I really wanted to like this game, especially after paying $60 for it on Steam. The inability to skip the cut scenes pretty much kills any likelihood of ever replaying any of the campaign. As someone else pointed out, you can't even exit the game while a cut scene is going (which is the majority of your gameplay time). The environments are tiny and the action is highly scripted. Don't expect to be able to get creative with your tactics here - everything has to go according to script or you'll be doing it over.

The voice acting is fine, but the dialog is campy and never really sells the whole "noir" thing it's going for. I thought the investment they made in getting the character to consistently aim in the specified direction regardless of his position/movement doesn't really pay off. It just makes him seem a bit ridiculous as he contorts himself to keep his weapon pointed where you're aiming even though you're not firing. I hadn't played the previous Max Payne games, so I was intrigued by the bullet time concept. It works OK, but there are too many cases where you have to use it. The cover system doesn't work very well because there's no good way to move from cover to cover. The environments aren't big enough to flank your enemies anyway. The whole "jump dodge" thing looked cool in the previews, but seems a bit ridiculous in actual gameplay since you inevitably end up rolling around on the ground to shoot at the remaining bad guys.

Overall, I regret spending $60 on this game. Since you can really only play through it once, It might be worth $20 if you wait for it to get discounted. Personally, I'll be steering clear of the Max Payne series. I'm much more interested in gameplay mechanics than in storyline. Hopefully Hit Man Absolution will be more compelling in that regard.… 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.

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

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

Really Rockstar? Let's cut through the chase. Why are video game sales down so much? This game is a shining example of the problems with the video game industry in every way. (1) LONG LOADING TIMES. Who wants to sit through endless dialogs which are predictable and campy at best (ok, some of the campiness is expected, after all, it's Max Payne) ... When first starting the game you might be lucky to actually start playing the da** game a half hour later, I kid you not! There is no way to skip the cut-scenes! Unacceptable in every way.

(2) FORCING USERS TO CREATE AN ONLINE ACCOUNT. This fact alone has done me in, I'm sick and tired of every game publisher deciding (mostly through greed) to force purchasers of a game to create an online account. Are you kidding me? Twitter integration, and randomly forcing that down our throats at start up too? Has the game industry gone completely insane? Do you really think a game player wants all of this bs? Most people who want to play a game do it for relaxation and FUN. Hello, MCFly are you listening? Why do you think the casual game market is crushing large productions? Who the he** wants to wads through screen after screen of pure bs before even being able to play? When I want to play a game, I'd like to be able to start playing it before the sun has to come back up again! (3) Doesn't support a modern computer. I have a pro mac 17" top-of-line laster year laptop running bootcamp. I can play diabolo 3, Skyrim and everything else JUST FINE. This da** game, does not run in anything other than 1024x768, and then it doesn't even work. The graphics card I have is a 512meg Radeon HD 6750M I believe. All I have to say to Rock Star is ... I can't type what I want to! Ridiculous is an understatement. I'm done with the pinball joke of the heavy-weight productions titles of the video game industry. Really, goodbye Rockstar, EA and you other jokes of a company who worry more about keeping yourself employed and making a profit instead of thinking about THE USER EXPERIENCE.

off to all of them!… Expand

First of i have to say I have not tried the multi-player, I'm a single player kind of person, and in that I found the game play massively annoying, yes the game looks good, yes the environments are well done, yes the animations are brilliant and the story is deep, although the "I feel sorry for myself" drunk routine gets tedious. And I can even forgive the obvious console port issues. But the constant cut scenes totaly mess up the game play. The game constantly takes control away from you and forces you into a situation you would not normally jump into. For example, up ahead is a room full of guys trying to kill you, as you approach, the game goes to a cut scene, pushes you into the center of the room, and then "over to you", lucky on 3 screens you notice the transition back to you, otherwise your dead before you know it and you "oh was i back in control again". But seriously how many gamers run into the center of a room, and wait for people to start shooting before they start shooting back. And for good measure after every cut scene Max's weapon always goes back to the handgun, never mind if it actually has ammo or in most cases not, or if you already holding an epic auto shotgun. Once or twice I could forgive where it helps the story along, but literally every 10 to 15 minutes, bang cut scene, your not in control anymore. I so wanted to finish the game and explore the story. But I play games to enjoy them, not to feel irritated and frustrated by them.… Expand

You cannot skip cut scenes. I started on the hardest available setting and died almost instantly. I went to restart and I had to watch the whole thing again. Every 5 minutes you get a new cutscene. It is not a game, its a film. The trouble is, if I wanted a film, id buy a film. This is not a game, therefor it cannot be reviewed as one.

Best game out in the last six months of 2012. Amazing gameplay, nice graphics, unique optimization, not bad multiplayer. This game everyone should to try! Good job Rockstar.

Listen Closely, (actually read carefully). IF Anyone, gives a game a 10 this is suspect, add to this the PC gameplay was pulled off Youtube Prior to launch. The game (single player is do able in a single sitting). Unless you love multiplayer, there appears to be little replayability. I recommend letting them fix some of the PC centric issues prior to you $59.00 US, plus 25$ something for a DISCOUNT on the upcoming DLC..

buyer be aware.… Collapse

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

Outstandingly good PC implementation. DX11 and multi-monitor (widescreen) support is great. Runs well and looks awesome. Really enjoying the storyline and gameplay. This is a good day for PC gaming, congratulations Rockstar for delivering a game worthy for the PC platform!

