Max Payne in the Ass
I'm on Chapter 3 and to be honest I'm strongly considering just sending this game back to Gamefly. This game is not making a good first impression on me. Most of my reasoning may be based on personal preference as opposed to a badly made game but it still doesn't make them any less valid.
For one, I don't find MP to be a relateable or even sympathetic character. So far 3 chapters in I find it hard to feel for a pill popping, booze chugging ex cop that is hardly recognizable from his previous adventures (and this is before he shaves his head and all that other stuff.) Another issue is that Max sure as hell seems to love his own voice. Christ I don't think my 2 year old randomly talks as much as Max does. It's still up in the air though which one's blabbering makes more sense. Finally, I'm sure that the plot probably opens up as time goes on, but right now I find it less than exciting to be motivated by Max's "job," which is basically to help rescue a really rich guy's girlfriend.
On the subject of presentation, I'm not exactly thrilled with the direction of the cutscenes either. Normally one would not critique cutscenes much unless you're playing a Hideo Kojima game, but here they're so frequent and unnecessary that it's impossible not to. Part of the reason as to why there are so many is because they are used to hide loading screens, but that just makes them feel more artificial. I'm also not a big fan of all the lens flare and distortion the camera uses to convey... something.. I suppose it's to show that Max is drunk, which is good and all, but it doesn't make the game anymore fun. They also go on far too long early on. Is it really necessary that we go back to Max's apartment after every mission just to watch him talk to himself and get s-faced?
The actual gameplay is better but not significantly. The control scheme is rather convoluted (who the hell thinks to take cover with the X button or even RB?) and it isn't helped by lack of true customization which is unacceptable at this point. Hey Developers, it's 2012. Give us the option to customize what all the buttons do, as opposed to just some random presets. The lack of customization goes well with the unusually steep difficulty curve that the game has. I'm playing on Normal but already I've seen that annoying "DEAD" screen more times than I want to mention. The game gives you the option to "save" yourself by killing someone with 1 shot if your health runs out and you have pain pills (which are in remarkably short supply), but this is useless when you run out of ammo in your current weapon and are not allowed to switch, which turns it into a prolonged "Game Over" screen. One time I got a "Game Over" because I didn't realize I was in a timed section of the game. I was looking around a room I had just cleaned out scavenging for some weapons only to see Max complain that his trail had gone cold and that I had to take it from the top. A heads up would have been nice! The combat can be satisfying at times, especially with the "Kill Cam" that zooms in on your bullet taking out the final enemy and lets you unload some extra rounds in them with amusing visual results. Still, since they only occur on the last enemy (or if you're near death and clip someone like I mentioned above) it doesn't happen very often, and instead you're stuck with gameplay that takes so much time to perfect that you'll start to wonder like myself if it's even worth it.
I'm willing to give Max Payne 3 another shot because I feel it's deserved it given the pedigree behind it, but I definitely would not hesitate to send it back and get something else to tide me over before the fall release schedule.
