An interesting first 30 minutes that quickly disappear into middling frustration as soon as you start playing the actual game. Your movement feels far clunkier than it should, combat is tedious, and everything from resource collecting to skill acquisition and crafting needed to be stripped down to something far more streamlined because this feels like the devs wanted to make something bigger than they could have realistically achieved. The open world is the primary example of this, as it serves little purpose and, in fact, actively discourages exploration with how oppressive its endlessly respawning enemies are.

Even if the gameplay were a tighter experience, I would have still been put off from seeing this through because of how utterly obnoxious the main character and everything he interacts with is. People really aren't over-exaggerating on this point; it's genuinely terrible and a perfect example of how a silent protagonist would have done a game a far better service. No amount of sexy robot twins could save this from being an easy drop.

This game's ridiculous difficulty is probably the reason the average score is so low, it's really undeserved and you shouldn't ignore Warsaw. The gameplay is pretty solid for an rpg, with a seriously gritty atmosphere and an incredible art style. The difficulty is, in my opinion, the most appealing thing about it - if you don't want a tough, stressful experience that is constantly challenging you to overcome it, then this isn't the game for you. If you do want that challenge, and especially if you're interested in World War Two, I can't recommend this enough.

Scarlet Nexus has some neat ideas but it feels cumbersome and poorly paced resulting in a kind of boring experience.

On the positive side of things though I initially liked the visuals with a kind of Blade Runner Neo Tokyo vibe to the environments with holograms on buildings and a nice sense of scale. The soundtrack is really pretty good too with a mixture of digital and rock tracks that are fast paced to match the combat. It all runs very smooth on PS5 at 60fps as well.

On the more negative side of things after 10 hours I felt the story just didn't really go anywhere and is broken up by these "bond" quests that just feel like an absolute time waste as I don't feel they actually develop the cast. You get a choice of two characters at the start, I chose Kasane and her whole stick is that she has a sister complex pretty much in that time. The story scenes are kind of cringey but not entertaining as I just didn't care about anyone or what was happening. The cutscenes themselves also seem to have been made with about a £10 budget. They are nearly all just one static screen with talking over it like a poorly made visual novel and there is a lot of dialogue and text. I feel like this game needed both pruning massively and yet more depth to the characters and plot all at the same time. It's pretty impressive how the writers managed that.

The combat has promise. You can use these telekinetic powers to launch items at monsters as well as do physical attacks, jump, dodge, and link with team mates to gain additional abilities like elemental buffs etc. When it works it can look pretty awesome, picking up a bus and crushing monsters with it is satisfying. The issue is it's kind of clunky to use and I just never felt comfortable with it control wise. Your character takes almost no impact damage half the time as well so I would get hit by an off screen launched projectile without even knowing it had happened. There doesn't seen to be an attack cancel for dodging either which I found most unpleasant in a fast paced action game like this. Lastly the fights just feel really repetitive. Enemies aren't that interesting and can be beaten pretty easily but all in all I found it a little awkward but it's close to being fun, just not quite there.

Speaking of awkward the menus are just an absolute mess with side quests and challenges (also bland and boring) buried in sub menus with various other things like character exposition, equip menus etc. The dungeons are also just uninteresting to explore with a few corridors and large rooms with randomly generated items, it's just repetitive.

Eventually I got to a particularly bad story section and simply realized I wasn't having fun. It dawned that I'd been actively avoiding playing it compared with most games when I had free time so made the decision to simply drop it and move on.

It's not terrible. It's just clunky, haphazard and kind of boring.

+ Smooth framerate on PS5.
+ Nice OST.
+ some nice art design.

- Slightly clunky and repetitive combat.
- Boring dungeons.
- Uninteresting story and characters.
- Badly paced.

After 80+ hours of Red Dead Redemption 2, a question pops up in one’s mind:
In the process of making a game that examines the fall of the American frontier and the decline of the Wild West, did the irony register at all with Rockstar that they were also making a game about the end of the triple A design structure that has plagued the medium ever since the birth of the 7th gen?

Regardless of what pre-established biases one might come into RDR2 about the value of graphical fidelity and closeness to real life and focus on cinematic design and film language in games, it’s impossible not to be impressed by Rockstar’s commitment to the simulation of realism. Your character will meticulously grab each item he loots and place it in his satchel, craft each new tonic or bullet one at a time with detailed animations, remove and place his weapons on his horse whenever you switch them up, shuffle dominoes and grab each piece one by one in every game, and skin every hunted animal with gruesome detail and carry them on his back to his horse every single time. NPCs all have their per-determined schedules that happen regardless of your presence or not, wild animals behave accordingly to their nature and even hunt other species, and every mundane action, be it taking a shower, mounting a camp, cleaning your guns, or brushing your horse, carry a level of detail and weight never before seen in a blockbuster game. It also boasts one of the most beautiful environments to walk around, filled with detail and big expansive nature landmarks, frequently creating moments of awe as you ride around the mountains and landscape.

