Platform: PS3
Difficulty played: All
Hours played: 60
Max Payne is back, but this time in Sao Palo, Brazil and wreaking havoc, cracking wiseass lines like Max used to do. But is it enough to satisfy newcomers and fans alike ? I would already sum up this review in one line: Yes, it is, I played this game total for about 60 hours and enjoyed every minute of it and still there are things I didn't get to like NY Minute and NY Hardcore.
Story
Max is broke, constantly drinking, addicted to painkillers, when an old friend Raul Passos offers him a chance in Brazil to be a bodyguard. As usual for Max, everything goes wrong in a New York Minute and the player is offered a pretty gripping story, like a good action movie from point A to B. Story is divided into 3 parts, it starts from the past and ends in the present, as in previous games, with Max giving the narration.
Visuals
I have to touch the visual aspect of the game first, because this game looks absolutely beautiful on the PS3. Sometimes, the game offered great visuals, especially in the Panama boat stage. Overall all stages look great, even detail is given to the distance, creating a impression of the scale (ex. Favela level). Max animation is well done, especially in Bullet time. The graphic novel style isn't present this time, instead it's like a moving comic book, with previous frames stopping and some important lines or words pop up bigger. Loading screens in my opinion, could be the replacements for the graphic novel as they show the current story in screenshots. One of the most welcomed visual add on is the bright quick flash when you kill an enemy.
Single Player
Gameplay remains pretty much the same as in MP1 or 2, but with tweaks to movement, as mentioned above and Bullet time still works, offering a quick escape from a unexpected situation or to use as a quick finisher. But be warned, when you do Shoot dodge with too much enemies around and don't get them all, Max remains in prone position and becomes instantly vulnerable, that gave me a lot of deaths. New addition to MP is cover mode and over the shoulder aiming, what added more quick pace to the game play. If your not used to the MP styled gameplay, this game can be pretty merciless, playing on your quick reaction time. Another add on is the Last Man Standing, I didn't fancy it much, because it takes one painkiller from you and gives a brief moment to kill your killer. After that Max falls to a prone position and you have good chance on getting killed, what made Hardcore mode more frustrating than Old School.
That's why I preferred Old School difficulty so much more and thanks to no Last Man, it made the game even easier for me because I had total control over my painkiller usage. This time the game is made realistic in how much Max carries weapons. Max can carry 2 Dual wield weapons and one bigger gun. For example you have an uzi and a pistol, when you have a assault rifle, you can't dual wield at the same time. When you want to dual wield, Max will drop the assault rifle or shotgun. If you want to the bigger gun, Max holds it in one hand and pistol in the other.
Weapons range from the classic Beretta, Revolver, Desert Eagle, my new favorite the Automatic Pistol. Assault rifles like AK-47, M4, Sawn-off shotgun and many more in Multiplayer.
Since Max is an ex-cop, in every level there are clues to collect, that gives more info on his employer or the story. Max also tries to play the piano in some levels, when finally sober, he plays his theme song with perfection. "There it was, soundtrack to my life."
Golden Gun pieces are also collectibles, giving enhanced damage and larger clip to the weapon.
Grinds and Other Modes
Grinds are various sets of challenges in Single Player, Arcade and Multiplayer, each with their own unique requirements. My favorite one was the Nut Shots, generally they are pretty easy to do, in Multiplayer and with DLC their number is doubled, giving more playtime to the hardcore Max Payne fans.
New York Minute is also back and this time with a Hardcore version, where you have one life to complete the entire game. To me it sounds a lot fun, but also lots of frustration. Memorizing the game is pretty much required. Arcade mode is a score based game, where you play through the chapters and compete for the highest score. Game Settings add some interesting changes to the Arcade gameplay as well, for example play it in Black and white or include no cover, no aiming.
Multiplayer is completely new to the franchise, I have played about 8 hours of it and I enjoy it overall. You can make your own characters from various mob families featured in the story or from older MP games. Game Modes are Classic deathmatch and team deathmatch, but Gang Wars give whole lot more to the Multiplayer. Before start of the game, Max explains the story while sitting in the bar and the narration also depends on who wins. When a player kills you twice, you can call a Vendetta on him, when you kill him, you get more XP from it. Other mode is Last Stand, where one player is Max vs the World.
When I first read about the Multiplayer, I was a skeptic about the Bullet time, but in Multiplayer it's limited. Get a few kills and activate it as a Burst and the player in your sights is inflicted by it, not anyone else and I think it's a welcome change to it.
You can play in 2 modes: Soft lock and Free Aim , don't expect much players in Free Aim, maybe in the HC playlists, but I am not 100% sure.
Audio
Sound wise, I don't have any complaints on it, I'd like to bring up the soundtrack the most, this time composed by a band Health. Each of their song fits so well in the levels, especially the soft instrumental track in the Panama level, making the game more immersive. Max's voice is at it's best in this one and I think everyone did a fine job in their given roles.
Conclusion
Max Payne came back and brought along a great game with new gameplay, good looking visuals with lots of detail. Great action movie like storyline and Multiplayer increases the value for quite some time. I have played about 60 hours total and that says a lot, to me it's the Max Payne game with the highest replay value to date. I did my first play through in one sitting, that's how interesting the story was for me and the game play didn't frustrate me that much.
+ Good old MP gameplay with some enhancements
+ Very good soundtrack, bringing atmosphere to each level
+ Voice work from Max and other characters
+ Very engaging from start to finish
+ Lots of content to keep you going (incl. separate DLC)
- Cover can be sometimes bad when in a certain cover, you can't shoot instead Max aims his gun up.