Max Payne

"Your A Fugitive Cop on the run...... with a bunch of kick ass weapons what more could you ask for?"

Introduction

The following introduction is going to give you in sight of what Max Payne is all about. It will go into detail as much as possible explaining who makes this game and everything else. If you just want to read to the game play , story line , etc just skip to the review.

Max Payne one of the most ambitious titles made by the first unknown developer named Rock star studios. Max Payne was first in production and also announced for the personal computer in the year 1999. After about 2 years of hard working on Max Payne, the game was finishing the final procedures and the game was almost for release. It was released in July for the personal computer. It got tons of great reviews ,in some magazines and web sites it got game of the year for the personal computer.

The Next Platform

With much success of the intense action shooter it was clear that Rock star had to get more out of such a great game .Rock star studios than brought the 3rd person shooter to the Microsoft X - Box. This was a great idea bringing it to the X - Box (also found on the Play Station 2) because the X - Box hardware was just released the previous month. The personal computer and the X - Box version was nothing but the same. It was a direct port from each other with no extra levels , guns , secrets something quite a few people were disappointed with including myself. The Play Station 2 version also got a direct port of this game also with some of the glitches taken care of as well as the X - Box version. All 3 versions of the game are identical minus some glitches from the personal computer version .

Rock star Studios and There Games

A few years ago Rock star was an unknown company . Now days when you here the name of Rock star you immediately think of great games like Grand Theft Auto 3 for the play station 2 , the two Smuggler Run games for the Play station 2 and Game cube , State of Emergency and of course the first great game Max Payne. When Rock star released a game in titled “Grand Theft Auto 3 “ it was great hit. It was the number one game not only for the play station 2 but for all consoles since it’s release. Since the release of Grand Theft Auto 3 many things have changed about Rock star. They were inquired by Sony to make all the Grand Theft Auto games exclusive to the Play station 2 until 2004. Rock star and DMA studios (developer of Grand Theft Auto 3 also) joined together to make one big business now entitle Rock star North. Since the great hit of Grand Theft Auto 3 Rock star North has been developing the game Grand Theft Auto : Vice city exclusively for the Play Station 2.

The Future of Max Payne

So your still wondering if you should get Max Payne? Or have you beat the game a thousand times and want something new? Either way when you finish this great game you will wonder when is Max Payne 2 coming out. Currently with the huge success of Max Payne Rock star North has announced that there are working on Max Payne 2. It has only been announced for the personal computer as of now. It should be in stores in about the second quarter of 2003. It has not been announced for any of the Next - generation consoles ( Nintendo Game cube ,Sony’s Play Station 2 , Microsoft X - Box) but it is a good bet that they will follow after the Personal Computer ‘s game after about 5 months or less. So video games aren’t enough to float your boat? Well your in luck because it has been confirmed that there is a movie in production in titled Max Payne based on the first video game. Many other video games movies have been released. Some of them are Super Mario Bros. , Final Fantasy , Resident Evil and honestly they all pretty much stunk. Other movies like Crazy Taxi , House Of The Dead , are also in production so the big question is the movie going to be good as the game? Let’s hope so.

Game Play

Max Payne is a 3rd person shooter. It resembles a lot of other 3rd person shooters as well as 1st person shooters. The game play in this game will put you in different scenarios all the time. This game reminds me much of Dead to Rights also for the X -Box. It has the classic third person shooter view. When you begin the game the game play takes right off from the start and keeps on going. It continues to keep going up and up and better and better as the game progresses. The game play consist of you defeating enemies in different fashion. You will either sneak around door to door using stealth ,shoot like a maniac or just plain avoid the enemies. These are the key to the game play.

The game play does not get repetitive like other shooters. The game will develop as you go on using different methods of defeating your foes. The controls make the game play ten times better it makes switching between guns dodging back and forth which makes this game all more enjoyable. You will often face ten to fifteen foes at one time depending on what method of shooting you use.

If you have ever watched the movie the matrix you will known what I am about to talk about if you don’t I will try to explain it. When big brawl fights break out it is a good thing to use a thing called “Bullet - Time” when you press the black button (The bullet - Time button for X - Box) you will go into a different mode with Max and the time around him slow down by about 5 times. This will allow you to shot the enemies quicker so you can get past those very hard areas. Bullet - Time was perfected by Rock star in this game and was the first game to use it. Now that Rock star and Max Payne has started this Bullet - Time other games are using it especially 3rd person shooters . Other games using this new feature is the game called Dead To Rights , Dead to Rights is very similar to Max Payne in almost every way with the weapons aspect , bullet time mode enemies , story line and even the area. Another game using the bullet time is of course The Matrix game .

