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LTTP Max Payne 3

Toddimus Prime

Neo Member
I found the whole experience so frustrating. I was foaming at the mouth at its difficulty more often than not. Since when did Max Payne games become about rationing bullets? I felt about as well equipped as a Resident Evil character at times. And the 'sympathy' pain killers you get when you've died enough times? Yeah, the devs knew exactly what frustrations they cooked up.

I was quite ready to embrace the change in character direction too. I found it very akin to a new director taking over a beloved franchise. Didn't mind the many cutscenes either. But it played more like a Kane & Lynch game. Max Payne was never about hiding behind cover.

My whole experience was made worse by me playing the game straight after a, long overdue rerun, of Max Payne 2. The difference in fun & enjoyment is binary. Binary Coral.

I have many more complaints. But, to his credit, Gexecuter has listed the majority of my complaints and he's written it better than I could!
 

Servbot #42

Unconfirmed Member
Even tough i don't like the game very much i really liked the small detail of enemies with body armor, you have to actually shoot them in the head to take them down instantly otherwise you spend an absurd amounts of bullets. I don't have seen that mechanic in action in many other games, granted i don't play a lot TPS.

.

I have many more complaints. But, to his credit, Gexecuter has listed the majority of my complaints and he's written it better than I could!

Thanks man! reading this thread made me remember other flaws the game but other gaffers already pointed them out, i also like how no one has tried to fight me on my grievances. To the people that enjoyed the game, did you not mind those flaws because of the shooting?
 
Oh good OP you saved me from making a thread about how much Max payne 3 sucks....oh wait i must have stumbled into a gaf where everyone is crazy and forgot the shitty mechanics. Yes the shooting is awesome but so fucking what, that's not enough. My main grievance are these:

- After every cutscene the game unequips your selected gun and swaps it for the pistol, this happens IN EVERY LITTLE CUTSCENE. It got me killed a few times because for some reason having my best weapon at the ready when enemies swarm me after a cutscene is not cinematic enough.

-Max payne 3 removes weapons randomly when i'm playing a level, yes you read that right. After certain parts during a chapter the game leaves me with only my pistol, i don't think i have to explain why this is retarded.

-Max payne 1 and 2 had a combat system that really felt more dynamic and more agile than 3, granted it's been awhile since i played those old games but 3 felt more rigid like a lot. 3 felt like it wanted to pay respect to the gameplay of the old games but also want to be a standard third person shooter with the addition of a cover system and i don't think it worked.

-I already saw the story of Max payne 3 it was better when it was called man on fire.

-Max payne had no character arc, someone please tell what was the point of going to brazil. Max starts a fat drunken loser and ends up a.....fat drunken loser with a brazilian shirt.

Please tell i'm not the only fucking person in the world who noticed these things. Also this series is fucking dead, yeah it did 4 million but that's not good enough by rockstar standards and having been trough a development hell so thanks rockstar, thanks a lot.

669.gif
 

Dabanton

Member
Best third person shooter ever imo.

No other game makes shooting feel so damm good,intense and explosive.

Yes the cutscenes are a drag but even those don't overshadow how damm good this game is.
 
I would so double dip this if we got a remaster. Although I dont think there should be any other remasters. Loved the heck outa this game. gotta play on harder difficulty though, otherwise its too easy

The PC version is gorgeous, so I actually think a "remaster" on the new consoles would be worth it. It scales and runs really well too, a total world away from their previous ports, and the main reason I'm cautiously optimistic about GTAV on the PC.
 

todahawk

Member
Best third person shooter ever imo.

No other game makes shooting feel so damm good,intense and explosive.

Yes the cutscenes are a drag but even those don't overshadow how damm good this game is.

Started another playthrough last night, playing with headphones... listened to the soundtrack on the way to work.

Soundtrack is so damn good. Love this game and hope to see a sequel.
 
Started another playthrough last night, playing with headphones... listened to the soundtrack on the way to work.

Soundtrack is so damn good. Love this game and hope to see a sequel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNefvmm-AGM&list=PL8334D783053A3EB4

One of my favorite tracks. So sad.

I loved the cutscenes and their style, wish more people felt the same way!

Me too. I liked the overuse of the distortion effects to represent Max's drunken haze. Then after Max decides to go sober they eventually tone down. It was a nice touch.
 

mnz

Unconfirmed Member
It's really well produced und has good moments and setpieces, but overall I didn't like it very much.
Max being soooo slow, the cutscenes that you couldn't skip, the hidden secrets while somebody wanted you to move on every five seconds and just overall not very appealing gunplay made it more of a 6/10 for me.

edit: Oh and super whiney Max also got on my nerves after a while. They tried way too hard with that. I get it, he drinks a lot and hates himself, you don't need to tell me every five minutes.
 

todahawk

Member
Best TPS gunplay ever. It's a playable John Woo movie. Other shooters feel limited without shoot dodging, bullet time, dual-wielding and being able to continue shooting after landing on your back or belly.

