The gameplay is so off

[Jabber]

Thank god I bought this game on a sale. I can hardly understand why this game is so poplular. There are things I like about it, but it was more irritating than enjoyable, and I just quit playing about a third of the way through simply because the gameplay is not much fun. I rarely quit a game, so it has to be especially obnoxious for that to happen. First of all the good stuff:
Very nicely rendered location, I really liked Sao Paulo
There might be somethign resembling a story behind all this mess
some good characterization, for a computer game

The bad stuff:
Gameplay. Maybe I am too used to first person shooters, but I hated how little control you had over the player movement and aim. There were too many times that I died because my own player obscured bad guy locations due to the third person perspective. I hated how the third person view in the game sometimes allowed enemy players to see and shoot you without you being able to see them because of how far off the player perspective (the 'camera') is from their own player character. There were too many times when the targeting reticle either failed to turn on (even in aim mode), or went crazy and aimed at the ceiling because of goofy cover issues. I hated the cover system, it inhibited player movement too much. I felt like I was glued to walls and cover objects, and I had a jerky time getting away. I hated how crouching threw you down to a prone position sometimes. Even after I turned off all the assists, the game still felt like it wanted to play for me at times. I hated how intrusive the slo mo deaths were in the middle of a firefight.

I don't really think its becuase I am more used to first person shooters, because I was just fine with Max Payne 1,2, Alan Wake, and the GTA games. Somehow the firefights in this game just weren't any fun. The game needs to let go of my character movement, let go of the aim, stop inturrupting the action, and let me have fun. There was too much of a training wheels feeling, even after I turned off all the assists. The game felt heavily geared toward a gamepad, which was simultaneously dull and frustrating as I am used to way more control over the player actions.

Outside of the gameplay, Max Payne's dialogue is badly over-baked. It's like what a 12 year old kid's idea of noir dialogue. I kind of expected that because the previous Max Payne's weren't any better. But still, that doesn't make it any less excrutiating.

Sorry, I just had to vent.

[Gonzo]

Understood. I also got the game on sale. I am also glad about that, but that's because
"pre-order" and "day-one purchase" are both four letter-words to me.

I read a review that highlighted all the same irritations that you had. Yes, I do sometimes feel the movement clunky on the mouse and keyboard but I hear aiming the reticle with a mouse is still the way to do it.

I think it's clunkiness? Might be on purpose? Only because it adds to the chaoticness of the firefight. And despite the third person view, few games have felt as real to me as Max Payne 3.

Max Payne 3 really feels like playing through a movie like no other game really has for me. That is not a rip on the long cutscenes because I liked the story a lot. Yes, San Pao does ROCK. I agree with you there. From the swanky clubs to the slums, San Pao gives great settings. (*SPOILER alert.) Hoboken and Panama ain't so bad either.

But mazaltov for highlighting the same complaints as people who review games professionally. Me personally though? If i launch Max Payne through the air in bullet time, and there is a wall there. I want to screw up up and get shot, because I did just screw up.

Bullet-time luanches are already such a huge advantage that it shouldn't be any more uber than it is with some handholding, autocorrect feature that negates your impact into a wall. I realize that is just one aspects of your critiques on the gameplay but it is one that I remember reading about before and I am kind of glad that it is that way. It would be little too newb-friendly otherwise. I kind of equate that with Gearbox making Borderlands 1 and 2 REALLY hard in some parts. That is a triple A title for them, blockbuster smash, with massive appeal. They could have easily made that game more newb-friendly (and I am not calling you a newb per se) for more dollars but they thought of the more hardcore gamers needing some challenge.

Another comparison might be to Dead Space 1. The game limits your movement and view which feeds into the "f*ck it's me against ALL these space zombies. How the heck am I going to get out of this?"

In short, I think your complaints are specific and valid. They might have prevented me from ever buying the game because I had heard them repeated elsewhere. Once I played the game, however, it seems like the things some people might not like were design decisions that feed into built-in disadvantages for the player, ramping up the tension imho.

[troylights]

Spoilers below!

I enjoyed the game as a whole, but there were some irritating parts. Having Passos constantly tell me to hurry up got on my nerves. How the heck am I supposed to find the items in the environment if I speed my way through the level? And then that part in the stadium where you have to protect Passos with your sniper rifle. Why didn't Passos just pick up a rifle from one of the guys you shoot at the start? Just seemed idiotic to me. I've played the first 2 MP games with keyboard and mouse, but using the controller in MP3 was easier on my wrists. Getting old, I guess.

[Mr Keefy]

The weapon system is weird, I go to select the AK-47 an it drops it instead, or I cant drop a weapon that has no bullets left in it, instead I have to select a 2 handed weapon to drop a weapon or something, I am not sure exactly because its so complex a system.
Add to that a bug that removes all weapons when you die and select RETRY to continue.

The aiming is weird, feels like negative acceleration is on half the time and not on the other half, whatever it is it is far from ideal.

I find myself not using bullet time as much in this game because of the aim system being the way it is and the fact it doesn't seem to reward the player for being aggressive, the best reward comes from being a sissy and ducking behind cover most of the time.

It is well optimised for PC though, my 6870 can run it with everything set as high as possible except the Anti aliasing at a decent frame rate.

[PsydeFX]

Originally posted by BACON WARRIOR:

Who ever design that little white dot to aim your guni want to kick in the balls. Its so hard to see when it gets lost in the background

I love the little dot, I use dot reticle in all shooters if it's available lol.

I honestly found the game to be profoundly easy even on the hardest difficulty. I always put my games on the hardest right from the start, so I guess when you condition yourself for that from the beginning, it's not that challenging. That said, I never had much trouble with aiming. There were a few rare instances where Max does get in the way of your shooting, but it didn't happen to me often at all. As far as the cover mechanics, I only found it clunky at first, and it was indeed very clunky, but I got used to it after awhile and didn't notice it anymore. I never had my aiming go wild on me though, not sure what's causing that, nor did I have any acceleration issues with turning. I used my KB+Mouse just fine with this one, I didn't feel a gamepad was necessary.

As far as gameplay, I felt very satisfied with this one. I loved how it played out like a movie, IMO it's the first game that captured that feel in a very good way. I didn't use bullet time often at all, it's almost cheating. If there were 1 enemy per bullet, then I could clear the area in one jump with all headshots.

I found the game entertaining, and I just recently reinstalled it and I play the one minute challenges here and there. I just find the gameplay of this one to be overall fun. I hope it doesn't leave that bad of a taste in your mouth, finish it out, I think it's worth it.

[The Machine]

The game feels more suited for a gamepad? Well that's one way to invalidate everything you've said. Even though you never pointed out anything of substance anyway. If you have trouble playing the game because of some apparent mental roadblock you were either born with or acquired after repeated beatings to the head then that's your problem.