"Max Payne 3 review"

Max Payne 3 is a thrilling third-person shooter in the Rockstar mould.

Max Payne 3 is lavishly produced and features a plethora of fantastic set-pieces.

Formats: Xbox 360 (tested), PlayStation 3, PC

Developer: Rockstar Studios
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Age rating: 18
Released: 18 May 2012

Rockstar Games have built a reputation on scope. On the bright lights of Liberty City and the sweeping sandbox of Red Dead Redemption, vast open worlds constructed out of technical wizardry and dogged ambition. In a sense Max Payne 3 doesn't suit the modus operandi, a linear shooter in thrall to precise direction and spectacular set-pieces. But this is every inch a Rockstar game. Ambitious in a different way, perhaps, but managing to break down and re-craft a genre in their own image, one bullet at a time.

It's also dragging a character we haven't seen for eight years into cultural relevancy. Remedy's original Max Payne was brilliantly constructed piece of work, inspired by the cinematic action of the day; John Woo and The Matrix informing bullet-time and black leather. Nearly a decade later, the world prefers its action heroes in grit and blood. Rockstar have stripped away the layer of pastiche that lightly covered Max Payne, looking to Michael Mann and Tony Scott for their directorial cues. Fear not for the noir, however, the silken baritone of James McCaffrey rumbles over the game in magnificent narration, seeing the world through Max's weary eyes and seeing it crumble.

Max, drunk, destitute and with nothing left to live for after getting kicked out of the NYPD has drifted south into Sao Paulo, Brazil, finding work as a private security guard for super-rich magnate Rodrigo Branco. Easy work, he thinks, as he spends most of his days half-cut on Scotch while keeping a bloodshot eye on Rodrigo's party-loving wife Fabiana. Soon, however, Fabiana is snatched away by Comando Sombra, a brutal street-gang hailing from the dusty Favela that Branco's sparkling tower looks down on. Fabiana's kidnapping is the catalyst for a labyrinthine plot that spiders outwards from a single incident, crackling with atmosphere and rocking with action.

And what action. Max Payne 3 is a singularly bloody-minded game, focussed on providing the very finest firefights. It's short on new ideas of its own, perhaps, but has an enviable knack for taking the best parts of its peers and improving on them. Max himself is a curious but believable mix of alcohol-fuelled clumsy chunk and adrenaline-fuelled powerful grace. He's out of shape and whacked out on booze, handling with a heft that most lithe action game heroes avoid. He still has that killer's edge, however, able to throw himself into a swan dive, twin uzis in hand, surgically placing a bullet between the eyes of a row of goons in quick succession, debris kicking up around him as enemy fire smacks into walls and furniture. Then he clumsily slams into a wall, swivelling in mid-air to cushion himself with his ample frame. While on the floor, he smacks another clip into his gun and continues to fire while prone, turning 360 degrees to pick off any stragglers that have survived his first volley. Then when the dust settles, he heaves himself up to his feet, slowly and tentatively as if every inch of him aches from years of loss and the creeping strain of a constant hangover.

It's a fascinating contradiction to deal with in the middle of a gun battle. Launching yourself into a dive and slowing down time at the press of a button is all very well, but fluff your lines and Max will thud to the floor like a beached whale, vulnerable to enemy fire as he struggles to get to his feet. It's as much about dealing with Max's weaknesses as it is his strengths, planning a method of attack in a split-second as you come across a squad of bad guys. Max has a decent set of tactics too, as well as his ability to slow time and willingness to fling himself into harms way without a second thought, Max can hunker down behind cover, picking off a few goons before launching into full on attack. Stay too long, however, and the enemy AI will flank and flush you out. There isn't an endless supply of waist-high walls to cower behind, so movement is key: don't stay in one place too long but don't leave yourself exposed. It's a thrilling ebb and flow that drives the game on, with varied level design in both aesthetic and layout creating a terrific sense of place and pace.

Figuring out these combat conundrums becomes ever more pressing as the game progresses, as Max Payne 3 is a tough mistress indeed. The game eschews the modern habit of recharging health and Max is a fragile guy, his health bar plummeting at the slightest graze from enemy AI that become more ruthless, more precise and better equipped as the story progresses. Punishing as it is, Max Payne 3 evens the odds for the player with a few neat tricks. If you are hit with a fatal bullet but still have a supply of painkillers (Max Payne's medpacks), the game will automatically enter bullet time and drag your aim towards the swine that plugged you. Shoot him and you will get back to your feet at the expense of a bottle of painkillers and your adrenaline bar. And if you die multiple times on a checkpoint, the game will throw you a few extra painkillers to help you on your way.

