by all the new elements added to the game that serve to remove the core game play and induce cover based nonsense.… Expand

PROS: ()Good story and voice-acting; the game still retains its personality like the previous games, () Great and realistic graphics, although the design could've been more inspiring, () Fun action. CONS: It's the small things that ruin this game. () Shootdodge is practically useless as your mouse sensitivity changes drastically making you unable to aim; Shootdodge stops once you hit a wall, and there are rarely instances where you're fully out in the open without obstacles; you are also very prone after Shootdodge, still with strange sensitivity, making you much easier to be shot. () Occasional stutter, especially in the cutscenes, () Mouse sensitivity sometimes change drastically without a reason, () Game switches your weapon to sidearms every time a cutscene ends, while you are mostly put in an open gunfight directly after cutscenes; this made the action sometimes frustrating, () Can be too hard for a lot of people, even in Easy difficulty, () Many features of the game are useless; sprint only adds to your runspeed 5-10%, rolling is not too useful, many rifles to choose from but they don't feel different, () The game lacks any too satisfying moments like memorable boss fights or creative ways to kill enemies.… Expand

Not great as Max Payne 1 and 2, but actually a very good game. I've played this after Borderlands and there are abysmal differences. Max Payne, intended as game and not only as the character, has always so much charisma and class, unlike Borderlands and other FPS & TPS. The game has a good plot and it's very enjoyable and satisfying, with only a few situations maybe a little too difficult and frustrating. A must to play for old school Max Payne lovers and not. A really good graphic with a good optimization, and a great sound sample for weapons.… Expand

This is really a Max Payne game. I love it to bits. I am about 3/4 of the way through now and my only worry is a ME3 type ending which will just spoil the entire thing. The game really shows Max's typical Noir side and how he sees the dark side of everything even though he is actually fighting to defend it by protecting the family. The fighting is fast paced with breakable cover - I just hate it when game play is stale with unbreakable cover - and if you use bullet time with it can equate to some amazing moves and matrix style action (Max should be renamed to Neo imo :P). I have played the other 2 Max Paynes so to see the flash backs and the cut scenes associated with them was really nice, you really have to play the other games to understand his Noir and history and a lot of the dialogue (such as the Mona references). On a modern beefed up PC like mine it plays so smoothly on super high gfx and the effects the game has are unbelievable, the scenes look just as stunning as well, almost life like at times (much better than BF3 or whatever). The loading time for my game....well I get none so I can't really talk about that. Cut scenes could be skippable but tbh I play on a difficulty that matches my skill so I have no problems there and neither will you if you do the same. If you MOVE around you will find the game is quite good at utilising cover while making it challenging to make sure your enemies don't flank you (office areas are an example in this game). Coming back to the effects it really shines on those little things like picking up a gun while running, it's these little effects that really bring the fighting to life and makes you feel a part of it all. For me the gaming isn't too scripted, not any more than previous Max Paynes (yes this is Max Payne 3 not some other first-of-the-series game...) and honestly, I like the scripted action, it adds to the fact that Max's life always seemed to read from a horror movie script. I like how the game also sometimes forces you into situations your sane enough to not get into but Max isn't; remember Max is a guy on the edge so jumping into the center of some bad guys isn't unlike him and I like how the game throws you in and expects you in a moments notice be able to fight like a bad ass instead of a camper. I also like the unpredictability of some fights, like you think Max is gonna neatly cover behind some canisters but they fall over, suddenly your moving on a crane up having to shoot all the bad guys as you do. All this and more makes Max Payne 3 an awesome game in my view and a deserving sequel.… Expand

Probably the worst game released in the last 5 years. It's like they decided to take a dump on the previous titles and make some quick cash. Rockstar should be ashamed of themselves for putting out this crap.

Game is fantastic. Great story. Best graphics I've seen in a shooter.....or probably any game. If you like story based linear shooters.....then this is the best one in existence right now.

Shooting gallery, cutscene, shooting gallery, cutscene, nothing, cutscene, shooting gallery, painfully long cutscene. Max, may i open that door? No, cutscene will do. Max, may i enter the room and shoot the bastards? No, cutscene will enter and choose the most stupid cover for you, and you will do the shooting. Max, may i look around through the sniper rifle scope while nothing happens? No, cutscene will look around for you.… Expand

I am a huge fan of the first two in the series and had high expectations for this. What rockstar have done is absolutely fantastic. They captured Max and his personality dead on. The story was interesting, the gameplay flowed amazingly, the cut scenes rolled in and out like a symphony. The soundtrack was on beat and matched the setting perfectly. Graphically looked incredible on my gtx680 and ran with no issue at all. Cannot wait for more PAYNE if it will be of this quality. Well done Rockstar. Well done.… Expand

I felt the need to give this game a but of praise... but also a thoroughly reserved arse kicking.

This very much has the old Max Payne feeling. It's all there - bullet time, bullet dodge and the story style is very much the same. The problem this time is that there's.... Too. Much. Story. It seems that around every five minutes there's a cut scene. I understand, and appreciate that the story is part of the game but geez, it's not mean to be there to (I feel) disrupt the actual gameplaying experience.
This is made worse when some of the checkpoints have not been thought out properly. I decided to start the SP experience on hard (not a good idea - my Max Payne skills are a bit rusty!), so having to run and gun several attempts to get to the next checkpoint wasn't my idea of fun - more of an uncontrollable opportunity to swear very loudly! Bearing in mind some of the restart points are preceded by cut scenes (which are unskippable) then this can get incredibly frustrating very quickly.
Still, bad points aside it's a fun game and I can't give it a low score purely on a couple of bad points. But the message to Rock* is -

FFS PATCH IN AN OPTION TO SKIP THE CUT SCENES!!!!!!!!!… Expand

The game is complete junk, did anyone test the mouse movement? The mouse acceleration is horrible. The mouse sensitivity becomes super slow during most actions. The enemies models are too small, which makes the game feel wrong and unrewarding. The pacing of the game was a joke too. The only good thing was almost every object in the game was destroyable and a few good lines of dialogue.

