The story may perhaps get a bit murky towards the end, but other than that it fires on all cylinders from beginning to end. Max Payne 3 is an accomplishment any way you look at it. The multiplayer component won't conquer the online scene, but it's still an entertaining and solid experience, that adds some longevity to the title. True for all game modes is that you can choose whether or not to allow auto-aim. The objectives switch from round to round depending on who won the previous round, but the last round is a pure team deathmatch with a spawn advantage given to the team that held the lead up until then. Max Payne 3 offers up a range of innovative game modes, and the flagship mode is called Gang Wars - where you play five rounds that come together like a mini-campaign of sorts. Other bursts may help out the whole team, and one such bonus is the ability to see all opponents on the mini-map. One burst gives you access to heavier weapons, and at level two you gain access to an incredibly powerful assault rifle, and at level three you get a grenade launcher. You can activate these, once you've gained enough adrenaline (by shooting people), and if you save your adrenaline you can unleash bursts with even greater effects. There is also a wealth of upgrades, weapons and equipment to unlock, and you can tailor your loadouts much like in Call of Duty.īullet Time is just one of several "Bursts" you can equip yourself with. If you can see a player that enters Bullet Time you will also enter the slow motion mode, and the same is true for him - so there is no risk of being left a hanging target mid air while others are shooting at you in "real time". The selection of guns is enormous, and you quickly find favourites, but naturally it feels a bit limiting to only be able to carry a few guns at any one time.Ī brand new addition is the multiplayer, and it plays out surprisingly well. Unlike previous games, Max Payne is now limited to carrying three weapons at any one time - two pistols and one rifle, and he drops the latter if you need to use both pistols at the same time. And if you happen to die, the loading is minimal and you're back in action in no time. The challenge is there even on normal difficulty, and it took me somewhere between 8-10 hours to complete the game, with several deaths along the way.
Purists will no doubt enjoy the fact that there is no regenerating health, and you can decide yourself how much assistance you want as far as aiming goes as you pull the left trigger - and you can turn the assist off completely if that's your preference. They often serve as introductions to more traditional firefights, and while these sequences are the most scripted and non-dynamic elements of the game, you will never feel as though you're not in control of the action. Examples of this are a sequence where you're sliding down a roof while you have to hit the hostage takers, or shooting from the door of a bus at your pursuers in an attempt to get away.
There are moments, when the cinematic effects are turned up a couple of notches, and Max throws himself into wreckless stunts in full bullet time.