After I finished the game, I tried to play it one more time....
...but then....
..... I got frustrated like hell..
because I had to watch the long cutscenes again and again..
I tried to skip them but I couldnt skip them most of the time

As a big fan of the original Max Payne games and Rockstar games in general, I had high hopes for the latest incarnation. The game does live up to some of its promises. Graphics are excellent, supporting DX11 and runs smoothly at full settings on a year old rig. The storyline is well written, although somewhat hackneyed at times.

However, the single player game is fraught with annoyances which get in the way of the journey. Short gameplay sequences are broken up with long cut scenes, which are almost entirely unskippable. The game claims the game is 'still loading' for the nearly 10 minute scenes between levels. This is despite a save game loading in less than 10 seconds. This is not a problem on the first play through a level, but is a major problem if you are into replaying chapters for collectibles.

The game frequently takes control, or slows you down just to open a door, in places that could easily have been played out in real time. To make matters worse, the game often will take control and move you through a door (while locks behind you inexplicably) before you have had time to search the level for hidden collectibles. In one sequence that comes to mind, the game makes you walk slowly though an area which has no enemies, yet there is no reason why you can't run.

Often after a short cut-scene, you will be placed in a compromised position facing multiple enemies. The game also has a habit of switching your main rifle or shotgun to a sidearm at the same time to make life more awkward at the same time. Max also seems to have forgotten how to sling a shoulder weapon, as he must drop any large weapons to dual wield his sidearms. While this may be a tip to realism (nobody in Max Payne 3 can't afford a $5 sling it seems), it removes the old ability of being able to choose a weapon at will that was present in the original titles.

For a game which has so many cutscenes, it often will provide a sidekick nearby which /*constantly*/ will be telling you to get a move on. Often they will run off and get killed while you search for clues or gun parts.

To make matters worse, i have twice now been forced to replay sections because the game has mysteriously forgotton the progress I had made in the game. I believe this is because I 'continued' a previous game by using 'chapter select' to replay the chapter before the one I was on and just playing on. Be warned, if you do this the game will not unlock chapters properly. Make sure you finish the entire game before replaying any chapters.

Overall, the graphics are good, and gameplay is often well done, but the game seems intent on constantly reminding you that it is in control and it will make you play the game how it wants, not how you want. Giving you more control would have made this a 7, but the game provides just too many frustrations. The Rockstar QA team must have gone on holiday for this release...… 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 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

played on PC too this .. game .. its running fine on the PC version too ... Else everything is as same as with me at PS3 ... Tried to play in it as R* is bit weak on PC ........ Its fine

There are so many cutscenes that the game feels more like a movie. The game takes control away from you throughout the entire game. You get about 3 minutes of playtime and then another cutscene. In addition, the plot is terrible. Its another "damsel in distress" but you dont care about the people you are trying to save at all. In fact, they seem to do their best to make you NOT like these people. The cheesy camera effects were really annoying and the combat system is clunky and doesnt feel right. The cover system is pretty bad - it feels a lot like the shooting from L.A Noire. Basically, theres not much variance in the gameplay AT ALL. All there is to do is shoot guys the same exact way except in a different setting with tons of cutscenes in between. There just isnt ever anything different. Its insane how many cutscenes there are.… Expand

I've played about 5 hours worth at this point, and here's my initial impression: PROS: Visually, it's a very pretty game. The physics are good, the killcams are sweet, and the graphics are amazing. That's it. CONS: I'd just like to start by saying that I'm a HUGE fan of the Max Payne series. It might actually be my favorite. So, I REALLY had my hopes up for this one. Maybe this is a personal problem on my end, but I was under the impression that I bought a GAME, not a damned MOVIE. Having a cut scene after every minor firefight isn't fun, it just slows down the pace of the game. Making most of them un-skippable is just torture. This is made even worse by the fact that every out-of-game cut scene is rendered at lower quality than the game itself.

On that note, my initial impressions that I made 2 years ago when I saw the first screenshots were correct: This is not Max Payne. This is **** Man on Fire. Which would be fine, a Man on Fire game sounds fun. Except this game is not called Man on Fire. It's **** Max Payne 3. Having every cut scene look like a segment from a Tony Scott film is NOT **** noir. Also, I'm not deaf, I don't need random subtitles flying at me every 10 seconds for two words of unimportant dialogue.

The controls on PC are a horrible mess, because this is an obvious console port. A **** flywheel for weapon selection? Are you serious? A flywheel that doesn't even WORK half the time? Max also changes the camera position randomly, bullet-dives into random objects far too often, goes prone for no damned reason when I press crouch... ugh. Add mouse accel into the mix, and it's just God damned unplayable.

I'm taking a break and coming at it again tomorrow. I'm only up the the part where Rockstar decided they wanted to try and make a Splinter Cell game, so maybe it's just that the beginning isn't that good. But my hopes have been thoroughly crushed.

