Max Payne 3 PC Games

• Max Payne 3 Review

  
  

  

  Return of the Max

  Whether it's Halo's Master Chief, Gears of War's Marcus Fenix, or even Super Mario, most of the biggest video game heroes are driven by a desire to save the world from some unspeakable evil. If not, then like Nathan Drake from Uncharted or Grand Theft Auto IV's Niko Bellic, they're probably trying to make good for themselves, and will save something of the world in the process.

  Not so Max Payne. He's already tried and failed to save himself and others over the course of two PC-focused action games released around a decade ago. Resurrected by Rockstar Games for the latest generation of games consoles and PC owners, these days he's a washed-up ex-cop working as a gun-for-hire protecting a rich Brazilian businessman and his family, but he mostly just stands around drinking scotch and musing about the emptiness of the people around him. His journey through Max Payne 3 changes him, but there's no real hope of redemption.

  

  Number Three With a Bullet

  In theory, Max Payne 3 isn't your average action game, then, but it doesn't take long before you realise it actually is your average action game. Max's signature move 10 years ago was a slow-motion dive through the air, inspired by The Matrix, which allowed him to fill his enemies with bullets before they had time to react - looking amazingly stylish in the process. Max's signature move 10 years later is the same.

  It still looks amazingly stylish, and the game is best when it's emphasising this style of play: diving through windows in nightclubs, or diving down stairwells at football stadiums, or sliding down rooftops on top of a skyscraper, firing all the way and watching bad guys explode with gore and then crumple to the floor when things return to real time. The locations are brilliantly detailed - studiously assembled visions of a Sao Paolo favela, or the guts of a huge sports venue, or the inside of a rotting hotel that's been converted into a giant torture chamber - and as long as Max is diving around them in slow motion you should be having fun.

  The problem is that for the most part you're crouching behind cover - Max Payne 3's one big concession to modern-day gameplay - and trying to avoid taking bullets from hordes of enemies. You can engage slow motion without a dive by clicking the right stick, at which point you can pop out of cover and return fire, but it's less stylish and more just sluggish. It feels like Gears of War in treacle and isn't much fun. Plus, you take loads of bullets and quickly run out of your painkiller health packs.

  

  Pleasure and Payne

  That's on the normal difficulty level. If you drop the game down to 'easy' then it's more palatable, although there are still a few sticky situations and unsympathetic checkpoints. However, there's very little gameplay variation within any of this: Max Payne 3 is mostly 10-12 hours of doing what I've just described over and over again. The only relief is the admittedly stunning in-game cut-scenes that advance the plot and chart Max's hero's journey toward whatever grisly conclusion awaits him, and Max's cynical internal monologue, which makes even the grimmest scene interesting and often amusing.

  Beyond the single-player campaign, multiplayer plays a bit like a third-person Call of Duty, with lots of violent deaths and variations on standard game modes like capture-the-flag, team deathmatch and capture-and-hold. Some of it feeds back into the campaign in interesting ways, but while it's the best multiplayer game Rockstar has made to date, it still feels like it's there out of obligation rather than passion.

  Overall, Max Payne 3 is a fun game, and its bleak world-view and sobering outcomes are certainly an interesting counterpoint to the goody-two-shoes shooters we're all used to playing, but your enjoyment of it will definitely depend on your tolerance for doing the same thing over a long period. If you like the idea of cover-shooting through intricately detailed environments and occasionally diving around in slow motion and having to ponder the nature of Max's existence, then you'll have a good time. Other gamers may prefer to stick with the better blend of gameplay ideas, spectacle and storytelling skill in the Uncharted series.

  Our Verdict

  What's Good?

  • Fascinating protagonist with great one-liners.
    
  • Fantastic cinematics and world design.
    
  • Diving around in slow motion is still awesome.

  What's Bad?

  • Very repetitive.
    
  • Checkpointing and difficulty spikes are frustrating.
    
  • Multiplayer is a bit throwaway.

  Published: 23/05/2012

• The Games We're Excited About!

  
  

  There are lots and lots of great games heading your way in the next few months, and here at GAME HQ we're as excited as you lot are to give them a go.

  So, we went round the digital team with a prodding stick to find out just what games the team here are really itching to play...

  

  Ali - Queen of the Internet

  I am looking forward to LEGO Batman 2. My brother and I worked our way through the original LEGO Batman with a considered method of "shoot everything in the room first, think about the situation later" and it was amazing. It's also the only game where if you die you can still enjoy seeing Robin explode which I did on many occasions as Player 2. I can't wait to see what LEGO Batman 2 has in store!

  
  

  

  Louis - Merchandising Meddler

  Definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, Max Payne 3.

  After playing through 1 and 2 - which gripped me to the very end - I cannot honestly wait for 3.

  Max Payne's method of storytelling is awesome. The comic book cut scenes are stylish and effective, and are not afraid to poke fun at other, outrageous works of fiction (as well as itself). The noir style and twists and turns throughout provide a flourish of love which even the most dedicated of storytellers fail to keep up with. The ingredients are simple, but it's a recipe which works.

  The gameplay might not necessarily be innovative, but it will be intuitive. It might not change the way we think about games, but I know it's going to be a game through and through; fun, accessible and welcoming to noobs and veterans alike. Max Payne 3 is going to rock. Add online multiplayer to the mix, and I can safely say that I'm looking forward to blasting my way into June!

  (My second choice would be Aliens: Colonial Marines, but that's almost too far away to get excited about yet!)

  Kate - Affiliate Assassin

  Bioshock Infinite - Because of the amazing animation and design of the game. Oh, and Limbo 2 - if/when it comes!

  

  Jamie - Builder of Digital Dreamscapes

  I am looking forward to...

