Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 80 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 514 Ratings

  • Summary: The tragedies that took Max Payne's loved ones years ago are wounds that won't heal. No longer a police, nearly washed up and addicted to pain killers, Max takes a job in São Paulo, Brazil, protecting the family of wealthy real estate mogul Rodrigo Branco to finally escape his troubled past. But as events spin out of his control, Max finds himself alone on the streets of an unfamiliar city, desperately searching for the truth and fighting for a way out. Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 73 out of 80
  2. Negative: 1 out of 80
  1. May 14, 2012
    100
    It maintains the mechanics that made the prior games great while modernizing them to excellent effect. Between the arcade mode and multiplayer, there's enough substantive content to keep you hooked for some time.
  2. Jun 11, 2012
    70
    Rockstar's continued insistence on favouring animation over character control makes for an unnecessarily sluggish core game, but it is one that eventually settles into its own set piece groove, and ultimately gets swept up and propelled forward by the momentum of its story and impressive portrayal of its setting.
  3. May 28, 2012
    40
    The shootporn is satisfying enough, if you're into that sort of thing. I know I am. Which is why I have so little patience for how often the awful story and grim prattle get in the way.

See all 80 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 32 out of 183
  1. 9
    The overall gameplay is great with good shooting and bullet time. The normal difficultly brings up a satisfying challenge and some of the parts are hard to get by. The damage system is just right, where aiming at the head does provide a huge difference in damage. There is also a lot of extra content, like New York Minute. I would give this game a 10 but aiming on the left side I have had some experience with shooting through walls. Expand
  2. An OK game. Unlike Payne I and II there is not a lot of sneak up and listen to the mobsters then bust through the door and nail them all in bullet time. For some reason the AI always knows where you are regardless of how sneaky you are as if they are alerted to your presence immediately upon entering an area. Payne is constantly talking about something which actually got annoying because if your in a room for more than 5 seconds he is already telling you where you need to go. The enemies did not increase in difficulty much throughout the game either. Payne fought for women he loved, out of revenge in I and II. In II he has no emotional connection to the people he is trying to save other than they pay his bar tab. I love Max Payne and could not give a negative review but it was a pretty poorly made game overall. Expand
  3. Admit it. This game is a failure. The singleplayer mode features a story which has no connection with the first and second Max Payne game, and the plot is boring as hell. You will never want to play again. What about multiplayer? It's even worse than not having a multiplayer mode at all. It's just deathmatch, and only deathmatches. So basically, all you can do in a multiplayer game is run and shoot. I can't believe it's a Rockstar production! So disappointing! I gave 3 points for its fancy graphics. That's all. Expand

See all 183 User Reviews