I’ve beaten Max Payne 3
It’s a hyper-violent, hyper-masculine shooter chock-full to overflowing with monologues given through gritted teeth and with the number one single-player shooter gimmick ever: Bullet Time (for those of you who don’t immediately know what I’m talking about, think “the ability to slow time down for aiming like in The Matrix”).
You’re Max Payne. A former cop who has lost all of his friends and loved ones in his past adventures… well, all of them except for his good friend Johnny Walker. A former acquaintance from the Academy finds you soaking in a bar and brings you down to South America to act as bodyguard. Being a washed-up alcoholic, you’re not particularly *GOOD* at your job, of course. People tend to get shot around you… but you’re very good at hunting down the folks who ruin your opportunity to get a decent reference for after your boss, for whatever reason, isn’t inclined to pay you anymore. All the while, you’re giving little speeches about the folks you’re protecting, the folks you’re shooting, and the folks who keep getting away.
The storyline doesn’t really have anything you’ve never seen before (though, granted, the quality of delivery doesn’t show up near half as much as it ought to) but the gameplay itself is tight and perfectly, pardon the pun, executed. You’ll find yourself looking forward to using up your bullet time meter as you dive sideways through a doorway trying to get three headshots before your shoulder hits the ground… and, when you fail the first time (well, *I* always failed the first time), you’ll want to play it again because, golly, that bullet time thing is just TOO sweet. Not for too long, of course, you’ll want to hear the next speech, get to the next chapter, and see how Max Payne screws things up again, the way he always does, the way he always should have known he would… until he starts using how he screws everything up to his own advantage.
If you’ve always wanted to play Man On Fire
So that’s my recommendation for you this week.
A complaint that was delivered to me was one that I instantly thought of you due to what you said about Deus Ex.
Spoilers abound. Since you seem fond of rot13 and I don’t know what point in the game this takes place having not played it myself:
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This sort of thing bothered you a lot in Deus Ex so I’m wondering if it bothered you here.
Not translating it yet but I’m guessing you’re talking about forced stupidity?
Let’s find out!
Yep. It was even the scene I thought you might talk about.
Yeah, the scene you’re talking about had Max versus a mere six or seven guys and you’ve got full ammo and full bullet time (or, at least, *I* did). AND OF COURSE THE GAME GOES TO A CUT SCENE THAT UTILIZES NEITHER.
That said, it didn’t bug me as much with Max Payne for many of the same reasons certain things didn’t bug me about Red Dead Redemption: this wasn’t *MY* story that hinged upon my decisions (in the way that Deus Ex or Mass Effect 3 were my story). In Red Dead, I was watching John’s story. In Max Payne, I was watching Max’s Story.
Deus Ex had entire game puzzles based around the mechanic of “how will you enter this room?” and so to have a boss fight start by you entering a room in a completely different manner than you had the last 12 rooms, it was jarring. “I wouldn’t have done that!”, you might cry.
To say “I wouldn’t have done that” about Max Payne would also be said… but more in sorrow than in anger.
Well, Max is supposed to be sort of a screwup, right? That’s part of the story, if I read your review right.
So it’s in character.
Only kinda. He screwed up because he was being too careful instead of being too reckless. I did find myself wondering “where in the hell did *THAT* come from?”
I got over it.
For a few seconds, I thought you were talking about the Frank Miller graphic novel, Hard Boiled.
The mood he evokes is also evoked by this game. Sort of a “thinking-man’s two fisted tales” kinda mood.