Ranking Every Rockstar Game From Worst To Best

8. Max Payne 3

Max Payne 3 is one of those games that was simply shown to the public in the worst possible way. Electing to show us a "new Max" that was bald, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and standing in the Brazilian favelas, you couldn't get further away from the hard-boiled New York detective we new and loved.

Of course in the end, this sequence was played for laughs, symbolic of how much Max had stopped caring; shaving his hair off and wearing such outlandish clothing as some hilariously dark comment on how completely f*cked his life had become.

What a life it was. Max's third outing does take on a completely different tone with Dan Houser behind the pen, turning in a Man on Fire-looking blend of intrusive editing techniques and self-deprecating one liners.

Actual gameplay was stellar as Rockstar put their all into crafting the best third-person combat money could buy. Ragdoll physics, super slow-motion, every individual bullet perforating the environment and Max himself needing to be piloted through the levels, carrying with him a sense of heft and regret.

I might go so far as to say Max Payne 3 is a noir masterpiece - something every action fan should play, as if you were put off by the initial marketing, don't let it continue to pass you by.