The Bloody Rise of Max Payne

[Ted O'Toole]

You know how great the cut scenes were in MGS4?

Well, instead of hour long cut scenes you get them spread out over a level. When I said every 3 minutes I wasn't kidding. They last for between 30 seconds and 5 minutes and really break the flow of the game.

When I said its like Max Payne 2, I mean the gameplay hasn't really progressed, or had any real refinement at least not yet. The difficulty is still there so at least that wasn't watered down. I think they may have added the cover system from GTA.

The story telling in those cut scenes is like GTA in the way the characters movements are animated, as in poorly. The dialogue is ok I guess, but the characters are just as soulless and obvious as they were in GTA. The new visual style feels like a blend of Kane & Lynch 2 and The Ballad of Gay Tony and not in a good way.Not so much shaky cam, but the motion blur and use of shitty lense flare and that weird flashy distortion stuff is nothing like the noir we'd be used to, speaking of, they've tried to keep the noir monologue, but its totally at odds with the rest of the games new style and I really hate it.

While I'm sure many will love it, I don't think I'll bother finishing it.

Edit: Get a demo or pirate it if there are none available (ofc delete it afterwards)
Edit2: Re:gameplay, I don't recall shooting down RPG's in the original.

[Sulphur]

Well, I didn't mind MGS4; I don't think I'd mind this. Max Payne 2's shooting was pretty great so if there hasn't been any refinement since then, I actually don't have a problem with that. It's pretty slick and refined by itself. Progression's a good word to throw around, but if it ain't broke, you know? Besides, I can't think of any real ways to advance the formula. Ideas, anyone?

The fact that you say it feels like Max Payne 2 despite being developed by the folks who did Bully means that they got at least half of what makes Max Payne Max Payne down pat. That's great news in my book.

[Thirith]

I never got into Max Payne but loved the sequel; to my mind MP2 did much better at getting the balance between hard-boiled crime fiction, noir clichés, genuine pathos, surreal humour and meta. From what I've heard about MP3 I'll get it, although not immediately - too much on my gaming plate at present.

[EvaUnit02]

Except for that seems like it's disappearing now. Max Payne 3 is actually 59.99 on all three platforms.

Not every publisher charges a blanket price (eg THQ, Sega, Codies). Ubisoft recent backed away from this practice recently, their recent releases have been $40-50 USD.

Also you need to learn how to shop around for deals. I've seen as cheap as $44 USD for MP3 PC.

[Subjective Effect]

No one playing this? I'm downloading now.

[dethtoll]

I would, except I don't have the cash. Maybe later I'll do a runthrough of all 3 games.

[Sulphur]

I'm on financial lockdown. New bachelor pad imminent, woo! But I'll probably get it anyway soon enough. Meanwhile, you good folks keep reporting back on your playthroughs, s'il vous plait.

[Subjective Effect]

I would, except I don't have the cash. Maybe later I'll do a runthrough of all 3 games.

Quit whining about money, ffs.

[dethtoll]

SubJeff you wild wonderful bitch. I'll quit complaining about my complete and utter destitution for now. <3

[Subjective Effect]

Now you've got to DL this thing. FFS. I've never has such a long DL. 97%. It's taken all frakking day!

[Subjective Effect]

Good so far. There are a lot of cut-scenes but it's done pretty well and progresses the story so I don't mind.

The gunplay is pretty much what it was in MP2 - headshots count more, shootdodge and bullet-time seem to work the same. The only thing is the controls are a little different and tbh being able to use cover as well is pretty cool.

It looks fabulous, and that really adds to the characterisation and the cut-scenes. Of course it's Rockstar so they are used to doing this stuff. Good choice (so far).

It's almost on the highest settings as default but I guess a performance patch will be coming because although it's been really smooth all the way (as in it's been perfect) I've just reached a bit with some serious chugging. At first I though it was supposed to be a slo-mo scene (and you'll see why when you play) but even the menus were going slow. We shall see...

[sNeaksieGarrett]

Not every publisher charges a blanket price (eg THQ, Sega, Codies). Ubisoft recent backed away from this practice recently, their recent releases have been $40-50 USD.

Also you need to learn how to shop around for deals. I've seen as cheap as $44 USD for MP3 PC.

What places are you talking about? I wanted a physical copy of my game so I went to gamestop and bought it there. I had no choice but to pay the full price. Not a big deal though, I also traded in two old games to bump it down a little.

When I get my hands on my copy I'm going to try the multiplayer. Dunno if anyone cares about that but I could post what I think of it later.

[dethtoll]

I'll start the download over the weekend. I should have it by the following Monday.

[EvaUnit02]

What places are you talking about? I wanted a physical copy of my game so I went to gamestop and bought it there.

Physical:-
WowHD (formerly CD-Wow)
365games (I use the NZ localised version, NZgameshop.com)
Play-asia

Keys:-
G2Play
CJSkeys

Learn to be a more savvy consumer.

[Subjective Effect]

So far enjoying this a lot. Not as noir as the original but I just love the setting and the set pieces.

