Max Payne 3

For all you mugs, dirty rats, goombahs and thugs, Max Payne is back in town and he’s not happy. In fact, he’s absolutely pissed and, much to the delight of Payne fans everywhere, Max Payne 3 delivers his street justice more brutally, violently and insanely than ever.

In fact, even though it was just recently released Max Payne 3 is already garnering high praise from gamers everywhere for its film-noir style (a classic element of the original) and its newer, updated graphics that make ‘bullet-time’ even more realistic than in the Matrix movies that inspired it.

What critics are also saying is that this is a newer, more sensible Max, who takes things a bit slower and blows people away with a bit more sensitivity than in the past. We’re talking about an older, more world-weary Max here, who just might be a little mellowed. Of course, what brings the fans back every time is the brutality of Max’s world, and Max Payne 3 does not disappoint in this regard. Mellowed is one thing, but Max is still Max.

The narrative, as always, helps to immerse the player into a world full of cons, scumbags and dirty deals and Max dispatches them with the viciousness that fans have come to expect and even admire. The use of bullet-time effects is even more stunning this time around and makes the game that much more fun.

This time around Max is the hired gun for a wealthy Brazilian playboy, the type of guy that you love to hate even while you wish you could stand in his shoes for at least a little while. Of course wherever Max goes bedlam and destruction is sure to follow, and with Max Payne 3 the writers do not disappoint.

What could have been your typical ‘rich bad guys get taken down by hard-nosed anti-hero’ storyline is instead much more fleshed out, realistic and interesting. Sure it’s the same old story about the rich preying on the poor and getting their retribution, but with Max Payne 3 the story is so well done that you’ll forgive the writers if they’ve stolen storylines from practically every gangster movie since the 1940’s. The fact is, Max Payne 3 actually feels fresh.

The game has been getting some great press too.  The New York Times called it ‘a taut and compelling action game wrapped in the sumptuous, gritty and delightful production detail’. That’s high praise indeed from the Big Apple’s biggest newspaper, and they went on to say that the writing, voice acting and the visual design were all top-notch, as well as the music.

So if you love your games heavy on the noir, filled with realistic characters, lush scenery and all the violence of a Martin Scorsese movie, then you’ll absolutely love the new Max Payne 3. The new storyline and new characters add a gripping new chapter to the Max Payne legacy.

Max Payne 3 is bigger, badder and, dare we say it, ballsy-er than ever. To that we say Welcome back Max, you sonofabitch, we missed you!