I have a tendency to go into gun-ho marathons of epic game playing and usually let myself go wild like a kid on Christmas morning, but MP3 makes me want to hold back solely out of not wanting the game to end. Fantastic graphics coupled with a gripping story and great gameplay makes this game a definite contender for GOTY. It is comforting to see a developer not make a game for people who need to have their hands held for the entire experience, not to mention adult themes. Well done Rockstar.… Expand

I am really loving the game so far, i'm only 1 and a half hours in, and it runs pretty nice on my system, not at max, but nice. The only thing that pretty much ruins a lot of the experience for me right now, are the effects for the use of alcohol and painkillers given in the the cut scenes, even though the cut scenes don't bother me at all, i think they are a valuable asset to the game so far, and i really enjoy the game right now. (I've actually pressed alt+tab to write this message XD ) It's only just these effects that, tire my eyes. could someone please make an on / off option for that ? I would really appreciate that very much !… Expand

Max Payne 3 is a very tough game to review, at times it's blundering, overly cinematic and linear, at others its brilliantly violent, dynamic and clever. I have yet to play a game with this many ups and downs in my opinion on it. However, I finished the game with a huge smile on my face and an eagerness to go through it again.

The first thing you will notice is of course the change in setting, Max Payne 3 switches the grimy streets of New York for Sao Paolo brazil. Max Payne is no longer a sharp wisecracking detective but an aging, incompetent drunk. The sequences of him drinking and popping painkillers and talking about how much he hates himself get old really quickly, however within this overused cliche Rockstar develops a strange relationship between the character and the player. Much of Max Payne 3 is spent watching Max act in extremely stupid ways (in one scene he busts into a hostage situation, outnumbered 10 to one and just says "drop the guns", in another, he wanders down the streets of brazil in a Hawaiian shirt asking people for directions before inevitably getting robbed.) and you, the player, having to bail him out of his situations withy our superior shooting skills. You, the player, will come to hate Max as much as he hates himself, whether it is intentional or not it was a clever way of getting the idea across.

The game is made up of cinematic sequences (QTE style set pieces), escort missions, vehicle levels, occasional "boss battles" with heavily armed enemies, and open ended shootouts with multiple enemies. It is when Max is alone, outnumbered and has to shoot his way out that the game really shines. The gunplay is generally brilliant on a level not even achieved by MP1 or 2. Environments are almost fully destructible, the rag-doll physics are really well done, and shoot-dodging has a whole different feeling to it. Max now interacts with his environment. if you shoot dodge into a wall, max will hit his head and land on his face, having to correct himself before being able to get a clear shot at anything, this means shoot dodgning is no longer an easy answer to everything, it can go horribly wrong and you actually have to plan your moves. It is in this mechanic that the game truly shines, each gunfight plays out differently depending on your actions, and is generally a joy to play through. The other sequences on the other hand, can be god awful. Vehicle sequences drag on and seem ridiculous, escort missions missions get obnoxious as the game plays a cutscene of your buddy dying if you fail to meet certain perameters which the game is not clear to you about. This can be extremely frustrating. In one sequence I managed to outsmart a sniper by hidning behind the wall he was sniping from, the game then played a cutscene of max wandering out into the open (despite the fact that i was taking cover) and getting shot, meaning i had to restart the sequence. The game does this a lot, requiring you to do EXACTLY as the game intended, even if there are other solutions, and punishing you by playing a cutscene of Max or one of his friends getting killed and a "Mission Failed" screen. This is not OK in my book, the game can be disgustingly linear during these sequences. Luckily near the end of the game, Max goes it alone and these sequences become less plentiful. The last 4 or so levels of the game are brilliant, featuring almost exclusively brilliantly sculpted shootout.

Like the gameplay, Max Payne 3 doesn't know exactly what it wants to be storywise. The first 6 or so hours feel like a michael bay movie, with cheesy dialogue and really stupid cutscenes. Eventually things take a turn for the darker, max payne is left with no one to talk to but himself as he must unravel an intricate plot in neo-noir fashion, and a lot of people die. The game sort of finds itself and resolves beautifully, despite its many misteps.

The story took me about 12 hours, at the end there is both the option to play through each chapter of the story, even allowing you to load individual checkpoints to skip all the crappy levels, or Arcade mode. Arcade mode allows you to play through the levels with a score counter, trying to beat the high score, you can also choose your player skin (including old school max payne, which is hilarious) and other paramters. I had a lot of fun doing this, the replay value on this game is very high for a story based shooter.

A lot of people here are saying that you can't skip cutscenes, that is not quite true. You have to watch cutscenes while the game is loading, however once its done loading you can skip them, most of the mandatory pre game sequences which you have to watch after you die last 5 seconds at most, so its really not that bad. One big complaint is that on the PC version you cannot alt tab, this is a big problem.

