Max Payne 3 Review Thread

Keeping up with this thread makes me want to never read another review thread ever again. Or better yet, I'll keep watch over the OP for new review updates and nothing more.
 
Depends on how relatively you define "mechanics."

Stiff controls, simplistic and dull combat, holding down a button to automatically ride a horse while you listen to a guy on another horse talk to you.

I find it fascinating how every Rockstar's games this gen has had huge sale despite not being mechanically sound. GTAIV is pretty big step back compared to III and dumbed-down. Well, I guess it's amazing what you can do with marketing and brand power.
 
Stiff controls, simplistic and dull combat, holding down a button to automatically ride a horse while you listen to a guy on another horse talk to you.

It's amazing how every Rockstar's games has had huge sales despite not being mechanically sound. GTAIV is pretty big step back compared to III and dumbed-down. Well, I guess it's marketing.

weird how they're still really fun games that makes me wanna play more and more (it isnt weird)
 
Judging from the Quick Look can't say I care for the style of it much, either the writing which seems too subdued or the camera tricks which quickly annoyed me.
 
Stiff controls, simplistic and dull combat, holding down a button to automatically ride a horse while you listen to a guy on another horse talk to you.

It's amazing how every Rockstar's games has had huge sales despite not being mechanically sound. GTAIV is pretty big step back compared to III and dumbed-down. Well, I guess it's marketing.
Just curious and don't want to get into a tangential discussion so I just wanna hear your opinion, but in what ways is 4 a step back/dumbed down to 3?
 
Stiff controls, simplistic and dull combat, holding down a button to automatically ride a horse while you listen to a guy on another horse talk to you.

I find it fascinating how every Rockstar's games this gen has had huge sale despite not being mechanically sound. GTAIV is pretty big step back compared to III and dumbed-down. Well, I guess it's amazing what you can do with marketing and brand power.

wat

edit: BEATEN
 
Stiff controls, simplistic and dull combat, holding down a button to automatically ride a horse while you listen to a guy on another horse talk to you.

I find it fascinating how every Rockstar's games this gen has had huge sale despite not being mechanically sound. GTAIV is pretty big step back compared to III and dumbed-down. Well, I guess it's amazing what you can do with marketing and brand power.

lol
 
The guy in that giant bomb quick look complained you don't get your screen all red or gray when you're low on health. Lol, one of the worst things to happen to video games in the last few years
 
The guy in that giant bomb quick look complained you don't get your screen all red or gray when you're low on health. Lol, one of the worst things to happen to video games in the last few years

Well, the issue might be that the game is not very good at telling you when you are low on HP. That would be annoying.
 
Stiff controls, simplistic and dull combat, holding down a button to automatically ride a horse while you listen to a guy on another horse talk to you.

I find it fascinating how every Rockstar's games this gen has had huge sale despite not being mechanically sound. GTAIV is pretty big step back compared to III and dumbed-down. Well, I guess it's amazing what you can do with marketing and brand power.

Look at this guy.
 
Well, the issue might be that the game is not very good at telling you when you are low on HP. That would be annoying.

There's a massive ass figure in the corner with rising red levels as you take damage, that's more than enough information.
 
Well, the issue might be that the game is not very good at telling you when you are low on HP. That would be annoying.

There's a big silhouette of your character at the bottom of the screen. If it was good enough for me when I was playing the 1st Max Payne, it's good enough for kids nowadays
 
The guy in that giant bomb quick look complained you don't get your screen all red or gray when you're low on health. Lol, one of the worst things to happen to video games in the last few years
I don't agree. I guess it would be nice to have a choice, but I would pick the option that didn't require me to look at a health bar or indicator on the side of the screen every time.

They should have used Max's hair. The less health he has the balder he gets.
 
Stiff controls, simplistic and dull combat, holding down a button to automatically ride a horse while you listen to a guy on another horse talk to you.

I find it fascinating how every Rockstar's games this gen has had huge sale despite not being mechanically sound. GTAIV is pretty big step back compared to III and dumbed-down. Well, I guess it's amazing what you can do with marketing and brand power.

Marketing and brand power isn't going to make people like a game.

Look at the huge backlash from GTA fans when GTA4 came out.
 
