Max Payne 3

*Make sure you make a new story instead of using chapter select, otherwise the achievement will not pop!

Old School Difficulty is basically a hard difficulty without last stand option. This unlocks after beating the game on hard difficulty. In this mode, instead of going into last stand and giving yourself a chance to shoot the enemy who killed you, you will simply die.

I recommend you play this before hardcore is it may help prepare for it a bit.

Peek around corners and get headshots! Use left and right on the Dpad to reposition yourself for easy corner peeking.

Use bullet-time often when 2-3 enemies are around.

You can use painkillers while in bullet-time and mid dive!

This mode is honestly not as hard as people make it out to be, just make sure to keep your life up and be careful.

Good luck

PS YOU MUST SELECT FREE AIM

Here is a link to a full video walkthrough of the game on Hardcore with free aim, no golden guns, and full commentary. It should help for any of the difficulties that aren't timed - just bear in mind you will not be able to rely on the painkiller revive. Everything else should stand up.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0D7A1EF88E1D1BAC&...

Hope it helps.

I started this difficulty after finishing the game on hard and even after a year of not playing I found it strangely easy compared with the lower difficulty settings.

The loss of 'Last man standing' was actually a good thing in my mind, as it meant I could hold on to my pain pills instead of losing them because a goon caught me unaware.

Don't worry about dying
The game is very forgiving with it's mid chapter checkpoints (most of the time) plus, you'll learn where the enemies like to go and there tactics.
If you die on the same part multiple times, the game will give you pain pills as a helping hand!

Hide around corners!
Stand behind walls and other tall objects instead of pressing X to take cover and shot around/through the thing you're behind.
In most shooter, if your gun is blocked by something your bullets will be blocked too. NOT IN THIS GAME! Your bullets will land where the crosshair is aiming, so hide behind something, aim at an enemy and you will be able to hit him regardless of if your gun is in the wall. This will save you a lot of frustration.
Note:- Taking cover is most effective and a must on hip high cover e.g. under windows, planters.

Turn on golden gun effects
If you have collected the golden gun parts I recommend enabling the Golden gun effects in the settings menu. Golden guns have 50% larger magazines than standard guns. Most rifles in the game have a 30 round mag with GG enabled it goes up to 45 rounds, simply really.

Always look for pills
I know it's obvious but look for pain pills in every room, it could save your life!

Dual wield different guns
Dual wielding pistols is classic max payne and badass but it's also wasteful. Each weapon type has it's only pool of ammunition; Pistols, SMGs, LMGs, Rifles, Shotguns, Magnums and snipers. Using two of the same type of Akimbo guns burns through ammo twice as fast. Sticking with a pistol and SMG worked well for me.
Note:- Desert Eagle uses a separate ammo pool to pistols and magnums, I think it's classed as a special weapon so it has limited ammo like the grenade launcher and LAW rocket.

Be patient
This is a fantastic game, in all respects. It's challenging not impossible, so stick with it and have fun.