Max Payne 3 for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

As a fan of the original pair on PS2, I was cut two ways on this title.
On the one hand, I was overjoyed that we were getting a third installment. And on the other, I was very disillusioned to see the direction in which Rockstar were taking our ultimate flawed hero.

The sun and heat of South America, the hairless and overweight Max looking more broken and weary by the minute, could it work?

As far a storytelling, production and the creation of a truly memorable spectacle goes, the answer is an overwhelming yes.

I needn't have worried. The game is spliced into two stories, covering the end of Max's time in New York all the way up to how he ended up in South America doing supposedly "easy" bodyguard work for a rich family. It should've been the perfect retirement for a man like Max, though as any fans of the previous games will know, with Max it's never that simple.

The drama and action kicks off in the very first scene and keeps up its absolutely unrelenting pace for the duration. While it's "only" around 8 - 10 hours in length, I found it to be more than enough to tell a story as dramatic as this one.

When things come to a close and the credits roll, you'll really find yourself grimacing at the pain this man has been put through while battling his own demons and dishing out more than his fair share in return, in some of the most dramatic ways imaginable using cinematic moments and variations on Max's trademark 'Bullet Time'.

The game has some incredible difficulty spikes in it and is a very tough game all round. Maybe the developers nod to the protagonist himself, if that's the case and this is to be Max's swansong, Rockstar have more than done the man justice.

A truly cinematic experience from start to finish, this game finds itself blurring the lines between cinema and videogame on more than a few occasions. Even bordering on a bloody yet beautiful art form during the bullet-ballet moments.

A perfect rent for anyone wishing for a challeng