Max Payne 3 is a game franchise that first originated in 2001 on the PC, back when it was the best platform for shooters. Remedy Entertainment developed the game, and what a game it was! It set a standard for all future third person shooters and introduced the bullet time mechanic, which has not been used in any other game franchise. It is solely the property of the developers and the franchise itself. This is what distinguishes Max Payne from all other third person shooter games.
Recently, the third installment in the series was released. A wonderful game, without a doubt, but quite different from the previous parts. Max Payne 3 feels different and plays different. It’s the same basic formula, but a new form of execution. Or rather, the wrong form of execution in this case.
Perhaps the changes in the franchise can be blamed on Rockstar Games, who have developed this new installment instead of Remedy Entertainment. Perhaps Rockstar failed to understand what a Max Payne game feels like. Because this didn’t feel like the same Max Payne at all.
There’s no place like home
I could not understand why the setting of the game had to be changed from New York to Sau Paulo. The first two Max Payne games had been set in the grand city of New York in America, where it should have remained. Yet, the developers decided to move Max to Sau Paulo. To be honest, the sun doesn’t suit Max as the moonlight and white snow did. The first two Max Payne games gave a particular ‘feel’ to the game because of the setting. The effect of the story was also increased due to this enigmatic setting. Large buildings, snowfall and the dark knight were the things that Max Payne players loved. Murdering hundreds of people is fun at night, not during the day. The dramatic settings of city buildings in the snow, which have by now become a trademark of the Max Payne franchise, are lost.
The blazing sun of Sau Paulo along with it’s poorly constructed houses and trash on the streets is hardly a place for an ex-cop to stylishly kill his enemies. Furthermore, due to this change of environment, there came the existence of language barriers. Most of the time, I had no idea what the people in the game were saying. It was in Brazilian, a language which I’m sure not all of us are proficient in. What’s worse is that the subtitles didn’t help either. There was no translation, something that was not expected. Basically, I had to sit there listening to gibberish in almost every cutscene. If the change of the environment had not taken place, this problem would never had originated.
What are you wearing?!
A major part of the game is the character’s appearance. Who would like to play with a character who looks horrible? Take the new Dante for example; some fans don’t feel like playing Devil May Cry any more because of his looks. And quite frankly, I was about to quit Max Payne when I saw his green shirt with the parrots and palm trees. I mean, who would wear that? Not trying to be a fashionista here, but what happened to Max’s black jacket? Yes, the same one he wears in the first two games? It is only in the reminiscence chapters that Max is seen with that jacket (and in America too, which is why these chapters were my favorites). During the rest of the game, it is gone. And that is not a welcome change. I don’t want to control a guy who wears ridiculous clothes such as an Aloha shirt, a dirty vest and a white suit that ruins his image completely.
A little too drunk maybe
In Part 2 of the game, Max shaves off his hair. The reason? He realized he was too drunk and needed to get serious. But tell me, what does that have to do with shaving your head off? Now, with his clothes as mentioned above, he looks a lot like Bruce Willis from Die Hard 4.0. What’s worse is his beard, which makes him look like a homeless guy. And to top it all off, he’s obese, the reason to which I fail to understand (He doesn’t eat much, yet he works tirelessly, but is still fat?). I mean, what was Rockstar thinking?
No Mona Sax
This is pretty much self-explanatory. Mona was one of the best characters in the Max Payne universe. Without her seductive nature and looks, the game feels lacking and dry. And I’m sure Max himself feels the same way. If she were still here, the story could have gone off into a better direction and would have been more appealing. And Max wouldn’t have been drunk and useless either.
Don’t get me wrong, Max Payne 3 is a great shooter. But it had flaws, which I mentioned above. And due to these flaws, I did not enjoy the game as I should have. The Max Payne that I enjoyed in the last decade, does not exist anymore.