Remedy, I miss you. Come back, please.… Expand

Signed up to metacritic just to be able to write a reveiw for this fantastic game, the performance is absolutly perfect, was worried about performance issues since rockstar have a bad history with pc ports etc happy to report that this game runs perfectly!! im so so happy.
Not only does it run perfectly but the controls are superb, this game has me looking forward to GTA 5 in a big way now.
Can easily see myself playing through this game a number of times its just that damn good, multiplayer is fantastic and will keep me playing for years to come, cant stress enough to anyone out there who is in two minds about getting this game dont be!! u wont be disapointed, not only is it a fantastic game but it also sets the standard for future thrid person games. Rockstar im **** loving you right now.... good job !!!!!… Expand

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 am rather confused with this title as I thought I bought a game and not a movie? When I get to play the game its good but its truely annoying when you sit watching cutscenes which never end and suddenly transition into the typical Max Payne jump, and you go oh gosh I am supposed to play now.

This game made a big fuss before its release. And after it is released I waited about a month to buy it until I checked the success well, then I bought it. I run the game and I started to play. At first I've found nothing interesting. I said maybe it's just the beginning, the game will improve in the next chapter. so I played for another hour. Still nothing, nothing impressing or new, nothing unique. I finally realised that the whole game is big failure. Rockstar earned large profits from this game due to the older versions, but also lost the confidence of many fans. That's my own opinion, and I totally disagree with critics. I do not know what really impressed them in this toy.… Expand

First of all, to the person complaining that they thought they bought a "game and not a movie" you are a burger. Plain and simple you are a burger. This game is amazing I cannot remember the last time I put a game on and was just like holy freaking **** The graphics are outstanding, the voice quality could use a little work but besides for that this game is perfect.

The bullet time works great, the melee is freaking awesome , when you shoot someone in this game you feel as if you actually shot someone.… 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!

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

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.

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

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

Primitive graphics, stupid AI, scripts-scripts-scripts...this is dumb console trash. Not my favor good old Max Payne. Rockstar kill the great saga and morfe it into the ordinary pop-action.

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

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

Max Payne 3 is essentially Duck Hunt 2012 with swearing and long cut scenes. A good-looking, well-optimized game that follows this basic formula: cut scene, pop-up shooting gallery, cut-scene, follow arrows to pop-up shooting gallery, LOOOOONG cut scene, long shooting gallery, cut scene, end chapter, looooong cut scene of Max drinking and puking. Due to the save point system, for the long shooting galleries you will have to start from square one if you die. And if you are playing on hard, you will die a lot. Still, the game is not really challenging, just frustrating and one-dimensional. I would give it a 6/10, but the game refused to load until an hour later of searching and trying methods from forums I fixed the problem. The exact same thing happened to me with LA Noire as well. Rockstar needs to beta-test their PC games more thoroughly and I need to stop buying new release PC Rockstar games. I would buy this on sale for $20 as a fun, quick way to spend a few hours before you get bored, but at $60 it is a shiny ripoff.… Expand

This is the definitive version of max Payne 3, I started playing on Xbox360 but stopped to play it as intended on pc, mouse and keyboard feels amazing just like the original max Payne, but reimagined for a new generation, excellent pc options , I can crank it all up with my gtx580, tesellation is awesome too, graphics and physics are amazing, excellent. Enjoyable old school third person action gaming with great story and gameplay.… Expand

I'll preface this review by saying I only care for single player gaming, so I've not tried the multiplayer and I don't care if that is supposed to be a game's redeeming feature. I'm all about the single player experience.

And on that score, I'm disappointed by Max Payne 3.
As a product, it's bloated (4 DVDs? Really?), wrapped up in far too much DRM and requirements to jump through hoops - why do I have to click through page after page of EULA? Why do I have to sign up to idiotic ideas like the "social club" when all I'm interested in is the single player game? As for game play - Why is it so full of bugs? funny freezes/pauses, poor controls, un-skippable and over-acted cut-scenes that appear all too often and are concealing really really appalling load times do not a pleasant gaming experience make, Rockstar.

Once you look past that, you will get to experience an average shooter, that's quite nice looking and a bit too much tied to rails for my liking. There are some nice touches, like the player only being able to carry a few guns and having to drop some if you want to do things like dual-wield guns - this is both handled nicely and realistically and brings a touch of thought to how you play the game.

But... I'm not sure it's actually a Max Payne game. Sure, someone's stuck the name "Max Payne" onto the player's character, and its clearly the Max Payne character's voice in the cut scenes, but the actual game doesn't *feel* like Max Payne to me.

I loved the first two Max Payne games so I really wanted to love this too, but I can't. If it was presented as a first person shooter in its own right instead of claiming the Max Payne heritage and getting it wrong then I might be happier to accept the game on its own terms - and for all the faults there is an average FPS with good graphics here.… Expand

