The second time Bullet Time will automatically activate is during special sequences where Max will be in a high pressure scenario and quick reflexes are required.Īfter the demo was completed, it was hard not to be impressed.
The coolest part about this is you can further slow time by holding the A (or X) button or pump even more rounds into the enemy if you please. The first, and most frequent occurrence of Bullet Time auto-activating, is when Max notches the final kill in a wave of enemies. It is worth noting that there are several moments where Bullet Time will automatically activate while playing. As I was faced with several challenging sequences, I was able to conquer them by activating Bullet Time and taking out the small army of enemies that came my way. I also learned that Bullet Time is once again Max’s best friend. And obviously, soft lock makes the game easier.Īs I played through the level (which took me nearly 45 minutes) I was able to experience Max’s dark, gritty internal dialogue as well as the seamless transition between cut scene and user controlled gameplay firsthand. The free-aim option is still available for players who want to play Max Payne 3 as they would the originals, but now the soft lock option can be turned on as a way to help players better target enemies and simplify the aiming process. In order to fully realize the potential of Max Payne 3, players will want to have Max’s entire arsenal at their disposal, meaning they will need to have a good feel for the controls, which have been made easier with the inclusion of the Soft Lock feature. The second point Rockstar stressed was using Max’s entire set of skills in the fight. The game encourages you to run-and-gun, utilize Bullet Time and bullet dodging. The first was that while Max Payne 3 does have a cover system, it is by no means a cover-based shooter. Naturally, things do not go according to plan and Max and Passos are required to fight past waves of mysterious paramilitary mercs as well as the gang that has kidnapped Fabiana while trying to reclaim the stolen money.įrom the outset, there were two things that Rockstar wanted to make clear to me. As Branco gathers Max, Passos, and his two sons Victor and Marcelo, it is determined that Max and Pashos will deliver the three million dollar ransom to Fabiana’s kidnappers. The mission I played opens with Branco’s wife, Fabiana, having been kidnapped. There will be several chapters in the game that do take place in New York City - ostensibly as Max’s memories - which help to show exactly how he wound up in Brazil in the first place. This was one of the goals for the team at Rockstar.Īs far as the narrative goes, I was told that the majority of the game takes place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where Max is working alongside another former police officer Passos as they protect a wealthy businessman, Rodrigo Branco, and his family. The truly impressive part about the cut scenes and the gameplay is that there is a seamless transition between the two.
Essentially it is the same storytelling vehicle, but now we are seeing it live as opposed to in a series of frames. While the comic-book style text still appears occasionally, Rockstar has opted for a more cinematic approach with motion comics. What has changed, and this is to be expected with the power of the current generation of consoles, is the way the cut scenes are presented. Max is every bit as dark and scarred as he was in his Fall. Based on previous installments and what I saw during my brief time with the game, Max hasn’t changed a bit in the eight years since we last saw him.
In addition to those, the game’s storytelling still has that dark, film noir feel and is told through Max’s inner dialogue. From a visual standpoint, your health bar is still represented by the silhouetted figure in the bottom corner of the screen, as is your Bullet Time meter, because let’s face it, it would not be a Max Payne game without the ability to slow down time. To start, there are several features distinctive to Max Payne that make their triumphant return in Max Payne 3.