This slick third-person shooter from Rockstar is the latest instalment in a series which began in 2001. The first two games were developed by Remedy Entertainment, but the Max Payne series is now in the hands of Bully developer Rockstar Vancouver.

The series has always been heavily influenced by the smooth, choreographed action of John Woo’s films, but its most defining influence is The Matrix. Slow motion was always going to be a core gameplay feature in Max Payne, but that film blew apart the action genre in 1999 with its bullet time effects, and this heavily influenced Remedy’s finished product.

Rockstar Vancouver has stayed faithful to the series’ roots. Bullet time is still at the centre of the gameplay, only now they have the technology to do it right. A quick press on the right stick triggers the slow motion sequence, giving Payne time to line up his shots as bullets glide slowly across the camera. These days bullet time is often overused in both games and films – usually shoe-horned in to mask deficiencies elsewhere – but the remarkable thing is that it feels fresh here.

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