This game also offers a variety of different weapons. There such great weapons in the game coming from different periods . The different guns are like the Beretta which was a basic weapon in the early 50’s during the gangster mob time from the new technology of the double automatic Uzi’s . Some other weapons include the pump action pimp also known as the a shotgun , the desert eagle which is a basic weapon , the one or two weapon big Beretta some weapons that you throw are some grenades and Molotov Cocktails. There is a good selection of weapons that will impress any gamer and shooter fan.

Different Modes

In Max Payne there are different modes to playing here they are.

Fugitive

The fugitive setting can first be accessed when you start the game ,it is the default mode on Max Payne. The good thing about this mode is that it adjust and is not random about throwing enemies at you. I have noticed that if you are not good and getting killed often the game gets toned down adjusting to your user level. However if your killing guys left and right don’t think this mode will keep you on the easy level rather it will get harder as the computer recognizes your experience and gaming level. The auto aim is on during this mode making the game very easy to kill your enemies . After completing the game on fugitive mode you will now have access to the Hard Boiled Mode.

Hard - Boiled

The hard boiled mode is the next level up from the fugitive mode. The Auto aim is not as clear as the fugitive mode making it harder and difficult to kill and shoot the enemies. Max’s healing power is also different from fugitive in the aspect that you will take more damage when hit and the life bar isn’t always full at times. This mode will throw more enemies at you more often . After beating the game on Hard Boiled you will unlock dead on arrival and and the New York Minute

Dead On Arrival

The next step up after the Hard Boiled mode is the Dead on Arrival Mode. This mode leaves up to the name because seconds when you start to play you will get bombarded by enemies . This mode is for extreme players only and I mean that you need some true aim and have to have gone through the game a few times to even beat the first level in this mode. If you thought the hard boiled health was not good and that you often died because it was easy to get damaged than stay clear of this one because you will take twice as much damage from what you would in the Hard - Boiled mode. You will get this mode after completing the Hard Boiled mode.

New York Minute

This mode is my favorite and a very cool mode. It is pretty hard to and frustrating as well . Here’s how it goes you start a level as usual and a timer will be on the screen, you have that amount of time to complete the level everything drains the clock(not counting viewing movies or chapters) . If you kill an enemy the clock will gain more time to complete the level and if you enter bullet time the clock will also slow down.

Story - Line

The story line in this game will have some many twist you will think your in a blender machine! Ok let me break it down for you

Pro Logue

Max Payne is a successful cop. He had been on the job for quite a while working for a tough city where everything goes on and is no holds barred. It is a big huge city similar to that of New York City and at the time of this game it is freezing there a huge storm going down while you play this game . As Max Payne is doing his job as a cop he lives in New Jersey with his wife and baby

Story

So now you know the insist of the story here is the rest of it. One day when Max comes home from work he hears his wife Michelle screaming for dear life in there New Jersey Home. Max runs up the stairs to see some robbers in his house and his wife being murdered on the bed with blood splattered every where. The robber’s are killed as well as his wife. As soon as Max notices his wife is dead he runs to his baby room to see the bed over turned and the baby laying on the floor in a puddle of her own blood also being found dead. The cops soon came and they were under the impression max has done it. However that was 3 years ago and Max is still on the loose killing everybody he sees to get to his wife’s and baby’s murderer to large. Max is still the prim suspect in this case and the cops are still trying to find him and arrest him. However Max will try to bring his wife murderer to justice by any means necessary.

Max Payne’s story line is not the most original piece of work to grace a video game but it does fit quite good with this game. The story line has been re done many times especially in the action/shooter genre like Dead to rights , Rendum and other great games. This game is divided in to different chapters. There are really no cut scenes per say in the game but rather you will see pictures and you can flip back and forth between them and max will talk to you while viewing the pictures. It’s a very different type of viewing the story and at first I hated it but it was quite unique and realized it was a good way of showing it.

Graphics

If you want the best graphics for this game you should definitely go for the X - Box version than the personal computer and finally the Play station 2. The X -Box graphics are superior in every way with finer detail in the snow / weather , cars, guns , enemies and other things that looked way to bland in the Play station 2 version as well as the personal computer version. Some key things to note is the enemies the faces are absolutely great you can see there hair and texture of there skin just like in real life. The graphics are not an eye gem though they could have been turned up and the graphics should of had more light to it , in some parts you can not see anything . Max Payne’s face was one more thing I just did not like, I was stunned at how it looked so square - ish compared to the other faces in the game which were much fuller. Every thing else was fine and dandy though and was very good.

