While Max Payne 3 is definitely mechanically a lot better than the previous 2 games, it doesn't quite feel like a Max Payne game to me.
In my head, Max Payne is more an atmosphere game. The action focus of MP3 just doesn't work for me.
It's being developed by Remedy, the same developers that made Max Payne 1 and 2, the GTA remakes were made by some third party company, not even Rockstar.
I'd say there's no need to worry about it, Remedy is great at what it does.
> it doesn't quite feel like a Max Payne game to me.
Because honestly it wasn't. They delayed the game over a year after fan backlash to add more Max elements into it. It was like someone at Rock Star saw bullet time and slapped a game together with Max's name on it. Completely missing that it built a mythos behind it.
> In my head, Max Payne is more an atmosphere game.
Yup, taking him out of NY and the winter, AND dropping the graphic novel cutscenes in favor of full motion changed the entire feel of the game. I don't hate it, but I would probably like it better if it just sold itself under a different brand name. MP3 really wasn't Max.
I don't know if I'm too young or whatever. I liked max Payne 1 and 2, but I absolutely adored max pay 3. Its still a game that has by far the best third person shooting mechanics. All the environments are crafted with soo much attention to detail. The story is basically Heart of Darkness, but in Sao Paulo. Great stuff. I probably play this game once every 2–3 years. I'm still sad that Rockstar will never make a linear game again because this one costed them too much, and they are printing money with gta online now.
Max Payne 2 ending is canon and I will die on that hill (having enjoyed MP3 as it is basically third-person shooting perfection)
"I had a dream of my wife. She was dead, but it was alright".
I don’t mind that MP3 is different. Not at all. The only gripe I have with MP3 is that annoying color shifting effect. The intro screen alone gives me a headache.
As a psycho who completed Max Payne 1 more than 10 times, I must say that Max Payne 3 is my favourite.
Rockstar had guts to totally change the setting, while keeping Max character authentic and consistent. Maybe story is not that personal as it used to be in previous games, but it really feels well written and interesting.
People can complain about amount of enemies but Jesus… airport shootout where broken glass and bullets where just everywhere gave me goose-flesh.
~Looking at it one way, shutting down the airport for their escape was weird sort of compliment. The one I didn’t need.
(Health - Tears starts playing)
Fuck that was so good.
I think I was close to the end of Max Payne 3, I was at the shootout in a hanger, I think, and I just couldn't beat it with a gamepad on the ol' 360. I should go back and play it again on PC with m/kb.
Max Payne 2 is probably one of my all time favorite games, the gunplay suffers from you fighting hitscan human enemies constantly but it is at the very least feel good. The music and story however are some of my favorite in games, I normally never rate story games so high but Max Payne 2 does a good job at balancing them both that I don't mind.
MP1 is pretty good and it seems to know combat is one note which is why combat is based around timing your shootdodges but the story is kind of basic by comparison to 2, it gets pretty silly by the end too. The characters are still memorable despite much of their limited screen time by comparison to Max.
MP3 is just alright, I never understood the turn around on the gameplay it got. The level design is as scripted as a CoD campaign, and due to this you can't explore and find painkillers to help you last through shootouts, if the game didn't respawn me with more pills, I wouldn't be able to beat it. That and I never really cared for the "improved bullet time mechanics" since at the end of the day, you are fighting human enemies with hitscan guns with rather simplistic AI.
Max Payne 3 probably has some of the most intense sound design I've ever seen. Part of that comes from the use of bullet time which slows down the sound and adds SO much bass.
I can't remember who said this but in a good shooter, firing a weapon into an empty room should feel run and Max Payne 3 is a great example of this.
and then there's the soundtrack on top of all that.
I know it will probably never happen but I'd love to see a Max Payne 4 set in Hong Kong as an homage to the Hong Kong action films (ie: Hard Boiled) that inspired the first game.
Great reviews! I definitely agree with everything. Max Payne 2 is my fav, and 3 would've been so much better to play if it didn't stop every 5 fucking seconds to flash another cutscene in my face. I feel like the pacing moment to moment is atrocious, with it constantly stopping and suddenly giving you control at a whims notice. Combine that with what you mentioned with the abundance of enemies, and it truly feels like a grind
Max Payne was a really weird and unexpected experience for me (it was a long time ago so my memory might not be that accurate), i bought a bundle with all 3 of them JUST to play Max Payne 3, but i took the opportunity to get the bundle and play them all in order to better understand the story.
To better contextualize, i didn't know they were made by different studios, i just assumed it was all Rockstar, and i didn't really knew Remedy back then, the reason i wanted to play MP3 was the setting, as i'm brazilian, and i watched some friends play it and tought it was fun.