It's glorious. As is the soundtrack.
 

Macmanus

Member
Haven't played 3 yet, but I'm building a new rig in a few days so this will be one of the first I try.

About the cut-scenes and game;
  • Are they still the washed out comic book aesthetics from the first two games?
  • Does the series retain the noir vibe pretty well?
  • Are there any existential portions like their were in the first two entries? (Like navigating Max along a thin blood trail in an open void.)
 
There's a part in the final level where you can slide down the middle of an escalator and shoot enemies on the way. I wish there was more of that, making use of the environment to dive and slide around.

mp3_3_by_jax765-d750dqq.gif

mp3_4_by_jax765-d750e89.gif
 

todahawk

Member
Best TPS gunplay ever. It's a playable John Woo movie. Other shooters feel limited without shoot dodging, bullet time, dual-wielding and being able to continue shooting after landing on your back or belly.

It's glorious. As is the soundtrack.

Perfect description.
I don't mind the unskippable cut scenes but they should've at least made them skippable after your first playthrough. I get what they were trying to do and I liked the (dare I say) cinematic feel.

I love this short section on the roof. Moreso on foot.
600px-MaxPayne3_Smith_and_Wesson_Model_10_3.jpg




Hope R* taps HEALTH for some work in future titles. I think some of the sound could work in RDR 2.
 
GOTY 2012. So happy to see GAF loved it as much as me, as I don't know a single friend of mine who plays games that played this.
 

todahawk

Member
AHHHHHH!! Yeah that entire stadium level with that music. Amazing.

Yeah, stadium is nuts. Just did that part last night... That crazy gunfight in the stands, getting ambushed in the control booth, the section up in the lights. Even that one hallway section where they break out the grenades. Shotty from behind the pillar.

Now that I refreshed on the controls I'm going to start over on a higher difficulty and free aim. Even soft lock was pissing me off with snapping to targets I didn't want.

I love the difference between pistols and SMGs and shotties. Can't turn as quick in bullet time, slower to turn the barrel.
 

Zampano

Member
I love this game so much. Have played through on every difficulty. Cutscene complaints are perfectly valid though. There is no reason for them to be unskippable.

Would love a "Rockstar Remastered" pack for PS4 with this, GTA4 and RDR.
 
Perfect description.
I don't mind the unskippable cut scenes but they should've at least made them skippable after your first playthrough. I get what they were trying to do and I liked the (dare I say) cinematic feel.

I love this short section on the roof. Moreso on foot.
600px-MaxPayne3_Smith_and_Wesson_Model_10_3.jpg




Hope R* taps HEALTH for some work in future titles. I think some of the sound could work in RDR 2.

They have a track in GTA V on the Radio Mirror Park station that is pretty sweet...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7PSjKJB4k0
 
There's a part in the final level where you can slide down the middle of an escalator and shoot enemies on the way. I wish there was more of that, making use of the environment to dive and slide around.

mp3_3_by_jax765-d750dqq.gif

mp3_4_by_jax765-d750e89.gif

Those animations man! Some of the best around. The way he twists and contorts coming off the slide is amazing
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
Man, the Multiplayer was sorely underrated (and the only online game I was ever legitimately good at /brag).

I loved running around as Mona with dual Barettas, some bullet-time, and a hankering to pull off some crazy ass John Woo shit.
 
Probably the best playing third person shooter ever, the gameplay is just fantastic. Great visual presentation and soundtrack too. I took a fair amount of issue with some aspects of how its pacing, its tone and its writing, especially for Max's character, and overall the original 2 games are superior but god damn does it play well. Would love a remake of 1 and 2 with these combat mechanics, quite frankly.
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
Probably the best playing third person shooter ever, the gameplay is just fantastic. Great visual presentation and soundtrack too. I took a fair amount of issue with some aspects of how its pacing, its tone and its writing, especially for Max's character, and overall the original 2 games are superior but god damn does it play well. Would love a remake of 1 and 2 with these combat mechanics, quite frankly.

So long as they kept the reloading animation and the Bullet-Time system from MP2; the latter of which has never been bettered.
 
About the cut-scenes and game;
  • Are they still the washed out comic book aesthetics from the first two games?
  • Does the series retain the noir vibe pretty well?
  • Are there any existential portions like their were in the first two entries? (Like navigating Max along a thin blood trail in an open void.)

