Just finished the whole Max Payne series and had a great time.

Technically, I beat MP1 a couple times back in the day before Steam existed, but this was my first time with 2 and 3. I'll do a breakdown of each game.

Max Payne 1

Since this game is almost legally an adult now it's obviously a little rough around the edges today. The Steam version doesn't work with W10 very well without some added mods and fixes, but it was nothing too difficult. Nevertheless, the story, narration, the graphic novel story delivery, and noir-styled theme still hold up pretty well. The gameplay is still mostly fine as long as you remember that cover systems weren't a thing back then. The game was harder than I remembered and sometimes not for the right reasons. There were quite a few times when enemies would lob a grenade in close quarters that was nearly impossible to anticipate and would insta-kill me. Enemies also become major bullet sponges mid-late game and every weapon was starting to feel useless until I got the M4 in the last act. In one particular level I was practically saving after every enemy (no checkpoints), and that felt a little cheap. Overall though, I enjoyed replaying this again.

Max Payne 2

Probably my favorite of the trilogy. It feels like a proper iteration of MP1 with small quality of life improvements, a bigger budget, and fewer cheap deaths. It was definitely a shorter game which was unfortunate, but that may be the only knock I have against it. Gunplay felt more satisfying, where headshots actually matter and every weapon is viable. Playing as Mona a few times was a fun switch-up too, even if she played identically to Max. The story wasn't as good as the first, but it was still decent. Overall, good times were had.

Max Payne 3

I was honestly really excited going into this one just to see what a more modern take on MP looked like. I understand this one was made by Rockstar instead of Remedy, so it was bound to feel different, but I think that may have done more harm than good unfortunately. After playing 1 and 2 it was nice to finally have a cover system, but some questionable controls and awkward movement made the whole thing feel a little janky to me. I know this is a common complaint with Rockstar games, even in their most recent release of RDR2, but I find it odd that something like Uncharted 1, which released 5 years before this, was a way better-feeling game to play. I was also surprised that they kept painkillers and didn't switch to regenerating health, but I think that was the right decision. The story was easily the weakest of the trilogy and felt largely disconnected from the first two games, minus the couple of flashback levels in Jersey. Despite my complaints, once I got used to the controls the game was still fun to play, and that's what matters most.

After the shitty life Max has had and a body count to rival Thanos, I hope the poor guy is retired for good now and found some happiness.