Fortunately, I have had enough time to sneak in some gaming and most recently I played through Max Payne 3. I really enjoyed the first two Max Payne games (particularly the second one) but this game represents a departure for the series as it was produced by Rockstar Games whereas the previous titles were made by Finnish developer Remedy.
I am a massive whore for anything by Rockstar makes - not because of the wanton sex and violence, not even because of the solid narratives found in their games, but because of the sense of place their games create. San Andreas, Liberty City, Vice City, New Austin and even Bully's Carcer City all felt like real, living-breathing places to me and I loved that about those games. However, almost all of Rockstar`s games are open world titles so I was intrigued to see how Max Payne, a completely linear experience, would fare.
In short; despite it's linearity, it does an incredible job of making you feel immersed.
Max Payne 3's story takes you on a back and forth (in location and time) between Brazil, Panama and New York/New Jersey and the level of detail and subsequent sense of immersion is incredible. Graphically, the game is stunning - not just with regards to textures, resolution and frame-rate, but also the incredible attention to detail in the environments. The locations in Brazil are the real highlite and range from run-down favellas, glitzy neon night clubs, city squares, swamps, abandoned hotels, and even office buildings. I wrote in my impressions of Deus Ex: Human Revolution that it was the first game that ever made me stop and appreciate art-direction in a game. Count Max Payne 3 as the second game to do so.
The narrative tone is very similar to that of Tony Scott's 2004 film, Man on Fire and the cinematic presentation borrows heavily from the Tony Scott and Michael Mann playbook with a gritty, realistic look, jump-cuts, rapid editing and multi-frame shots. The titular character is a stranger in a strange land and along with the unfamiliar (at least to those not living in Brazil) surroundings this sense of unfamiliarity is also conveyed by the excellent choice not to translate the Portuguese dialogue. Max doesn't speak Portuguese and in the narrative often doesn't know what is going on and the player shares his sense of frustration and uncertainty as characters yell at you in their native dialect.
There is one particularly tense scene where you are held at gunpoint by a member of a Brazilian gang who is clearly losing his shit and screaming commands/questions at you in Portuguese and at some point Max read my mind and in exasperation shouts back; "I don't fucking understand what you're saying!"
Story-wise, Max Payne loses the comic-book, occult-heavy, style of the first two games for a tale more grounded in 'reality'. Max is now working as a private security guard for an ultra-wealthy Brazilian family. He takes the job seeing it as easy gig and a way indulge his heavy alcohol and prescription medication addictions in sunny South America. Unfortunately, things quickly go to hell and story weaves a dark, gritty, intricate tale involving police and government corruption, revenge and lots of gun violence. I really enjoyed the narrative in Max Payne 3 and I found it fairly well written. Max's signature voice-overs are ever present but far less hammy than the first 2 games.
I also really enjoyed the characters in this game, particularly Max's friend Raul Passos and the enigmatic police investigator Da Silva. Both are well rounded and very well written. Max Payne himself is probably the most congruent main character I've ever seen in a recent Rockstar game. He's not like Niko Bellic who's painted as a man trying to escape his violent past....who then proceeds to run over pedestrians. John Marston is probably my favourite Rockstar character but even he loses character consistency when he starts shooting up innocent villagers in the Mexico section of Red Dead Redemption.
Max Payne, however, is a broken, drug addicted, alcoholic piece of shit and acts accordingly. This is a character who's hired as a private security guard and don't just drink on the job - he gets absolutely tanked. He pops pain killers like they're going out of style. And he hates everyone - most of all himself. He still has a vague sense of what's generally right or wrong but overall he's not a very nice man. And as such, you're not so surprised when he starts shooting people in the head - he's the kind of asshole who would.
I left any discussion of the gameplay for last because it's not exactly rocket science; Max Payne 3 is a solid 3rd person shooter with bullet-time mechanics. It's easily the best gunplay in a Rockstar game to date and there are some phenomenal set piece moments. It would be tough for me to say that the gunplay was absolutely engaging for the 8-10 hours it took me to finish the game because I was utterly engrossed by the atmosphere and narrative.
If you haven't guessed by now, I thoroughly enjoyed this game and if you're a fan of Rockstar's previous games I think you will too.
No comments:
Post a Comment