More cut scenes than painkillers. The lack of player control is a gaping hole...
A Mafia problem in New York, explained during two nostalgic chapters, ultimately drives Max to Brazil. No characters from the previous games return and only a handful of references exist outside the snowy New York levels. Thankfully Max, his voice and signature bullet time moves are frequently on display. It's a shame the story hangs onto narrative threads for too long and is generally less interesting than one of the TV shows from Max Payne 2. The graphic novel from the prequels is gone, replaced by frequent cut scenes.
Cut scenes are numerous and they tell the story between chapters, break up the action and mask load times. They will feel familiar if you have played GTA 4 but flashing dialogue and seamless transitions help identify them. A large number of cut scenes during the first half consist of Max getting drunk and feeling sorry for himself. This tiresome trend, along with minimal humour, makes it hard to get behind him as a character. During the action it's not uncommon for cut scenes to take control from the player for minutes.
It's rare to deal with a group of bad guys and not have a filler cut scene that takes you to the next section. It retakes control as you near a door and shows Max moving to the next area. It's tiresome to lose control when nothing remarkable is added to the narrative. It's annoying to exit some cut scenes only to be removed from cover, repositioned and pitted against enemies who know your exact location. To make things worse the cut scenes will always switch back to your right handed weapon. You might be killed instantly as you exit a cut scene, depending on your health status
Perhaps it's lucky that when you do die, and you will die often, your health is fully restored after reloading the auto save. When the game feels like you've had enough, which is three kills after you've actually had enough, it will toss a few painkillers your way so you can deal with the ridiculously armoured foe that ends the sequence. The combat is different from Max Payne 2, perhaps not as straightforward, but it is still enjoyable.
Bullet time is changed and the prevalence of cover alters your approach. The longer, more spectacular shoot dodge is a great upgrade. It is hurt by cramped locations, poor recovery and enemies over-utilizing cover. If you have spare painkillers and take fatal damage, you'll be given a short time to postpone death by killing your attacker. This "Last Stand" manoeuvre is helpful but your target can be obstructed.
Bullet time never quite feels as slow or satisfying as the last game. There is no cascading effect into slower bullet time and you rarely spend a long time in slow motion. Carefully prepared scripted sequences almost makes up for this. Although there are several, a personal favourite was being knocked by a vehicle and shooting enemies while spiralling in the air.
Cover is standard for third person shooters and it makes its debut in the third game. It works as you might expect although not having a crosshair until you aim is somewhat disruptive. Most cover isn't destructible and you actually gain bullet time while enemies suppress you. Staying in cover and peaking out to pop enemy heads is a valuable option to gain bullet time and reduce harm. Killing from cover pales in comparison to the satisfaction gained from slow motion kills.
The third game handles weapons differently to engage in a more realistic, tactile approach. For series fans this means two things: no grenades and no huge pockets to hold guns. You'll only be able to carry two small weapons and one large weapon. Should you dual wield Uzis you'll have to drop that auto shotgun. Enemies throw grenades and it's disappointing that Max doesn't even have Molotovs to throw back. The experience could have been more enjoyable with a wide selection of weapons available at all times. Movement animations for Max are superb though; he feels weighty but is only slow after shoot dodging into a wall.
One of the best qualities of the previous games was the replayability. Unless you are a collectible addict there is little appeal to replaying this new campaign aside from unlocking infinite bullet time and painkillers. Dead Man Walking, the survival mode from Max Payne 2, is replaced with Score Attack. Here you go through the campaign and rack up points based on accuracy, chained kills and technique. This mode cuts the story between chapters but still leaves in many annoying cut scenes. It demonstrates how little the story adds to the experience, a sharp contrast to the previous games. The combat has excellent potential but is rarely allowed to break free outside the multiplayer.
For the first time in the series, Max Payne gets multiplayer. You'll play as a gang member from the Favelas or maybe a member of Punchinello crime family in Hoboken. Team Deathmatch is standard but there is also Paynekiller and Gang Wars. In Paynekiller two players take up the roles of Max and Passos from the campaign. This mode is hard to enjoy when you aren't playing as one of the powerful duo. Gang Wars is a mix of many different, familiar modes with some narration by Max. Domination, Bomb defuse and even capture the suitcase are present but the chain of events lasts too long and lacks consistency.
Bullet time works in multiplayer by slowing everybody within line of sight. This does result in a few situations where bullet time turns on and off as you pass windows but for the most part it works. It is rather satisfying to jump from a building and shoot real players in slow motion. Ragdolls do all sorts of weird things in multiplayer as characters feel clumsier than Max, people will try to shoot dodge only to clip a railing and tumble to the ground. Other problems include failure to join games, getting shot while in cover, quick deaths and pauses before spawning.
Multiplayer is clearly not a lazy addition but it's hard to see it providing dozens of hours of entertainment. There are funny moments with characters, like when a mob character screams "lets dump this in the river" after killing an enemy. Grenades are present in the multiplayer but they are horrendous to throw. The online portion is full of customisations of clothes and loadouts, like many recent shooters, but they take a lot of time to earn.
It would be nice to say that Max Payne 3 is a good port because of the vast array of configuration options. Unfortunately it gave me an infuriating mouse problem that doesn't appear to be very common. The crosshair skipped across the screen at random times, making the shooting about as fun as playing tennis with a bowling ball. A combination of low settings reduced the problem. On the multiplayer side of things, there is text chat but the connections are peer to peer with no visual display as to the quality of connection. It's worth noting that the game implements a few aim assists by default when using a mouse.
If there was one example that could demonstrate the change to the franchise, it would be the sniper section. In Max Payne 2, Mona covered Max with a sniper rifle as he ran through a construction site. In the new game, Max protects Passos from one side of a football stadium. The setup sounds similar but the difference is that the third game locks the sniper scope on Passos and only allows you to shoot after he runs between cover. In Max Payne 2, your view is never locked and you can use any of the weapons at your disposal. Max Payne 3 doesn't give you control of the experience for long enough. It doesn't trust you to dictate the action and that is the real crime.
After a long development and almost two years of delays, there is only about 4 hours of gameplay in the story mode. Max Payne 3 is a missed opportunity more than it is a bad game. The combat is slightly different but still enjoyable when given time to breathe. The visuals are nice and, despite the mass of hair on his face, the star is still Max Payne. The multiplayer will generate more value but the campaign might be more fun to replay even with the unskippable cut scenes. Max Payne 3 doesn't match the pacing or wit of its predecessors, but there are still good qualities to enjoy.