Stiff controls, simplistic and dull combat, holding down a button to automatically ride a horse while you listen to a guy on another horse talk to you.

I find it fascinating how every Rockstar's games this gen has had huge sale despite not being mechanically sound. GTAIV is pretty big step back compared to III and dumbed-down. Well, I guess it's amazing what you can do with marketing and brand power.

ikd4DSnXtxzAt.gif
 
I don't agree. I guess it would be nice to have a choice, but I would pick the option that didn't require me to look at a health bar or indicator on the side of the screen every time.

They should have used Max's hair. The less health he has the balder he gets.

What happens in the parts where his head is shaved?!
 
Well, skimming through most of the reviews, the game seems like it's well within what I expected. I'm really happy about that. I was worried about the story, but it seems like even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of the previous two, it's fantastic regardless. Makes me happy. Also, the Uncharted comparisons were right, but I don't mind. Alan Wake, Uncharted, and now Max Payne all seem to fit well within the "Cinematic Third Person Shooter" gameplay genre, and what shifts is some mechanics (UC has traversal/exploration, AW has the light/darkness, and Max has bullet-time and pure gunplay) and the narrative genre (Adventure, Horror, Crime).

This is minor, but I really prefer when the camera is zoomed out a bit and the character is in the center as in the aforementioned games (and first MP1 and MP2) compared to when the character is weirdly on the side and the camera's zoomed in a bit (Dead Space, Gears of War, KL2).
 
Stiff controls, simplistic and dull combat, holding down a button to automatically ride a horse while you listen to a guy on another horse talk to you.

I find it fascinating how every Rockstar's games this gen has had huge sale despite not being mechanically sound. GTAIV is pretty big step back compared to III and dumbed-down. Well, I guess it's amazing what you can do with marketing and brand power.

Pretty much.
 
Just curious and don't want to get into a tangential discussion so I just wanna hear your opinion, but in what ways is 4 a step-back/dumbed down to 3?

Missions are very easy compared to 3, and variety is lacking as well. Auto-saving after every mission without the need to drive back home, even if you find yourself in the middle of a police chase. If you fail to accomplish the objective, it is possible to place yourself at the starting point of a mission without having to drive to it. Both of these diminish the immersion by making irrelavant the factor of making it back home/mission start in one piece. Dumbed-down mechanic for losing the wanted status, which now functions in a way that as long as you escape a search area marked on the map you are in in the clear; in previous games you were never exactly sure when you would lose a star, which increased the immersion. Driving controls are sluggish as hell and so on.
 
I've been out all day so I missed most of the fun, but I'm genuinely surprised at the scores. They're kind of "low" for what the press usually does with a new Rockstar game (aka lots of fellating).

Maybe that's a good thing since I hate GTA 4 and RDR and found them grossly overrated. Maybe I will like this game.
 
Missions are very easy compared to 3, and variety is lacking as well. Auto-saving after every mission without the need to drive back home, even if you find yourself in the middle of a police chase. Dumbed-down mechanic for losing the wanted status, which now functions in a way that as long as you escape a search area marked on the map you are in in the clear; in previous games you were never exactly sure when you would lose a star, which increased the immersion. If you fail to accomplish the objective, it is possible to place yourself at the starting point of a mission without having to drive to it, which also decreases the immersion. Driving controls are sluggish as hell and so on.

Oh wait so you actually like missions where there's no checkpoint in front of the action so you have to drive all the way over to the other island, but you die in the middle of a firefight at your destination, you want to drive all the way over there again? Fuck that.

I agree about GTAIV being worse than previous gta games tho.
 
As a brazilian, I really liked what I saw in this quick look. Don't know much about voice-overs because they were talking, but when it launches on Steam, I'll know.
 
Ouch, those gametrailers combat critiques make me sad.

* No seamless taking of cover after a signature jump or roll. Cue slow animation to stand up and expose yourself to fire before then settling back into cover.

* Cut-scenes interrupting play and then putting you back into the action with a different weapon.

* Large scale areas that drive you to play the game as a stop and pop cover based shooter rather than as a Max Payne super action god.

* Later enemies shrugging off bullets like they're nothing. (This is a huge disappointment for me.)