Overal max payne 3 had me cheering at bits and screaming and cursing at others, its a flawed game, but the brilliant gunplay makes it worth it.… Expand

Currently on regular sale on steam for under a tenner, Max Payne 3 happily fills the linear action shooter niche, complete with laughable dialogue and well-paced action. The story is predictably hammy throughout, yet pleasingly self-referential. Cover-glitch issues and unskippable cut-scenes sadly pull this down into an 8/10, but there isn't any to match what Max can bring. Read more at http://teachergamer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/max-payne-3.html… Expand

max payne 3 is a MASTERPIECE, starting with the great optimisation for pc. It runs great on my low-mid end pc. The gameplay is way better than the previous MP games, the cover and aim system are new in this new part, that make the games more different to play. The gameplay, its just simple and GREAT, i love bullet-time, and watch out in multiplayer, you gonna be IMPRESSED. The singplayer story is great, but the thing i don't like are the cutscenes, there are some large cutscenes and get's me a bit boring. The effects too, makes me bad a bit to the eyes, but that don't matters. This game is a must-buy for all gamers.… Expand

Having played the original games when they came out I was really looking forward to the new game, it's hard to say this new iteration doesn't quite hit all objectives fully.... Single player is exactly how the game should be.. fast corridoor action game with tonnes of diving and bullet-time physics, along with excellent cutscenes that move fluidly between action and story in a way that is seemless. Where the game starts to look a bit shabby is the bolt-on multiplayer game side of things. While singleplayer is suited to the 3rd person view, competive play most certainly is not, for starters the crosshair is off centred so you often can't see the target when behind cover without exposing your arse making the cover system a bit flakey when combined with the iffy locking method it uses. The other big issues are "always on radar" which is very noob for a game with such tiny maps, sure you can earn xp unlocks to help reduce visibility but really this game should not have a radar at all as default, sadly you have to grind out 5000 kills to play hardcore mode that doesn't feature this. My final annoyances are the fairly low map count and that most of them are pretty damn small COD size crap, I was expecting at least something more in line with a single zone from GTA4 size, also they are touting a season DLC pass for £20, which is loathsome and ends up making the game cost £70 to have a complete game which is a ripoff no matter what they add. Overall a fun short term action shooter, with small scale multiplayer that could be really good if they fixed some of the console grade port issues...if the DLC does that then maybe it'll be good... but if its more of the same, don't bother. 8/10… Expand

Just finished the game. Gameplay is polished as much as possible, storyline is good, graphics-11/10. It looks much better then GTA IV, despite the fact they're using the same engine. But while playing I had one bad feeling: It's not Max Payne. It's a great shooter with a bullet time, great graphics, etc. But something was lost. I don't why, 'cause noire style is here. Not the same as was in Max Payne and Max Payne 2, but it's here. In conclusion: 8/10. If it wasn't Max Payne, it could be 10/10.… Expand

First off I have I7 920 and gtx 680 with windows 7 and it runs great ! Some of the best graphics I have ever seen in a video game before. Some people are complaining of the amount of cut scenes in the game , but I happen to like them because it makes the game much more immersive. Only about 17 hours of gameplay for single player , but it was awesome.

This is a re-review. My last review I have it a 0 because it would not work due to Social Club malfunctioning. Great story, narration, cinematic feel, solid gameplay, excellent optimization for PC. 15 hour story. Works well with 360 controller or M/KB. Rockstar Social Club is potentially annoying when it doesn't work. As others have mentioned, the cover system can be a bit annoying but it's not a big deal and it still works well. I crashed maybe 6-7 times. There is a little bit of static in the audio, which annoyed me after a while. The multiplayer is a bit generic but still fun. Overall I must say this game is fantastic, it's just a shame it gave me so many problems.… Expand

I have been playing Max Payne from the beginning. This game is Aewsome! I don't want it to end. Ignore the haters.. just buy it. It is like you are in your own movie and performing. My Hat is off to rockstar on this one. Thanks guys!

Awesome game to people who really like other games with Max Payne! This is how a games should be do. Rockstar Games have never done a half product. I love Max Payne and their's other games!

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have just finished Max Payne 3, and to me it has way too many "minor" annoyances, to warrant anything but an average score. In my case I give it a 6. Too many times where you die because of Max Payne moving in some weirdo way, or having the game force you to defeat a person in a certain way that is definitely ridiculous (one fight where the guy is in cover behind a fence or something where you have to shoot the ceiling out from above him to get him out of cover...). Sometimes your left wondering how many goons each of these supposed rich people have at their disposal, too many of the levels just keep on going and goons just keep on coming at you. I like a long game but when the length is ridiculously done like in Max Payne 3, it gets too much.
I liked the gun play, I liked how much bullet time control I had, I very much liked the graphics, too much whining about his life though inbetween shootouts.
When I was done with the game I had a rather sour taste in my mouth and kept thinking "how many goons do I have to kill?" in essence it just seems like some of the fights on the different levels go on for way too long. That said some levels are very well designed, like the abandoned hotel, that level was beyond awesome, and would deserve something like 8 or 10/10.… Expand

New game from Rockstar become a new word in genre third-person shooter. New developers added many new elements of gameplay, make excellent graphics and animation. And many many different details. Max Payne... He is really come back.

