Multiplat Max Payne 3

[exe ex machina]

With a bit of luck, and magnificent head shot accuracy, I got thru that, then quickly finished the very ending of the game. Max walking off into the Baha sunset onto Max Payne 4 where Max is armed with a broken stick and somehow defeats the entire Chinese army.

 

[HBK619]

Multiplayer is becoming a real chore. Lobbies are always full of Europeans and Americans which inevitably brings enough lag to become frustrating.

The time between matches is excruciatingly long and you can't select a class between map selection and spawning. Branco towers is Max Payne's version of Nuketown or Metro with the voting system meaning you only play that map with the occasional round at the bus station.

The grind to unlock and rank up weapons is far too linear with simply not enough at your disposal at a low level to really disadvantage new players against the higher ranks.

I'm sure there are more flaws that I can't remember ATM. Think I might decrease the difficulty to finish the second half of the story really quickly and take this one back.

I've found fairly good map rotation in the games that I've played. Don't think I've actually seen one map go around twice in a row.

Branco Towers isn't too bad of a map, just a nade spam fest. Take away the nades and I reckon it works fairly well, there's a good amount of flanking routes in it despite being one of the smallest maps.

It's strange how nades aren't used in the single player yet become a huge thing in the multiplayer. Get the feeling that the game would be better without them entirely.

I'm getting a little bored of MP as well, more so just that I think I'm not really a MP player all that much anymore. It's still pretty fun, fast with a good selection of small-ish maps. But the repetition is boring me.

The rolling objective mode doesn't work though. Too easy to get bogged down in 5-10 people right at the objective throwing nades and letting stray bullets hit (or using the soft lock to nail people easily on that aim mode), not tactical at all.

 

[Ant_]

Finsihed the game.

Story really didn't do much at all for me, agree with what Mancey & GG has said.

Spoiler

So predictable that Victor was behind all this.

 

[Mancey]

Wow wtf is going on with scoped weapons.

Every time I go aim down scope the aiming switches to left thumbstick.

Absolutely hopeless. Not sure if its to do with using inverted y axis, but with unscoped weapons its all good.

Real downer

 

[Ant_]

Wow wtf is going on with scoped weapons.

Every time I go aim down scope the aiming switches to left thumbstick.

Absolutely hopeless. Not sure if its to do with using inverted y axis, but with unscoped weapons its all good.

Real downer

I didn't notice , maybe because it goes First Person and my FPS instinct kicked in.

 

[exe ex machina]

I hated using the laser sighted guns, could never hit anyone with them. Would trade them for pistols even if that was the only choice available to fight the hordes.

 

[Mancey]

I didn't notice , maybe because it goes First Person and my FPS instinct kicked in.

No no...its not a fps thing. aiming is still right stick in fps and left stick is movement and strafing. This game is switching the other way around when looking down a scope...like southpaw.

Absolute gamebreaker...I can't hit shit

just googled and apparently lots of people whinging...surprised it hasn't come up on here

 

[Ant_]

No no...its not a fps thing. aiming is still right stick in fps and left stick is movement and strafing. This game is switching the other way around when looking down a scope...like southpaw.

Absolute gamebreaker...I can't hit shit

just googled and apparently lots of people whinging...surprised it hasn't come up on here

Fair enough, I must have just subconsciously adapted or something? Didn't notice at all with the scoped weapons.

Agree with GG, the laser sights I couldn't hit anything with it.

 

[Mancey]

Wow...this is just killing me. need the scoped weapon to pass a section and just can't adapt

 

[JADED]

Changing the reticule in options is a must. Change it from always white (a white dot for every gun) to weapon specific, then for the longer guns you get a decent reticule/crosshair.

 

[Ant_]

Wow...this is just killing me. need the scoped weapon to pass a section and just can't adapt

Ha, now that you've mentioned it. I wonder if it will shit me now if I play again.

 

[exe ex machina]

Settings, definitely choose "weapon specific" you wont have the scoped issue. Well, all i know is i used that from the outset and never had an issue with scopes reverting to southpaw.

