After 1,662 kills and a playthrough of Max Payne 3, you learn that life is cheap—and so was the QA department. A greatly annoying game that could have been the best in the Max Payne series, both gameplay-wise and mechanically. I love the graphics and the mechanics of the game, but they are broken half of the time. It insists on playing the game for you, taking control out of your hands every other minute. If the game did not do these things, it might have been an all-time favorite. Annoying cutscenes break up the action and gameplay all the time (this is not an exaggeration). It takes control of almost every interaction; 90% of the doors you enter lead to a cutscene. Why? Do you want to go around collecting hidden items or ammo? Don't head to the wrong place—the game takes control and forces you out of the area. If the Guinness World Records had a prize for most cutscenes, this game would win it. The game also wrests control away from you mid-fight, mid-action. Suddenly, you have to shoot a specific person. The game occasionally oversteers your controls. When a cutscene takes over, which happens frequently, it decides to dump or change your chosen weapon and throws you right back into the action, assuming you have the same weapons as before the cutscene. There are mostly no environmental challenges like in the previous games because it would rather just show you a cutscene and play the game for you. The cutscenes are mostly pointless exposition and word salads. They are badly written compared to previous installments. The story is a convoluted mess that serves merely as an excuse for extravagant shootouts, which would be fine if it weren't for spending half the game in unnecessary cutscenes. What a hot mess! Still, the action and mechanics of the game are great when it doesn’t play itself.

A great sequel to a slightly better game. The story is not up to par and it was disappointing to not see Sam Lake reprise his visual (never was the voice I think) role in this. Still a great mood, and great writing (again by Sam Lake). Visually better. Gameplay slightly better. Did use "Max Payne Anthology Definitive Fixes" for general fixes and widescreen.