Bullets; Bullets Everywhere...

Gameplay - 8/10

Storyline - 10/10

Graphics - 10/10

Game Score : 28/30

Well this has certainly been a busy week with E3 finally wrapping up. We had our high and low moments but all were appreciated because Gaming Takes Priority. With that being said welcome to another Friday video game review here on Zalgo Cometh. Rockstar Studios finally got around to releasing the PC release of Max Payne 3 after roughly 2-3 weeks after its console counterpart. As a disclaimer I should probably mention that as I write this I am just getting home from an office party so I am a bit tipsy so bear with me if at some points I stop making much sense. Well the wait is finally over so lets jump right in...

Max Payne 3 is a video game developed by Rockstar Studios and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third title in the Max Payne franchise and was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in May 2012 and for Microsoft Windows in June. Max Payne 3 is a third-person shooter in which the player assumes the role of its titular character, Max Payne. Max Payne 3 features a similar over-the-shoulder camera as its predecessors, with the addition of a cover mechanic, while also retaining much of the same run-and-gun style of gameplay. Max Payne 3 also marks the return of bullet-time in action sequences, for which the franchise is notable. In bullet-time it is possible to see every bullet strike an enemy in detail. This game has been long awaited and has not disappointed its fans as it truly delivers an action packed and immersible game-play experience which fans of the series know and love.

As good as it may be this game has seen its fair share of problems as the game was originally scheduled for release in late 2009 initially. However, it was pushed back to 2010 alongside several other Take-Two Interactive franchises in order to "benefit from having more development time." In June 2010, the game was again pushed back to 2011. On December 21, it was not present on the 2011-2012 calendar year, and was pushed back again. The game was still in development and not canceled or indefinitely halted when Rockstar released two new screenshots for the game. On September 8, 2011 Rockstar announced a March 2012 release date for the game, with a debut trailer released on September 14. In January 2012, Take-Two delayed the game by two months from its original March release date to May 2012. The game is set in São Paulo, Brazil, where Payne is working in the private security sector for a wealthy local family, set eight years after the events of the second game. Max Payne now works in executive protection for the wealthy Rodrigo Branco in the hopes of escaping the memories of his troubled past.

The game returns and exceeds its former glory with many of the game mechanics that made it ever so popular in the first place while also introducing a few new ones as well. Max Payne 3 features a similar over-the-shoulder camera as its predecessors, with the addition of a cover mechanic, while also retaining much of the same run-and-gun style of game-play. Max Payne 3 also marks the return of bullet-time in action sequences, for which the franchise is notable. In bullet-time it is possible to see every bullet strike an enemy in detail. New to the series is a "Last Stand" mechanic, which gives the player a grace period after losing all health during which time the player may kill the enemy that wounded them in order to continue playing, however this mechanic is only usable if the player has one or more bottles of painkillers in their possession. Max Payne 3 retains the shoot-dodge mechanic from the previous games in the series. Players are able to stay grounded after a dive, which enables them to shoot 360 degrees around. Rockstar has blended physics and animation, so that when a player dives, they do so appropriately according to their surroundings. The game also comes with a bit of a sidequest twist; where finding certain clues through the game enable the player to unlock more powerful weapons to increase the longevity of the game itself.

The game's online multiplayer features maps and modes that dynamically change within a match, as well as reward, ranking and clan systems. Max Payne 3 will let players form private crews with friends, or join public crews. Players can be a member of up to five at the same time, and completing tasks as a crew will gain XP points for the player. Between the graphic engine (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)) and the Euphoria animation engine it is no wonder how easy it is to get lost in the environment of this game. As great a job as Rockstar did I would be lying if I said I had no qualms about this game; more opinion based as opposed to things not necessarily done properly. The "Last Stand game mechanic is a bit annoying and distracting at times especially if you do not know what direction the person you are to kill is in or if the game has you in an awkwardly placed camera angle or if you just so happen to run out of bullets and aren't able to switch guns. The character movement sometimes feels slow or clunky; i'm not fully sure if this was intentional as part of the physics implementation in the animation engine or maybe just the dynamic effect of getting used to the new ranges of mobility Max has such as the 360 degrees view when on the ground. The bullet time meter seemingly depletes very quickly but is very hard to fill which I found rather annoying but I guess it keeps the game challenging and balanced. Last but not least the targeting reticle for the guns in this game most time appears as just a dot but I would have preferred a more traditional crosshair cursor. That being said it is still a solid gaming experience and is without a doubt a candidate for the game of the year list; so check out our gameplay footage and/or get a copy and give it a try yourself...