Favorite levels or moments in the game?

There was some pretty cool creepy music and settings when Max was going thru that run down hotel section in Brazil. Thru that early section of it there was less shooting, more atmospheric.

Enjoyed all the flashback and flashforward bits. Probably the NY cemetery flashback was the best.

Enjoyed those slowed down bits where you're hanging by something moving and have to shoot a bunch of people before that thing stops moving. Enjoyed similar moments to that, like the bus ride, boat ride, and train rides where you're running a gauntlet of bullets.

Enjoyed some of the early Brazil scenes walking around in the seedy shanty towns, strip clubs.

Off the top of my head what I can remember quickly.

 

[Mancey]

I'm Using weapon specific...has nothing to do with the scope issue.

From what I've found online it seems to be an issue with inverted axis gamers...ie me

 

[exe ex machina]

Ah okay. Well that would explain it. I just had "no" for all those inverted axis options. Ive always used those settings for all games. Makes no sense to me to push up to make something move down. Do you invert the X axis, pushing left to move/look right?

 

[Ant_]

Ah okay. Well that would explain it. I just had "no" for all those inverted axis options. Ive always used those settings for all games. Makes no sense to me to push up to make something move down. Do you invert the X axis, pushing left to move/look right?

Yeah I didn't use inverted either.

 

[exe ex machina]

Yep, looks like it's a bug, scoped guns not switching to inverted axis options. Probably get an update fix, but mancey will not be happy till then

 

[HBK619]

Settings, definitely choose "weapon specific" you wont have the scoped issue. Well, all i know is i used that from the outset and never had an issue with scopes reverting to southpaw.

Favorite levels or moments in the game?

There was some pretty cool creepy music and settings when Max was going thru that run down hotel section in Brazil. Thru that early section of it there was less shooting, more atmospheric.

Enjoyed all the flashback and flashforward bits. Probably the NY cemetery flashback was the best.

Enjoyed those slowed down bits where you're hanging by something moving and have to shoot a bunch of people before that thing stops moving. Enjoyed similar moments to that, like the bus ride, boat ride, and train rides where you're running a gauntlet of bullets.

Enjoyed some of the early Brazil scenes walking around in the seedy shanty towns, strip clubs.

Off the top of my head what I can remember quickly.

I liked most of the Brazil stuff and the NJ flashbacks were definitely enjoyable. In fact there could've been a fair amount more of that stuff imo, even if it was just for padding out the story they only had 2 flashbacks to NJ. Strange.

Personally disliked the on-rails boat section, easily the worst. On hard was just a grind and wasn't fun at all.

Enjoyed the 'decaying' building section too (

Spoiler

the one you blow up)

, gave a slower pace to the gameplay for a fair bit, with spurts of action. Culminating in an all out shootout that didn't go over the top bad. Probably the best paced section of gameplay imo.

I'm Using weapon specific...has nothing to do with the scope issue.

From what I've found online it seems to be an issue with inverted axis gamers...ie me

No wonder, inverted gamers are the demon's spawn.

 

[Mancey]

Ah okay. Do you invert the X axis, pushing left to move/look right?

Lol no. would be a bizarre way to play.

Been discussed on here before...but yeah. Lots of older gamers use the inverted vertical I find.

not sure why, I reckon its a hangover from playing flight sims as a kid on c64 etc.

Btw...its not that the axis doesn't go inverted in scoped. the stick changes. so view goes to left stick. Its like playing drunk....well...more drunk.

Anyway fumbled past that section thank Christ. Started part 2. Now its getting crazy difficult on hard and no aim lock. Adjusted the way I play and its helping. You can't use shoot dodge much in hard, you just get nailed on the ground. It's all about careful shooting from cover

 

[Gold Member]

Dude turn off inverted. Surely you'll adapt to that really quickly as you only retraining your right thumb on the one axis that effects every minute of gameplay... Better than having to bash your head against a wall each time you need a scoped weapon!