This level of realism is further elevated in the gang’s camp, where you have a group of misfits you can deal with daily and who all have their respective quirks, goals and actions. Rarely will you hear the same line of dialogue from these characters in the course of 80 hours, and the impressive amount of scenes and conversations that occur not only between your character and them, but also between themselves, means that you will finish the game without experiencing half of the camp scenes that happen dynamically and without feeling like scripted events. When you find yourself around a campfire with your gang after a well succeeded mission, being able to join in the singing and festivities with them, suddenly all the effort in creating a realistic world comes together and for a few seconds the immersion is achieved and one feels like he is a part of a fully realized world and that these characters are tangible and real.

It’s unfortunate then that each time you get into a story mission, that effort is collapsed and you are thrown back into the videogame. What was once acceptable in RDR1 now feels incredibly dated and restrictive, with the usual design structure of having you ride to the mission on horseback and having a chat with an NPC while you follow a yellow line, following every single instruction the game tells you without any chance to deviate from it, waiting for something to inevitably go wrong, and then shooting a comical number of enemies that spawn out of nowhere like a NES game until everyone is dead. Rinse, and repeat. The level of realism found in the open world aspects of RDR2 only serves to call attention to how detached and out of touch the story missions are, leading to incredibly absurd scenes where the main character chastises a crew member for killing too many people during a story cutscene, when you the player yourself have been forced to kill 50 people during a house robbery just the previous mission.

What ends up happening is that most of the stuff you will be doing in the open world won’t matter at all because that would be stepping on the story’s toes. Regardless of how much money you have or how much you have contributed to the camp and NPCs, nothing will have effect on how the story will progress, with the exception of a very simplistic and outdated Honor system. This in turn inevitably leads to the open world map feeling like just a bunch of lines between check marks to fill, with the occasional scripted event to deviate you, but not much!, from the beaten path, and the rare exploration quest that happens when the game decides you should. Even the act of hunting an animal in the wilderness is affected by Rockstar’s grip on your hand, having a highlighted line on the ground that flashes and leads perfectly to your prey. The simulation aspects end up being surface level mechanics used to visually impress the player, not really influencing in any meaningful way either the gameplay or the story. It’s all shallow spectacle.

Which is a shame, because RDR2 has one of the most compelling videogame characters ever created. Arthur Morgan’s story takes a very contemplative and introspective direction in it’s final act, as he finds out he doesnt have much time left in this world, and it leads to some of the most interesting and emotional moments that Rockstar has ever created. Arthur’s effort in making something out of the few life he has left ends up influencing the player’s action outside of the story, and in one of the most poignant and humane moments in the whole game, you are forced to lay down your controller for a few secs, as Arthur requests a moment from you so he can catch his breath, something that makes the player care and empathize with a bunch of polygons much more than any cutting edge cutscene in the whole game could. Even the act of playing the last stretch of the game mimics Arthur’s new perspective, the missions feeling like a slog to go through, Dutch becoming increasingly frustrating, repetitive and annoying to be around, and the creativity being lesser and lesser, which would have been an interesting and insightful direction, had that actually been the intention by Rockstar. But RDR2 is adamant in separating the story from the gameplay, even bafflingly inserting black bars on top and bottom of the screen each time control is removed from the player, as if to signal that it’s now movie time and no time for interactivity. Regardless of all the issues with the story and gameplay, Arthur’s story is enough to carry the whole game on it’s back, and any player invested in his tale will have a hard time not getting emotional at the gut-wretching ending.

But then the game continues. For 5 more hours. And it’s at this point that the dam breaks and the flaws of the game become full center and aren’t easy to ignore anymore. The epilogue, which lacks any self awareness as it presents itself as a two parter, drags it’s way into a fan pandering ending, filled with needless shooting, redundant subplots, and characters that completely undermine the impact of the actual ending of the game. We can’t have a simple mission about just herding some sheeps, shopping with a friend, or fly a hot air ballon. No, every mission has to have a bloody battle with a body count that would make Stalin jealous, because Rockstar cannot bear the idea that some players might be bored if there isnt anything to shoot at. During an exchange between Morgan and an NPC the screen fades to black as they start talking about their lives, as if to spare the player from all those “boring details”, instead leading straight to the action once more. Rockstar can’t bear the thought of giving more opportunities for normal interactions between the player and the NPCs, while I sit here thinking about how one of my favorite missions was when I crossed the whole map to see a character I was fond of, only to get a kiss and that being the end of the mission.

RDR2 is a bloated game that can’t read a room on when’s it’s time to bow down and stop the show, deciding instead to outstay it’s welcome for an absurd amount of time, like an old frail man clawing at the last moments before his time to move on. And maybe it’s also time for Rockstar to move on, and let ideas of cinematic grandeur and realism in videogames finally lay rest once and for all.

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.