Max Payne 3 is a brutal, visceral, hardcore, no punches pulled, chaotic, bloody, gory, explosive, cinematic, hard boiled, edge of your seat, sardonic chuckle filled, bullet ridden roller coaster of a good time. This is of course, coming from a guy who usually prefers point and click adventure games and platformers. Occasionally though, every gamer gets a little trigger happy.

Any fans of the first two Max Payne games who are put off by the new look and feel of 3, trust me. It plays just like classic Max Payne, with fan service references to the originals, similar atmosphere, and at its core the same surprising amount of heart for such a blood drenched game. Mixing cinematic and combat-related elements recently pioneered by games like Uncharted and Gears of War with the series’ classic bullet time action and pill popping, it’s like the original Max Payne pumped full of steroids.

As a purely fun “feels like you’re living an ultra-violent 80s cop adventure” type of game, I highly recommend it. Rockstar Studios outdo themselves yet again. The first truly stellar game of 2012 has arrived. Now excuse me while I shoot people’s brain matter out of their heads in slow motion with my machine gun from a speeding motorboat.

-Spuzz