 

[exe ex machina]

---you just get nailed on the ground. It's all about careful shooting from cover

good luck with that on 'hard' in part 2 and 3! i played hard too. You're going to find many situations where doing the suicide run is the only/best way to get thru it. There are a few situations where playing tactical cover is the way -- when you're on higher or lower ground to your enemies on lower or higher ground, or they systematically follow you.

But for the most part, taking cover you get swarmed and the shooting lasts much longer, takes you longer to clear a level. The opportune position you initially have the enemies when you stumble on them is to be taken advantage of. Otherwise they'll relocate and maneuver themselves, outflank and swarm you.

A classic example of that is in the football stadium when you're up in the bleachers. If you let them maneuver out of that doorway, they'll spread 360 degrees around you taking sniper positions and swarming you.

Funnily enough, when you cop a beating and you end up lying on your back low on health, it works to your advantage. It's how i got thru a number of 'boss' stages, like the sheer brutality of the final act -- just by luck ended up on the ground and they were all running in but i kept getting those automatic slowed down moments where just one bullet will kill someone, didn't have a chance to get up, was fortuitously stuck, and it was easy pickings.

As a general tactic...i found the suicide-run taking them by surprise was the best way, just sprinting around in random circles with shootdodge and bullettime. You clear that level/situation within seconds. Or, if you're really up against it, do a '300' where you incite them to come after you, and take cover in a narrow passage way with your back and sides protected by walls, and you just nail them off as they turn the corner into that passage, able to kill two or three with 'one bullet' kind of thing as they're all bunched up.

I learned playing single player mode in games like COD etc, where if you hurry thru the stage less AI enemies appear, all about advancing your character literally past certain areas in the map, that sets off a new wave of enemies and ceases with the wave you were on, they just cease tho not killed. But if you sat there behind cover trying to kill everyone, the game kept re-generating more enemies from spots where there was only one enemy and he already got killed. I am sure newer-gen games like MP3 have more advanced AI and only a set number of enemies, doesn't re-gen more of them, but the same tactic seems to work still, you clear stages quicker rather than letting them dig in, out-flank you and swarm you.

 

[Mancey]

Dude turn off inverted. Surely you'll adapt to that really quickly as you only retraining your right thumb on the one axis that effects every minute of gameplay... Better than having to bash your head against a wall each time you need a scoped weapon!

I think waiting for a patch for an acknowledged bug is easier than reprogramming 25 years of gaming instinct

Well past the football bleachers stage GG. Was stuck for ages in the stage where you're escorting the IT guy to the servers when the guys come through the roof. Shootdodged my way to about 50 deaths until i ran around to a indestructable filing cabinet and just picked everyone off from cover.

Acknowledge that there are times when run and gun is needed, but if it isn't a enemy respawn situation, like the one above, then cover is the go for sure

 

[Lance Uppercut]

I think waiting for a patch for an acknowledged bug is easier than reprogramming 25 years of gaming instinct

Well past the football bleachers stage GG. Was stuck for ages in the stage where you're escorting the IT guy to the servers when the guys come through the roof. Shootdodged my way to about 50 deaths until i ran around to a indestructable filing cabinet and just picked everyone off from cover.

Acknowledge that there are times when run and gun is needed, but if it isn't a enemy respawn situation, like the one above, then cover is the go for sure

agree with this. I didn't find much (if any) of this game had infinite respawn areas? Once you work out where the enemies are you can work out how to kill them.

Man that part where the guys drop out of the roof was insane!!

 

[exe ex machina]

Yep, it's not a re-spawn game. My experience with them just turned me into more of a suicide runner over bunking-down especially with smarter AI these days. MP3 a perfect example, where they spread out, and flank you from the sides then bull-rush you from the front.

Basically, any situation in MP3 where there was even ground between me and enemies, I would barge them soon as I caught them standing there. I experimented with tactical cover in these situations and found they just spread out and out-maneuver you too well. Especially as most situations like this they have the territorial advantage, more space and walls and stairs etc at the immediate disposal to maneuver thru. Whereas you're always backed up with minimal room and cant retreat most of the time.

