Max Payne 3 (video game)

[ProfessorChaos]

this was on sale for like 33 bucks on amazon the other day. should be here by the end of the week. pretty excited about it....i have the first one on the xbox but have to go and replay it before i'll allow myself to get started on part 3....may delve into the MP a lil bit first, though.

[Neil]

this was on sale for like 33 bucks on amazon the other day. should be here by the end of the week. pretty excited about it....i have the first one on the xbox but have to go and replay it before i'll allow myself to get started on part 3....may delve into the MP a lil bit first, though. Got it on my Steam Wishlist, so when it drops by 50% I'll get it...

[MinionZombie]

I was tempted to get it t'other day, but decided against it until it's cheaper still. I've heard it can be a bit frustrating difficulty wise, and I don't enjoy frustrating games ... besides, I've still not played Gears of War 3, and that's higher up my to do list.

[ProfessorChaos]

yeah, this game kinda sucks in my opinion. pretty damn frustrating is right. the degree of difficulty can be a real mothrafucker, even on the middle settings. the campaign is just basically walking into a room to trigger a quick cut-scene, followed by shooting three or four guys, get killed by a fifth guy hiding behind a wall, retry, move on to the next cut-scene, rinse, repeat. not very fun. probably will finish it for the sake of getting the story completed and picking up a few achievements. the story is slightly compelling, but the presentation of this game is ridiculous, as there's always some sort of visual effect going on where colors blur and come into focus and random bits of dialog spoken by characters pop up on screen during like every conversation....very distracting and totally annoying. the multiplayer has got to be the biggest waste of time i've ever fucking played. you begin with only a few items, and have to unlock other things as you rank up, which is common with most mp games, but this one is a joke cuz you literally start of wearing shorts and a t-shirt with maybe 3 pre-set classes and have to go up against assholes who've maxed their levels out and are sprinting around like the damn master chief from halo with totally decked out riot gear and all kinds of one-hit kill weapons. i'll spot an enemy, dump a magazine into him, stop to reload, then he'll turn around a headshot me from across the room in a blink of an eye. not fun at all. i've accumulated a handful of hours on this stupid game and still don't have any money to buy weapons with...then again, i could bend over and let rockstar have at my wallet and arsehole and pay real-life money for super-weapons and extra perks to have an advantage over those who haven't burned ms points for dlc.....no thanks. should've left this one alone, i suppose. will likely be trading it in shortly. even only paying half price for it, i still feel like this game has been a total waste of money and time thus far...could be wrong, but so far i'm far from impressed. i really only bought it for something to cure the itch till gta5 drops, but i should've just placed the money i blew on this on a pre-order for what will surely be a far superior game. i realize that gta and max payne are two very different styles of games, but this seemed like a decent and engaging action game from what trailers i saw....but it's really just a crap game so far, to be honest. feels nothing at all like the original max payne...more like a watching a movie on a scratched dvd that keeps getting stuck on the same chapter till you hammer your fist on your player to skip to the next bit.... 3/10

[Neil]

3/10 Wow! That seems in the face of every review I've seen? How did you get on with Max Payne 2?

[ProfessorChaos]

tbh, i've not played the second game, neil. like i said, the story is good enough, but there are so many cutscenes, the difficulty is asinine at times, and the constant blurring of colors and words popping on screen during the numerous cut-scenes is enough to make this game almost unbearable at times....to me at least. you may get more mileage out of it, but i've decided that as soon as i finish the story once, i'm trading it right in. that's odd for me, as i usually replay games on the higher difficulty settings and go through to find collectibles and whatnot, but i honestly can't wait to finish this one and trade it in. maybe 3/10 is a bit harsh, but the highest i'd rank it would be like a 5.