  Grand Theft Auto V: Obviously no one really knows exactly when this game is coming out but I cant wait! Seriously excited about a new GTA! Although I hope it is all of San Andreas and not just Los Santos.

  Madden 13: I always get Madden, and it was pretty much the game that made me buy my first proper games console (the SEGA Mega Drive). I'm particularly looking forward to this year's one as I'm hoping they have taken more of the good stuff out of NCAA12.

  Retro City Rampage: This is an indie game that just looks AMAZING! Kind of like a funny GTA but all totally 80s styled. It's gonna be on Xbox LIVE and PSN and I like the fact it looks like you might be able to get this digitally to play on your PS Vita too; it seems like the kind of game you could just lose hours in messing about!

  

  Carl - Design Doodler

  Halo 4. Why? Because it's the best freaking game there is! I'm a massive Halo fan and I'm really looking forward to the next instalment. And really looking forward to seeing Master Chief again. And now we know the release date I know what week to book off work!

  
  

  Aaron - Social Butterfly

  I almost squealed for joy when Luigi's Mansion 2 was announced (Okay, I actually did squeal...). The original Luigi's Mansion was the first game I got on launch day with my Gamecube. It was ALL about Luigi, sucking up ghosts with his Poltergust 3000. The sequel has me itching to play, it will have multiple mansions, a new Poltergust, new ghosts, new story AND it will all be in beautiful 3D. The Nintendo savvy amongst us will know that Nintendo originally planned to release Luigi's Mansion in 3D on the Gamecube but decided the 3D panel was ahead of its time!

  Who ya gonna call? Ghostb-- No, no wait, let's just get the Green hat-wearing Italian plumber from the Mushroom Kingdom instead. No danger of crossing the streams.

  

  Damien - Good Word Writing Man

  I'm actually really looking forward to Lollipop Chainsaw. I'm a big Buffy fan, so the concept of a blonde cheerleader fighting supernatural beasties is one that very much appeals to me. It just looks like it's gonna be oodles of OTT fun. Plus, y'know, the boyfriend's head just kicking around. What's not to like?

  As a stark contrast, I'm also a bit excited by Spec Ops: The Line. I don't usually get on with shooters, but having seen the trailer with the bodies-on-poles imagery, plus the obvious Heart of Darkness influence and the sense of "killing people may actually affect you", I really want to try this one out. I mean, who isn't at least intrigued by what appears to be an anti-war third-person shooter?

  

  James - Captain Category

  Diablo III.

   

   

  Because I've been waiting twelve years for it!

  
  

  So there we have it. These are the games we want to play - what about you? What forthcoming titles have got you so pant-wettingly excited to pre-order and play?

  Published: 17/04/2012

• New Year Revolutions: The games of 2012 that we want to play now

  
  

  New Year Revolutions: The games of 2012 that we want to play now

  Towards the end of last year, we saw veritable avalanche of amazing games roll over us, leaving us swamped but happy with top-notch titles such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Batman: Arkham City, Skyrim, Super Mario Land 3D, Assassin's Creed Revelations, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Saints Row The Third and, oh, you get the idea.

  Surely that's more than enough new games to leave even the greediest gamer feeling stuffed and satisfied? Well, yes, but don't pretend you can't hear that little voice whispering in the back of your mind. What's next? it says.

  Here's the answer: our guide to the big games of 2012 that we can't wait to play.

  

  GTA V

  The genre-busting open-world crime caper makes its long-awaited return, with an all-new tale set in the pseudo-L.A. of Los Santos. Details are limited to one cryptic trailer, but where Rockstar is concerned it's safe to set expectations high.

  
  

  

  Mass Effect 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  Bioware brings its grand space opera to a cataclysmic finale, as the world-devouring Reapers declare open war on Earth. The game adds optional multiplayer modes, as well as Kinect voice features for Xbox 360.

  
  

  

  Halo 4 (Xbox 360)

  Who seriously thought that Halo 3 would be the last we saw of Master Chief? He's back for the start of a brand new trilogy, which will find the Spartan super soldier confronting his own destiny as well as an ancient evil poised to destroy the universe. No pressure then.

  
  

  

  Bioshock Infinite (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  Swapping the bottom of the ocean for the top of the world, this continuation of the smartest sci-fi shooter in recent memory casts you as a Pinkerton agent in 1912, trying to escape a dystopian city in the clouds. Expect gorgeous views and gruelling terror in equal measure.

  
  

  

  Borderlands 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  Return to Pandora for another round of co-operative role-playing mayhem. The game promises more dynamic quests which will alter the path of the story, as well as smarter enemies and more independent non-player characters. Bring it.

  
  

  

  Hitman: Absolution (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  It's been five years since Agent 47 last graced our joypads in Blood Money, and his latest adventure will take full advantage of the updates in technology since. Expect to be able to set up more elaborate assassinations, as well some form of multiplayer.

  
  

  

  Max Payne 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  Rockstar's other big game for 2012 finds the dual-wielding anti-hero cop disgraced and working as a bodyguard in Brazil. Of course, it all kicks off when the family he's guarding are targeted by gangsters, and slow-motion shooty-diving is the only way to settle the score.

  
  

  

  Tomb Raider (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  After drifting out of the spotlight, the first lady of gaming returns with this series reboot which follows a more vulnerable teenage Lara Croft, as she grows into the confident adventurer we all know and love.

  
  

  

  PlayStation Vita

  Sony's incredibly powerful handheld drops in February, bringing next-gen muscle to the portable gaming market. With 3G and Wifi-enabled models available - and boasting exclusive Uncharted, Wipeout and Call of Duty games - it's the console to watch in 2012.

  Published: 19/01/2012

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