First, this isn't Max Payne - it's Gears of War, only without the good shooting and smooth controls. Second, this isn't a game - it's a movie, a machinima with short game segments thrown in. I think there isn't an uninterrupted sequence of play, longer than two minutes. And even then, you're constantly bombarded with Payne's witty musings, as if the writers were afraid you'd forget what a smartass he is ... As for the gameplay itself - it's very mediocre. I tried playing with a M/KB and gamepad and both didn… Expand

Overall, this is a fun game and really deserves a 7 but I gave it an 8 to balance out the haters. The main problem is that the developers forgot to make a the game itself fun and focused entirely on creating cut scenes and story. The story and cut scenes are entertaining but it appears that's where all of their creativity went. All the enemies are exactly the same except the rare bosses. The developers tried to make it feel different by changing the environment and uniforms but it still feels the same. The later levels just means there's more enemies on screen at once. There's no difference between a handgun and rifle except the magazine capacity and rate of fire. You can hit a guy with a handgun just as accurate with a scoped laser dotted rifle. Even when they place you in a unique shooting situation, it never felt any different because the enemies and mechanics of your gun is no different than before. So after the first chapter you're just playing for the story because killing bad guys in the exact same fashion gets tiresome. The story is where all the money went. The cut scenes makes up for 50% of the game but I found it enjoyable which is the only reason why I finished it. If you're the type of player who skips all the cut scenes then you'll get bored because you're almost always using the same gun shooting at the same bad guys. It's really too bad because there are so many different places they could have been more creative game play wise. What is the point of the silencer on guns if you never actually do any sneaking in the game? How about more unique weapons like using bullet time to throw a knife at someone's face or flame throwers? Why not enemies with different attributes like having one carry a shield and another specializes in throwing flash bangs? Instead of just making us shoot out of vehicles all the time, how about allowing us to control the helicopter and fire its weapon systems? Instead, at the core this feels more like a time crisis arcade game except time crisis was more fun game play wise.… Expand

With Max Payne 3, Rockstar has redeemed themselves in creating a flawless PC port after their luck with them turned sour. Amazing how a game that's dozens of times more eye-poppingly pretty than GTA4 has managed to run so optimized and smooth. Max Payne 3 is by far the best in the series, and is extremely cinematic, but I for one love that sort of thing. Story means a lot to me, but I seem to find putting bullets in people more fun here than most other games. There is just a charm to MP3 that I can't shake. A magnificent offspring of Rockstar, and it makes me have great expectations from them (especially in the form of PC ports) in the future.… Expand

The worst Max Payne ever made. Graphics, sounds and the storyline are okay. But the gameplay horrible. A lot of cutscene are we really want this? Of coure no. When i play as Max Payne i don't want to take cover, because Max no need cover. And the last stand the worst in this game. A lots of time i can't shoot the man because something hide the enemy or no ammo in my weapon and i die. This game 60-70% cutscene and 30-40% gameplay. Every 1-3 minutes cutscene and this is a fu**ing joke. And a lot of cutscene endings i found myself a bad cover and the enemies shooting at me. Every cutscene endings the game change my weapon to a pistol and it's also horrible. Looks like a console port, you can change a lot of graphics option but the gameplay and these bad things in this game because of console for ex. the cover because of noob console players who need a cover to not die.… Expand

Game imitates movie, movie imitates game and now the game imitates - well - game. On an aesthetic level, MP3 is stunning. It looks lush and detailed, smooth and vibrant. The environments are gorgeous and gritty. Character designs are varied and crisp. Levels are a tad linear but break off here and there for items. Cover spots are great and are spread out evenly. The script is excellent with some hilarious narration by long-time MP voice James McCaffrey (as well as motion captioned) among others. It's an engaging story with clever plotlines and creative dialogue. Excellent foley work with terrific sound FX and vocals. The arsenal has a nice variety but not having grenades is a bit of a disappointment. The weapon select is a tad clunky and inconvenient in a pinch. All aesthetics aside, everything works but that's where the golden stickers stop. Technically in terms of controls it's a mess. The cover actions are clumsy as well as glitched. The glitch causes Max to get stuck unless you roll out of it. The cover action also is very sticky and causes Max to cover where you don't always want him to. The character movement is slow and there's some problems with mouse whipping. Max also reverts to the default weapon (pistol) after a cut scene. Saving isn't too bad since there are no manual saves but the checkpoints are fine most of the time. Multi-player is fine for those that play that sort of thing. It's not perfect and can be frustrating at times but for an overall experience it's a total visceral thrill ride. It's bloody, funny, clever and action-packed. Next time just do some more quality control before you release it.… Expand

This game is very good, about what ppl say for the storyline it's true, its basically a movie not a game. Normally this will make me rate a game low...but for some reason Max Payne 3 does it right, I'm very interested and feel involved in the story of Max. Parts of the story are a bit corny at moments but overall good. The graphics are really good, the requirements are a bit extreme and over the top i think, with a GTX570 (or above) any i5, i7 CPU @3GHz and 8GB RAM can max the game out on a single screen with all features on. The voice acting is good according to me, the sound is good as well. The gameplay and bullet time is unique and fun. Overall fun game and its more or less true to the original max payne series.… Expand

Let me say first that I've never played any Max Payne games before, but I still got the story. The game does an excellent job to convey how broken Max Payne as a character really is. You don't see many protagonists that are drowning in demise and it is an interesting break from the **** testosterone-filled protagonists of other games. You really do feel for the main character and even though I don't know how he lost his kid and wife, I still felt sorrow when he visited their graves. The game does an excellent job weaving it's narrative smoothly with the game play sections by having the player hear Max's thoughts every now and then. All the supporting characters are also well done. They are believable and voice acting is top notch. The game play is is also pretty fun. Bullet Time is great. I love how action packed each encounter is and how satisfying it is to clear a room of baddies with the last kill cam being a slow motion close up of your bullet lodging itself deep into the enemy's skull. The game doesn't shy away from violence as it shows the gritty world Max lives in. The settings of this game is also something worth mentioning. From the favelas of Sao Paolo, Brazil to the gritty and dark concrete of New York City, the game does surprise me at every turn. I see some people here commenting on how cut scenes are prevalent, and they are, but it does wonders for this game. Cut scenes are used to dramatic effect and it really does add to this game. This is definitely one of the best games I've played all year.… Expand

Max Payne 3 isn't a bad game, it just does not feel like a Max Payne game if you've played the previous two. The story is fairly straight forward in MP3, you're trying to rescue someone... in Brazil... in daylight most of the time, anyone who's played MP1/2 it does not have the same film noir feel as the others. That's the biggest problem I have with the game honestly, it just doesn't feel like a Max Payne game.

