"Light on story, heavy on action, and I wouldn't have it any other way!"

Max Payne is an Action/Shooter developed my Remedy, and published by God Games. Let's take a look at it, shall we?

Storyline:

Max Payne's story begins with him coming home to find his wife and infant daughter being brutally murdered by a group of drug addicts. This event leads to Max's joining of the DEA. Three years have passed, he has finally got a break in the case. Now he's out for 10% answers, and 90% revenge. So begins ''Max Payne''. The story, while clichéd throughout, still manages to be pretty entertaining. There are many plot twists throughout the quest to keep you guessing. I do, however, have one gripe. As I stated, the story itself is pretty good, but you tend to really not notice the 'goodness' of the story due to it's horribly written dialog. It's so bad that it manages to become laugh-out-loud funny. From the countless analogies and metaphors that Max spits out throughout the game, to the questionable voice acting, it's all pretty badly done. A good story, marred by horrible writing. A shame, really.

Gameplay:

The gameplay of Max Payne is absolutely brilliant! It's done in the 3rd person, but it never gives you the feeling of playing another MDK2 or Tomb Raider clone, like most 3rd person perspective games give you. You basically run through the game shooting thugs, collecting their ammo, and moving on. That's pretty much it. Although it sounds like it may get repetitive and boring quickly, it doesn't. The game always has a fresh feel to it no matter how many times you've run through the same level. The way that Max Payne achieves this is by it's much hyped/talked about feature: 'bullet-time'. Just like in all of the great John Woo films and ''The Matrix'', Max can slow down time while keeping his aim in real-time. There are really two separate types of 'bullet-time', ''Full'' 'bullet-time' and a 'shoot-dodge'. The 'shoot-dodge' is all you're really going to need to use throughout most of the game. During a 'shoot-dodge', Max lunges in any direction while slowing down time. This is the form of 'bullet-time' that you will be using most of the time.

While 'bullet-time' may seem like a cheap gimmick, it really isn't. 'bullet-time' make this game what it is, and it is absolutely necessary to Max's success. Throughout the game, you will run into many rooms with 4+ enemies. When using 'bullet-time', Max can pick off each and every thug in a matter of seconds while taking minimal damage. Without the ability to slow down time Max would be a sitting (dead) duck. Controlling Max is spot-on. You use the mouse to aim, fire, and activate a 'shoot-dodge'. Aiming the cursor to where you want is done effortlessly, it's this kind of precision that makes 'head-shots' (one shot kills) a vital strategy while doing a 'shoot-dodge'. The keyboard is also used well. The arrow keys make it a little tough to move in diagonal directions, but it's manageable after a little while. You've also got your standard keyboard set-up. To reload, you press ''R'', to quick-save, you press F5, to press ''Okay'' you hit ''Enter'', etc. It's all pretty standard and easy to jump right into.

Graphics:

Max Payne's are amazing! The textures are sharp, most of the time. They get a little repetitive, but that's not too important, it just gets a little irritating to see the same damn 'shag' carpet in every apartment building. The character models are designed fairly well. Max looks great, he's extremely detailed, but everyone else is pretty...bleh. Max and the people that he runs into who are important to the story seem to have high polygon counts and are very detailed, while ordinary thugs have seemingly much lower counts. Maybe it's the fact that they're low level thugs, so they don't get as many polys...? :)

Speaking of detail, this game has buckets of it. Virtually everything in the environment is destructible. You can shoot out windows, glass covers, computer monitors, TVs, destroy pianos, tables, propane tanks...just about anything you want. Bullets also leave little (Or big, shotgun, anyone?) pock marks all over literally everything you shoot. Powdery cement substances even leak out of the pock marks after the the bullet's hit. It's this kind of detail that really gives Max Payne a realistic feel. Rooms that were once in mint condition will look like complete war zones after Max has taken on about 5-6 guys with his dual Ingrams.

Now, we have more detail. :) 'bullet-time' is where Max Payne's best source of detail is. When 'bullet-time' is activated, just about every bullet fired will be visible while it's flying through the air. Even the tiny pellets of buck shot that get fired from the shotguns are clearly visible. The detail of these little lead objects is also astounding. The bullets and pellets of buck shot have textures that are clearly visible without the need to pause the game. Definitely the coolest feature of Max Payne.

Music and Sound Effects:

The guns and explosions all sound great. The voices of the thugs are usually pretty entertaining and informative, too. There is one little annoyance I have with the voices, however. The thugs are all divided into about 5-6 voice actors, and they do nothing to change their voice for each generic character they play. So basically, you'll hear a conversation, kill everyone afterwards, and then 30 minutes later you'll hear the same voices of people you wasted a short time ago. Just a minor gripe, but it's very noticeable. The voice acting for Max and other major characters (Except Gognitti, he's GREAT!) is rather crappy. It's not really the voice acting that kills it, it's the aforementioned bad writing. Max will just start talking throughout the game with his cheesy analogies to the point where you'll start saying ''Shut up, Max.'' every time he opens his mouth. Bad dialog writing creates bad voice overs, it just does.

Replay Value:

The replay value of Max Payne is pretty decent. The game is just really fun to play. Doing the same levels over and over never really gets old thanks to 'bullet-time' and the things you can do while using it. There a few extra difficulty levels that you can try if you want an extra challenge, too. The mods for this game also make it last a bit longer, if you're into them.

Overall:

Max Payne is an amazing game. Yes, it has a somewhat cheesy story and awful voice acting, but that's not why anyone would play this game. You play Max for it's action. This is basically Remedy's tribute to all the John Woo movies like Hard Boiled, The Killer, and Face/Off. Light on story, heavy on action, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/26/02, Updated 03/24/03