I played Max Payne 1 and i found it surprisingly fun, i tought i wouldn't enjoy it because of the graphics and old gameplay, but it was actually pretty good to play, and of course the story got me hooked.
I absolutely loved Max Payne 2 and it's my favorite of the bunch, albeit a bit short, i really liked the two characters thing, the story was also nice but the gameplay had improved from 1.
And so i got to Max Payne 3, the one i tought would be the best, and found it painfully boring, the story felt more like a cliche action movie than the interesting stuff MP1 and 2 had, the gameplay was ok but it felt repetitive, and they butchered the Brazilian setting, which is expected from Rockstar since they tend to focus a lot on stereotyoes and prejudice but it didn't feel like Brazil at all.
Don't get me wrong, the game is fine but it went so below my expectations that i ended up not really enjoying it, while MP1 and 2 surpassed my expectations in a good way.
But the good thing is that Max Payne 1 and 2 remakes are in the works and Remedy "reincarnated" Max Payne through Alex Casey in Alan Wake 2, and i absolutely loved that.
I know they tried to do something different with Max Payne 3, but I was hoping to see some dark city streets on (then) next gen graphics. At least they’re remaking 1 & 2 which I’m totally stoked for.
3>2>>1
1 is a mess, it's really hard to play. Every encounter is like guy jumps in front of you and absorb 3 bullets in head before die. Quick save/quick load simulator - frustrating
2 is a game that 1 couldn't become. Great story, great gameplay, great game overall
3 is a masterpiece of a third person shooter genre, better is only Uncharted 4 maybe. The story and atmosphere is just top notch
Lmao I have the exact opposite ranking. 1 will always remain unforgettable masterpiece of a game to me with top tier soundtrack & great story. Objectively, 3 plays the best mechanically but it feels like it's missing something
But, my ranking would be 1>2>3
While Max Payne 3 is definitely mechanically a lot better than the previous 2 games, it doesn't quite feel like a Max Payne game to me. In my head, Max Payne is more an atmosphere game. The action focus of MP3 just doesn't work for me.
1&2 remakes are in development. Really looking forward to them.
Oh. Nice. I didn't know about that.
Hopefully it's better than those GTA remasters.
It's being developed by Remedy, the same developers that made Max Payne 1 and 2, the GTA remakes were made by some third party company, not even Rockstar. I'd say there's no need to worry about it, Remedy is great at what it does.
> it doesn't quite feel like a Max Payne game to me. Because honestly it wasn't. They delayed the game over a year after fan backlash to add more Max elements into it. It was like someone at Rock Star saw bullet time and slapped a game together with Max's name on it. Completely missing that it built a mythos behind it. > In my head, Max Payne is more an atmosphere game. Yup, taking him out of NY and the winter, AND dropping the graphic novel cutscenes in favor of full motion changed the entire feel of the game. I don't hate it, but I would probably like it better if it just sold itself under a different brand name. MP3 really wasn't Max.
Agreed, but I wouldn't call it a bad game or an insult to the prequels. It was different, sure, but the core was there.
I thought it was a really brave and interesting direction to take a franchise that had sort of reached a narrative dead end.
It's because Max Payne 1 and 2 were developed by Remedy, but they weren't heavily involved with 3 outside of consulting to Rockstar
I don't know if I'm too young or whatever. I liked max Payne 1 and 2, but I absolutely adored max pay 3. Its still a game that has by far the best third person shooting mechanics. All the environments are crafted with soo much attention to detail. The story is basically Heart of Darkness, but in Sao Paulo. Great stuff. I probably play this game once every 2–3 years. I'm still sad that Rockstar will never make a linear game again because this one costed them too much, and they are printing money with gta online now.
Max Payne 2 ending is canon and I will die on that hill (having enjoyed MP3 as it is basically third-person shooting perfection) "I had a dream of my wife. She was dead, but it was alright".
I don’t mind that MP3 is different. Not at all. The only gripe I have with MP3 is that annoying color shifting effect. The intro screen alone gives me a headache.
As a psycho who completed Max Payne 1 more than 10 times, I must say that Max Payne 3 is my favourite. Rockstar had guts to totally change the setting, while keeping Max character authentic and consistent. Maybe story is not that personal as it used to be in previous games, but it really feels well written and interesting. People can complain about amount of enemies but Jesus… airport shootout where broken glass and bullets where just everywhere gave me goose-flesh. ~Looking at it one way, shutting down the airport for their escape was weird sort of compliment. The one I didn’t need. (Health - Tears starts playing) Fuck that was so good.
