Max Payne

"Max-imum Payne Killer..."

From the PC game itself to the X-Box consoles. Max Payne has came all the way to X-Box carrying along the excitement and fun in every minute you play. Ever wonder if you can play a shooter game Matrix-style? Well this is what you've been looking for. Max Payne is something for you whether you wanna enjoy a good shooting game or maybe relieve you from too much stress well this is what you need. Are you curious about the game? Why not read further to find out more about it.

Gameplay - (10/10)

Gameplay is just about everything. In Max Payne, forget about dodging quick bullets or maybe bar brawls and enjoy a good shoot-out Matrix style. You don't need to bother much about controls once you've mastered moving like the Matrix and shooting like one then you won't find any problems with the control. What you need to do is to master when to use the slow-mo and when to use the regular game speed. The Camera's perfect, it won't bother you at all even a little. Smooth controls, Very Smooth, the sleek controls works well with the veriety of movement and weapons you can use to pummel your enemy up. Whether you do a bar brawl style of fighting using a baseball bat or be like the Matrix dodgin bullets in mid-air while shooting back twice at your enemy with great precision and accuracy. This slow-motion command is what makes this game perfect. The movement alone and the slow-motion as well are enough to make this game as great as what it is now. Also, you have the full use of your environment meaning you can hit glass windows, shoot fire extinguishers, open up showers and stuffs. The game is quite challenging at first but after learning the basics you'll be a super one man fighting army in no time. Blasting into a group of thugs with your handy dandy shotgun or blast them away with your trusty grenades. You'll place this till somebody stop you from playing it. Pretty addicting indeed. One word can only explain all of these... perfect.

Story - (8/10)

You'll take the role of Max Payne, a police officer in New York. At the beginning it'll all start as a basic plot and then develop into a very good one. Okay I'm trying not to spoil anything for you. The down side in this is the way it explains and tell the story. Would you believe it is in a comic book style! But not all actually there's some 3D animation that has a voice over which is next to fantastic. But what do you expect from an Action/Adventure game? You should be looking for an RPG instead.

Graphics - (10/10)

The graphics are very very good. The environment, the way the characters are modeled, the guns, the bullets, gunfires, explosions, everything looks fabulously superb. You are given almost full use of your environment which most interacts with what you do. It simply means that you can a shower open, break glass windows (Hehehe... some shooting game can't even break a glass window even if you use the almighty rocekt launcher on them!) smash vases, etc... For being a 3D character Max Payne himself looks pretty good and I can't even find even a little flaw in it. The gunshots and the blood that burst out from enemies or your environment is pretty good. Like the way you shoot somebody in the game ''Half-Life: Counter-Strike'' blood burst out from thugs you shoot who's near the wall or when you buy them a gift of grenade. There's a place where you can even shoot a television hehehe... pretty cool eh? The environment itself is pretty good it reacts well to the movement you do. The scenes in the story are well drawn but the 3D in it are great the voice over everything!

Sounds - (10/10)

A good competitor against Halo's musical score. Like the game Halo, Max Payne has a little music in the background or maybe I don't pay much attention because of its superb gameplay and graphics? May Payne don't actually lacks in music since you won't be paying much attention to it as well. Max Payne has some cool sounds as well. The voice over is perfectly done. The gunfire and the explosion are great. If you listen carefully you'll notice some more great sound effects like some footsteps when you or a thug is moving, screams, voices, the grenade bouncing of the wall or on the floors, the explosions even the grunts when being hit are nice.

Replayability - (9/10)

Since the game has different modes then you can probably replay it again for more challenge. After beating it for the first time I've played it again, and again Max Payne has an addicting factor that makes the gamer wanna replay it again. The movements alone specially the Matrix Slow-mo style are superb. It's simply a good game, 3 Parts, 8 Chapters long... Long enough to keep you busy and relieve your stress big time. The enjoyment and excitement alone will keep you playing until somebody stops you. After beating the game twice I tried using the ''CHEAT'' and guess what? It's quite fun but I don't recommend you to use one just for enjoyment and total fun.

To buy or to rent?

A must buy for those who enjoy a great Action/Adventure game specially when you can shoot/fight back at enemies Matrix style. A great stress reliever and can eat a lot of time if you simply don't have anything to do.

Overall - 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/21/02, Updated 04/21/02