I wanted a new chapter in the Max Payne story, but all I got is a generic grade B TPS. The Good: As everyone agrees, the graphics, physics and whateverics are great. And that's about it. The Bad: Triggers! Triggers everywhere!!! You open that door - three guys SPAWN behind you. Blam, reload. You kill that last guy - congratulations! Cutscene! Reinforcements arrive, take your women, raze your village and fart in your general direction. Ok, cutscene is over - you're in the middle of the room, hidden behind the flimsiest object around. Oh, and you're holding a pistol. Enjoy the epic gunfight. Speaking of cutscenes - there's more than enough of them (unskippable, to boot) to confuse you for the entire game. "Why am I doing that?!", "Errr, shouldn't I be shooting him instead of staring?", "Why am I not moving? Oh, cutscene over, right. Better press something.", "Goodness gracious! Why did I just lock the door behind myself right after I wandered outside in plain view of six mooks?". And if you're still willing to endure all that for the sake of good plot and characters - you don't get either. The plot is largely non-existent and amounts to "Where shall I kill today? Ah, right - in ". The characters around you give you no reason to care about them, they are there just to give you a reason for killing more brazilians. And there's one important aesop - it's ok to heavily drink on the job. No one seems to care, least of all Max himself. You drank two bottles of whiskey? No problem, your aim is steady as always.
Maybe I'm too hard on the game. But it would've looked SO MUCH BETTER under the name "GTA: Sao Paulo" or, for lack of carjacking, "Brazilian Shooter 3D".… Expand

Things I've forgot to mention - a lot of times you will be placed in the middle of firefight behind the cover which only protect you from enemies in front of you, while other enemies will come at you from everywhere.
Also, that stupid "kill the guy who shot you" camera is useless most of the times - the enemy is behind the cover or you out of ammo. Whats even worse - you can't load from the last checkpoint during this moments. So you have to sit through all of this, then get the chance to load the game.
The game has no straight rhythm - you will be constantly slowed down by unskippable cutscene. Sometimes you're in the berserk mode after good action, you killed all the enemies and want to kill more, you rush into another room and... cutscene. What the hell?!
Oh, and that stupid video effects! All this shaky camera, light flashes, double vision, words coming out on the screen - it may be appropriate in the beginning of the game, but NOT all the time! Also, I don't remember getting hit this much, or having to restart the checkpoint in original Max Payne.
One more thing - no grenades! Enemies has them, but you don't. And I don't see any excuse for this. Why, Rockstar, why?
Two years of disappointment - first Duke Nukem, and now this. I wonder how Hitman will turn out? But I'm almost convinced now that it's going to be bad. It's a trend.… 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

I love the mechanics, the graphics, the storyline, and especially the new combat system. The only thing I dislike, but I don't see how it possible to change it without making it a distraction, the aim system. Otherwise the game I love the game even if the amount of hard drive space it takes is huge.

This game is amazing. Definitely the BEST of the 3 Max Payne games, and I loved the first two. I have only played one round of multiplayer, I bought the game for the single player so the fact that I can continue to play online with people even after I beat it is a huge bonus. I don't know why people are complaining about this game being like a movie, I LOVE it. Max Payne fan or not, buy this game now!… Expand

A solid 3 hours into the campaign and I knew my expectations would be met. They were set very high, and Rockstar did it once again. The physics are incredible, graphics are outstanding and the kill cams are awesome. I don't know why people expected it to be like the previous Max Payne's, how would that be fun? Change is good. I wouldn't be surprised to see this get game of the year, buy it for sure - definitely worth the 60 bucks. 10/10… Expand

Just finished playing through MP3 & am a bit miffed. It's an ok third-person shooter but just doesn't have the feel of a Max Payne game.

Epicly-long, unskippable cut-scenes, constant eye-irritating 'effects' & the game deciding to switch out your main weapon for a pistol at every opportunity are some gripes. You will discover others...

Very disappointing game play. Too many movies. Overall much worse game than previous MP1,2. Game just isnt fun to play. Not worth the money. Very sory for missed chance.

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 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.

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

The PC version is exceptional. I enjoyed the first two games very much and the original control scheme is there if you want it, but I recommend a game pad this time through. The care and dedication put forth for the PC version was well worth the wait. Purchased my copy through Steam, no problems (massive download though -28gigs). The graphics are really something to behold, on par with the Witcher 2 for prettiest game going. Worth your money - well worth your time.… Expand

Impressing game. At first I though Rockstar would do a lame console port like many games are nowadays, but I was impressed. Especially the graphics and performance of the engine are great. The story seems to be great once again and a worthy successor for Max Payne I & II. The controls are well done, you won't just randomly jump off a ledge because of laggy controls. Also the controls are pretty well done for Keyboard & Mouse.

This game features modern technology and the engine is running very well. Among Direct X11 (also supported: DX9, DX10, DX10.1) players are able to set Anti-aliasing modes and many different settings like texture and model details. Also there is support for tessellation when in DX11 mode. All in all this game is one of the best games of the last years and it pushes my hopes up for the upcoming GTA:V to be a greater success than GTA:IV.… Expand

I bought this game on steam and completed the storyline in less than 13 hours of gameplay. Ridiculously disappointing. The storyline didnt even come close to matching the first or the second game. The controls were also off and very annoying for me at times. Max will sometimes run at regular pace even while aiming which throws me off completely. And instead of using bullet time just about anytime you want you stick to taking cover over half the time. I have no interest in doing the time attack, new york minute, or multiplayer modes. Definitely not a game that's worth 60 bucks. I bought it because of the old max paynes and this one definitely does nothing to live up to those standards.… Expand

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

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

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.

