The first and only Max Payne without Sam Lake being the main writer and it is pretty immediately felt. The gritty, noir feeling of the first two is replaced a somewhat sunny but still grungy setting as Max hangs up his leather jacket in Hoboken for a flak jacket in Sao Paulo. Dan Houser's writing for Max is still great and the story really grabs you starting in the third act but before that it felt like I was just being dragged along. The gameplay is solid but feels more limited due to the nature of Rockstar's somewhat realism in most there games. No longer is the one man army Max Payne who can carry 2 shotguns, 3 rifles, 4 pistols, and a holy plethora of grenades. You are now limited to 2 pistols and a rifle, the attention to detail is nice but really makes the game feel less fun. Bullet time remains and like everything else in this game feels weighty and visceral. My main complaint with this game however is that it almost feels more like a cover shooter then the power fantasy of the first two games, maybe its due to the age of Payne or Rockstar's commitment to realism but you are a lot more vulnerable and I found it a pretty frustrating shift in gameplay. Overall, Remedy's titles are the superior Max Payne games with their tone and gameplay but this game is still worth the playthrough.

Reviewed on Jan 25, 2022


1 Comment


on higher difficulties and arcade you sorta get forced into not playing cover style as it turns you into an easy target but i mostly agree otherwise