Video Game Review: ‘Max Payne 3’ is Gaming as Cinematic Immersion

CHICAGO – So what’s Max Payne been up to since we last saw him all those years ago? No, not since the horrendous 2008 movie. The movie just doesn’t exist folks. Take a deep breath. It’s been nine years since the last gaming incarnation of Payne. The long wait to the release of “Max Payne 3” has seen some things change and some stay the same. Payne is still deeply troubled over the murder of his family and still determined to drown his pain in pills and booze, unable to progress and just as unlucky as ever when he does attempt to. But gone is the New York slum-land. It’s been replaced with a vibrant series of Brazilian night clubs and sun-drenched Sao Paulo locations that come as part of the deal when Payne accepts a security position with one Rodrigo Branco. It’s not fun-in-the-sun or anywhere else. It’s deadly stuff that involves the kidnapping of Branco’s wife, Fabiana, and the slow descent of Max Payne into yet another blood-drenched, action-packed series of shootouts and clue hunts.

Video Game Rating: 5.0/5.0

The change-up in style and environment may not work for some longtime fans. But there are ample rewards for getting with the times here. A lot of the new content has to do with making the game seem more cinematic. You get some scan lines, moving film stock, and, most effective of all, cut scenes that blend into gameplay and vice-versa. The game loads whenever cut scenes run and so there’s no waiting. It all makes for deeper immersion. In poorer hands the game would only hint at this but in this incarnation players get closer to seeing the world through Payne’s eyes than ever before.

Max Payne 3
Photo credit: Rockstar Games

It’s a simple point of view to be sure. The narrative is pretty stripped down and your ability to appreciate it will depend a lot on how effective genre tropes are for you. This is film noir meets the gaming world in an explosion of intense violence. In fact, the violence is so intense it bears special mention. The way the game is structured doesn’t really allow you to roam around as freely as a lot of shooters but that’s by design and it’s a big part of what makes the violence so disturbing. Slow motion head shots and the games ever-present kill camera showcase the movement of that last bullet to whatever it hits and the effect is breathtaking. This isn’t violence for violence’s sake but violence as a metaphor for the inner life of one of gaming’s most troubled characters. James McCaffrey’s performance as Payne stands out but on the whole this is an excellent voice cast and one of the best things the game has to offer.

Max Payne 3 Photo credit: Rockstar Games

Do be prepared for a ton of cut scenes. For some this is simply going to mute the action too much, but I found it refreshing. This is well-written stuff, and, again, it blends seamlessly. When the action does heat up, it is furious. You have the choice of a single two-handed weapon or one in each hand if you have enough firepower and ammunition. Look for ease of pickup and use from the game’s famous time-warping Bullet Time and Shoot Dodge moves and don’t be afraid to enjoy the way they augment enjoyment of the destroyable environs. There’s literally no end to the amount of chaos you can generate with your firepower. Glass, paper, bits of furniture, etc. Again, this is breathtaking stuff.

Some will argue that Max hasn’t changed enough but I think that’s bunk. He fits into this game perfectly as is. Also, his heath doesn’t regenerate with the passage of gameplay. So, players are forced to work the angles as best they can from the get-go with same sort of steely-eyed determination that has always made Payne so compelling. Does he have a death wish or does he really want to nail the mission? It’s easy to get so caught up that playing either approach has its charms.

Ultimately, single players get about 12 hours of game play but there are Speed Runs, Arcade Modes and Score Challenges after that. Multiplayer is insane and definitely the place that those who want more freedom during play will want to head. Some might find the way the narrative is interwoven here a little complicated but the truth is that this is rich, complex stuff, guaranteed to help almost anyone maintain interest. You could be playing this thing for months before you are ready to move on. The five total rounds in the mode named “Gang Wars” of bomb defusing, turf-staking, boom-boom-boom, hunting glory are so nuts in fact that you probably won’t remember much about it later. This is almost pure adrenaline and a marked improvement over how a lot of games approach the multiplayer paradigm.

In short, “Max Payne 3” offers virtually everything anyone could want from a game like this one. Only purists might be left feeling a bit irked. But then again, Payne isn’t exactly the kind of guy you’d call a purist. Duck, suckers, or pick up your guns and stare destiny straight in the eye. Who knows? You might even take a few bastards down with you before it’s time to call it quits.

By Dave Canfield
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com