Anthony's Film Review - Max Payne 3 (Video Game, 2012)

The Max Payne series is great, and the third time's a charm for sure...

Remember the first two Max Payne video games? Yeah, they were very entertaining action games, both with a hardboiled noir flavor to enhance it all. The title character of Max Payne, a NYPD officer who transferred to the DEA and then back to the NYPD, is one hell of a tough guy, battling his way through a dark and snowy New York City and facing tough adversaries, often members of the Mafia. But now it's been nine years since Max Payne 2. By this time, the original developers of the Max Payne games, Remedy Entertainment, had sold the Max Payne intellectual property to Rockstar Games, which then went on to develop and release Max Payne 3 in 2012. Appropriately, the story of Max Payne 3 distances itself from the events of the first two games, and the character of Max Payne has moved on from the hell he had been through.

Now, in this third game of the series, Max is now a private security guard in Sao Paulo, Brazil, hired to protect a wealthy real estate mogul named Rodrigo Branco. Rodrigo also has two brothers, Victor and Marcelo, as well as wife Fabiana and sister-in-law Giovanna. Max also works with Raul Passos, a Brazilian ex-cop who had known Max from their days in the police academy. The job seems simple enough: protect the rich man and his family. And sure enough, Max is put to the test when members of a violent street gang kidnap Fabiana. The effort to rescue the wife of Rodrigo Branco only becomes more complicated as members of a right-wing paramilitary group enter the fray. Later, corrupt paramilitary police forces make life a living hell for Max Payne.

You may think that sunny Brazil is nowhere near as gritty as snowy New York. Think again. There are some locations in the game that really make the story dark and grimy, including the slums of Sao Paulo, an abandoned hotel, and docks occupied by gangsters. Even when Max is in supposedly more pleasant settings, like an office building, a nightclub, and a football stadium, the ruthlessness of the foes he encounters can strike fear into the audience (that is, the players experiencing this game). Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the story is the grisly scheme that Max ultimately discovers late in the story. It is something that surely enrages Max, as well as the game player filling his shoes. Through it all, the familiar cynical narration of Max Payne, thanks to the brilliant voice of James McCaffrey (who also voiced Max in the first two games), reminds us that human depravity knows no borders.

So far, I've spent much time talking about the plot. The reason is simple: it's very nicely written. The game is divided into 14 chapters, with Max finding himself in various locations and situations but always fighting to stay alive no matter what. Interestingly enough, three of the chapters are flashback chapters chronicling the things Max does before arriving in Brazil, and the transition from present to past and back to present is done smoothly. Compared with the plots of the first two Max Payne games, the plot of Max Payne 3 is a little longer than each of them, but the right length overall. It's also somewhat complicated yet easy to follow. This is a good time to highlight one cool thing about the cutscenes in Max Payne 3. Instead of stationary comic panels like in the first two games, Max Payne 3 presents cutscenes that are animated but will frequently split into panels, display the text of key names and phrases spoken, and change focus and hue, all giving the cutscene the feel of a graphic novel in motion.

Given that shooter games have existed for more than two decades, you may wonder if Max Payne 3 will feel like a boring conventional shooter video game once you play it. It is true that this game is like a lot of older shooter games: the main character follows a linear pathway in each level, kills enemies along the way, picks up weapons and ammo, and makes sure health is OK. It is also true that Max Payne 3 brings back the two signature features of the series: Bullet Time (slowing down everything around Max in order to aim and shoot more quickly) and Shootdodge (diving in slow motion while shooting in mid-air). Yet, it is so much fun reliving this, especially with the graphics and smooth gameplay in this game that are a huge improvement over the first Max Payne games. And there are a few new things in Max Payne 3. For example, with the Last Man Standing feature, if Max is killed but still has at least one painkiller left, he won't die right away but instead go into a slow-motion fall, giving the player a few seconds to gun down the man who shot Max, allowing Max to live if that task is successful. Then there are certain action segments in the game that automatically go into slow motion to let the player unleash gunfire in fun ways, such as from a speedboat that has jumped a ramp, in mid-air after diving through a window, and even while ziplining.

With an outstanding plot, very fun gameplay, and even a great soundtrack thanks to the rock band HEALTH and the rapper Emicida, Max Payne 3 is an excellent action video game. It exceeded my expectations, which were already high after having played the first two Max Payne games. Does that mean I am dying to play a fourth Max Payne game? Not necessarily, given how this one ends and how it's only necessary to relive the Max Payne experience in enhanced fashion just one time. But I won't complain if there will be a Max Payne 4. For now, though, Max Payne 3 is the culmination of a great action game series with an unforgettable central character. Kudos to the people at Rockstar Games for this achievement.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Max Payne 3, visit the Internet Movie Database and Moby Games.

In addition, check out my reviews of Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.