Max Payne

To this day no game has gripped me like "Max Payne". I remember I got this one Friday afternoon and had it beat by Sunday morning. Yes I did spend most waking hours playing it, but that is a testament to the game's story. I rarely find myself addicted to a game's story. I rarely find myself wanting to know where the story goes. In games, plot does take a backseat to game play for me. But "Max Payne" got it right. It's short enough not to lose focus from beginning to end, but long enough to become a deep and immersive experience. The game's pacing is flawless. The style by which the story is told – graphic comic strip narrated by the hard-boiled Payne is also perfect and adds much to the game's style an atmosphere.

The much-hyped slow motion aspect of the game is simply the icing on the cake. There is nothing like jumping into a room – gun in each hand – in slow motion and re-enacting your favourite John Woo action scene. Nothing. It is true that the A.I. isn't the small tool in the box, but what lack in brains they make up for in numbers. The vast selection of weapons is also impressive, though I have myself found myself going through the entire game using only handguns except when other guns are essential to the objective. But that's just the Woo fan in me.

The graphics were jaw-dropping at the time and are still damn impressive today. There was times when I was simply amazed at the details: if you got the camera right behind Max's shoulder you could see the micro-fabrics of his jacket and the singular strands of his hair. Bullet hits were also impressive – both visually and in their restraint. They remind me a lot of Exley's shotgun massacre in "L.A. Confidential". Debris flies over the place but not in an over-the-top Woo or "Matrix" way. This helps retain the gritty realism the makers were striving for.

"Max Payne" is derivate of a lot of works and is quite clichéd, but it is executed with style, atmosphere and an immense level of game-making professionalism that makes it an experience unlike any other. Put film noir, John Woo and "The Matrix" into mixer and "Max Payne" is probably what you get. And it's one hell of a cocktail. The game is thrilling, visceral and explosive. What more could you want in an action game?

It took four long years in production, but Max Payne has lived up to and beyond all expectations and earned the rave reviews it deserves. First of all, the whole game is visually stunning. When you first load up the tutorial, trust me, you'll just be sitting there staring. When you first pause the game and watch the camera circle Max's virtually photo-realistic body, you'll keep on staring. When you first launch into slow motion and watch the bullets actually flying past, you'll stare some more. Basically, the graphics are fantastic; I've never seen better in a PC game.

But that's not all that makes Max Payne so remarkable. The story is really intriguing, and I think calling it cliched is missing the point; it's supposed to have that film noir, crime novel feeling, and it pulls it off creatively through the graphic novel scenes that pop up throughout the game. When you're not tearing through gangsters and junkies and suits, you may find yourself listening in from around corners, hopping from rooftop to rooftop, even wandering through Max's actual nightmares. The use of the graphic novel is great; it's wickedly written and a nice break from the action sometimes.

Which brings me to the action itself. Wow. Playing against such amazing graphics and animation, gunfights in Max Payne are *intense*. The slow-motion feature is a wonderful addition; you start to feel so cool sliding past bullets in midair that you're able to suspend disbelief. As with any other game, you learn to ration your resources and deal with confrontations more efficiently, but the awesome thing is that this game learns along with you. Max Payne actually adjusts to your skill level, making the game challenging without being impossible. And it's about time someone made a shooter like that!

So combine all that with really good voice acting and blessedly infrequent load times, and you really do have one of the best PC games ever made. Inevitably, there are a few problems; the weapons interface can be a little difficult at first, and enemy AI can be kind of questionable, but those are common glitches. The only significant drawback is only that the game doesn't last long enough! For most, it won't take longer than ten or fifteen hours to complete. However, what it lacks in quantity, Max more than makes up for in quality, and it's very replayable anyway.

All in all, this one is a landmark game and a masterpiece -- super-innovative, compelling and beautifully made. Deservedly, it's sure to land more than one Game Of The Year.

Bullet time, Great story, and well acted roles. It took 3 and a half years to make this game and it definitely paid off. Some time good things come with time and patience. I love the story of the game. Max Payne has a great sense of literature. He says the deepest, darkest things and put them into poetry. He expresses his feelings and puts them into a story. I must say, whoever wrote this is a genius. I give praise to the whole Remedy team espescially Sam Lake.

COMMENT FOR THE PC-VERSION:

"Max Payne" is brilliant. You just cannot say it in any other way. MP is a super-cool actiontitle that uses the so-called bullet-time effect to create extremely stylish shoot-outs where the main character Max Payne constantly dives into bloody gun-fights. Playing it again over 2 years since its first release still confirms its excellent quality, and it is a game that easlily passes the test of time. Some people may argue that this game is only inspired by "The Matrix", which is not correct. John Woo`s brilliant actionmovies like "Hard-Boiled" and "The Killer" are both among the most important source of inspiration for the Finnish developers. I can guarantee that if you give this one a go, then you will be hooked.

10/10

Max Payne is the titular cop hell-bent on revenge after his wife and child have been murdered by a group of strangers in his own house. While the plot of the game feels good enough for any film-noir it is the unique atmosphere that separates it from the rest.

While most people will probably remember the game for the revolutionary bullet-time that allows the protagonist to move in glorious slow motion, there is I must say a whole lot more to the game.

Take for instance the movie references; The code for a passageway is "John Woo" while at a certain point Max dryly comments before attempting to take out some terrorists: "I played Chow Yun Fat..." Max Payne also has an awareness of itself in the game, whereby he accounts that "I feel like being in a computer game..."

All in all I must say that Max Payne is the greatest film-noir game and you surely must try it to experience it!