After the better part of eight years in development (the last Max Payne title was released in 2003), Max Payne 3 is a taut and compelling action game wrapped in the sumptuous, gritty and delightful production detail that is the Rockstar hallmark. That means pitch-perfect writing and voice acting, luscious and realistic visual design, and by far the finest musical taste in gaming. And oh, yeah, the actual gameplay of leaping through the air while firing hurricanes of bullets at bad guys is a lot of fun too.

I’ve said much the same before, but it bears repeating: No one in video games does the real world like Rockstar. Sadly, hardly any other studio even tries. Now I love demons and aliens and zombies and dragons and spaceships as much as anyone. But once in a while I want to play a video game that feels as if it were set in some approximation of reality — even if it’s a violent, drugged-out and profane approximation of reality. And no one delivers a dose of perverted reality like Rockstar, whether that’s Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption or L.A. Noire, or more obscure efforts like The Warriors or Bully. Or now Max Payne 3, set for release on Tuesday for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. (A PC version is expected on May 29.)

Max Payne 3 is obviously rated M for Mature, not only because of the language but also because of the lovingly rendered violence. This series pioneered the use of slow-motion bullet time in video games, and this latest installment embraces its heritage. You know that if Rockstar is going to make a game in which you can watch a bullet tear off someone’s face, it’s going to look fabulous in all of its gory detail. And it does.

Unlike Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption, the new Max Payne is not an open-world game. Those other games are about setting your character loose in a vast virtual landscape, whether a version of New York City, as in Grand Theft Auto IV, or an expanse of the Old West, à la Red Dead. There you are free to wander, indulging in side quests and activities or pursuing the main story line.