Max Payne

"Something wicked this way comes.... Max Payne Advance"

After the overwhelming success of Max Payne for the PC, Playstation 2 and Xbox, the geniuses at Rockstar and Remedy Entertainment graced us with a second offering of Bullet Time with Max Payne 2. And then, nobody really knew where the series would go, but to our surprises: the GameBoy Advance.

STORY:
The story of the game is still intact. Max is still a revenge-driven cop on the edge with his back on the wall fighting a battle he cannot possibly win. The story is (like in the other versions) started off in the manual's prologue, and then progresses in two ways: usually through the trademark graphic novel presentation or through little speech and thought bubbles.
The story shouldn't be new to gamers who've played the other versions and newbies should be able to get the gist of it, even though portions had to be cut due to technical limitations.
STORY: 10/10

LEVEL DESIGN:
The level design is simple, and it's obvious that the developers tried as hard as they could to emulate the PC and console versions of Max Payne. Of course, levels have been simplified to some extent, and due to constraints some levels have also been cut out (unfortunately); such as the burning restaurant, the parking garage and the whole Boris Dime story from Part 2.
They've also attempted to pack as much as possible into the small spaces they have, and it works a lot of the time. Sometimes though in their attempt to emulate the other Max Payne versions levels turn out to be really complicated and a bit confusing.
SCORE: 9/10

AI:
The AI is spectacular! Enemies will pop out of corners and ambush you, dodge roll, strafe and move around, all the while shooting you to bits. My only complaint with the AI is that they shoot you when you can't even see them! It's also cool sometimes you can play it a little bit stealthy by sneaking up on enemies and bashing them with a melee weapon like the lead pipe!
SCORE: 7/10

GAMEPLAY:
The gameplay, at first glance, seems very archiac, and even if it is, it's fun as hell and that's all that really matters. For pretty much the whole game you'll have to go guns a-blazin' (with the exception of one level). The enemies though, are tough, and get tougher with each level, and to aid you is Max's trademark Bullet Time. Bullet Time lets you slow down time around you while you still move in real time... in other words, it makes you the equivalent of Neo from the Matrix movies!
A few times you'll have to find a switch or a keycard or something to move on, or go to a certain place and/or help out some innocent folk. Some of the later challenges, such as the fires in the steel foundry levels, can get really frustrating and annoying.
When you've gotten shot up quite a bit, you can take some painkillers to ease the hurting. Another way of healing is walking around a bit and your damage will go down anywhere from 5 to 20%, which is good because you'll get shot up a lot in this game.
SCORE: 8.5/10

WEAPONS:
The weapons in Max Payne games have always owned, and this game is no exception. You'll start of with your wee lead pipe and your standard police issue M9 pistol, but as you go on you'll find greater weapons of mass destruction with which to exact your vengeance such as Jackhammer shotguns, dual Ingram submachine guns, M4 assault rifles and molotov cocktails to name a few. Of course, some changes have been made. The traditional sniper rifle has been removed (for obvious reasons), and some other changes as well. But overall, these weapons rule! SCORE: 9.5/10

SOUND:
Sound in Max Payne Advance is nothing but revolutionary! The guns sound loud and clear, if not very realistic. The music is very arcadey and won't really get in your way, but it does get to be an annoyance after a while. What should really catch you is the graphic novel voice-overs, which are really good and has raised the bar in GameBoy games!
SCORE: 10/10

REPLAYABILITY:
There's quite a bit of replayability in this game. Even if you've beaten the game once through the normal Fugitive mode, you'll have unlocked two other gameplay modes: DOA and New York Minute. DOA is like Fugitive mode except the enemies are twice as tough and smarter. New York Minute is Fugitive mode except as soon as you start, there's a timer counting down from 1 minute. You'll gain 10 seconds of time to beat the level for every thug you waste. If you don't beat the level before the counter gets to zero, you lose! And after that, you'll also get the cheat options after beating the game, so you can activate those through the Extras menu and get a little more fun!
SCORE: 8/10

OVERALL:
Max ruled on the PC and now it rules on the GameBoy Advance! My only complaints are a few odd bugs, the unbalanced AI (do they have superpowers???) and the fact that they had to cut out some levels and shorten others. Overall, Max Payne kicks ass!
SCORE (not an average): 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/21/04