Max Payne

The year is 2001 the world trade centers are attacked and diney releases some crappy movies but what caught the eye of every video gamer was a small company called Remedy interactive that had just released Max Payne. Go ahead 2 years and my oddesy begins. After getting my Xbox and 2 two games to go with {among other things} for Christmas one of these games was Max Payne. When i first looked at the cover i thought hmmm... looks like your basic shoot em up tps. I was dead wrong. From the first moment of comic noir to every last bloody body MAx Payne is a modern masterpiece. With its sharp graphics Noir storyline and Graphic novel comic to advance the story, and it is the very first game to implement bullet time. And before you say "heh they stole that from the matrix" The Matrix was released in 1999 Max payne was in development since 1996.{for a side note John Woo is the man who invented bullet time} Now for the story: Max Payne the average Nypd cop is having the time of his life hes young Married has a beautiful baby girl and has a well paying and fairly easy job. But dreams have a nasty habit of turning into nightmares when you're not looking. Max comes home one night to find his family murdered by Valkyre addicts the new street drug. Thrown into deep depression he vows to never let this happen again. He joins the DEA as an undercover agent joining the Punchenello mob. Then just as Max gets closer to shutting down the V trade he is framed for the murder of his fellow agent Alex. And to make things worse the mob now knows hes an undercover cop. So fighting both the Cops the Mafia and an evil corparation to boot he has his worked cut out for him..... There is also many great one liners in hear examples: "Vinnie Gotti the man I've bin killing to see" "I put a few more bullets in his head to make sure he stayed that way" The body count in the game though is ridiculously high not that it makes it worse {it makes it better} but i estimate that you kill over 500 people in this. So in closing if you like Third Person Shooters,Noir Films,Violence,Bullet time and one hell of a story check out Max Payne you wont regret it. {ps: cant get enough Payne? There a sequel out now called Max Payne 2: The fall of Max Payne check it out}

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?

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!

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 more of an experience than a game. You can see a level of realism that most games-and some movies-cant touch. You can hear every bullet just barely miss you as you dodgeshoot (a form of slow motion action similar to what is seen in The Matrix). You can feel max's world around him as he physically and psychologically deteriorates in front of you. Above all, you will admire the action-packed thrill and the overwhelming terror of the game. When you dodge a thousand bullets and look behind you, you will see a wall with a thousand holes in it. Your dual ingrams will tear down rows of those who wish to stop you, as every death leads to more questions. You will know what it is like to escape from flaming buildings and be ripped into chaos as the dreaded "V" melts away your mind. Throw in a story to rival any movie, and you have, like half-life before it, a true experience. From the murder of his family at the hands of a designer drug to his framing of murder, to the very end, this game will leave you screaming that you are never "too tired to go on".