#MAX PAYNE 3 REVIEW HOW TO#

It's a good thing, too, because Rockstar is incapable of making a game that doesn't include some heavy-handed statements about the American character, and it is awkwardly done here. In MP3 he is allowed more range and expression than ever before, in part thanks to amazing facial animations, and he has such a handle on this character that Max can make even overplayed characters and dubious plot twists feel authentic. While some of the characterizations are a little too broad (you'll identify the main bad guy within about 30 seconds), what makes it all work is actor James McCaffrey's superb reprise performance as Max Payne. He and his new partner Raoul Passos protect the Brancos while they play among the skyscrapers and offices of Sao Paulo, far removed from the poverty, violence, and repression down in the slums. His clients are the ultra-wealthy Branco family, a group of vapid and vile patricians that he regards with barely disguised contempt. While MP3 might cut ties with the past a little too cleanly (its references to the previous games border on dismissive), Max is exactly where he should be 10 years later: washed up in Brazil, getting drunk and high while doing private security work. With Max Payne 3, Rockstar grounded Max in a convincingly crafted setting and surrounded him with a more believable cast of characters than the old games' intentional cliches.

#MAX PAYNE 3 REVIEW HOW TO#

In an overcrowded genre, Max Payne 3 shows how to do a linear shooter right. So while I greeted Max Payne 3 with a lot of trepidation, I'm thrilled that Rockstar lived up to the series' legacy with a masterful blend of near-perfect combat and character. The guy's more sympathetic than he has a right to be, considering those preposterous storylines, and I love directing his pill-fueled, bullet-time ballet tragedies. I love Max's pulp-noir voice and fatalism. I played the first two Max Payne games a half-dozen times apiece.

Max payne 3 review