"Max Payne delivers..."

... your pizza. Seriously now, this is a game to be reckoned with. I must admit, that when I heard about this game, I didn't expect anything more than a shaky matrix-like shooter. Well in any case, I downloaded the demo, and was blown away.

Presentation 8/10
Don't know the controls? Don't know what to do? Well the game has a tutorial mode, in which you are able to get a grasp of the game in a short period of time. After that you are ready to proceed into the actual game. The game starts out with an easy to follow, gritty story. Through a comic book like atmosphere, with spoken dialogue, the story comes to life in a straight forward, and interesting manner. Don't want the story? Just want action? You can skip through the plot if you want. But I would advice against it, for the story is great, and increases the overall fun-factor.

Graphics 9/10
The graphics in this game are nothing short of amazing. You can tell the creators of this game paid attention to details, in which the levels in this game makes it feel like you're actually there. However, one drawback to these great graphics, is memory restraints. If you have a lot of RAM and a good graphics card, you won't have to worry about speed issues. But don't worry, the game allows you to choose your settings, which allow you to get the most out of this game. Not really an issue.

Music/Sound 7/10
Not too much music during actual game play. I felt this was kind of a drawback. Even though it creates a more realistic feel, sometimes you'd want music to set the mood. However, well timed music in this game makes action scenes come alive. It makes you feel like you're in a John Woo movie. The voice acting in this game is exceptionally good. I was surprised that the acting wasn't bad.

Story 9/10
The story makes a great action game even better. Even though the story is typical of an action movie, it is interesting, and will have you wanting more. The story makes up the backbone of this game. The story is presented mainly through a comic book style intermission which is straight forward, and voice overed. The story adds to the gritty feel of this game. I won't say much else, for it'd spoil it for you.

Gameplay 8/10
Max Payne plays great. Exactly what you would want out of an action shooter. Many different weapons, with one key feature that sets it from other games. The bullet-time feature. When set, the game goes into slow motion, yet you are able to aim in real time. This gives you the advantage to dodge bullets, and have exact aim. There is one problem with this. You do have a limit in bullet-time, and it does run out quickly. Sometimes you may feel that you don't have enough bullet-time. In order to fill up the bullet-time gauge, you need to kill enemies. But when you do kill enemies, you don't gain back that much. Overall though, I found myself having plenty. So it didn't seem like too much of a problem. Bullet-time is definitely one of the best features in the game. The game plays fine without it, but with it, the game is incredible. Also, where is the multi-player? This game would be great if it had a multi-player mode, however, this would be difficult to do, if not impossible to do with the bullet-time feature. But despite those flaws, this game plays great.

Replay 10/10
With modifications, a game editor, and it's great engine, you'll be sure to be playing this game for quite some time. Also, after you beat the game, more difficulty settings will be unlocked, allowing you to go back through the game with more challenges. Max Payne is a game which will last you for awhile. The game editor that comes with it, as well as new levels, mods, and what not on the Internet, you'll be sure to have many new things to try out with this game.

Overall 9/10
A great game definitely worth trying out. The demo is a pretty big download, about 130 MB. If you have a fast connection, then go download it and try it out. If not, just take my word, as well as the words of many others, and buy this game. It'll probably be one of the best action games you'll ever play.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/05/01, Updated 11/05/01