Max Payne Review (no fat)

Game Description

Remedy has done an extraordinary job creating the best FPS of its time; Max Payne. Your role is of Max Payne an undercover cop in NYC who comes home one day to find his wife and newborn daughter heartlessly murdered by a bunch of street thugs drugged on valkyr (a new drug). The story is presented like a novel, with cut scenes made to look like comic strips.

After three years of mourning and trying to find the lead to the slaughter of his family Max finally gets a tip off on who ruined his life. Max Payne then goes on in frenzy for his vengeance, breaking all the laws that he once used to enforce. As the story progresses he realizes that his vendetta is against more than a bunch of street thugs. His thirst for revenge takes Max to the wrong side of the law and gets his name on the most wanted list with the cops and the gangs.

This game offers spectacular gameplay, great sounds and graphics and a breathtaking story every step of the way. Being one of the first games to ever offer the bullet time feature Max Payne thrills gamers of all sorts. The bullet time feature allows gamers to get themselves out of tough situations and adds some extra replay value in the game.

Max Payne Gameplay

Enhanced by the bullet time feature, the gameplay is spectacular and downright addictive. The bullet time is represented on a gauge on the bottom left corner of your screen. Once used it will slow down time and allow you to take a little time in making your move, either to make an effective strike on your enemies or to dive and take cover.

Max Payne offers a wide variety of realistic weapons ranging from holstering a sawed off shotgun to a grenade launcher. As you proceed in the game the difficulty levels get harder. Even though it’s interesting how the game has been presented there are far too many cut scenes which sometimes disrupting the gameplay. On other occasions they are very interesting and they do the job of moving the, ever so dramatic, story forward keeping the gamers in awe.

The level designs in the game are great and offer fairly enjoyable gameplay. Since the game is divided in scenes and chapters, you can play the old levels that you have passed whenever you like. There are, however, some levels that you wouldn’t even want to turn to after completing them.

One of these levels is the restaurant which catches fire and you have to use a trial and error strategy to pass the level. Once on that level the gamers will feel frustrated and come to the point where they would start to dislike the game.

Fortunately enough, there is only one such level but Max’s dreams come close to challenging that in terms of frustration. In his dreams of pain, Max is in some kind of an illusion (possibly the result of valkyr) and has to get to the door without falling into the darkness. There are two of these dreams at different parts of the game (as if one wasn’t enough).

Max Payne Graphics and Visuals

Max Payne looks great as it took a lot of time in making it. The bullet time feature adds a great look to the game and the textures look great of all the environments that the game takes place in. The presentation of the game itself is very original and catchy.

Even tough Max Payne looks great on PS2 the Xbox and PC versions are, in some cases, much more superior to the PS2 version. Due to the 32mb RAM in the PS2 the gameplay has more breaks in it and takes slightly longer to load.

The visuals are great and portray exactly what the developers wanted to portray. They made specific detailed models for the bullets and the changing backgrounds. In the PS2 version you can’t see much except a blur but in Xbox or the PC you can specifically see every bullet fly out of the chamber of your gun. Although some of the textures can get muddy and sometimes there will be jagged edges but these little cons are easily ignorable in comparison to the many pros.

Max Payne Sound

Every thing in this game sounds great. You can hear every bullet in slow motion in bullet time. The sound effects are very realistic and make you feel as if you are there. You feel every screech of tires or the sound of the police and fire brigade sirens in the distance.

The voice acting is great and the scenes tell it all. The great cut scenes and the superb voice acting make a great combination and tell the story in a very dramatic style. Even when Max thinks out loud it is a very clear tone that always goes perfectly with the situation. The background music is great and meshes very well with the gameplay.

The only disappointing thing about the sound is when you die in the horrible dreams and Max screams on the top of his lungs. With the screams being literally ear piercing, you are really putting your eardrums at a very high risk…especially if you’ve got headsets.

Max Payne Summing up

I bought “Dead to Rights” before I bought Max Payne and after I beat any game I get swept with this feeling of excitement. When I beat “Dead to Rights” I was so happy I saw the game from a whole different angle. Knowing that “Dead to Rights” was the same genre and game type as Max Payne I decided to give it a try. After beating Max Payne I didn’t just get excited I also got this great feeling of satisfaction watching Max standing on top of the building looking down at the snow covered city beneath him.

At that moment I knew I would play this game again any day, not only because of the storyline but because of everything. It offers great visuals and graphics, nice music and sound effects and 15 hours of completely gratifying and stimulating gameplay. I would recommend this game to all first person shooter gamers.

Max Payne Cost

Max Payne currently retails for $19.99 at the time of writing.