Forget Your Grand Theft Autos: This Is Why ‘Max Payne 3’ Is Rockstar’s Best-Ever Game

The small details in Rockstar's 2012 shooter add up to make it the studio's most impressively visceral title to date.

[OhMyGandhi]

Max Payne 3 was a breath of fresh air.
And Rio? what an awesome locale for a videogame.

[DoctorFry]

Man have you even played Max Payne 3? It takes place in Sáo Paulo, not Rio.

[OhMyGandhi]

lol, I'm an idiot. Been a long time since I've played the game. Your right, it takes place in Sao Paulo.

[PeaSFor]

im probably the only one but found Max pain 3 to be boring, the plot AND the gameplay was meh, i completed it and traded it asap.

[equal_youth]

Hopefully the Sales justify a forth entry in the series. I played about 5 times trough the campaign and enjoyed every enemy encounter. I would only wish for a little more noir story telling like in the originals.

[Adexus]

I'd love another one set in NYC, Max returning there to face old demons would be so perfect.

[-Foxtrot]

I wouldn't really want a 4th game from Rockstar, they clearly don't know how to make a "Max Payne" game

Nothing in Max Payne 3 reminding me of Max Payne except for the bullet time. Everything which made the past games what they are we excluded in this game.

I wish Remedy would have done the third one to be honest.

It's well crafted game in regards to the quality by that I mean graphics, animations, gun play etc but the key ingridants which made me fall in love with Max Payne was not there

It's honestly like they were doing a brand new game set in Brazil and then found out they could make a new Max Payne game so they just made their new IP into Max Payne 3, giving us some bullshit reason why Max is in Brazil

Seriously the flashback story about why he left about him killing a mob heads son and them going after him is a story it's self. That should have been the main game.

[equal_youth]

Yeah but I think they know that and I hope they take it back to it's roots. I mostly trust Rockstar in tearms of Story telling.

[DoctorFry]

Max Payne 3 was so underwhelming. You'd think Rockstar could pull off a far more ambitious linear game considering how epic their open worlds are.

[sullynathan]

Foxtrot and his stupid reasons once again. I already debunked all this shit.

[-Foxtrot]

@sullynathan

No you thought you debunked it but you obviously never were a fan of the older games or like a lot of the shit you try to defend haven't actually played them.

Mr know it all.

[sullynathan]

@Foxtrot I haven't played them nor am I fan? My steam account is linked on N4G, you can go and see that I own all max payne games and have played all of them you dingus.
Now, go on your crusade with disagreeing with all my comments.

[-Foxtrot]

@sullynathan

Whatever you say princess.

"Now, go on your crusade with disagreeing with all my comments"

Paranoid...no?

I don't really use the agree/disagree thing.

[Omeganex9999]

You seriously believe Remedy would have done better? After Alan Wake (good, but the mechanics were kinda meh) and Quantum Break (same as above)?

The game might no be as iconic as the first two, but it was a hell of a game.

[ShottyGibs]

I agree. I'm a massive Max Payne fan. While I still enjoyed 3, I even played it through twice. The First I actually played though 8 times.
3 didn't have the grittiness and dark magic of the original. In fact it felt like they made the game first then shoe-horned in Max Payne as an after thought. It was a awesome game - just not an Max Payne experience. Far from it.

The flash back scenes in New York were awesome. I wish they did more of that.
I'd also like them to go back to using digitized graphics which was part of the earlier game's charm . They'd be able to do something truly special now days.

[DoctorFry]

Rockstar totally wants to make another Max Payne when the last one barely sold 4 million /s. They made more money off shark cards than the entire Max Payne series ever did.

[equal_youth]

Your absoultely right about shark cards but my hopes are not entirely Dead considering what Kind of Prestige IP Max Payne is.

[FasterThanFTL1]

Max Payne 2 was better.

[jeenyus]

No need to forget GTA (obvious clickbait), Max Payne 3 was awesome.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

I'd say Red Dead Redemption is there best :3

[xrapperkdx]

Definitely. Would be awesome to play Red Dead Redemption 2 on ps4.

[EazyC]

Yes, THE open world masterpiece.

[Omeganex9999]

And here I come agreeing! One of the best games of the previous generation and ever.

[TiberusX87]

I felt suffocated most of the time in Max Payne 3.

It has plenty of positive qualities, but the game design is archaic. It continuously traps the player in a restricted space and forces you to shoot to the last man in order to progress.

