Game review: Max Payne 3

After what seems like an incredibly long development time, Max Payne 3 is finally here and delivers a deafening riot of slow motion gunplay, violence and snappy dialogue, just as the series has done since it began in 2001.

Max Payne 3

£44.99, PC/PS3/Xbox 360

In this chapter, downtrodden alcoholic ex-cop Max travels to Sao Paolo, Brazil to start a new life working as a private bodyguard to the wealthy Branco.

When his employer’s wife is kidnapped by a street gang and held ransom for $3 million, Max and his partner Passos hit the city streets in search of clues before she is killed. Each chapter is bookended by some superb cutscenes, laced with razor sharp noir dialogue delivered by original Max Payne voice actor James McCaffrey.

Gunplay is presented from a third-person perspective, and sees Max running and gunning, using walls for cover and entering slow motion bullet time to even the odds during a battle. Max can even pull off a leaping dodge along with other mad stunts that wouldn’t look out of place in a John Woo movie.

The visuals are slick and Rockstar’s Euphoria physics engine impresses once again, but campaign aside, there is even more fun to be had in Max Payne 3’s multiplayer component.

Spread across multiple modes and offering tons of gun and perk unlocks, there is real substance here. With a lengthy and brutally tough campaign and a expansive multiplayer, Max Payne 3 is perfect for fans of adrenaline-packed action and explosive gunplay.