Set in São Paulo, Brazil, where Payne is working in the private security sector for a wealthy local family, set eight years after the events of the second game.
+Gameplay. Bullet time seems to run out quicker forcing you to use the cover system in many instances. Some may think its not as run-and-gun but I found it made you think more tactically, choosing when to use what kind tactic. Using cover and picking enemies off, jumping out guns blazing or dodging and shooting if you can take out the last few. The damage on enemies makes them respond realistically, and I also like the melee attacks and how Max holds his secondary weapon in his left hand, also I appreciate separating the shoot dodge and roll (eventhough its awkward trying to go into cover after rolling).
+The Showdown mechanic, where a shot that would have killed you instead drains out all your bullet time to go slow motion giving you a chance to kill the enemy before you die. If you kill him your saved. It feels odd to rely on this to avoid death. However it ends up turning into a clumsy attempt at trying to cover the issue of headshots killing you, so you end up relying on the Showdown mechanic to much.
+- A change that some may appreciate and many probably won't, is the limit to 2 dual wielding weapons and 1 secondary (two-handed gun). I never like limiting weapon use but given that the game is taking a more realistic route I don't mind so much mainly because dual wielding is what its all about.
+Visuals, the city is beautiful, physics and destruction to the things you shoot at. Its not noir anymore, and the comic book style cutscenes have been replaced with these discoloured or zoomed in shots in regular cutscenes, with occasional popouts of words said kinda of like everything has happened already and Max is only seeing fragments of memories. I liked it but I think it was overused a bit.
-Headshots kill you
-Very few guns
-Shoot Dodge uses to much bullet time.
-Max's Character, hes all brooding, nihilistic old bastard. He spends almost all of his dialogue complaining, self hatred & seems to have a death wish. While it does seem like Max as a character with no one he cares about left alive, seems like a natural evolution, what made the series work before was not just his cynicism and metaphors, it was the fact he was a good guy underneath all that.. having something to fight for.
Nihilists on the other hand are self absorbed (which I'm alright with) but they also complain alot. We hate having to listen them go on, unless its something they keep inside of themselves.
Not just that, but alot of people can't relate to the whole drinking problem thing. What exacerbates the problem is we never get to see him try and see the lighter side of things. It make sense to me that after losing everyone he cares about and killing so many, he would no longer be able to live like a normal person but theres not even a single moment where he enjoys himself. We need a silver lining at the end of it all to make it worth caring about all the strife he goes through.
A change of scenery, a new pair of bad guys, but it just seems like hes doomed to repeat history. Never being able to be normal again, and no one left alive that can slap some sense into him to set his priorities straight. The exception of Bravura, but him and Max weren't exactly in the best of terms.
-The only reason why I enjoyed the game is because of the gameplay, and whatever connection I had to the protagonist was because of what I knew of him from previous games & the voice actors attempt to add personality to a otherwise bland story & characters.
-Max's looks. If they thought Max is your every man that the look could appeal to, they chose the wrong game and he doesn't really look like Bruce Willis yet they gave him that look half way into the game.
Max speaks in metaphors and is way to cynical to be your average man.
If you go into the game not expecting a Max Payne sequel, I see it as a continuation of Max's life, different developer starting a new story (and not a very good one), then you might enjoy it if you don't mind the negatives.