Audio / Sound

The sound is not bad but it is not as good and some parts just don’t have music which should. There are no songs on it more just sound effects and people talking. When you see a chapter Max will start talking to you and at times the words and subtitles will get too small to read so you need max to speak good so you can hear him. Everything he says can clearly be heard and doesn’t get scratchy like some other games. There are few cut scenes in the game with moving characters and talking but when there is the voice acting is superb. You will see Max’s or anybody else's lips moving and matching the sounds coming from the game. Now for the sound affects , they are quite creepy at times and other times they get you pumped up and trigger happy . When your in a tight spot with tons of enemies the music will get intense with beating music. Max has nightmare some times and in these nightmares you will hear your baby crying which will get you freaked out if your playing alone in the dark. Over all the sound and sound affects are pretty good and is definitely better than most shooters.

Replay Value

When you complete the game you can always play the game on different level setting or try to just use only one weapon the whole game a certain amount of painkillers per level. Here are the different modes you can play with.

Fugitive : The fugitive setting can first be accessed when you start the game ,it is the default mode on Max Payne. The good thing about this mode is that it adjust and is not random about throwing enemies at you. I have noticed that if you are not good and getting killed often the game gets toned down adjusting to your user level. However if your killing guys left and right don’t think this mode will keep you on the easy level rather it will get harder as the computer recognizes your experience and gaming level. The auto aim is on during this mode making the game very easy to kill your enemies . After completing the game on fugitive mode you will now have access to the Hard Boiled Mode.
Hard - Boiled : The hard boiled mode is the next level up from the fugitive mode. The Auto aim is not as clear as the fugitive mode making it harder and difficult to kill and shoot the enemies. Max’s healing power is also different from fugitive in the aspect that you will take more damage when hit and the life bar isn’t always full at times. This mode will throw more enemies at you more often . After beating the game on Hard Boiled you will unlock dead on arrival and and the New York Minute
Dead On Arrival : The next step up after the Hard Boiled mode is the Dead on Arrival Mode. This mode leaves up to the name because seconds when you start to play you will get bombarded by enemies . This mode is for extreme players only and I mean that you need some true aim and have to have gone through the game a few times to even beat the first level in this mode. If you thought the hard boiled health was not good and that you often died because it was easy to get damaged than stay clear of this one because you will take twice as much damage from what you would in the Hard - Boiled mode. You will get this mode after completing the Hard Boiled mode.
New York Minute : This mode is my favorite and a very cool mode. It is pretty hard to and frustrating as well . Here’s how it goes you start a level as usual and a timer will be on the screen, you have that amount of time to complete the level everything drains the clock(not counting viewing movies or chapters) . If you kill an enemy the clock will gain more time to complete the level and if you enter bullet time the clock will also slow down.

Other things worth mentioning

The controls in this game are very hard at first. It takes some time to get used to and it is recommended that you do the practice mode to get the jest of how it works. When you master it you will love it , it is very easy to switch between the weapons in fighting . Another thing I like about the control is the aim unlike other shooters Max Payne’s aim is superb , it will lock on to enemies very easy making for good shoots. Another thing that ruins games all the time are glitches. A lot of games have them and will mess up the game which will make you not want to play it. Luckily I have notice no glitches at all meaning the game works out smooth. This game is not a very short game but not very long . It will take 20 minutes to beat some chapters and others will take you days .

The fun factor in this game is very high you will be playing days and building up your love for this game. The game keeps getting better and better every time you play it. There are many secrets in the game so you will be playing through the game many times to find secrets and different areas that you thought were impossible to get to. Over all this game has many different things to keep you enthused in the game for weeks and months.

Conclusion

(All Scores are out of ten)
Game Play : 9.7
Story - Line : 8.6
Graphics : 7.9
Audio : 8.8
Replay Value : 9.6
Fun Factor : 8.7
Score : 8.9
Rounded for Gamefaqs.Com: 9.0

To Buy Or Rent

This is a great shooter made by Rock star. If you love halo or Dead To Rights this will definitely suit your bill. It has great game play , long replay value , nice graphics and everything else a gamer who like a shooting game or even if you have never played a shooting game in your life you will love this game. It is definitely a must buy and a great game to add to your X - Box collection.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/14/02, Updated 09/14/02