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

Ta gra naprawdÄ

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

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

Max Payne 3 is probably the best 3rd person shooter I have ever played. I know with it being a Rockstar game you're expected to get a well developed, an outstanding quality product and an immersive experience, Rockstar certainly have done this. To me MP3 makes you actually care about the characters involved in the story especially MP himself, not many games can make you feel emotional for the protagonist or what is happening around them, once again Rockstar deliver for what their renowned for and thats focusing on giving the audience the best experience possible from the campaign. A lot of people are complaining about the cutscene transition, as far as I'm aware this have never been done in a game before and it works so well, there is a good balance of gameplay and cutscences (I didn't notice there being so many cutscenes that most of the game is based around watching rather than playing?) you never feel lost as to what is happening and it's really immersive how you suddenly become involved in the frantic shootouts. I personally don't feel Rockstar have taken away the core of the MP nostalgia, if anything they have developed on it and embraced it and have made it something their own which to me is a great thing, because we all know that the MP franchise (if they continue with any sequels) is in good hands and they will never dissapoint. The multiplayer aspect of the game is a nice and interesting concept because the previous MP games didn't have the kind of technology or experience to discover how bullet time could work in multiplayer. It's a lof of fun and quite addictive and just feels like a scale downed version of GTA 4 with bullet time but that's not a bad thing. However the real main reason to pick this game up is for the single player, anyone whom is a MP fan or is new to the series, I reccommend this game without shadow of a doubt you will not be disappointed… Expand

Rockstar managed it again to impress me, even after all the games that came out this year .. This game feels like playing a movie and thats what i want - i want to get entertained, without thinking of balance or competive thing. Just play and enjoy the story .. really good job rockstar, thumbs up!

Thank god, I bought it from Steam summer sale. I've always been a fan of Rockstar. I fell bad for writing this but I am really disappointed. I finished MassEffect3 Ext.Cut recently. Then, started to play Max Payne 3. First of all, I liked the cutscenes in the begining chapters. Later, it is getting annoying because at every door, max looks behind the door and says something meaningless and stars to shoot everyone. The story is really cheap and easily predictable. The game itself is, "I'm sure my time is running out" let shoot more bad guys, "I feel my luck is running out", lets shoot more bad guys especially, in the daylight at sao paulo. Why max has to be shooting bad guys in the daylight most of the time?. The final chapters are a little bit darker, I enjoyed a little. Multiplayer is an effort but after I finished campaign, I was too bored to play multilplayer that much. I liked the animations but it has some flaws. Sensitivity is too low even in highest setting. The game could be better. I think, Rockstar is too focused on GTA V. Conclusion, I am still looking forward to GTAV. Please do not give us cheap games while you are developing bigger games and using the Max Payne title to sell it.… Expand

While the game stays somewhat true to the original Max Payne play style, RockStar

It's a decent Tps but the problem is it's meant to be played with 360 and ps3 controllers. This means MP3 will feature a cover system to give you time aiming from behind your cover, OP moves like the shootdodge, Overshoulderview from gears of war to mess with your spatial awarness, zooming and slowing down to get 100% accuracy with whatever weapon like in cod, free camera for goons who can't turn the camera fast enough to aim. It's all stuff that doesn't belong to max payne games. I played it merely because there's no good tps exclusive on pc other than old games like Legions Overdrive, some mods, Gunz and the first Max Payne games. You can go on and play it but i think i'll go back playing the kung fu mod.… 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.

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

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.

Just great, I love it. The graphics, the gameplay, the story! If anyone is bothered by the price: Wait and buy it later, like I did. Bought this new game on the Steam summer sale for

fantastic graphics, awesome action, a great story...one of the greatest game i've ever played....though it has some problems on pc version, it gave me a great time ....so 10/10 from me....

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

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.

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!

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

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

Great game, better than modern **** Gameplay is really good, graphics is good, plot is great, soundtrack is great. Play the game, enjoy the game, I recommended.

As an avid Max Payne fan this game ticks all of the boxes.. I can't get enough of it.

Be it the Art Direction, fluidity of the gunplay/animations, story, gorgeous graphics - It's just oozing with quality. Rockstar have really outdone themselves with this. This is no crappy console port either, it's optimized brilliantly and looks/plays amazing with a mouse/kb.

Multiplayer is just a bonus and gang wars is loads of fun.… Expand

MY VIEW FOR THOSE WHO ARE TIRED OF ANGER AND SPAMMING POSTS AND USELESS GAME REVIEW SITES.

Yes, I'm one of the many (mainly Steam purchasers it seems) who have had trouble launching the game. But I'm not going to waste time slagging Steam/Rockstar off for this problem, even though it wasted much of my time sorting out. I'm currently playing Max Payne 3 with a modified .exe, but hey, I'm playing Max Payne 3!