Besides that, it plays extremely well and looks great. Mechanics of the weapons feel and handle great, and feel 'realistic' while still maintaining that arcade-like feel the other Max Payne's had. Max is still voiced by the same guy and performs very well, it's just a shame his inner narration did not sound authentic. Sam Lake just has this great way of writing I suppose.

The score is also very unique, and for the most part, very good.

That's really all I can say, it plays great mechanically and looks fantastic, to me though it was not an authentic Max Payne game and easily could have been sold with another title. Oh, the 1/2 NJ levels were the best as they reminded me of the 'real' Max Payne I remember.… Expand

Max Payne 3 is a story driven game, not an RPG. It will not succeed to please everyone, but it doesn't have to. People can complain about the lack of freedom, the many cutscenes, the linear story, but those are the necessary ingredients to create one of the best stories in video gaming. I am one of those people that loves the feeling of being inside a movie, and to really care about what will happen next. That's why I can honestly say that this is the best interactive experience that I've ever had.

That said, the level of detail is plain amazing, and the gameplay is really smooth. I haven't noticed any bugs, errors or problems in general. Well done, Rockstar.… Expand

Really good gameplay mechanics and level design, great cinematography and action set pieces. Technically a masterpiece... But it lacks the depth and style in terms of storytelling of the previous games... Halfway through the game you start to realise the story is very simple and lacking suspense... I hope we see a seauel that goes back to the engaging storytelling of the first 2 games...

I don't know how many hours I've put into this game so far (a lot). This game blows my mind so hard in so many ways that I'll just start listing random awesome features. Visuals are STUNNING and the game runs like butter. The acting taken together with the cutscene animations of the characters make the dialogue so natural that you watch cutscenes slack-jawed. And, even as a Max Payne veteran (bought Max Payne 1 for $50 on Xbox 1) I will tell you that Rockstar innovated Bullet-time to be the most fascinating thing I've ever seen in a game. It never. Ever. Gets old. I don't think killing enemies in a video game will ever feel this satisfying, except in Max Payne 4. Rockstar implemented some awesome system where bullets blast these disgusting entry and exit wounds into people's heads, and wounds anywhere on the body spurt blood. And this is the single most replayable game I've ever played. The only things I would change are allowing players to hit a button to skip cutscenes to make replays of levels less annoying (but you definitely wanna see every cutscene the first time through). And in multiplayer they really need to remove the enemy nametags over people's heads, because I'm always shooting at nametags clear across the map and getting kills, and I know people are doing the same to me. Enjoy.… Expand

If it wasn't for the obstructive cut scenes I would have probably enjoyed the game a lot more. The bullet time mechanics are slightly different and the addition of cover takes some of the the sting out of the flow. Still I really liked the shoot dodging and some of the slow motion set pieces. Difficulty spikes, a mixed multiplayer and a fairly boring story brings things down a bit further. The whole - here's another cut scene of Max getting drunk again - routine just ran about 4 chapters longer than it should have too. I've spent a few hours with multiplayer and while it's ok it's probably not something I'll be playing for long.… Expand

Nice graphics, nice cutscenes, very good voice-acting, but the shooting somehow lacks and the situations seem artifical and set up. All in all, half-way through, it begins to become boring and veeeery predictable.

This game is good, but has some problems: AI mostly cheats like hell (also being stupid), moving is sluggish, graphics sometimes is buggy (object or texture blinking), cover system work with only selected objects and many more. Of course this bugs are not critical and overall game is good, play is enjoyable, graphics has its moments. Definitely worth buying.

Not a Max Payne sequel, and barely even a game. Just know that going in, and wait for a major price drop, and you might not feel cheated. It's a good action movie broken up by some very short, bland and clunky gameplay sequences. The movie itself, while cliched, is actually pretty good. The gameplay, though, just barely amounts to just another cover shooter.

I own all 3 max payne and I absolutely loved the first two games. I've went through both of them many times. The action was awesome and the shooting was very satisfying, combined to a nice story and cool ambiance, I had a blast playing them. It is very different for max payne 3 as the list of irritating stuff stacks sky high.

A major annoyance is that you get cutscenes all the time... and by all the time I mean ALL THE TIME. It totally destroys immersion and annihilates all chances for the game to build any pace at all. Most of the cutscenes could be removed out of the game and it wouldn't change the story at all (especially since like 50% of the cutscenes are max drinking and falling asleep. Yeah ok, we get it...)

Speaking of redundant cutscenes, max payne was quite the bad ass in other games and you could sympathize with him but when they make you run around the world to save tasteless characters (the dumb blonde and all the brazilian family), you understand that it's to make up for his past but at some point you start wondering why he even gives a damn anymore...

Something that started pissing me off early in game too is the fact that every time you run out of health, the game slows down so you can get a "saving shot" off. At first it's a cool feature but it gets annoying ultra fast as the levels get more crowded: later on, most of the time you can't even get that shot off because there is something in the way or you just can't aim at the target at all. Forget it if you're using a grenade launcher, the grenades are so slow they can't even detonate in time, making the GL way too risky to even use. Oh and what makes this even more of a pain in the ass is that when you're in slow mode and you know you're doomed, the "restart at last checkpoint" option in the menu is unaccessible, so you have to suffer through the entire thing before you can do anything.

