Max Payne 3 Review [Xbox 360]

rating:5

Max Payne 3 is a game that grabs your attention and refuses to let go. Watching the screen warp into distortion as colors blend together across the screen, drives home the point that each pill Max pops, chased with swigs of Scotch, only feed his addictions further. You become immersed into the mind of a broken man, an addict lost in the past, clutching to his same vices in order to forget the present. Rockstar has taken the classic noir gaming experience, layered it with their own high level of polish, and implemented a painstaking level of detail. Max Payne 3 draws players into Max's life with a cinematic flair unrivaled in games today. Great writing, intense action sequences, and an amazing multiplayer component melts together in order to create an amazing piece of cinematic gaming. Diving into the story takes you on a journey through parts of Max's life, yet they are presented to you in such a seamless manner that you never truly know when it is taking place. This is the beauty of the narrative behind Max Payne 3, everything contributes to the sense that not only is the player confused, but so is Max. He is lost in a binge of alcohol and pills that keep him in a daze, in order to forget his tragic past, but it reflects itself in a stylish manner to the player. We follow Max as he tries to save Fabiana Branco, the wife of a wealth businessman, from the clutches of a São Paulo street gang. What Max uncovers is a much more sinister plot. While the game heavily uses cinematics to hide the longer load times, it more than makes up for this with gameplay. Think of Max Payne 3 as a return to gaming roots. Gone are the days of gamers being spoiled with regenerative health. Painkillers make their return from the original titles used to heal Max's wounds. As you feed his addictions, the screen blurs as your controller shakes, and you are painted a grim reminder of the destruction being done to himself. If you become overwhelmed taking fire from every direction, left with a single painkiller, you are given a second chance at survival. Instead of watching the awesome death screen, Max has a short amount of time to kill the enemy trying to bring him down. Success finds Max regaining a small amount of his health and stumbling to his feet as he dives back into the action. Recovering from near death reminds you to rely on your finely tuned trigger finger and a little game mechanic known as, Bullet Time, in order to survive. Triggering Bullet Time enters you into the bullet ballet, where each shot pierces the air surrounding Max, leaving a trail behind. You find yourself rolling and shoot-dodging past dozens of enemies as they are put into their graves with an astounding level of grace. Each shootout comes to a close as players are rewarded with a truly satisfying bullet-cam. Pressing down the A button allows you to slow down the shot as it flies from the barrel to your unlucky target. Watching as the enemies cringe and react dynamically is sure to put a smile on your face, especially when pulling the trigger allows you to fill em' full of an unnecessary amount of lead. Hearing the gunshot, the zip of the bullet passing through the air, and the impact into the flesh is astounding. Max Payne 3 has pushed Rockstar's use of the Euphoria animation engine over the top. The hardwork put into creating realistic animations, dynamic enemy A.I., and a level of realism that never fails to make you cringe has paid off incredibly. Watching an enemy run at full speed towards you as you enter Bullet Time, then watching two well placed rounds to their legs topple them to the ground never gets old. Even hitting body armor makes them cringe in agony. Your onslaught of bullets may not kill them instantly, but as each shot makes them stagger back and forth from the force, you smile. Over time you find yourself experimenting with different shots and your sense of reward grows with each round you fire. Combing A.I. with Euphoria allows for a wide range of enemy behaviours. As you travel parts of the world throughout Max Payne 3, you encounter several types of enemy groups. Unorganized thugs, police forces, and highly trained paramilitary groups can all be found throughout the story. This variety could easily rely on subtle variations in their intelligence, but in Max's latest venture, they all react to a firefight differently and dynamically. Watching gang members wrecklessly fire and charge at full speed makes you feel like the superior power in the fight, and then once you encounter highly trained paramilitary groups you find yourself caught off guard. These enemies use grenades to flush you out, flank with authority, and provide a tougher challenge when equipped in full body armor. Even though Max cannot use grenades, it is easy to forget when you are outgunned, and relying on Max's Bullet Time instinct to place precision rounds into their skulls. Being accustomed to slight changes in A.I. that plague most third person shooters, brings us a beautiful awakening into the shootouts possible in future shooters. Once you complete each level of the story, Score Attack becomes available. This mode finds players relying on finely tuned skills, avoiding the use of painkillers, and finding multiple ways to increase their score multiplier. Finish the entirety of the game and New York Minute is unlocked. This makes its return from the original titles, and plays just as it sounds. Max Paynians are required to complete a level with 60 seconds on the clock. Skilled shots increase the timer on the clock, bringing you closer to your goal of finishing with the best time possible. While these modes are hindered by multiple cut scenes that you cannot skip, in the end, it provides an even greater reason to play through the game multiple times. Leaderboards keep track of your stats and quickly find you competing for the top score. Speaking of competitive, the multiplayer component of Max Payne 3 is a feat in itself. A wide range of modes are available. Jump into classics such as Team Deathmatch, or the newly implemented Gang Wars that shines on many levels and provides a truly fun, unique experience. Players have the option of creating different loadouts that rely on managing how much weight you can carry. As you level up your weight load increases, new weapons unlock for purchase, and items for your avatars become available. Not only can you customize each avatar for different factions, but as you increase your weapon level new attachments are unlocked. Players can choose from Bursts that use your adrenaline gathered from looting bodies, or insane kills. These range from using "Paranoia" to make everyone on the opposing team see enemies, or "Trigger Happy" that at its highest level grants you a rotary grenade launcher. On top of this you can unlock three gear slots that act as a form of "perks", from Modern Warfare. The options for customization are exactly what has been called for in a multiplayer mode. It doesn't stop there, oh no. Rockstar even included the newly designed "Crew" feature. Think of it as a Clan that is supported entirely by Rockstar. You form your Crew online, create your emblem, and watch as your carefully designed logo appears on every member of your Crew in-game. On top of vendettas that can be initiated between players, after two kills in a row on a player, Feuds will erupt mid-game. This is where the game injects an entirely new level of fun into multiplayer. Playing a mode such as Team Deathmatch with a Crew member is great, it nets you more XP, but once you kill members of a rival Crew so many times it becomes a race to target the rivals for 10 kills. Winning a Feud is a satisfying feeling, and on top of that you still have a match to finish. Max Payne 3 is a third-person shooter with a cinematic flair many games strive for and never achieve. Rockstar has found a way to seamlessly combine storytelling with gameplay that creates an experience like nothing you have ever seen before in a video game. Max moves throughout the environment with a level of realism that makes you feel he is real, and it is proof that gaming is heading for an evolution in what can be achieved with new technologies. Each shot rewards you with an astounding display of the Euphoria animation engine, and never ceases to amaze you at what the game has accomplished. Combine all of this with the great Arcade modes, and a multiplayer to keep you addicted for a long time to come, and we have a masterpiece of modern gaming. If every game included this much great content for the price, I doubt many gamers would be complaining. Max Payne is back in a cinematic beautiful display of violence. I wouldn't want it any other way. http://youtu.be/4Uc_dbG7MR8