Firstly, as is usually the first request of any PC gaming enthusiast, what are the graphics like? Well, put simply, they are consistently outstanding. I'm fortunate enough to be playing the game @ 2560x1440 with maxed out settings and it runs buttery smooth. Rockstar has finally done itself proud by giving us, the PC gamer, a extremely well optimised game. If you have the hardware then you're in for a treat, Max Payne 3 may not grab the number one spot for outright visual splendour (although it is worthy of nomination) but it does win an award that almost every game - even PC exclusive titles - can't get close to; it contains a high level of texture work that PC gamers expect. Crysis may still be deemed as great looking but many of it's textures are awful up close, the same can best said for many of the so-called visual PC behemoths. Max Payne 3 manages to look excellent not just most of the time, but all of the time. Coming from Rockstar, who are renowned for detail rather than cutting edge graphics, this is an amazing achievement. Whether the PC version was built from the ground up; shares parts with the console versions; or is largely a port, doesn't matter. Apart from one thing (which I'll comment on in a minute) Max Payne 3 for the PC looks like a bona fide PC game, through and through. Rockstar may not have included the myriad graphics settings that dazzle most in Serious Same BFE, but the choice of DX9-DX11 settings allow for good scaling. At it's highest settings Max Payne 3 looks to switch on every cutting edge feature, placing the PC version leagues ahead of the console offering. Again, credit to Rockstar for this hugely evident visual increase. I played both Max Payne and Max Payne 2 and enjoyed them immensely using the faithful mouse and keyboard controls. But honestly, Max Payne 3 plays better on a gamepad. With a XBox 360 controller the game is simply better. I'm a veteran gamer, the M&K is what I consider myself a master of, but this game doesn't seem to work well with it. As soon as I plugged my gamepad in, it all came together, and the one thing that may stand out as a console trespasser to most is actually welcomed by me. The weapon select dial that sends hordes of PC gamers into a frenzied mutiny is perfect for the job in Max Payne 3. Seriously, if you feel yourself playing this game and all the while something is niggling away inside your head, get a gamepad and plug it in. The Marmite love and hate relationship with the cut scenes is understandable. Initially I wasn't too keen on the , what seemed to be, intrusion of Rockstar's story book, but after a while they started to fit the game well. For those that are still complaining that Rockstar haven't replicated the previous games should take a chill pill and enjoy what it has created. In true Rockstar fashion what we have here is a story well told, a story that you want to continue, one that makes it hard for you to hit the quit button. Yes it's ridiculous, yes it's brash, but it's something that many games have lost over recent times. IT'S FUN! Running through baddies whilst picking them them off is amazing fun. Rockstar have somehow managed to make the real time gunfights as fun, if not more so, than any bullet time event. The action is powerful, brutal and bloody, you'll often feel so invigorated after even a short exchange of bullets that you'll watch yet another cut scene with bated breath, the story driving you toward the next exciting instalment. The audio is very nice. Rockstar has a great eye for detail (just look at the amount of detail in GTAIV) and it knows how to do sound, too. Everything just works, it fits. The music, the effects, the voice work, all of it is superb. The accompanying tunes are so good you don't even notice them. That may sound odd, but it's very important that any in-game music does not become centre stage. Be part of a game, help towards making the experience epic, but don't overdo it. Rockstar has done well here. Unfortunately, as with it's previous titles, Rockstar have gone slightly overkill with the language. Yes, I understand this kind of thing in the real world would involve lots of unsavoury characters who have a plethora of naughty words in their vocabulary, but is there a real need for the large amount of bad language that Rockstar put in it's games? I'm not so sure.

So, is Max Payne 3 any good? Yep. Worth the full price? Yep. Multi-player any good? Probably definitely, don't know, haven't tried it yet. Just get it, it's Max!… Expand

In many ways SOOO AWESOME... in a lot of ways TERRIBLE. Lucky for me I don't mind the cutscenes and the voiceower and I think that Rockstar did a great job continuing the story - it deffinitly still have the vibe and feel of the old series, but with a new fresh blow of air. The not-so-good-things are the BUGS! As other members have mentioned the bullettime-im-about-to-die camera is crap, and other cam erros as well, the cover controls are for the most part fine, but it isn't still working. Mind that im playing on hard and i haven't played normal; AI is STUPID, some needs 2 clips to die, others 3 rounds. The graphics are great BUT the AA feature is not working, only FXAA, which looks ok but it's still ugly. It's sad that a game that PERFECT has minor bugs that turn into HUGE IRRITATIONS !… Expand

Most of the reviews take up same points as I think so read them but some examples:

-Short gameplay sequences are broken up with long cut scenes which you cant skip
-You shot someone in the head but the bulletcam/cutsceen show you shooting them in the groin
- For a game which has so many cutscenes, it often will provide a sidekick nearby which /*constantly*/ will be telling you to get a move on.
-The game also has a habit of switching your main rifle or shotgun to a sidearm
-Often after a short cut-scene, you will be placed in a compromised position facing multiple enemies. I loved the first Max games but this I managed to play for 45 min before unsinstall.… Expand

too manyy cutscenes spoil the fps
bullettime is interesting addition, however:
"max is too old" is the excuse for you not being as awesome as before, so diving bullettime isn't really that useful here :(
lazy effort rockstar, lazy effort.

The graphics are amazing! Unfortunately, the game itself is a huge disappointment. The first Max Payne was great, and the second was amazing. I've gone back and played them both again and again, but since I finally finished this one, I doubt I'll ever touch it again.

My biggest complaint is that you can no longer save your game. You have to get to a "checkpoint." Having to repeat the same parts countless times gets frustrating pretty quickly, and takes all the fun out of it. Apparently these software companies think that gamers everywhere are saying, "You know what I really hate? Being able to save my game whenever I want to!" Granted, it's not nearly as bad as Far Cry, where I was stuck at the same checkpoint for two weeks, but it's quite frustrating. The controls are a royal pain. I got used to them after awhile, but that doesn't mean I liked it, especially not being able to jump. And for some reason, Max can only carry a couple guns at a time now.