-No, completely different style
-Not really, but some parts are noir-ish
-No

You will probably be disappointed if you go into it looking for this same style from the first games. It really is a totally new style with the new developer and I think it's fantastic for what it is. But it's strengths are very different than the original games' strengths.
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
Are they still the washed out comic book aesthetics from the first two games?

No, they're sort of relegated to loading screens. Sort of.

Does the series retain the noir vibe pretty well?

It's Noir, but they've gone for Neo-Noir over, say, MP2's Classic Noir vibe. The David Lynch stuff has been expunged too, so it's more like a revisionist take on Max Payne. Think more Man on Fire or Collateral.

Are there any existential portions like their were in the first two entries? (Like navigating Max along a thin blood trail in an open void.)

Nope.

You will probably be disappointed if you go into it looking for this same style from the first games. It really is a totally new style with the new developer and I think it's fantastic for what it is. But it's strengths are very different than the original games' strengths.

What this guy said. If the Houser's had tried to emulate Sam Lake's style they would've failed spectacularly. As I mentioned earlier, they gone for more Revisionist, "What would this guy actually be like", Michael Mann/Tony Scott Noir vibe; and it's brilliant.
 

Gundy2010

Member
I fucking hate MP3 in general because I love its superb gunplay, yet the game is trying as hard as it can to interrupt my enjoyment to almost MGS4 level. It built tons of resent to a character I was suppose to like while dodging bullets/shooting mobsters in the face.

The tone of the story is so far off from the first two and filled with self pity doesn't really help either. MP was never a hard boilded character to begin with.
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
Started another play-through and didn't realize you couldn't skip cut-scenes till recently.

There are a few unskippable cut-scenes in the middle of the longer levels. Most of them, however, are skippable once the assets/level is loaded. I think the Stadium in Chapter 3 is probably the worst offender of the lot.

The tone of the story is so far off from the first two and filled with self pity doesn't really help either. MP was never a hard boilded character to begin with.

He was a miserable piece of shit in MP2 and he was a caricature in MP1.
 
It's a playable John Woo movie.
It's the closest to a playable John Woo movie a game has gotten. There's a lot of room for improvement, but even still.

Whenever someone says the first two Max Payne games, Stranglehold or WET are more like playable John Woo movies than 3 is, I know they haven't actually watched one.

There's a part in the final level where you can slide down the middle of an escalator and shoot enemies on the way. I wish there was more of that, making use of the environment to dive and slide around.

mp3_3_by_jax765-d750dqq.gif

mp3_4_by_jax765-d750e89.gif
There needs to be more sliding in general. A crouch-slide like in Wolfenstein: TNO and Dishonored, a non-shootdodge jump, "slick" surfaces for sliding (e.g. run toward a carpet, crouch while running then slide on it), controllable sliding after shootdodging, better "prone-to-standing/cover" transitions, rolling while prone and better vaulting — all coupled with more environmental interactions like the escalator — would make for an even better experience.
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
It's the closest to a playable John Woo movie a game has gotten. There's a lot of room for improvement, but even still.

Whenever someone says the first two Max Payne games, Stranglehold or WET are more like playable John Woo movies than 3 is, I know they haven't actually watched one.


There needs to be more sliding in general. A crouch-slide like in Wolfenstein: TNO and Dishonored, a non-shootdodge jump, "slick" surfaces for sliding (e.g. run toward a carpet, crouch while running then slide on it), controllable sliding after shootdodging, better "prone-to-standing/cover" transitions, rolling while prone and better vaulting —would all coupled with more environmental interactions like the escalator — would make for an even better experience.

Hell yeah to all this.
 

Bergerac

Member
i also like how no one has tried to fight me on my grievances. To the people that enjoyed the game, did you not mind those flaws because of the shooting?

LOL What is this?

Fot starters, you've had someone go through the story in basic detail, which leaves your complaints as being a) weapon swap outs mid game/level (which isn't big enough a blemish to take away from the rest of the game, and whilst it's an oversight that MP3 - because of its level of detail otherwise - had less of an excuse to miss and really should've taken care of, it's an historical common oversight in shooters), and b) that the game felt 'less agile' than MP1/2 which really.... is down to those games having fewer animation details.

To answer your question, yes they are easily ignored given the meat of the game which was full of amazing shooting mechanics and hit detection, and a great soundtrack and sense of direction. I feel complaints about the story seem to misunderstand nuance from what I read, and for all the complaints, no one has ever mentioned pacing. For as much as some people hate the direction of the character development, the truth is the story is engagingly presented from beginning to end. It's tight. No plodding. The lulls are the exact length needed. One of the reasons COD4 is so highly regarded is the pacing of its campaign and MP3 has a similar determination.
 

