RF Generation Message Board

The past never completely fades away. At least not for former police officer Max Payne in November's Modern Community Playthrough.

Overview
Nine years after the events of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Max finds himself living a degenerative lifestyle, addicted to painkillers and alcohol in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, while trying to forget the past that haunts him. Employed by real estate mogul Rodrigo Branco, Max works in private security, protecting the wealthy Branco family. But as things go wrong and Rodrigo's wife Fabiana is kidnapped, Max is forced into a deadly new conflict, while relying on the abilities he attained from the experiences of the past he left behind.
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1407064/plotsummary)

Platforms
PS3
Xbox 360
PC

Comic Series
For those who want to go deeper into the Max Payne universe or understand more of Max's backstory and motives I've provided the link to the Rockstar comic book series. I really enjoyed reading them prior to playing to the game. Great way to prepare for what lies ahead.
http://www.rockstargames.com/maxpayne3/comics

Checkpoints
Week 1: Pills and Booze: Welcome to Max Payne 3 (Play up to Chapter 4)
Week 2: "If I was doing my job properly": Infiltrating the Comando Sombra (Play up to Chapter 9)
Week 3: Alone and Lost in Translation (Play up to Chapter 12)
Week 4: All or Nothing (Complete the game)

Achievements
Feel the Payne (30)
Serious Payne (50)
Maximum Payne (80)
Payne in the Ass (20)
Part I Complete (20)
Part II Complete (20)
Part III Complete (20)
A New York Minute (100)
The Shadows Rushed Me (10)
Out the Window (10)
The One Eyed Man Is King   (10)
Something Wicked This Way Comes (10)
That Old Familiar Feeling (10)
Amidst The Wreckage (5)
So Much For Being Subtle (10)
The Only Choice Given (10)
Trouble Had Come To Me (15)
Along For The Ride (10)
Sometimes You Get Lucky   (5)
It Was Chaos And Luck (10)
The Road-Kill Behind Me (10)
The Fear Of Losing It (20)
It's Fear That Gives Men Wings (20)
You Might Hurt Someone With That (20)
One Bullet At A Time (20)
You Play, You Pay, You Bastard (20)
With Practiced Bravado (20)
Colder Than The Devil's Heart (15)
A Few Hundred Bullets Back (20)
Past The Point Of No Return (10)
An Echo Of The Past (35)
Sure Know How To Pick A Place   (10)
A License To Kill    (40)
All Of The Above (100)

Player List
Fleach
GrayGhost81
Infinite Leon, The
InvadErGII
shoes23
techwizard

Stoked on this one. I'm a little RPG'ed out right now. I just need to shoot things indiscriminately.

I loved the first two, but I know this isn't a Remedy game so I'm very interested to see how Rockstar Studios handled the franchise all on their own.

i should be able to pick up a copy of this next paycheck, so i'm in.

also i thought we were waiting for the front page post before announcing the titles ;)

Ooo I've been meaning to replay this. I'm in.

It's been on my replay list for a while so I was eager to pitch it to GrayGhost. I'll add you to the roster.

Bought this ages ago and never played it. I've also never done one of these! Count me in.

Probably best that I don't own any of these platforms. I have to get started on December next month.... I'll still be following. Have fun!

Maybe Zagnorch can send you the next 360 he finds at Goodwill. :p

EDIT
I added the link to the comic book series in main post. Read them if you want to get into the Max Payne frame of mind.

I jumped the gun and started the game last night. I guess I like it so far. The writing is not as good as the old ones, but that may just be my personal bias towards Sam Lake and against the Housers.

I like that you can only carry like two guns, and Max physically carries anything bigger than a pistol. The juxtaposition of that kind of realism in a game where you can slow down time is pretty neat to me.

I'm playing on 360, and the character models look like absolute shit, besides maybe Max. I'm not a graphics person by any means, but this could have been done much better.

I personally liked the writing in the game. It reflected Max's lowlife, careless attitude. But I have to agree about the character models. I thought Max looked awesome, while the others were just kinda decent looking.

Until recently, the Goodwill near my workplace had one.  Now they're trying to move out two Wiis...

Anyhoo, best of luck to anyone on the playthrough.


'Late.

Have you played the first two games? I just feel like this game's writing is a little bit of a watered down version of those games, and at times it comes off as a bit cliched.

I will say I was really, really happy when I saw the first Captain Baseball Bat Boy cartoon. :)

I didn't play the first two games so a lot of the references were lost on me, but I absolutely loved the comic book/film noir style writing. Especially key words or phrases flashing onto the screen.

Maybe we can work through the whole series at some point in these playthroughs.

Ok am I the only jerk who jumped into this game ahead of schedule? I'm dying to start talking about it!

Fleach, just out of curiosity, have you developed the first checkpoint?

Don't get too excited. November isn't here yet.

Checkpoint 1 goes up tomorrow.

