Max Payne 3 Critic Reviews

A technological tour de force that will have you screaming "Dear lord!" more times than midnight mass. The performances are top notch, the action plays out with unrivaled fluidity, and the multiplayer is deep and rewarding. Silly distractions aside, Max Payne 3 is an action lover's wet dream that also happens to employ some of the slickest direction and transitional trickery this side of a David Fincher box set.

The key to the game is the pitch perfect control system. A customisable auto-targetting system lets players select between hard or soft auto systems, the latter subtly guiding your reticule rather than aggressively yanking it toward specific enemies. Both are smart, seamless and intuitive, allowing newcomers to acclimatise to the turbo-charged pace.

It maintains the mechanics that made the prior games great while modernizing them to excellent effect. Between the arcade mode and multiplayer, there's enough substantive content to keep you hooked for some time.

The story and presentation rival that of a summer blockbuster. Throw in some smart dialogue, fantastic gameplay and addicting multiplayer, and Rockstar has hit the ball out of the park again.

Rockstar has yet again delivered a very high-grade production, with unique and cinematic storytelling, a deeply involving and intense gameplay experience and a very satisfying and original multiplayer. A must buy: you'll be entranced.

A great game that manages to be on par with other third-person action games like Gears of War and Uncharted, keeping part of the personality of the first two games in the series and adding great new mechanics that will surprise every player. It also tells a very good story thanks to the charming and complicated personality of Max.

Max Payne 3 gives exactly what it promises: An awesome, cinematic and greatly-paced experience. A new standard for third-person shooters in this gen. Just amazing.

Max Payne 3 makes you feel like the man with a very particular set of skills. With a good story, jaw-dropping action and fantastic graphics, it's a must-experience game. It's an homage to some fantastic movies, it's a step forward for Rockstar games and it's a satisfying continuation of the Max Payne saga.

With Max Payne 3, Rockstar Games proves that the studio masters action games in the most brilliant way, despite Max Payne 3 not being an open-world title. If there were no doubts about narration, the gameplay system also remains very atttractive thanks to the perfect introduction of the bullet time and the Shootdodge abilities, two strong aspects players are already familiar with. Rockstar Games offers a great experience, full of details, and depicts an amazing trip through Brazil and its favelas. A masterpiece in which Rockstar Games excels at introducing a tortured character whose adventures will surely give you the chills.

It's surreal. Altogether, the impression is of a work that feels like an addled and hazy reflection of the truth. It's far removed from what we know, but unlike so many games there's a real sense that our world and our lives are just beyond the horizon.

Max Payne 3 is a violent thrill ride with an action hero that does not know at times that he is the hero. With slick visuals, and blood spraying violence it may not be for everyone. For those fans of Max Payne, and those action film fans, I think this one is for you.

The cutscenes, while possibly too numerous, are seamlessly integrated into the overall narrative in a way that often makes you forget when it's time to take control of your character.

A true cinematic gaming masterpiece, Max Payne 3 is not just another triumph for Rockstar, but it's also testament to what the developer can do when it turns its hand to linear storytelling. Max Payne 3 might be a stylistic shift for the series, but it's also a raw and brutal portrait of a man pushed to the edge that deserves a place alongside Rockstar's superlative open-world efforts.

Max Payne 3 is one of the most important third-person shooters of this generation. It's frenetic and with a good replay value campaign, and has a direct and effective multiplayer and an incredible physics engine.

The coolest multiplayer mode offered is Gang Wars. This mode pits two teams against each other and incorporates story threads from the campaign to shape the five rounds. How a round ends dictates what the next objective will be, a design that keeps the battles fresh.

It's safe to say that Max Payne 3 is a fantastic game and with a hefty single player and extensive multiplayer it will keep you entertained for hours and hours. The story is gripping and will have you wondering what happens next, and with the integration of crews to the multiplayer there is even more reason to make regular visits to the city of São Paulo.

Max is back and in top form. Rockstar takes the helm resulting in one of the best action games I've played in a long time, and easily one of the best this year.

Max Payne 3 is a triumph; an action game that is supremely polished, filled with adrenaline pumping gunplay and several memorable milestones.

Max Payne 3 dismisses its well known noir-style, but retains the mature storytelling, and enhances the classic shooter mechanics to adapt them for the needs of this generation of gamers.

But the truth is, Rockstar know their onions. They understand the importance of a gritty story, concise controls, cinematic visuals, balls-out action, and genuinely fun (albeit not 100% balanced) multiplayer. But above all, they carry with them a sense of style across all of their presentation. Max Payne 3 is yet another fine example of their prowess.