Mafia II: Definitive Edition vs Max Payne 3
Mafia II: Definitive Edition is an action-adventure open-world game from Hangar 13 (2020) while Max Payne 3 is an FPS open-world game from Rockstar Vancouver (2012).
What each one is
Steam files Mafia II: Definitive Edition under Action-Adventure and Open-World. In contrast, it files Max Payne 3 under FPS and Open-World.
War hero Vito Scaletta becomes entangled with the mob in hopes of paying his father’s debts. Vito works to prove himself, climbing the family ladder with crimes of larger reward and consequence.
No longer a New York City cop, Max Payne moves to São Paulo to protect a wealthy family in an effort to finally escape his troubled past. This complete edition of Max Payne 3 includes the complete original game and all previously released downloadable content.
At a glance
| Mafia II: Definitive Edition | Max Payne 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 6.7/10 | 7.9/10 |
| Steam rating | Mostly Positive (74%, 38,558) | Very Positive (87%, 64,035) |
| Critic aggregate | No aggregate | 87/100 |
| Price | $29.99 | $5.99 |
| Install size | 50 GB | — |
| Steam Deck | playable | playable |
| Released | 2020 | 2012 |
| Developer | Hangar 13 | Rockstar Vancouver |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Mafia II: Definitive Edition vs Max Payne 3, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Mafia II: Definitive EditionAction-adventure open-world gameMax Payne 3FPS open-world gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Mafia II: Definitive EditionAction, Adventure, CrimeMax Payne 3Action, Third-Person Shooter, Bullet TimeThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Mafia II: Definitive EditionScore 6.7 · 74% on SteamMax Payne 3 ✓Score 7.9 · 87% on Steam · 87 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Mafia II: Definitive Edition38,558 reviews · 50 GBMax Payne 364,035 reviewsReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Mafia II: Definitive Edition$29.99Max Payne 3 ✓$5.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Mafia II: Definitive EditionPlayableMax Payne 3PlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Max Payne 3 takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueMafia II: Definitive Edition and Max Payne 3 on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Max Payne 3 (GamingPickz Score 7.9)
- The cheaper right now: Max Payne 3 ($5.99)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
ActionAdventureOpen WorldStory RichNudityViolentSingleplayerThird Person
Where they differ
CrimeSexual ContentGoreMatureClassicAction-Adventure
Bullet TimeMultiplayerCinematicDarkLinearDrama
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Mafia II: Definitive Edition is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Max Payne 3 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Mafia II: Definitive Edition | Max Payne 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 | — |
| Minimum CPU | Intel i5-2500K | — |
| Minimum RAM | 6 GB | — |
| Install size | 50 GB | — |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Mafia II: Definitive Edition · Max Payne 3.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for Mafia II: Definitive Edition and 1 for Max Payne 3. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Mafia II: Definitive Edition and Max Payne 3 in scope?
Mafia II: Definitive Edition has drawn 38,558 Steam reviews and installs in 50 GB. Max Payne 3 has drawn 64,035 Steam reviews.
Is Mafia II: Definitive Edition or Max Payne 3 better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Max Payne 3 rates higher (7.9 to 6.7). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Mafia II: Definitive Edition or Max Payne 3?
Max Payne 3 is cheaper right now at $5.99, against $29.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.