Another thing that ruined it for me is that it seems the AI has way too good aiming sometimes. They don't even know you're there and the next nanosecond you get headshot. I don't know how many times this happened. Not only that but it seems like when you use the UZZIs in automatic mode, you shoot all over the place but the AI seems to be able to snipe a fly a thousand yards away with them. Now the cover system is pretty good but it's often entirely negated due to the "encounter" pattern that is always the same: you ALWAYS end up in a big open area, a wave of baddies spawn and then you're pinned down by like 10 dudes. Not only it's about impossible to avoid getting hit a few times but the second you think "yay I'm safe, let's leave cover to get ammo and painkillers" WRONG! As soon as you get far away enough from cover, a second wave spawns in your face. Also, sometimes you try to get cover without the cover system (by cutting angles with most enemies so you can get them into view one by one) but max payne's aiming angle is so awkward that often you get shot by targets you can't even see. Most firefights are so frustrating that it takes the fun out of shooting stuff up... That's saying a lot.

Another few minor annoyances that sounded the alarm the very first seconds I opened the game for the first time: when you get in the game it says press enter to continue at the bottom of the screen... but when you press enter, it does nothing. You have to click the text... Speaking of which, have the people doing the port played a computer game in the last 10 year? Seriously, who uses enter anymore to navigate menus? Well for max payne 3 they decided to do it all the time. Also, for some reason, the mouse is ultra slow in the menus (menus only) for a reason I ignore. Minor stuff you'll tell me... Of course, but it just adds frustration on top of all the other issues.

Add very bland stages with very little variation to that and a bunch of glitches all over the place (from bugged cutscenes that you can't skip so you have to ALT+F4 out to weird convulsing ragdolls) you have a game that has disaster written all over it. I pretty much always finish the games I buy even if I find them tedious but I uninstalled this one about 75% through. I only paid 10$ for it during a steam sale and I still feel ripped off.… Expand

35 gigs of harddrive space required. That's all that needs to be said. Purchased through Steam and downloaded on a 25mbps connection took 3 full days to install, because Steam's download service is so slow (I wasn't even using my bandwidth for anything else). For 35 gigs of space this should have been the best game ever - it wasn't.

As a long time Max Payne fan, I admit I was a bit dubious when I originally heard that Rockstar was taking over development of the series. I'm not a Rockstar fan. I've never understood the excitement over their games, as I've always found each of them very mediocre in many ways. Because of this, Max Payne 3 has been a wonderful surprise. All the elements of the previous Max Payne games are here. Bullet Time is very well designed to give you just the edge you need to survive the sometimes impossible situations, but does not make the game overly easy. I even enjoy the direction that they took Max's character in, as it makes his character seem more real. While Max may be the hero that can survive impossible odds, he does not win every time. Instead of being the stereotypical action hero who cannot lose no matter what the odds may be, Max doesn't always win.
On another note, while I absolutely understand the complaints about the campaigns constant cut scenes and sometimes abrupt transitions back into the game play, I found it a fantastic storytelling technique. In many games, the transition from a cut scene to game play is very abrupt, and the cut scenes usually break immersion for me. With Max Payne 3, this is not the case. You easily transition from the third person prospective into a cut scene with ease. The only bad that I have noticed so far involve mostly technical issues. The PC release has more then a few that should have been fixed by the release of the game. While this isn't exactly a new situation for a Rockstar game, the games technical glitches do make it difficult to enjoy the game at times. Most of the technical issues do not seem to be present on the console versions of the game either. All in all, while this game may not be Remedy's Max Payne, I would still suggest this to anyone who enjoyed the first two games, although it may be worth waiting a few weeks for the PC version, at least, while Rockstar irons out the technical issues.… Expand

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There is everything great in this game, except the story. There is no characters written good enough to be interesting to me and to involve me in story as it was in MP1 and 2.
The game is totally disconnected from first two parts and all characters are new except for Max himself. So I just run through it without caring too much about all that on "Hard" difficulty and is was still very satisfying. The combat is great, all bullet-time mechanics really improved and polished, great graphics and level design, great voice-acting. It is enjoyable game, you just have to keep in mind that it's not Remedy game anymore, so don't expect too much drama.… Expand

I am going to rate this game solely on the campaign because the only reason why this game was purchased by me and made into a game was because of the AMAZING CAMPAIGN. All I can say is it was a HELL OF A RIDE! Not only was the gameplay amazing but the story kept me glued to the monitor. The campaign was CRAZY long and a straight shot through took me all day (10+ hrs on hard). I tried some of the multiplayer and let me tell you it ain't bad either. I cant wait to get back on! EASY 10… Expand

I really like Max Payne series. One of the best. And I admire Rockstar Games' work. But HOW THE HELL THEY LET THIS HAPPEN ?! First I bought the game and played the story my jaw on the ground..It was really stunning. Then I tried Multiplayer... What the hell ?! There were hackers all over the servers, in every game.. That makes the multiplayer unplayable and annoying. I give 5 because of the storytelling and graphics. Rest is rubbish… Expand