JoeNut

Member
seriously??? has everyone gone mad? i played this for the first time (and completed) a couple of months ago as it was bargain bin material and i was SO disappointed.

Basically the entire game can be completed using the pistol you get at the start and doing headshots.
The last bit with the airport where tons of bad guys appear from nowhere
i actually couldn't complete until i used the pistol.

Story is boring and the character has no appeal, couldn't care less if he dies.
The shooting is ok, but i am really glad i didnt pay full price for this.
 
seriously??? has everyone gone mad? i played this for the first time (and completed) a couple of months ago as it was bargain bin material and i was SO disappointed.

Basically the entire game can be completed using the pistol you get at the start and doing headshots.
The last bit with the airport where tons of bad guys appear from nowhere
i actually couldn't complete until i used the pistol.

Story is boring and the character has no appeal, couldn't care less if he dies.
The shooting is ok, but i am really glad i didnt pay full price for this.

The series is essentially a John Woo homage, so it's not shocking that you can get through using only the pistols. Anyway, opinions are like assholes, etc.
 
Perfect description.
I don't mind the unskippable cut scenes but they should've at least made them skippable after your first playthrough. I get what they were trying to do and I liked the (dare I say) cinematic feel.

I think the problem is that a lot of them, not just the pre-rendered ones, hide micro-loads.
 

todahawk

Member
*snip*


What this guy said. If the Houser's had tried to emulate Sam Lake's style they would've failed spectacularly. As I mentioned earlier, they gone for more Revisionist, "What would this guy actually be like", Michael Mann/Tony Scott Noir vibe; and it's brilliant.
Yep, i was thinking the same thing about a Michael Mann vibe. Love the style.

They have a track in GTA V on the Radio Mirror Park station that is pretty sweet...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7PSjKJB4k0

High Pressure Dave is awesome. I follow HEALTH on soundcloud, they have a lot of great tracks (errr, correction- 5) on there: https://soundcloud.com/healthnoise

USA Boys and Goth Star are two of my favorites, check em out.

I think the problem is that a lot of them, not just the pre-rendered ones, hide micro-loads.
Ah, yeah now I remember that being brought up in a previous thread. either way, they don't bother me much at all.
 
Absolutely wonderful game! Very likely my favourite third person shooter of all time. There is just so much i love and adore about this game that it's insane. everything from the sweet physics to the story, to the great set-pieces and the time trial modes you can do afterwards. I think i might be one of the few who like the Max in this alot more than the Max in the earlier games. I think it was great how rockstar got influence from movies like Tropa de Elite and the situation in Brazil.

Like, sure. I guess it's not as comic-book-ish as earlier games. But i'll be fully honest right now and say the less cheesy dark badass dude the better (im so damn tired of it)
 
Im not gonna go into a big rant but I hated it. It shits on the story of 1 & 2, its a poor mans 'Man on Fire', the shooting works well at times but I notice no ones posting the gifs of Max spazzing out and the frequent physics fuck ups. Only good thing was the soundtrack.
Max Payne 2 is still the GOAT. I cant even begin to tell you how much the story in 3 aggravated me. Its fucking awful.
 
The gameplay was great but the story and constant cutscenes interrupting were tiresome.

I just really wish Max Payne 3 had the Dead Man Walking single player mode that was in Max Payne 2. Just pure gunplay.
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
I just really wish Max Payne 3 had the Dead Man Walking single player mode that was in Max Payne 2. Just pure gunplay.

You can get DMW as paid DLC. If you set up a private match you can play it solo. Only two areas though, so it's a bit of a jip in that respect. Pure gameplay though. It gets ridiculously manic.

i also like how no one has tried to fight me on my grievances.

I would've but it read like you were spoiling for an argument and I'm not up for a protracted "fight". XD

Plus, this is the first MP thread I've seen where the majority of people like it!

I agree. I think it would be preferable if Rockstar made a spiritual successor with the same awesome gameplay but a different character and story altogether.

*cough*Mona Sax*cough*
 

Bandit1

Member
Probably the best playing third person shooter ever, the gameplay is just fantastic. Great visual presentation and soundtrack too. I took a fair amount of issue with some aspects of how its pacing, its tone and its writing, especially for Max's character, and overall the original 2 games are superior but god damn does it play well. Would love a remake of 1 and 2 with these combat mechanics, quite frankly.

This X 1000. I would pay a ridiculous amount of money for that. Keep the stories exactly the same and put in 3's mechanics tuned for a lighter/younger Max. 1080/60 on PS4/X1/PC?... Do it Rockstar.
 
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