An example of suicide running where you'd think cover was better....the panama party boat, when you get to the upper deck after the helicopter flies off, there are 4 guys bunkering down in sniper-like positions that you cant see, if you take the stairs to the left or right, even just a little, all these guys can shoot you from their angle, so if you poke your head out to target the left one, the right one snipers your head off. After failing many times to tactical cover, picking them off one by one, I resorted to just sprinting up there, then bullettime to ascertain where they exactly were, and that mayhemic rush at them often got them panicked having to get up and relocate. Same with the NY cemetery, the circular section, best to bull-rush.

Any time there are long narrow winding corridors in buildings, boats, trains, etc, with minimal doors/ways they could get around me, I would always sit in cover, moving up bit by bit. And anywhere where I was on higher/lower ground and they were below or above me, you really have to take cover and pick these guys off otherwise they move to better angles to your left and right leaving you exposed. So I'd pick off a few, then suicide run those on the same level who were swarming, then take cover, pick off some more above/below, etc. The airport scene at the end, the lounge area with all the escalators, was a good example of when taking cover too much they outflank you and they start bringing out the grenades if you take too much time, or try to stay on the upper level, they spread snipers out all over the place and you cant advance. So in the end, I just stayed on the same ground level, and just did a suicide run into the face of them, and quickly finished them off before they could get the grenades out or bunker into sniper positions.

Some areas are all expansive and the best way was to suicide run it early running out in the open, barging THEM, before they could bunker around. Some areas where they sat in cover far away, extremely well-hidden or hard to move up on bit by bit, had to bull-rush them still. Etc.

There were many levels where I tried different things. Like a scene where they immediately all bull-rush you, seeing doors to rooms on the left or right, instead of staying behind a pillar taking cover, deciding to bolt to a room and hide behind a desk so as they enter I can pick them off one by one. Finding that kinda worked but couldn't get past whatever, so a blend of tactics to get thru it.....the '300' thing, then moving out and playing cover a little, then a suicide-run to finish off the last horde, or, the reverse of that.

By all means, the game and fun is in however a person prefers to engage their enemies. Just retelling my experience with MP3 on hard level in parts 2 and 3 especially. Just found for the most part, me bull-rushing them was resorted to more due to the superior tactical-thinking AI enemies in MP3.

 

[Mancey]

Most frustrating section so far has been the docks area before the speedboat chase. Miles between checkpoints, it's crazy.

And i kept shootdodging my way off the walkways into the water=instadeath.

The best "gotta laugh because it's so ****ed" moment was when i'd fought my way through 75% of that section with 4 painkillers in my inventory, then shootdodged forward straight into a gas bottle I'd inadvertantly clipped with a bullet. Boom!

Saw it happening in slow mo and couldn't do a thing to avoid it. No matter how hard you pull on that stick you can't get him out of that dive.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.........#BOOOOOOOOOOM#

 

[Cruyff14]

Enjoyed the 'decaying' building section too (

Spoiler

the one you blow up)

, gave a slower pace to the gameplay for a fair bit, with spurts of action. Culminating in an all out shootout that didn't go over the top bad. Probably the best paced section of gameplay imo.No wonder, inverted gamers are the demon's spawn.

I am up to the rooftop bit of that part, is it near the end?

Most frustrating section so far has been the docks area before the speedboat chase. Miles between checkpoints, it's crazy.

And i kept shootdodging my way off the walkways into the water=instadeath.

The best "gotta laugh because it's so ****ed" moment was when i'd fought my way through 75% of that section with 4 painkillers in my inventory, then shootdodged forward straight into a gas bottle I'd inadvertantly clipped with a bullet. Boom!

Saw it happening in slow mo and couldn't do a thing to avoid it. No matter how hard you pull on that stick you can't get him out of that dive.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.........#BOOOOOOOOOOM#

Yeah the docks is very hard, I got through it just using cover a lot of the time and bullet time while staying stationery.