Max Payne 3, being made by a different creator and being made a long time after 1 and 2, takes on a different approach to presentation, opting for cutscenes and getting rid of the graphic novel stuff, alongside many other things. But if you're like me and you wanna match the experience to fit with the originals as much as possible, you've come to the right place! These mods will try to match the feel of the original games to 3.

Heads-up: Don't use two mods that mess with timewarp.xml. It doesn't end well.

Also, most if not all of these require OpenIV. So if you don't have that downloaded, ya should. Just be sure you're getting your download from a reputable source, as looking up "openiv download" on Google can bring some results that don't look particularly trustworthy.

The following has all been sourced from Nexus Mods, except for Cutscene Skipper, from modDB, and the bonus chapter at the end.

The Sam Lake Mod [www.nexusmods.com] aims to capture Max' look to fit with Sam Lake instead of James Mcaffrey, fitting with Max' look from the original game, including a slimmer frame and Lake's iconic face. He's also noticeably aged up.

There are variants to choose from as well:

• Original (includes no beard, with bald)
  
• Bearded
  
• No bald
  
• No bald, with beard

Warning: Downloading this mod messes with multiplayer stuff. It's nothing serious, but from what I know it messes up some of the Max head models for certain factions.

There's also a version[www.nexusmods.com] which gives you the Sam head while retaining Max' fatter body.

You liked Max Payne 2 more? Or you'd simply rather play as Timothy Gibbs for somewhat chronological consistency? Very fair. Now you can play as him in all of his glory[www.nexusmods.com]. And he's barely aged one bit!

Same issues with multiplayer as Sam Lake, of course. Unfortunately, there aren't any facial hair variations, you're stuck with Timothy being bald and younger in different missions like normal MP3. Maybe one day. Kick ass.

See here. This guide explains it better than me.

The Classic Bullet Time Mod[www.nexusmods.com] changes your bullet time meter to the one seen in the previous games. There's two downloadable versions, each one for the first and second game's meter icons. Usable in multiplayer, doesn't mess up anything.

Those stupid flashy effects in every single cutscene? You wanna get rid of 'em too? Here ya go![www.nexusmods.com] Download this thing and a good majority of them will be gone! Some are pre-burned on cutscenes, so you don't lose all of them.

Yeah.[www.nexusmods.com] Just get rid of that text in most of those cutscenes. You know, the kind that just repeats what somebody just said a second ago?


That?


Boom. Sold yet?

Fast Payne [www.nexusmods.com] gives the game a faster pace closer to the originals. Max' speed and animations are sped up a bit.

There's also how bullet time is affected. The shootdodge ends a bit faster with this mod, like the originals, but you don't have to play with the faster bullet time. I like it, since, because it ends faster, you can't just spam shootdodge and beat every fight, and you have to plan more.


Warning: This mod can break the game like sometimes. This only happened to me like a long time after I had it but some enemies spawned in stuck in an A pose and other times their upper halves disappeared with the camera situated in one spot. so restart the game if that stuff happens

Graphic Max Novel[www.nexusmods.com] aims to replace the game's lengthier cutscenes with the graphic novel presentation of the original games. Unfortunately, it's unfinished, and the only version available is one that changes some cutscenes in Chapter III. It has a chance to crash if you don't backup the replaced file.

Old School Max Payne [www.nexusmods.com] lets you play in Max' first game outfit in EVERY chapter! He has been de-aged a bit as well. Lets you play as James' Max while still retaining the classic look.

This.. probably messes up multiplayer stuff. Haven't tested it on multi myself.

MP1 and 2 OST [www.nexusmods.com] replaces 3's soundtrack with that of the OST of 1 or 2, depending on which version you download. I'm gonna be honest, I think the OST of 3 works perfectly with the game, but y'know. it's there.

Have you heard of SteamGridDB[www.steamgriddb.com]?

If you haven't, it's a site that offers a wide selection of custom game artwork you can apply to your Steam library! It's pretty cool. And Max Payne 3 has quite a few choices for alternate artwork on here, some of which follow with the traditional covers of 1 and 2.