Grade • C+

Video Game • "It was a dark and stormy night when Max rushed in, his blazing guns spitting out chunks of red-hot lead as they tore through the soft flesh of every two-bit scum and lowlife in the room."

The down-on-his-luck anti-hero of "Max Payne 3" (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation3) returns in this updated third-person shooter that carries over the gritty narrative, John Woo-styled gunplay, as well as the Z-grade film-noir dialogue of its predecessors.

Payne is a former detective who is now a bodyguard in South America trying to save the kidnapped relatives of his boss. It's a violent, unnecessarily grim backdrop that is likely going to force you to take a shower afterward. At least the graphics are a nice upgrade over the earlier games. —

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