I loved the cutscenes in Max Payne 1 & 2, and thought there should have been more of them. But this one has way too many. And it's not always obvious when the cutscene ends and you're back in the action. I got killed this way quite a few times. And as several other people mention, after some cutscenes, it insists on switching you to that stupid pistol, regardless of which weapon you were using before the cutscene.

Before you can even play a single player game, you have to sign up for an online account. You read that right. An online account. For a single player game. What is the point of this?

There is a particularly annoying bug in this game, where sometimes it will pause itself for no reason. Last I heard, the company had no plans to fix this, because they "can't recreate the problem." The storylines in the first two games were interesting, full of plot twists, and memorable characters. I kept playing because I couldn't wait to see what happened next. This one, it got to the point where the only reason I kept playing was to be done with it. The characters are so uninteresting that I kept forgetting who was who as the story progressed. I even lost interest in the story itself after awhile. Max being in South America just seems wrong. The flashback scenes from before he left the USA were a little better, but it still wasn't the same. And it never really explained how Max got to where he "wasn't a cop anymore." At the beginning of the second game, it went into a decent amount of detail about the events the happened between the first and second game, but there was none of that in this one. None of the characters from the first two games were in this one, other than a couple of passing references. I know, most of the characters had been killed off, but there were a few that survived, and a few that sounded like they may have survived.

After the second game, I was hoping for a third one. Sadly, it turned out to be a huge disappointment, and I'm sorry I wasted $60 on it.… Expand

The good things about this game is the bullet time and the voice acting in the single player campaign. The rest is downhill from there. Mostly though there are a lot of little annoying things that destroys the gameplay. For me the most negative of them all is the constant screen distortions going on. This may be a intended part of the artistic side of the game, and it is a great effect when Max gets shot or is drunk. But when it is constant even when Max is just fine, it only annoys. Also this screen flickering takes a toll on your eyes if you are playing more than a hour. Other little things that mess up the game is the cover system, which is really dull and stupid. There is no cover to cover mechanism, the is no sprint that works and its easier to get shot when you pop out from cover than when you are not using it at all (i.e. just use bullet time instead). The guns are another annoyance. there is almost no difference between the guns when it comes to distance and damage. It is just as easy/hard to get a one bullet headshot kill on vast distances whether you use a pistol or a rifle. Also there are no access to explosive secondaries like grenades, Molotov **** etc. in the single player. The story is fine, but the constant narrative about how Max is just a drunk old fart about to die, gets old pretty fast, and does not harmonize with what is actually going on in the game. Which is Max behaving like a bad ass commando mowing down hordes of gangsters. This constant negative focus removes the sense of any character progress for Max. Quite unlike the previous Max games when you started in the gutter and fought your way to the penthouse of a corporate skyscraper.… Expand

I do not recommend this game to anyone. Some reasons that comes to mind now:

-The game was made in a completely linear, with various interactive and cut scenes between every moment of gameplay.
It is poorly-balanced, so that in certain parts where you get low on ammo or painkiller. After a few attempts, you automatically receive the items in order to pass the challenge.
-The addition of the "cover", which was made ​​the brand franchise, Bullet Time, completely useless. Not to mention that the gameplay is truncated due to an attempt to make a more realistic character movement.

Anyway, not worth your time (and money) spent.

OBS: Translated from Portuguese in Google Translator. Sorry!… Expand

My review is based on the PC version, NOT any console version!
As a long time fan of the Max Payne series I have to say how disapointed I am by this drivel rockstar have seen fit to release. Lazy console port would sum this game up in short, but it would be unfair to label it thus without explaining why.
Visuals first: Well, not too bad, But for a PC game I expect far more. I would have liked more graphical options. I would have liked to see some emotion in the faces of the characters, they all look so wooden. Everywhere you go or look just seems a little too empty. This is supposed to be a gritty dark game but it reminds me of the latest Duke Nukem in the way it looks.
Storyline/acting: Not too bad as a story, sort of, but the acting is awful. Not hammy awful, just really crap awful. Even worse than Mark Wahlberg was in the film...If that is at all possible!
Gameplay: Poor really. Too many interrupting cut-scenes. The cover system causes more problems and makes you just as vulnerable as standing out in the open waving a big "shoot me" flag. Many times I have been killed because an enemy flanked me while I was in cover and as I have turned to try and shoot them the camera has flipped around and I have ended up facing completely the wrong way. The camera need to see through pillars and walls when you are in cover and you turn, not whizz round disorientating you like it does now.
There seems to be lots of weapons in this game, the only problem I have with the weaponry is that the targeting reticule is tiny and it can be hard to figure out where you are aiming in the heat of battle. I would have liked the option to have a cross-hair or larger, more visible aiming point. (unless there is one in the options menu somewhere that I have overlooked)? Controls: It feels like moving through quicksand sometimes. Camera placing issues aside, it feels hard to accurately target your enemies. The movement of your character seems sluggish and there also seems to be some form of inertia when you try and stop behind pillars or wall ends. I found myself overshooting and then over compensating on many occasions, not good when under heavy fire.
Reliability: I'm not sure which Max Payne 3 some people are playing, but I have had many problems running this game. Several crashes. Screen lockups, jittering and stuttering. Running slow and then skipping to my death scene for no apparent reason (and yes all drivers are up to date, it's the game not my computer).
Overall: If you can get this game cheap (I paid £8 for it) then it is worth all of the 4 points I have given it, and It might be worth persevering with. As for full price? I wouldn't waste your money...Unless some seriously good patches come out to correct the shonky camera, control, crash and bug issues.… 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

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.