[Neil]

tbh, i've not played the second game, neil. like i said, the story is good enough, but there are so many cutscenes, the difficulty is asinine at times, and the constant blurring of colors and words popping on screen during the numerous cut-scenes is enough to make this game almost unbearable at times....to me at least. you may get more mileage out of it, but i've decided that as soon as i finish the story once, i'm trading it right in. that's odd for me, as i usually replay games on the higher difficulty settings and go through to find collectibles and whatnot, but i honestly can't wait to finish this one and trade it in. maybe 3/10 is a bit harsh, but the highest i'd rank it would be like a 5. Well, the 2nd one had lots of story/cut-scenes etc... I enjoyed the 2nd one a lot... But I can understand how it might not appeal to some. You've made me wary, so I'll read some more reviews before buying 3.

[MinionZombie]

I'm at the point now that I'll only get it if it's properly cheap - below £10 for sure ... but that might take a very long time, if it ever happens ... so I might end up letting this one slide.

[ProfessorChaos]

i actually lost patience and interest in this game and just decided to get rid of it without even finishing it....oh well.

[Neil]

Just finished it. Incredibly clever and incredibly pretty, but just very repetitive... Shame because the engine was pretty amazing really!

[ProfessorChaos]

how'd you feel about the cut-scenes, neil? with all those damn colors blurring and dialogue jumping all over the screen, it nearly drove me nuts. that was probably my biggest problem with this game....

[Neil]

The colour flashes and text popping up was OTT at times... And the fact some of the cut scenes went on for ages, with no way to get out of them was annoying. A number of times I wanted to exist the game and simply couldn't! I played some of the time challenges last night which were fun, but what seems to be missing is what made May Payne 2 so great, the survival maps where an ever increasing number of attackers would come after you and you simply had to see how long you last... Max Payne 3 doesn't seem to have that

[MinionZombie]

I just bought this for a fiver, so I'll give it a spin in a bit and see what's what. I didn't want to spend too much on it, so a fiver is rather good. If I hate it, or completely suck at it, there's not much lost ... but if I rather dig it, then it's a win for cheap. I'll report back in due course.

[Neil]

I just bought this for a fiver, so I'll give it a spin in a bit and see what's what. I didn't want to spend too much on it, so a fiver is rather good. If I hate it, or completely suck at it, there's not much lost ... but if I rather dig it, then it's a win for cheap. I'll report back in due course. Very pretty IMHO... The cut scenes are a little painful after a while and the gameplay a little repetative... But good, especially for a fiver!

[MinionZombie]

Okay, with the first four chapters done (out of fourteen), here's my initial thoughts. 1) The cutscenes are very fancy, but yes, they are too long. At times it's like watching a movie - albeit one that I'm interested in - but this is a game, and sometimes it can get a tad silly when a cutscene is going on and on and on - cut to the chase a bit sooner, like. 2) The controls are pretty good, but there are occasionally moments where I do get a bit befuddled and make mistakes. 3) There are difficulty spikes at certain points that can prove a little annoying. In Chapter III you have to snipe some mercs, but your field of view is so limited, and your buddy isn't giving you clear instructions, so it's hard to tell where the bad guys are coming from (I failed that portion several times, but a trial-and-error approach got me through). Some enemies do take a bit-too much lead. 4) Visually stunning. 5) The 'visual effects' on the cutscenes are cool - but they are overused. At certain moments it makes sense (like when Max downs a drink or some pills), but it's not always necessary. 6) There have been a couple of times where I'm roaming around finding pills or golden gun parts and my sidekick runs off ahead of me, starts a gunfight, and gets killed - oi mate, hang on a minute, I'm searching the cleared area first! 7) Compared to the first two, there are far less moments where you can really employ bullet-time/shoot-dodge, so that's a bit disappointing, even if I still enjoy the firefights in general. 8) The movement of Max can feel a tad stiff at times, but there has been a significant evolution of these physics and mechanics since GTA IV, and through Red Dead Redemption, so hopefully this bodes well for GTA V. 9) I like the settings, and little moments of interactivity (e.g. watching the TV). 10) The voice acting and dialogue is fantastic. There's some quality lines in the script, and James McCaffrey continues to rock Max Payne's vocals (as well as the look and motion capture in this entry). Looking forward to continuing it. A bargain at a fiver.