After playing through the series, I’ve finally come to the end of Max Payne. Not to be confused with The Fall of Max Payne, the moniker of Max Payne 2, Max Payne‘s 3rd outing truly feels like the climax and falling action of the titular character. Released right before Rockstar went full focus with Grand Theft Auto V, this closed out the seventh console generation with a bang – literally, as this is a violent, bloody conclusion for Max Payne. So, how does the last game in the franchise pan out, now that it isn’t Remedy Entertainment behind the wheel?

Kicking off with a flash-forward to the ending scene of the game (something Max Payne 2 also did,) Max departs from the New York setting of the first two titles, and takes a job in Brazil defending one of the richest families around. We do get several flashback scenes of New York, as Max struggles with yet another gang for the last time. While the comic-book style of cutscenes isn’t present, the bevy of filters and textualization of key words in the conversation make for an equally-engaging format.

Gone are the frantic autosaves of the first two games, instead offering plenty of indistinct checkpoints during long-winded, tense gunfights. There’s a vast variety of guns in Max Payne 3, suiting tons of playstyles and offering risk-and-reward with ammo management and stopping power. Time slowdown is essential and can make all the difference when Max is out of pain pills.

The huge narrative focus in Max Payne 3 predates the staples like The Last of Us, God of War, and others in the eighth console generation. It’s very cutscene-heavy, but the transitions into gameplay are instantaneous and a pleasure to experience. Seeing Max finally quit alcohol, make relevant/unique quips whenever he picks up a bottle of painkillers, and ease into a wise-cracking, vigilant protector and survivalist is refreshing. It brings a dynamic to the character that makes him more human than the majority of protagonists at the time.

The game is quite a bit longer than the previous iterations, almost twice the length of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. With levels switching between the snow-covered New York to the poverty-stricken streets of Brazil, Rockstar went above and beyond in creating more fleshed-out settings in this iteration. Also varied are the enemies, including a corrupt militia and an infuriated New York gang (something Max is used to fighting.)

With no low points and a breakneck pace, Max Payne 3 truly is one of the best shooters of the seventh gen. It came at a time before the normalization of having a story be as important as the action, with only niche titles adhering to this before then. It’s a shame that the multiplayer servers got shut down all the way back in 2014, but it’s understandable after the runaway success of Grand Theft Auto V. Nevertheless, this game is one that has to be seen to be believed, and an easy recommendation for those wanting to experience a piece of third-person shooter glory.

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Max Payne 3

19.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Great gunplay
• Gorgeous graphics
• Memorable story

Cons

• Multiplayer shut down