[Judith]

The cutscenes are fine and fit seamlessly into what's going on. I'm not fan of this camera effect and cheesy texts onscreen. I guess that was supposed to replace text bubbles...

They did tremendous job with animations and level of detail, almost every bloody object has a high res tex/material on it. I don't remember how many enemies per level there were in MP1 or 2, but here on medium difficulty the numbers are getting ridiculous. I'm slaughtering whole armies. And the AI is really aggressive and relentless, sometimes I feel like the game really, really hates me for some reason.

[Dresden]

So far, this is the longest movie I've ever watched.

[Pemptus]

They really went overboard with the cutscenes on this one. Walk to a door? Bam, cutscene of you opening the door, hiding behind a barrel/desk and getting spotted.
Also, the blurry effects and words appearing on the screen? Absolutely ridiculous and lacking any sort of taste, point or direction. I really expected more from Rockstar on that front.

I can't count how many times I've pointedly exclaimed "Ok, can I actually play now?" at the screen.

The shooting is pretty fun, but nothing to really write home about. And yeah, it's pretty.

And more importantly: no Lords and Ladies to be seen anywhere so far (I'm at the flashback at the cemetery atm). Disappoint, I am.

[Subjective Effect]

I don't mind the cut scenes. Its all story and atmosphere isn't it? The camera effect and captions are an interesting choice for sure.

One thing - the soundtrack is just great. And the setting.

[Thirith]

When it comes to story, atmosphere and soundtrack, IMO Rockstar is up there with the very best. They're also one of the main reasons why I wasn't all "gah, they've killed the noir!" frothy at the mouth when info started to come out about Max Payne 3.

[Scots Taffer]

So...? Was this good or shit?

[Subjective Effect]

It was a blast tbh. The flavour is pretty different to the originals, and the plot doesn't reaaaally make sense (well, one key bit of it anyway). It's pretty grim to be fair, but the setting was very refreshing. It could have been a little longer, yes, but what is there is good bullet-time fun. And I liked some of the set pieces, a lot.

There are a ton of cutscenes and at first I found it a bit jarring, like everyone else. You get used to it though and just go with it. It has become a parody of itself in some ways, but a lot of it is intentional. It's like - well, remember how MP1 and 2 are TIC noir? Well MP3 is a parody of a TIC noir, that doesn't always work.

For bullet-time action though - yes, yes and yes. And (on PC at least) it looks and plays like a dream.

[Briareos H]

But it doesn't really. Oh sure, bullet time is used all the time but the layout of levels, the sheer quantity and accuracy of AI make the shootdodge mechanic nearly worthless. I can't think of a single moment where I willingly threw a shootdodge for any other reason than "Well, if I don't do it at some point it's not really Max Payne is it? It's Max's signature move, might as well try it now -- oh well okay, that sucked."

Presentation-wise, it's extremely linear and cinematic with everything good and bad that entails. The story is a pleasing blend of Max Payne and Rockstar tropes. It works. Dialogue and characters are cliché but likeable, firefights are enjoyable, characters, corpses and objects animate very well and have realistic inertia and dynamic behaviour which make the euphoria engine shine. Visually (aurally, too!), it's almost perfect with a few low-res textures and meshes here and there but a lot of atmosphere. Bodes well for GTA V. Unfortunately, it sometimes feels too cramped for its own good through its own linearity. Sometimes suspension of disbelief doesn't work too well when all doors are closed except the one you're looking for -- which you recognise at once as Max slows down conveniently when he reaches it, only to trigger another cutscene. Sometimes it's too much of a movie, when some parts could easily have been made interactive. Sometimes it's difficult not to feel you're being delivered one setpiece after another instead of playing a continuum.

Mechanics-wise, it's a rather unbalanced mix of too much hand-holding followed by vicious and relentless firefights which require good aiming, good reflexes and a bit of trial-and-error. As such, it's a good cover-based TPS but not so great a Max Payne clone.

So where does this leave us? A nice game and very watchable movie with a great soundtrack, pleasing characters and traditional Rockstar narration retaining some of the charm of the original games but not too much of the original core gameplay and noir themes.

[Malleus]

I can't think of a single moment where I willingly threw a shootdodge for any other reason than "Well, if I don't do it at some point it's not really Max Payne is it? It's Max's signature move, might as well try it now -- oh well okay, that sucked."

Shootdodge slows down time way more than the normal bullet time. It's perfect for finishing off the last few enemies in an encounter, or to jump between cover objects. Most importantly, you can use it even you don't have any bullet time reserve.

It is indeed impractical in narrow spaces, and you mostly have to use the cover system in the last chapters (lots of armored enemies), but it's hardly worthless.

[Subjective Effect]

Wow.

I used Shootdodge more than I did Bullet Time for the first half of the game and I was toasting mofos left, right and centre. And I never found it too cramped, only using melee twice in the entire playthrough.

Briareos - what did you play it on? I didn't find the AI too numerous or accurate, but it was certainly a challenge - which I liked.

Liked the way you can only have a max of 4 weapons and that dual wielding made you drop the rifle/shotgun.