It’s not often I enjoy a game so much that I feel excited to read through a few hundred pages in a strategy guide in order to suspend my disbelief that bit further, however Max Payne 3 is one of those rare examples that actually warrants such a hefty and well written guide to support it.
The prolific Brady Games (who have dominated the strategy guide market with their “signature series” volumes supporting some of the industry’s biggest titles) have now turned their sights to Rockstar’s critically acclaimed Max Payne 3, a metaphor which actually works on a few levels due to the fact that Max Payne is literally all about guns.
For fans of Brady Games strategy guides you’ll probably be familiar with much of the guides’ layout, written style and bitesized-chunk approach to its assistance, however for newcomers it will definitely rattle your foundations and kick you into gear within certain aspects of your approach to the game. The guide is split up into various sections; the almost tutorial-esque “bare necessities” at the beginning, the substantial coverage of the single-player campaign (undoubtedly the main bulk of the guide) packing out the centre – before eventually climaxing within the realms of collectables and online multiplayer. The written style is particularly useful for a game of this magnitude – short, snappy and to the point. It also does a great job of not really giving too much immediately away as you play through with it. For example, in one of the earlier missions in the game Max will be saved by his psychopathic next-door neighbour (I’m pretty sure everyone who’s played the game will remember this moment), and rather than straight up tell the reader “your neighbour explodes, saving Max in the process” it instead says “after you’ve been saved, watch the following cut scene to see him ‘cleanse’ the next hallway”. It’s a nice vaguety like that which both clues the gamer up whilst still allowing them the opportunity to experience the truly wonderful moments of Max Payne 3 for themselves.
This guide is like Glastonbury festival – there’s literally something for everyone; from the basics of tackling the narrative, multiplayer and understanding your weaponry to the more complex feats of familiarizing yourself with location maps, discovering all of the many unlockables the game has to offer and mastering the arcade mode. For the perfectionist/achievement hunter in you, this guide will literally serve as your bible. Not only will it save you a great deal of time replaying each mission to locate clues and golden gun parts but the exclusive insights it offers are second to none (golden guns, for example, are they just purely aesthetic or do they have an alternate purpose?) I, however, can give or take all the tips and tricks – what I enjoyed about the guide a lot more were the high-quality glossy prints of concept artwork throughout. The whole guide (weighing in at roughly 287 pages) is in full colour, complete with glossy paper and embossed artwork – which means that the wonderful art direction and exclusive access to Rockstar-designed Birdseye view maps look so much better than one could ever imagine.
For some this guide will be a bible, for others – nothing more than a neat, attractive companion piece to the sterling achievement that is Max Payne 3. Regardless of what you’re interested in learning from it, this Brady Games guide is definitely the perfect cohort for any Max Payne fan. Consider it a glossy, rectangular Passos – now that’s something.
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