Story stuff is subjective, and I still want to get the game but I may hold off a bit, especially as I have zero interest in the versus modes.
 
So, is the PS3 version pretty much guaranteed to suck?

Played a bit of it at my Gamestop about an hour ago; they had both versions running so people can play them at the midnight launch. The PS3 version ran smooth as butter; it hitched once during a gigantic explosion during a cutscene, but gameplay was more or less flawless. The colors also looked a little better, at least I think.
 
Played a bit of it at my Gamestop about an hour ago; they had both versions running so people can play them at the midnight launch. The PS3 version ran smooth as butter; it hitched once during a gigantic explosion during a cutscene, but gameplay was more or less flawless. The colors also looked a little better, at least I think.

Good to know. I skipped RDR because of all the negativity surrounding the PS3 release.
 
Jesus Christ, I should've known better but I watched the GT review because I was interested in their perspective and wow, way to go with all the spoilers duders.
 
Played a bit of it at my Gamestop about an hour ago; they had both versions running so people can play them at the midnight launch. The PS3 version ran smooth as butter; it hitched once during a gigantic explosion during a cutscene, but gameplay was more or less flawless. The colors also looked a little better, at least I think.

A Rockstar game that isn't shit on PS3? I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!
 
Played a bit of it at my Gamestop about an hour ago; they had both versions running so people can play them at the midnight launch. The PS3 version ran smooth as butter; it hitched once during a gigantic explosion during a cutscene, but gameplay was more or less flawless. The colors also looked a little better, at least I think.
That's good to hear, but I think I'll wait for PC version either way. I still doubt they will keep the full 720p for PS3 version - that was the bigger problem in RDR, not really the performance.
 
Interesting that they don't put an low health indicator on the screen other than the health bar, kinda used to shooters throwing strawberry jam, muck, and distortion to the screen to remind you you're about to drop. I don't think the old games had anything like that, though.
 
Ouch, those gametrailers combat critiques make me sad.

* No seamless taking of cover after a signature jump or roll. Cue slow animation to stand up and expose yourself to fire before then settling back into cover.

* Cut-scenes interrupting play and then putting you back into the action with a different weapon.

* Large scale areas that drive you to play the game as a stop and pop cover based shooter rather than as a Max Payne super action god.

* Later enemies shrugging off bullets like they're nothing. (This is a huge disappointment for me.)

Story stuff is subjective, and I still want to get the game but I may hold off a bit, especially as I have zero interest in the versus modes.

nm. meant for PM
 
Interesting that they don't put an low health indicator on the screen other than the health bar, kinda used to shooters throwing strawberry jam, muck, and distortion to the screen to remind you you're about to drop. I don't think the old games had anything like that, though.
Yeah, you actually had to be aware back in the day.
 
There's a massive ass figure in the corner with rising red levels as you take damage, that's more than enough information.

There is a tiny representation of Max in the lower right. Your eyeballs meanwhile are glued to the carnage in your crosshairs. I would agree that no health indication can get frustrating. Always hated the abrupt deaths in MP1/2 because I was paying attention to the action and not the painkiller meter.

Hopefully there is sufficient rumble queue to let me know my shit is about to die.
 
* Later enemies shrugging off bullets like they're nothing. (This is a huge disappointment for me.)

I CANNOT believe that this game gets points taken away for this, but people praise Uncharted 3 gameplay like it's the second coming of Christ. There's no way there are bullet sponges in this that are any worse than the EASIEST of Uncharted goons.

One more day and I can see for myself.
 
I CANNOT believe that this game gets points taken away for this, but people praise Uncharted 3 gameplay like it's the second coming of Christ. There's no way there are bullet sponges in this that are any worse than the EASIEST of Uncharted goons.

One more day and I can see for myself.
I had the same problem with Uncharted, and actually plenty of games this gen. One of the selling points for me in MP3 was that it didn't take much to drop enemies, as it should be, short of some crazy super-armored dudes.

So yeah, its not a deal breaker, but it is disappointing.
 
After watching that Quick Look, I'll have to admit, I feel pretty disorientated with those screen effects. It doesn't seem too annoying.

But those subtitles are tiny.
 
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