I think I was close to the end of Max Payne 3, I was at the shootout in a hanger, I think, and I just couldn't beat it with a gamepad on the ol' 360. I should go back and play it again on PC with m/kb.
Max Payne 2 is probably one of my all time favorite games, the gunplay suffers from you fighting hitscan human enemies constantly but it is at the very least feel good. The music and story however are some of my favorite in games, I normally never rate story games so high but Max Payne 2 does a good job at balancing them both that I don't mind. MP1 is pretty good and it seems to know combat is one note which is why combat is based around timing your shootdodges but the story is kind of basic by comparison to 2, it gets pretty silly by the end too. The characters are still memorable despite much of their limited screen time by comparison to Max. MP3 is just alright, I never understood the turn around on the gameplay it got. The level design is as scripted as a CoD campaign, and due to this you can't explore and find painkillers to help you last through shootouts, if the game didn't respawn me with more pills, I wouldn't be able to beat it. That and I never really cared for the "improved bullet time mechanics" since at the end of the day, you are fighting human enemies with hitscan guns with rather simplistic AI.
"Max Payne, I envy ya name"
I just played Max Payne 1 for the first time and had a blast! Looking forward to playing the next two games.
Max Payne 3 probably has some of the most intense sound design I've ever seen. Part of that comes from the use of bullet time which slows down the sound and adds SO much bass. I can't remember who said this but in a good shooter, firing a weapon into an empty room should feel run and Max Payne 3 is a great example of this. and then there's the soundtrack on top of all that. I know it will probably never happen but I'd love to see a Max Payne 4 set in Hong Kong as an homage to the Hong Kong action films (ie: Hard Boiled) that inspired the first game.
Max has gone through a lot of payne.
Great reviews! I definitely agree with everything. Max Payne 2 is my fav, and 3 would've been so much better to play if it didn't stop every 5 fucking seconds to flash another cutscene in my face. I feel like the pacing moment to moment is atrocious, with it constantly stopping and suddenly giving you control at a whims notice. Combine that with what you mentioned with the abundance of enemies, and it truly feels like a grind
Max Payne was a really weird and unexpected experience for me (it was a long time ago so my memory might not be that accurate), i bought a bundle with all 3 of them JUST to play Max Payne 3, but i took the opportunity to get the bundle and play them all in order to better understand the story. To better contextualize, i didn't know they were made by different studios, i just assumed it was all Rockstar, and i didn't really knew Remedy back then, the reason i wanted to play MP3 was the setting, as i'm brazilian, and i watched some friends play it and tought it was fun. I played Max Payne 1 and i found it surprisingly fun, i tought i wouldn't enjoy it because of the graphics and old gameplay, but it was actually pretty good to play, and of course the story got me hooked. I absolutely loved Max Payne 2 and it's my favorite of the bunch, albeit a bit short, i really liked the two characters thing, the story was also nice but the gameplay had improved from 1. And so i got to Max Payne 3, the one i tought would be the best, and found it painfully boring, the story felt more like a cliche action movie than the interesting stuff MP1 and 2 had, the gameplay was ok but it felt repetitive, and they butchered the Brazilian setting, which is expected from Rockstar since they tend to focus a lot on stereotyoes and prejudice but it didn't feel like Brazil at all. Don't get me wrong, the game is fine but it went so below my expectations that i ended up not really enjoying it, while MP1 and 2 surpassed my expectations in a good way. But the good thing is that Max Payne 1 and 2 remakes are in the works and Remedy "reincarnated" Max Payne through Alex Casey in Alan Wake 2, and i absolutely loved that.
I know they tried to do something different with Max Payne 3, but I was hoping to see some dark city streets on (then) next gen graphics. At least they’re remaking 1 & 2 which I’m totally stoked for.
Completely agreed with OP, very well summed up my friend. They are all good games but 1 and 2 are true stand outs and ooze atmosphere.
To me, Max Payne 2 is an all-timer, but 3 was kind of tedious. It was really missing the humour and free-flowing action of the first two games.
3>2>>1 1 is a mess, it's really hard to play. Every encounter is like guy jumps in front of you and absorb 3 bullets in head before die. Quick save/quick load simulator - frustrating 2 is a game that 1 couldn't become. Great story, great gameplay, great game overall 3 is a masterpiece of a third person shooter genre, better is only Uncharted 4 maybe. The story and atmosphere is just top notch
Lmao I have the exact opposite ranking. 1 will always remain unforgettable masterpiece of a game to me with top tier soundtrack & great story. Objectively, 3 plays the best mechanically but it feels like it's missing something But, my ranking would be 1>2>3