This is my first Max Payne game, and I like it very much. I played it for a few hours now, and I think, that if you approach this game appropriately, I mean, if you accept that is a Cinematic 3rd Person Shooter, then you may really enjoy it. It is like an interactive movie. Not a sandbox game, like Skyrim, or GTA. ...in this game you play, then watch a cutscene, then play, then cutscene, and so on. But that is not bad at all. It is really enjoyable, since the story is good, the characters (especially Max) and the environments are just great, the graphics is stunning, the levels are well designed and interesting + diverse, the physics is also cool, and the gameplay is really immerse. So, people out there, if you expect something else, you may be disappointed. If you accept The Style of this game, then it is going to be a really enjoyable one-way ticket to an interactive movie with you in the main role. However, I won't give it only 9 out of 10 since in this setting I would still expect a bit more interaction with the environment. I don't mean shooting everything apart, no. Just something like in Assassin's Creed. ...to stand on a table, etc. That would give me even more immersion, and the lack of this little freedom breaks my immersion a little, but just a very little. So 9/10. ...there are better games. GTA5 on the way! ...this game may be the testbed of many GTA5 features. Accept it as it is aaaand Enjoy!! :-)… Expand

After a very long waiting period, Max Payne is finally back with a bang! And on PC it's looking very, very good, the rig provided...i'm now on my second playthrough (wanna get all the golden guns), and no major bugs or glitches found. one thing that annoys me though, is that Max changes his weapon hand during cut scenes. i may have a shotgun in my hands, come cutscene i stand there with a pistol and have to change again manually. but this is critic on a very high level. the rest; the story, the graphics, the writing/dialogues, missions, gameplay, it's fits all perfectly together. my GAME OF THE YEAR! cheers… Expand

As a fan of the series I couldn't wait to get my hands on this beast, but I was soon frustrated by a couple of things: The limited control over the main character and unskippable cutscenes for example take away a lot of freedom from the player. The only way to exit a cutscene is to ALT+F4 out of it, because you can only pause and continue. Whilst the gameplay itself didn't lose charm the levels are small and the fights are heavily scripted. The cover system causes problems because it doesn't always work. If you don't mind a heavy consolized game and like playing with controllers instead of keyboards you might want to get it for PC, else wait for a Steam deal.… Expand

The story is good, but there are WAY TOO MANY CUTSCENES. The cutscenes start right in the middle of a gunfight. They are annoying. What's worse is there are cutescenes where you are forced to control Max. I dont play these games to control someone who's forced to crawl on the ground, slow as hell.

A big expensive movie with sometimes a couple of fights.
Impossible to save your progression as wished or as needed, it's btw a console game.
Max dies every 30 seconds, nearly impossible to accurately aim, even with laser help.
This game is exhausting and upset me. When you just start to feal immersed, a cut scene ruins the experience.
50 â

I pre-ordered this game off of steam the second I heard about it. The previous Max Payne games were amazing (or at least from what I remember from my childhood). The graphics in this game are beautiful, words can't describe how happy I was to be able to run this beautifully made game on max settings. The story is very intriguing, I grew are rare close bond with main character that was mediocre. The gunplay and action are a solid 10/10 but the difficultly curve skyrockets after the second level. The multiplayer has problems, while enjoy the customization options for the characters, I don't enjoy the fact that all the guns are useless except for a few extremely overpowered weapons that I've had to use so that I don't break my keyboard in rage. It really takes out the point of buying new weapons when you know the starting ones are the most powerful. Other than Campaign and Multiplayer all the other game modes are a joke. With all the hype this game brought I would have expected and over the top action experience, which I got...in Campaign. The other modes of the game are iffy, tread carefully.… Expand

I was expecting an OKAY game for PC since Rockstar has botched GTA so badly on PC. After 5 hours of playing tonight, I have to say, they did an unbelievable job. The graphics are beautiful, the gameplay is so smooth, and the story is great. Best of all, it is optimized extremely well. My Radeon 6950 was playing this game at 5760x1080 resolution maxed out with 2x MSAA

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is very big, im guessing they thought that would make up for how awful it is, but all it does is make it boring all the way through.... I have 200+ steam games and many other big name games. There are only a select few I dont beat, those titles are ussually indie games, but max payne is among them. Max Payne 3 has Horrible characters, bad ideas, generic weapons, numerous eye flashing rave party cutscenes and a giant language barrier. Stop flashing unimportant words all throughtout cutscenes I get it he said "I'll have a drink" I dont need it shooting thru the scene. This just screams bad designers filling space for their crappy little cutscene effect. You'd think this game was made for spain or mexico, you won't enjoy a second of it if you dont speak spanish. Even multiplayer ranks are all in spanish... this is cool why? sorry but I dont understand a $%*ing word and therfore have 0 interest in multiplayer now. can't wait to rank up so I can google what my next rank will be. Max payne kills THOUSANDS of innocent people and doesnt even figure out who hes killing? He walks away from 50 gun fights killing fully body armored guys and everyone treats him like **** in the scene? This game feels like duke nukem, overhyped, linear, limited weapons, semi destructable objects and a D bag main character who says random quirky 1 liners over and over. This is a console port, the gun select is AWFUL. good luck pulling out that gun you just grabbed in less than 5 seconds, heres a hint you wont be able to. Max payne the D bag who kills everyone for fun WOO! I was drunk I didn't know what was going on so I killed everyone.... huh? Yea I won't be letting you finish your story Max, You giant cry baby, I mix painkillers and alcohol, I destroy my liver!! But my trusty sidekick says "You can always get a new one" like its not a big deal. Trust me, it is a big deal. If he really drank and took that many painkillers he would be dead by now. You don't get a new liver if you drink, they take you off the donor list.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Amazing game, my only gripe is that social club sucks and constantly disconnects me from online matches. Otherwise, the game is a 10/10. Surprisingly, it's not a port and it runs at 60+ FPS. Awesome story and it clicks very well. I like how they implemented the flashbacks from New Jersey, that was awesome.… Expand