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

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.

Superb game! Very close to a movie masterpiece. Awesome gameplay, dialogs, story and graphics. Of course some may find that there are too many cutscene, but u can always jump them. One of the best game of the last years. The pc version i trieed is very good, only 2 crashes in a lot of our of gameplay. Very, very good Rockstar!

"A masterpiece of underworld carnality, depravity and violence."-The Guardian.
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80 % cut-scenes and 20 % gameplay. Please, I wanted a game not a movie. Definitely not a true sequel to Max Payne 1 and 2. I expected better from a game which was soo much anticipated.

Very impressive. A few graphical hiccups - but a wholesome, thrilling and paced game. Haven't played the previous Max Payne games, and this has been an excellent game nonetheless, and has in fact bolstered by knowledge of the overall trilogy?

The game has a FAIRLY solid single player, gets dull around the 6 hour mark as you've already done everything by that time and the long unskippable cutscenes will probably begin to grind on you by then. It's enjoyable through out most of it and that makes this game worth a rental or a buy when it's dropped at least half in price. The multiplayer is what really ruins this game though, if you can't do it right, then don't do it at all. The clunky controls, the bad camera angles, the awful feedback from the weapons and the terrible map design just make this a horrible experience. The plus side is there is plenty of customization items and equipment to unlock, but I can't see people staying around long enough to see most of them. I would have rated this game higher had it been single player only, but I don't believe in overlooking something because it wasn't in the previous games in this series. I know people will probably disagree with my opinion as we're still in the hype phase of this game, which explains the 10/10 ratings.… Expand

for singleplayer reference only.

its sad that the entire game feels like its scripted, it doesnt matter what you do it never feels like youre in controll of anything. for youre 60$ you get about 1 hour of play time with allot of cutscenes and movies that wil make you want to alt+f4 after a while. i cant see how people actualy compare this to the original max payne or max payne 2. the key part was action + wel placed (although sometimes bad) voice over.
the commic book story explaining things to you between mission that you could SKIP !! if you wanted didnt realy interrupt game play that much. so with max payne and max payne 2 being a score of 8. this game as a max payne would be a 5... i realy dont need another half baked muliplayer game witch wont keep me bussy for more then a week. even though bullit time in multiplayer will make it interesting it makes it a joke for anyone who actualy likes FPS multiplayer… Expand

I haven

A sad shadow of Max Payne gameplay, where are you going Max? A not interesting story, the computer play at your place, 4h of videos breaking the game rythm (max open a door, max make a step, max go to piss, max is moving eyes,...) everything are subjects to a movie... So borring! 35Go on the hard drive... what the hell?! >< After 3 chapters I directly uninstalled the game because I'm not going to watch a movie during 5h, I want to play that's all! If not I would go to the nearest cinema.
Except beautiful graphics and animating Max Payne 3 is A FAIL!… Expand

Every 5 minutes you get a new cut scene. It is not a game, its a film. The trouble is, if I wanted a film, id buy a film. This is not a game, therefor it cannot be reviewed as one. Boring story, boring game play, boring dialogue, Oh, and shaky camera. How novel! Yawn

I have to agree with wilddeer. I've played the first two Max Paynes and all I can say is this is nothing like the first two max paynes. The game starts with a 10 minute movie and then after shooting at people for about 5 minutes I get another 10 minute cut-seen. Which wouldn't be bad except after the cut-seen max always finds the dumbest place to stop and hide behind. Can't hind behind the steel counter, lets hide behind the 3 pieces of luggage in the middle of the airport. The other part I like about the game is the horrible computer A.I. it's always aiming at you (even through walls) and always knows where your at. I really love when after you kill the first wave and the 2nd wave magically appears and you have people shooting you in the back and since your health gets shot off so quickly since the computer always hits you and always hits you in the face. So here is the basic rundown of the game. First, 10 minute cut-seen, max then hides behind the dumbest object he can find and the shooting begins. You can either a) wait until your slow-mo bar fills up so you can actually kill somebody or b) try shoot at one of the 5-6 guys shooting at you at the same time at which point you get shot in the face. After the fight max always has some silly comment, which after hearing about him drinking or being screwed over for the umpteenth time you get to a point where you don't care. So in a nutshell, cut-seen, shootout, max **** cut-seen, shootout, max **** Fun......… Expand

I have been waiting for Max Payne 3 for a long time and it didnt disapoint. The story is excellent the graphics and sound are both PC quality and the combat plays out with some of the best ragdoll physics and blood effects I have ever seen. The game can get brutaly hard at some points but I never wanted to give up and im still craving more after beating the storyline.

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

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