I'm already too excited ;)

i'll be putting up the retro checkpoints tonight at midnight (probably north american Central Time, because that's about when i get home from work). why not do the same for modern so grayghost doesn't have a fit? ;D

Installing it on my laptop now. Still have no idea how it ever ran on my aged desktop. Was just hella optimized I guess (unlike GTA 4)

Looks to be running good on the lappy. Had to sit through the stupid intro (drunk, sad, drunk, drunk, sad, drunk, drugged, drunk, sad x5) before I could change my settings.

Guess I'll wait for tomorrow to get started

You ain't seen nothing yet. This version of Max takes self-loathing to new heights, or better said, lows.

Nailed it! Max is a broken man, and this games make sure you're well aware of that fact.

EDIT

Since this game is conveniently broken up into chapters all the checkpoints are up. Have fun guys!

I reached Week 1's Checkpoint without too much trouble. There were a couple scenes at the stadium that were too much for me, but I just hold back the urge to burst in guns blazing and I tend to do fine. I played for about an hour and 45 minutes.

It's fun to be revisiting this game. I'm picking up on things I didn't the first time and I think the discussions will be really fun this game as there are many deeper meanings and messages especially in Max's monologues.

I haven't played this one before, but really enjoyed the first two games in the series.  The original Max Payne is only one of a handful of games that I taken the time to play through multiple times on multiple difficulty settings.  I just bought a new PC copy on eBay for $20, opting to wait a few days for shipping to have a physical copy rather than a Steam download.  I'll join in the discussion in a few days.... 

picked up a copy of this! i'll start sometime soon.

From what I read the PC version is either a maxed out version or a poor port. I'm eager to hear what your thoughts are.


I'd love to be playing this on PS3, but I bought the game back when all I had was a 360. How does this version play? I find on the 360 Max moves as if he's wading through pudding and I don't find the 360 controller's sticks don't move as freely as PS3's.

Played just a bit. Got through the first chapter and am mid way through the second. Forgot how good the gameplay was.

The story is vaguely interesting, good set piece (Baghdad with g-strings), but it seems a little campy at least from what I have reseen and can recall of it from my first playthrough.

I kind of agree with you there. My first playthrough was certainly more entertaining.

I've played the first 2 Max Paynes but never got around to playing this one. Played through a chapter and a half tonight...it seems pretty fun! A couple of early impressions:

- I said I played this, but I feel like I was watching it more than anything. Lots of cutscenes...these aren't bad or anything, but I hope that the frequency of them doesn't stay like this. I'm also assuming that chapter 1 is unusually short. Because it was really short.

- Super gore close ups! WHAAAAT

- That flash forward at the very beginning was super intense. Looking forward to seeing how we get to that from here.

The beginning is heavy on the cutscenes, but that only lasts for the first two chapters. There will be more hands-on time as you go.

Also, I love that flash forward at the very beginning.

I looooove the gore physics. Nothing better than on contact blood spurting wounds...

Finished the first section. Nothing gave me much trouble except for the one VIP room in the coliseum where the dudes continuously charge you from both sides of the initial cover. My usual bullet time heavy spray and pray doesn't work so well there.

Once you memorize the pattern it's not bad though.

I do wish Raul was a little less worthless. Like when you have to snipe all the dudes off him he just cowers like a bitch while when HE covers you you have to do all the work. Not even that big a deal since it's more fun to do the work, but it's just an appearance thing. Hell, maybe that's what R* was going for.

How is everyone doing for this checkpoint? GrayGhost powered through the game and is now done The game isn't too hard or difficult so no one should have any trouble.

I just received my copy today, installed it and played for a good two hours to get up to chapter 4.  I decided to go with "Hard" difficulty, and so far it has been difficult, but not overly frustrating.  Most of my deaths come from not using 'smart' cover (popping out of cover for too long or letting enemies flank me).  The use of blindfire has saved me quite a few times, and it is implemented better than most in this game.  I'm always debating whether or not to expose myself with aimed shoots or just blindfire and use up ammo to save health.

I'm playing the PC version by the way, which frankly looks freaking awesome with all the graphical options maxed.

I found it hard to stop playing at this checkpoint. It's kind of the point in the game where it really draws you in.

The game really is a slippery slope. Sometimes 3rd-person shooters get a little tedious to me. This game flirts with tedium sometimes, but in general it makes you want to keep going to see how far down the rabbit hole Max will fall.

This game sure is a thrill ride. I just tried to break it up into two or three hour chunks because I know not everyone has loads of free time to play games.

I know I'm a little late to the party, but I just started playing this game the other day and thought I'd chime in with my thoughts:

I played this game a little over a year ago on Hard difficulty, but that turned out to be a controller-throwingly frustrating experience, so I opted to play on Normal this time around.  I'm enjoying it much more on normal.  I'm also playing on PC with maxed out settings, whereas I played it on PS3 before, and I'm definitely enjoying the perks that go along with that.

