The pain and suffering of the human existence, long after your expiration date

Nothing is ever easy. Something to realize is that everyone deals with their own demons differently. Some are built resilient and truly stoic and some fall deep into despair with no speck of light at the top. Like myself, I was deep in the drink at a very young age to the point I got kicked out of my house at a young age and essentially left to fend for myself before I even graduated high school. I remember being excited about Max Payne 3 with my stepdad at the time but we were estranged due to our personal history so I never really had anyone to talk about the sequel to or share why I loved the game when I initially played it on a PlayStation 3 when it came out.

The idea of a man at the literal bottom of his life, no reason to live, nothing to lose and continuing to keep going despite all that is something that should be taken in and internalized everywhere. Granted Max's endeavors are bordering on complete action movie ridiculousness at times, the path of self destruction isn't. The ultimate criticism of the third title is the complete juxtaposition between Max himself and the setting itself but I feel like it's a perfect direction to take the series after two dark and noir settings, trading in the cold shadows of New York for the sunny and the contrast of opulence and squalor of São Paulo. Max is completely out of his element here and that's completely intentional here. From not being able to understand the language due to the game never translating the portuguese language, the years of drug and alcohol abuse starting to take effect on how he perceives the world with the flashy effects that constantly screw with him, the years of his demons still tormenting him which probably came back because of said drug abuse. The constant self reflection and deprecation that came like before feels more harsh now after all this time. At this point it almost feels like Max Payne can't handle the world itself anymore without it. Max is doing extremely dumb things and making extremely bad decisions but he's well aware of it and even acknowledges it even after he takes control of his life but he knows at this point, it's who he is and the final scene is a great way for the character to end as cliche it might look.

There's a lot more to the narrative than I even thought during this replay, retaking in the information from clues that help you piece together the little details makes the story a little more sense and the only way Max really can without someone specifically helping him do it later on. The TV shows are actually somewhat important too despite being in complete portuguese to the point of seeing Max's own thoughts screw with him over someone one last time. Things go from bad, to worse, to abysmal before Max finally reins it in a bit and tries to make a difference. The one person who he'll bounce off the most is Passos which feels like another parallel of Max in being an ex-cop and sharing his sense of humor. The cinematography during the cutscenes are also great with the cut shots and the camera work which is a great thing because another grievance with this title is the unskippable cutscenes. Fortunately, you can get a mod to skip these but it can make replaying some segments a bit annoying. I think it ties the trilogy up extremely nice and gives Max a good and long deserved send off.

Max still retains his gun-fu and I feel like it's the most refined in the series by far. Aiming is perfect, movement feels great and a little clunky to reflect Max's aging body. While he can still shoot dodge, he will do it with a lack of grace that feels a bit intentional. Like mustering up the last few times he'll be able to do this before he breaks his back. The addition of a cover system is excellent too but I actually rarely used it and played how I played the original titles and it works really well too with just running and gunning with headshots a plenty. Kill cameras puts your best moments when you kill the final enemy in an area and your worst moments when you're trying to hang on to the final thin thread of your life. Painkillers return as your one and only lifeline in general health but as a second chance mechanic as well. Carrying all you weapons is a thing of the past relying on a realistic system where you can carry two one handed guns and a main two handed gun or dual wield the one handed gun with giving up the main gun since you can't hold is a bit weird but I think it makes sense in a realistic standpoint. I don't completely agree with it but I never found it to be a bother in practice. It's kinda impressive how much this holds up ten years later graphically and gameplay wise. Rockstar really were knocking it out of the park in terms of a general technical standpoint making this title instead of their huge grandiose endeavors with their open world titles. I would actually like to see how a linear title of their current caliber would even be at this point. Max still has it but I fear for not much longer.

This game is nothing with the soundtrack by HEALTH. It wouldn't even be in the same caliber without the abrasive soundscape and screechy synths hammering you for every second of the journey. When the body and mind fails, the sounds can also become distorted in itself and it reflects it perfectly in the soundtrack. From the distorted synths and ambience of SHELLS, The eerie sounds of failure and sadness with PAIN, The raucous percussions of BLASPHEMY. The fact that DEAD even uses parts of Max's own daughter screaming in the track is still nuts to me. Hard to forget the fan favorite track, TEARS which I've grown to like over the years. One of my favorite music tracks in general has to be one of the final tracks you hear in the game appropriately titled MAX: FINALE with how perfect the drums hit here illustrating "everything or nothing" and the complete loneliness he feels and one of the few shining moments for Max's entire life as he tries to do something right for once which feels like the ultimate catharsis for him. This soundtrack alone got me into listening this band and enjoying their music almost just as much. A masterpiece of a soundtrack that elevates the atmosphere and mood of the entire experience.

Max Payne's descent into his own sunny emotional and physical hell resonated with me a lot during my worst moments down in the hole and replaying it now after my return to the ground level. It's hard to take control of your life from exploding even long after you exploded originally. Like Max, I feel like sometimes I shouldn't even be here right now but here we are still. A perfect contrast story for Max, an abrasive and cathartic soundtrack holding on for no reason, incredibly solid gunplay, and a good farewell for him. Max is out of his element and at his complete worst but he's also at his complete best.