It certainly is.

Perhaps Rockstar thought it would be an act of supreme irony to have your character handle as if he (or indeed you) were actually as whacked out on pills and jack as Max seems to be.

The controls are fucking dire.

The yahtzee review pretty much agree's with you on that aswell as pointing out that the whole darker more violent setting isnt exactly very dark or grown up and the character of max has somehow lost his sense of humour about things, tbh i think rockstar only made the third game to shut up the whiney bitches who kept askign about a new game.

It's dark and violent in that a) the cinematic effects try to represent Max's state of mind and b) it's very violent (duh).

Into this they do try to insert a sense of humour: the wry narration and the buddy-boy wisecracking. But that humour doesn't really stand out enough to offset the dark. It's not heroic bloodshed because Max is a) not heroic and b) handles like a drunk elephant. The end result is that the player is left rather confused: you want to be leaping around shootdodging and being all John Woo, but instead you die very very easily (unlike the enemies) and move very very slowly. Shootdodge takes forever to wind up.

It's very well put together, but it's a bit odd. Though the CONSTANT cut scenes underscore the simple truth that developers seem to want to ignore these days: gameplay. Yes, we all like cut scenes and we all like story, but we want a game.

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Max-Payne-3-Cheaters-Quarantined-43561.html

QuoteGAMING BLEND
Max Payne 3 Cheaters Will Be Quarantined

A few bad apples are currently wreaking havoc in Max Payne 3's multiplayer. Today Rockstar acknowledged that cheating is an ongoing issue and promised to handle these offenders roughly.

Rockstar says that anyone using hacked saves, game modes, and other exploits for MP3's multiplayer will be quarantined from the general player population. They'll be restricted to a so-called "Cheaters Pool" with all of the other offenders. Deathmatches composed only of players using invincibility hacks should be fun.

It's possible that they will eventually forgive these cheaters and let them out of the "Cheaters Pool." However, they'll only get one second chance. Any additional cheating will lead to permanent banishing.

Banishment seems like the most player-friendly solution. While cheating is a crappy thing to do, the fact is that these misbehavers are paying customers. Providing them with an alternate way to keep playing online is an unexpected bit of mercy. It accomodates people who happen to share a computer/account with a cheater, too.

Truly, an idea whose time has come.

JG

As I take it, it compares unfavourably to the first game?

I've never played the older games. I susopect given the differences in technology, such comparisons are meaningless really. MP3 certainly looks impressive, but it's a squalid awful game that revels in everything that people who hate video gaming complain about. It's just vile. The gameplay is tedious shallow and repetitive and the character handles like a pig, often placed into the action in the worst possible way with the wrong weapon in hand. Shootdodge is useless. There are more cut scenes than actual gameplay and they are laden with silly effects, awful narration and occur with rage inducing frequency. This isn't a game it's an interactive movie that revels in slow mo headshots and exit wounds. The only people that would enjoy this puerile shite are the sort of fanboys that have clung onto rockstar's jaded coattails for years. They have long given up producing anything of any worth, even RDR was repetitive. It's a shame such talented programmers are wasted. I gave up before i completed it and before my soul became too mired in shit.