Quick Look: Max Payne 3

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/u4CiJH90JwI?fs=1" width="480"></iframe>The two Max Payne games were some of best experiences of my early gaming years and I still remember how powerful and gritty the main character felt and how I never got tired of activating the time slowdown in order to clear a room of bad guys that would otherwise take me out in a few seconds.

I always had high hopes for the third game in the series ever since it was first shown in 2008 and was sorely disappointed to see it pushed back to 2009 and then 2010, then reach for the dreaded vaporware status.

But I am happy to report that Max Payne 3 is now out and that, after a few hours of play time, it seems like a worthy successor, a game that boldly drags Max into the current age while also keeping those elements that made the series interesting.

Slow motion sideways jumping is still one of the best things to happen to the third-person shooter, giving the player quite a few options when it comes to tackling groups of players and instantly raising the adrenaline level of any warm-blooded gamer in the area.

Max is now also able to take cover behind objects, but that’s just a way of gaining a little time in order to plan another jump because health is still handled the old school way, via painkillers that seem to be pretty hard to find through the levels.

With Rockstar handling development and the Houser brother heavily involved in the creation process Max Payne also loses some of his snarky edge and gain quite a few of lines that sound very close to socio-political commentary.

With Rockstar in control, there are also quite a few cutscenes, most of them well put together, to sit through and at least one combat scenario that’s completely over the top and that feels a little jarring in the content of Max Payne.

Still, Max is back and taking out enemies in slow motion while diving seems to never get old.