Wow! I bought the DVD copy of this game, and installed in on my Alienware m14x. I couldn't get the game to run smoothly at first, but with super fast response time from the Rockstar tech support, I was able to get the game running perfectly on near max graphic settings. This is one of the best games I've ever played! The graphics are gorgeous, if you have the machine to power it. This is the best way I can describe this game: Imagine all the greatest action shoot-em-up movie sequences ever made, and that is what every level is like non-stop! The characters are great with great voice acting! All the levels are unique in their design, which makes every action sequence fresh and extremely entertaining. I'm literally laughing with joy playing this game, and constantly find myself with my jaw dropped from all the amazing game-play. This game is flawless! If Max Payne 3 doesn't win game of the year, I will be in complete shock!… Expand

Fell asleep after playing two hours. Shoot cut scene, shoot cut scene nothing else. Avoid this game if you have no insomnia. Can't believe how this game get a 8+ score.

This is great game. Performance was good, story was good. Little problem was cut scene. Actually, cut scene itself was not so bad, whole campaign looks like one action movie, but some times cut scene part was so long. Excepting that problem, Single play was awesome.

Max Payne is always been one of my most favourite franchises and this sequel is the best of the picking, with slick visuals, great shootouts and SLOW MOTION. You will have a lot of fun and with absence of loading screens it brings a breath of fresh air to cinematic games. With about 12 hours single player and a ton of replayability as well as two arcade type modes you won't get bored on your own. If you do then you have multi-player which is amazingly fun and challenging. There is not regenerative health in the single player and it is hard so if you are expecting a call of duty, look elsewhere.… Expand

BOY, was this game fun!!!!
This is nostalgic game, bringing back good old memories of MAX Payne 1 and 2.
Beautifully executed, this game kept me hanging on till the end. Play on Hard right away, and you will have some real memorable challenge that could be remembered from first two games.
Brilliantly engineered mechanics and good graphics are not even what make this game so epic.
The Story is indeed great, and ending is satisfying.
I have very little time for Video Games, and i dont regret one bit spending those hours to be truly entertained.
This is GOTY 2012 so far!!! Don't hesitate, to buy this amazing work. There is only one negative aspect: if you die, you cant scip long scenematics, but who cares?… Expand

Man, I really can't believe some people are rating this game low because you can't skip cutscenes, wow. Max Payne 3 is one of, if not THE best third person shooter of all time (single-player), if you disgaree you're not a gamer, that is a fact.

people...STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT THE CUT-SCENES PLEASE! my god, most of the bad scores in meta-critic is just because of cut-scenes, cut-scenes and cut-scenes, the cut-scenes are there to progress the story and the story is actually pretty engaging and the cut-scenes are almost unnoticeable after 2 hours of playing. and the mutiplayer is actually not bad, in fact, IT'S FANTASTIC, it balanced(sort of) and it quite fun. but 3 weapons is annoying and the cover system is not bad and it made it more tactical (yeah, tactical) and the zoom is...useless, it should've been "E" instead of the right mouse key like in MP and MP2. so all in all, it's a pretty good game to go through.… Expand

Great game.compelling story and smooth control.A fan of the series.second only to the first.This is ranked one of the best shooters.As the story gets deeper it brings you in part by part doing a good job in staying fresh and not being repetitive

I've played 1 and 2, and both were fun, challenging and had a good story to them. This, is basically a movie and that can be great, but it is so one-sided shoot-em up that it is a bore. Once you've shot your first 1500 bodies, the grind begins to set in.

What happened to the surprising and challenging puzzles? There is ONE thing in this game and that is shooting, all others have been removed. The story is so-so, but passable, but really the challenge is gone. Point, click, push left-mouse button, at times, you use space for picking them off easy. Boring.… Expand

Ok, now I would like to know, why this game called "Max Payne 3"? Rockstar Games got a fantastic chance to create a superb action game... and a great responsibility not to fail Max Payne IP. Maybe (just maybe - Max is too slow and clunky) they made a good action game, but miserably failed MP series. Plain and boring storyline, irritating weapon system, useless and undeveloped cover system. Where is original Max Payne gone? I miss it.
Burn in hell, Rockstar Games, really.… Expand

Having played the previous Max Payne titles, so far I have to say I'm really enjoying this game! Bullets create entry and exit wounds as they zip through your enemies, it's brutally awesome. The cut-scenes are great, kind of a blend between Man on Fire and Collateral. I must say though, all of Rockstars games have a similar feel, in terms of movement (thanks to euphoria) and in terms of the shooting mechanics (e.g. aiming, accuracy, reticule etc) .This isn't necessarily a bad thing if you're a fan of it. Thankfully Rockstar didn't botch the PC version of this game, unlike GTA IV. It runs smooth and suports DX11 as well as tessellation.… Expand

Technically it's reasonably well done and what you'd expect. The visuals are better; good character animation and excellent world detail. Together with bullet-time it makes for an enjoyable experience. What sets this game apart though is the story line. Looking at other reviews its obvious you either love it or hate it. Personally I greatly enjoyed Max Payne as the failed anti-hero -- we meet him as a broken man failed both personally and professionally. An alcoholized private bodyguard in a foreign country, who soon learns he is in way over his head. That being said, the story often plays on clichés and stereotypes, and you've got to see it tongue-in-cheek. Max Payne is a hopeless figure and not your typical action hero. Its a mix of Hunter Thompson and Breaking Bad; culture crash, organized crime and constant failure. If you cannot appreciate the dark humor and irony in this premise then you will miss out on the entire story.… Expand