I had the same issues trying to replay Gears of War Ultimate Edition. Not for me anymore.

[MilkMan]

Loved every minute of it. I want more.

[mafiahajeri]

The gun play was sublime, and max is just a likeable character. Brazil was cool but he needs to head back to new York next

[Scatpants]

It's a great game, but far from their best.

[Artemidorus]

Another Max Payne would be nice didn't like the multiplayer in 3 alot though

[RedDeadLB]

It's an excellent game and would be even better if there weren't so many god damn cutscenes (unskippable for the most part). More shootey shootey, less watchey next time!

[Bass_fisherman]

And Max never shuts up

[fanboysmackdown]

You gotta be kidding me, it was one of the most generic 3rd person shooters ever made. Loved 1&2 but 3 sucked.

[Bass_fisherman]

You dont like MP3 we get it

[sullynathan]

Generic how?

[whyisthehorsestaring]

Loved this game, didn't like how long it took to skip cut scenes though haha.

[secretcode]

That's a weird way to spell "Red Dead Redemption".

[cfc83]

Yes to another Max Payne. No to another New York setting.

[quent]

"Rockstars" max payne was a good but forgettable game with its story and very OTP depressed Max just drinking leaving los vegas style between cutscenes, I guess the setting is what mostly, for me, made it feel like it was more a linear 3rd person GTA shooter then a Max Payne game.

[sander9702]

What I loved most was the shooting the NPC's reacted almost movielike I've played it through almost 6 times now and still playing because of it!

I really hope they make a sequel and that the shooting will be the same or better, same for Red Dead Redemption.

[Majister-Ludi]

Unfortunately the first two max Payne games are far superior. Honestly didn't even feel like a max Payne game at all. Rock star clearly doesn't understand what makes a Payne game.

[Bass_fisherman]

To be fair i prefer 3 than 2 mostly because the story and gameplay were far more inovative and overral more entretaining .

[sullynathan]

Superior in what? In terms of writing max Payne 3 is the best. This time there is a consistent tone and mature writing not Sam lake's noire parodies.

In terms of gameplay it is just as good as it's predecessors.

What you're basically saying is that it wasn't exactly like it's predecessors but that didn't make them superior.

[-Foxtrot]

...

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[ninjazfistz]

I wouldn't say superior as much as unique. Max Payne 1 and 2 were completely unique games with humor injected everywhere. Ragdoll was everywhere, deaths were comical sequences, dream/nightmare sequences, and NPC voice acting was light hearted even though the game and gameplay had a very serious story to tell.

To attempt to conclude Max Payne, Rockstar did a fantastic job taking a different mature route. However, with that being said I can't say one was better than the other. Max Payne 3 really wasn't following the series map and that was actually great because it was fitting for the times everything considered. If they make a fourth, I hope they can mix the two. Maybe two episodes or something if they can't have both.

[EazyC]

It was one of the few games with that weird psychological core, playing through it you genuinely felt for Max and his nightmare-like surroundings/circumstances.

[Bass_fisherman]

Rockstar did a great job with MP3 even tough i prefer the older ones specially the original. RDR is my favorite from them, the story was solid and great gameplay with fresh ideas for the time it came out.

[DoctorFry]

Max Payne 3 was decent, I'd give it an 8.5. None of the characters were memorable, the set pieces were puny, and every level was so narrow and tight-spaced. It had great mechanics though, I'll give it that.

Can't believe that game had a $110 million budget and wasn't even half as ambitious as Uncharted.

[sullynathan]

An 8.5 is a great game. A decent free us a 6/10.
Please, uncharted is not ambitious in anything but mixing graphics with gameplay which max Payne 3 did as well.

[sullynathan]

Max Payne 3 is easily the best third person shooter to date and arguably R* best game. There would have been some things I would have changed like the ability to jump, carry all weapons, and skip cutscenes without all the scripted scenes then it would be a masterpiece.

Writing was better than its predecessors, gameplay was better than its predecessors, it was more difficult than its predecessors. Just more fun altogether.

[TEZ-RaViNlUnAtIk]

Loved it. A few niggles aside it was a very solid shooter. Was hoping for a remaster for ps4 but that dont look likely. Hope they make another!!!

[Dark_Overlord]

While I agree its a decent game, it's not great (far from it) too many issues that could easily be fixed that resulted in pointless deaths >:( My least favourite being how the sniper can hit me through cover on chapter 8.... pissed me off that much due to it keep doing it, I gave up on NYM for a looooong time >:(