Max Payne

"Not bad, not bad at all..."

To tell you the truth I didn’t expect to much from this game when I first bought it, but now that I have played through it I can easily say this is one of the better action games for the ps2. Ok I’m sure most of you have heard of the revolutionary feature in this game called''Bullet-Time'' if any of you have seen the movie the matrix then you'll know what I’m talking about. Bullet Time is a special effect in which time slows down and everything moves really slow. This is the first game EVER to feature Bullet Time.

Gameplay: 8/10
The point of this game is basically, just run around and shoot things. Along the way there are some fairly challenging puzzles you must complete to move on, this adds a little spice to the otherwise pure action feel of this game. But it is really fun, especially when using bullet time. The bullet time feature in this game is activated by pressing R2, and it can be turned on and off at will. While you are in this mode you will move and shoot in slow motion, but you are able to aim in real time so it is easier to hit multiple enemies. This will give you a big edge over the multiple enemies in the game. You can also do special bullet time moves called shot dodges by pressing R1 while moving the analog sticks, depending on which way you move the analog sticks he will role that way and also shoot in slow motion at the same time. Since this game is a port from the PC version, the controls aren’t really that great and you cant change them either, But they aren’t to hard to learn. There are over 15 different weapons that Max can use in this game ranging anywhere from a baseball bat and dual burettas, to an m79 grenade launcher. The AI in this game isn’t that great but as the game goes on the enemies get a little smarter and a little harder to kill which ups the challenge level a bit. This game features many many levels, spread throughout 3 chapters. Alot of the levels are very unique, but you will venture through some of the same levels again, this isn’t to bad though. The thing I love about the environments in this game is that you can interact with them, like if you go up to a sink and press X it will turn on and water will run, or if you go up to a soda machine and press X a soda will come out. I love this feature and I think more games should have it.

Story: 8/10
The story in this game isn’t anything revolutionary but it is tolerable. The story revolves around Max Pain, his wife and kid were murdered, and he is trying to solve the mystery surrounding there murder. As you go through the game more of the story will come together. The story is presented in a multitude of comic like cutscenes, I would have preferred fmv's myself but I don’t mind it. The story gets a little confusing towards the middle of the game which isn’t to bad but it evens out near the end so its all good.

Graphics: 5/10
This is what really brings the games score down. The graphics in this game aren’t something to be proud of. They aren’t terrible but they aren’t good either, the character models are jagged and untoned, and the faces look terrible like they have been drawn on with a pencil. The game developers could have done much better with the graphics. But hey graphics don’t make the game.

Sound: 7/10
The sound is ok. The gunshots sound really good so does the running, and also when you swing objects like pipes or bats they also sounds realistic. The voice acting isn’t to great but it is ok. I couldn’t really understand what some of the people were saying sometimes, but this doesn’t bring the games score down to much. The background sounds, such as the faucets, closets and tv's. sound pretty realistic, overall I am happy with the sound in this game.

Replayability: 4/10
I am very disappointed in with the lack of unlockables in this game. The only thing you get after beating the game are 2 new difficulty modes which aren’t to much more difficult then the default difficulty. This really brings down the games score they could have atleast added something to unlock besides new difficulty modes, and the story isn’t really worth multiple replays unless you are really into it.

You can find this game for under 20 dollars since it is a greatest hits game I would suggest buying it. It is great for about a week, and if you are into the bullet time feature then you can replay this game just for that since it is such a cool feature.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/03, Updated 05/19/03