As a rule, Max Payne 3 is dutifully considerate to its players, considering its brutal difficulty. As well as seeing to it you don't get too stuck in a rut, the game offers varying degrees of aim assist and difficulty levels to tailor the challenge to your needs. Meanwhile, small things like the briefest flicker of your crosshair when you register a kill offer an excellent level of feedback, essential when in the midst of a chaotic firefight. So it's strange that Max Payne 3's most glaring flaws are so counter-intuitive to that. Checkpointing is infuriatingly mean at points, asking you to replay large, difficult chunks of areas to progress. It's faintly wearying at times, particularly when the game is tough enough as it is. It also has the odd habit of switching your assault rifle or shotgun for a pistol following a cutscene, and considering the cutscenes tend to bleed fabulously into action, that split-second to swap to a more powerful weapon can be damaging.

It's also something of a shame that the game's best bits tend to be closer to the beginning. The opening two acts are stuffed full of spectacular set pieces: Max using a sniper rifle to cover his ally as he sprints unarmed through the bleachers of Sao Paulo's football stadium; using an enemy as a surfboard as he smashes through the window of a nightclub's VIP lounge to the dancefloor below, picking off bad guys under the neon lights; a rain-swept infiltration to a dockyard at night that leads to an astonishing speedboat chase. It's a game full of highlights, but it's a little too front loaded. As the story reaches its denouement, the levels become harder and more stuffed with enemies. It can become a little gruelling, exacerbated by the staccato nature of reloading checkpoints. Still, there are some stunning moments right up until the end, and that raw excitement of the shooting endears across the game's campaign.

Max Payne 3 thrills with its gunplay, but chills with its portrayal of its main character. Max always was a tragic hero, haunted by the brutal murder of his wife and baby daughter. But in previous games the character had a darkly comic streak with a layer of gothic cool. Rockstar strip Max down to his tragedy. He is a wreck, sallow-eyed and weathered beyond his years. Most of the game is viewed through the bottom of a whiskey glass, the ultra-stylish cutscenes strobe and flicker with an unpleasant haze of booze. Video games often portray their protagonists as wronged heroes on the path to revenge and damnation, but never with such a cold-hearted vision of a man at his lowest ebb. He's a fantastic character and the eponymous title is particularly apposite, Max is the tragic heart of an engaging story that is well-written and well characterised.

The single-player campaign is undoubtedly Max Payne 3's main draw, and it's complemented by a decent competitive multiplayer and an arcade mode which allows you to play through story missions to achieve high scores which can then be posted online. The competitive multiplayer is largely based around deathmatch variants and features a Call of Duty inspired progression system, unlocking new weapons, game modes and avatar equipment the more you play. You can also create 'crews' through Rockstar's online Social Club to interact with friends and compete in clan matches. These crews will then carry over into the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V.

It's a robust front end offering that compelling drip feed of unlocks to keep you playing. It's good fun too, retaining that sense of physicality from the campaign. Adrenaline is handled smartly, with players accumulating juice through regular kills which can be used to activate 'bursts'. These bursts range from being able to activate bullet time, slowing down time for yourself and any enemies in your sight line. But there are other bursts too, that range from being able to disguise yourself as the enemy, or give your entire team a health boost for a short time. It gives a unique flavour to the multiplayer, which is fast-paced and frantic. The maps supply plenty of nooks and crannies to hide out in, and the mode successfully resembles the gang warfare it strives for, as teams swarm the detailed and varied maps.

Max Payne 3 sets out to be the very best third-person shooter it could be, and with its terrific characterisation and peerless gunplay, hits that target. It's not flawless, with it occasionally being too punishing for its own good, but it has an excellent habit of avoiding some of the genre's more troublesome pitfalls. The cinematics are lengthy, frequent and lavishly produced, but never steal control when it would be better to play. A terrific compromise that brings action and story together in a fabulous work of craftmanship and sky-high production values. So it may not have the scope of Rockstar's most famous oeuvre, but it more than makes up for that in focus, detail and raw thrills.