Anyway, I'm around chapter 5 or 6 now.  One odd thing I've noticed is that I'm not really using bullet-time much at all, mostly just sticking to cover and picking my shots.  So far, my only real complaint with this game is how annoying Passos can get.  Just shut up and let me look for pain killers without nagging me to death!   :grrr:

And I love the slow motion kill cam.  That never gets old  ;D

A great thing about this game is that you can either do the cover based slow crawl, or you can play balls to the walls with the bullet time, or you can choose a hybrid of the two. Consciously making this gameplay decision can greatly change your experience with the game.

I definitely tried to mix it up. I'd usually go in guns blazin' until my health got low, then I'd take cover and go bullet time for some pistol-sniping headshots to thin out the herd.

During my original playthrough I used bullet time like it was going out of style. This time around I'm trying to be more tactical although I'm sure as the gun fights get more chaotic I'll have to resort to bullet time more often.

Everyone finished/finishing Week 2's checkpoint? I fell a little behind because I binge played The Walking Dead and beat Burial at Sea the night it came out. Tomorrow I should be able to get back on track.

I did the New York chapter. Forgot about the shift in the narrative. I love the way the story jumps around, and also shooting Jersey Shore inspired guidos in the face.

Went on up to chapter 7. Had a few rough spots with the commandos during the "escort" mission with the IT Crowd guys.

The mission in the office building always give me trouble. Especially the scenes where Max hides the IT guy in the closet, and when the Jeep bursts through the front door.

I love that I feel like I'm playing a Hollywood action movie with this game.

Yeah that machine gun helmet guy was giving me trouble. What finally worked was me bullet time jumping at them as soon as the action started. I took out the two guys that come in with the helmet guy and we shot each other point blank until a painkiller rebuttal kicked in and I stunned him. Then I ran up to him and knocked him over and I think the game bugged because he couldn't get up but was still alive. About twenty shots to the head later he was dead.

Not really sure on what the strategy is supposed to be with him.

I think head shots are the only way to take the helmet guy down. You can just unload bullets into him to kind of stun him, then go for the head shot. That's what worked for me.

I had some trouble in exactly the same spot (the office area). I died a bunch of times at first but what finally beat it was slowly going around counter-clockwise getting each guy and then focusing on the middle.

Played on a bit. Got to the Panama canal bit. Stuck on the part where you come out the front of the boat and there's like six guys on the deck and four on the bank and there's zero cover and I don't have any painkillers.

I'm pretty sure if you die too many times you will eventually start respawning with extra painkillers.

Yeah, but I hate using that as a crutch.

Just keep at Leon. Eventually, after dying enough you'll re-spawn with painkillers. It's a cheap strategy, but it works.

Was feeling particularly "with it" today and blew through the boat part and on into the Organ Donor building. Last time the roof (when the building starts blowing up) gave me a ton of problems, but this time I did it second try with just one painkiller (I think using the RPK helped too).

Love the easter egg with the piano where Max plays the theme from MP2 and seems to have a moment's solace.

The heavies in this game always give me trouble. The guy at the end of the organ harvesting building got me so frustrated because I couldn't target his head. Finally used bullet time and was able to take him out. I found the Panama Canal scene much easier this time around. That easter egg was so nice. It's so peaceful and lets you get into Max's emotional side.

Does anyone playing 360 version to be buggy? I've had three glitches so far: a helicopter sound during a cutscene that only went away after pausing; dark image that was fixed after after pausing; and getting stuck in "cover walk" while not in cover which only is fixed by randomly pressing buttons.

Yeah I remember the heavy on top of the building being a pain, but this time I bullet timed and RPK'd him in his head with every shot, which knocked off his helmet, and then the next few shot killed him. Not sure if it was a glitch or what but it was easy.

I just finished Max Payne 3.  As I suspected, this game was far more enjoyable on Normal setting instead of Hard.  I hated this game on my first playthrough because of how frustrating it was.  Playing it again on Normal proved to me that this is indeed a well crafted and enjoyable third-person shooter.  There were a few areas that gave me some trouble and started to become frustrating, but these spots only took me a few tries to get through opposed to the dozens of tries it would take me on hard.

As a big action movie fan, this game really tapped into that and many times made me feel like I was playing an action movie.  Lots of cheesy dialog and over the top action set pieces that always bring a smile to my face  :)

I really enjoyed this game and am looking forward to seeing what the next community playthrough will be!

Just finished it myself. With the exception of the silly and unintuitive fights with the heavies, I really really enjoyed it, probably more than my first time through a couple years back. I can't wait for more Max Payne, and really just wish more action adventure games felt so polished and were so much fun.

I know this is coming very late, but I'm happy I still found this video as it's very fitting to the discussions we had about the game and its themes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W5PuVU8LZE

I think I'll try to include these analysis videos in future playthroughs.