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Remember the turn of the millennium? Or more specifically, around this time in the year 2001 when you had just bought yourself one of those new Pentium 4s and a fancy GeForce 3 series graphics card? Remember the time you installed Max Payne and played the hell out of it for nearly a year? Well, there wasn't a serious gamer in the country at the time who hadn't played Max Payne — in fact, the game still sells a healthy number of copies today. So saying that Rockstar Games' Max Payne 3 has “a lot to live up to” is an understatement. But everyone knows that Rockstar is incapable of making a bad game — however, even a great game is a failure by its incredibly high standards. So is Max Payne 3 Rockstar-great, or just “plain old” great?
We're introduced to the new Max Payne in Brazil, working security for a rich businessman named Rodrigo Branco. Max's pal Raul Passos was responsible for getting him this gig — it was supposed to be easy money. But everyone knows trouble finds Max Payne, and as a result, Max's skills are immediately required when Branco's wife is kidnapped during a party. Within a span of ten minutes, Rockstar Games introduces you to all the gameplay and storytelling elements that have been changed or introduced. The comic book narrative has been replaced with a more cinematic style and there's a cover system, destructible environments and a tonne of insane visual effects. The “bullet time” mechanic, the series' staple is back, and needs to be called into service immediately during the introductory level. Other minor gameplay tweaks primarily revolve around this mechanic such as “last man standing”, which sees the game revive Max if he shoots whoever shot him last. The gunplay feels as solid as ever, greatly complemented by a variety of real-world firearms that behave very differently from one another. Max can now dual wield two different single-handed weapons if he needs something with a bit of punch (say, a revolver, perhaps) and a rapid-fire weapon (like an Uzi). Max Payne 3 thrusts the player into one intense firefight after another. However, while combat requires strategy and skill, it is made occasionally monotonous and repetitive by poor checkpoint placement.
The writing is as self-indulgent as ever and we wouldn't have it any other way in a Max Payne title. Max's monologues are filled with cynicism and self-loathing, yet fuel his drive to go out and get the job done. Dan Houser (supported by Rupert Humphries and Michael Unsworth) has done an excellent job taking over from Sam Lake (the original's writer), showing that he can do ‘gritty and serious' just as well as ‘funny and clever'. The writers are often the unsung heroes of a game, but it's difficult to ignore them here. Disappointingly, however, Max remains the only truly interesting character in the game — the other bit part players contribute nothing to the story. There's no Mona Sax here.
In the end, we're left with a solid linear shooter which, despite no innovations, looks and plays well majority of the time. The single player is exactly what you would expect from the third instalment, with Brazil serving as an excellent setting for the game's many bloodbaths. Poorly placed checkpoints and bullet-time overdose aside, Max Payne 3's story mode is good, if not spectacular. The narrative's overhaul involves comic book-style cutscenes being replaced by Tarantino-inspired cinematics, but fortunately, despite this Hollywoodisation, the game retains the tone of Payne's previous two outings. The multiplayer is easy to get into, but fails to remain interesting for long periods, which unfortunately is a problem because a lot of the unlocks require a fair amount of time investment. Overall, despite a few hiccups, this is a shooter that looks and plays great, offering enough violent entertainment to keep players interested. Max Payne 3 is available on PC, PS3 and X360.
Source : The Hindu
