Musings on... Max Payne 3

A very strange game indeed, this one. I desperately want to like it much more than I do, but it just seems to have it in for me at every turn. Quick overview for anyone who doesn't know what Max Payne is; basically it's a thirds person shooter featuring a heavy emphasis on bullet time. This is (shockingly) the third in the series, although it has substantial changes compared to the older two.



The major changes are in terms of setting, although there are slight mechanical changes to the way the game plays, and it's very, very cut-scene heavy. The cut-scenes are a problem throughout the game, although none more so than the very start, where you don't get proper control for something like 20 minutes. In a video game. That right there, that's just good design. The cut-scenes are very pretty for sure, and the filters and camera tricks make them interesting to watch, but it's the same issue I have with Metal Gear Solid 4, in that you're constantly having to fight through the cut-scenes just to play the game. Which is a shame because a decent chunk of the game is actually pretty enjoyable.

The original Max Paynes were notoriously difficult, and were not afraid to instantly kill you if you jumped straight into a guy with a shotgun. Honestly, other than all the bullet time and crazy dream (or are they?) sequences, the first two games were pretty realistic, relatively speaking. They were certainly no less realistic than the current spate of Call of Duty, heck, they didn't even have regenerating health, with Max just downing pain killers whenever he remembered. That tradition is kept in the new game, and the combat is still pretty deadly to be sure. Unfortunately, this ends up being a detraction from the game, due to the insane level design present in a dishearteningly large amount of the game.

Over and over again you're forced into huge open areas, and it just descends into another generic cover shooter, only this time with the added benefit that a shot to the head will probably kill you immediately. The Max Payne games work best in small environments, with a fairly small amount of enemies, maybe four or five at a time. This lets you use Max's abilities effectively, and you can storm rooms with a fluid ease, dual-pistoling the lackeys standing around. And then you do it again. Max Payne is one of the few cases where I actually don't mind linear level design, because it suits it so well. This one though, not so good at it. Too often  you're put into a space where, for one reason or another, you're ability to literally slow down time becomes all but useless. How helpful is it in an area lacking cover, with enemies 50 metres away. It annoys me that they got it wrong so many times in a single game, especially because other areas are some of the best fun I've had. The New York flashbacks are great fun for the most part, and the scene in the church is probably one of my favourites across all three games.

The decision to set the game in Rio is an odd one I feel. It doesn't really suit the gritty, noir feel of the original two games, and Max ends up just not fitting in very well. That sounds stupid but it's true, he just kind of glides through the areas, with little attachment to anything, and it feels very non-grounded. It also feels a bit weird to be killing all of these favella and police guys, seeing as it never really tells you what they've done wrong, other than got in your way. There's some weak excuses about corruption in the police but it doesn't really hold up all that well. To the game's credit, there is a stellar line when Max asks one of the PMC guys why they're all trying to kill him, to which the response is, of course, "Because you killed so many of us".

OK, so you can read that and go away thinking that I quite enjoyed it, but felt that it shot itself in the foot all too often, so you should probably get it in a sale or when it's cheap. I'm gonna venture into slight spoiler territory here, just to give a good example of the kind of rubbish the game occasionally throws at you. There will be a clear indication when the spoilers are over, if you want to read about the multiplayer.

Turret sequences included. Still rubbish.

Spoilers start here

OK, so as I said, they're only minor spoilers, but they are for the very end of the game. I'll try to be as vague as I can, so not that much will probably be given away. Basically, the final boss fight takes place in a hangar at an airport. The guy you're fighting is at the top of one of those staircases they put up to private jets, with a shield and rapid fire grenade launcher. Max is behind a couple of trolleys filled with luggage. To the right, the bad guy's jet is powering up, in front of you are some boxes, and to the left is another staircase, pointing towards the dude with the shield. This may be the worst fight of the game.

It begins with a wave of enemies rushing at you. If you move away from the starting position, you die almost immediately from bullets. If you go towards the bad guy he instakills you with his grenade launcher. If you try to run for the plane, which has an open door, he instantly kills you. Instead, you sit behind your luggage, and you shoot all the guys, then another wave comes, and kills you, so you do it all again (no between wave checkpoints). You keep going and going, and eventually the jet starts to leave the hangar. Obviously you're meant to run to it and get on it right? No, the rules haven't changed, you're still just meant to kill the guys. Oh, you say, obviously you should run up the staircase, and do a cool dive at the guy, and shoot a grenade as he fires it. No, that doesn't work either, cos he just kills you instantly anyway.

The way to beat this fight, is that you kill everyone, with no indication of how many waves there are, or how close they are to losing. You just sit behind your luggage, probably without moving, and you shoot the mans in the head. Eventually, when you've killed everyone, Max kills the grenade launcher guy in a cut-scene. You wanna know how? Of course, he runs up the stairs and shoots a grenade.

You want to know what makes it even worse? The very next scene is a turret sequence.

Spoilers now over

So then, multiplayer. It's quite good. Of course it has the now-standard upgrade system of guns and perks, but on the whole it's actually really good fun to shoot people in slow motion. The physics model is really good as well, allowing for hilarious dives into walls and door frames and over the edge of fire escapes. Unfortunately the consistency with which I was able to get into a game was unbelievably low. I've managed to get in and play a few rounds once. That's really bad. I'm sure there are plenty of people who won't have any problems at all, but I can't honestly recommend buying it for the multiplayer because it's too inconsistent. 

Also, it uses both Games for Windows Live and the Rockstar Social thing, so be warned of occasionally being locked out of the game. Hooray!

Metaphor.