Max Payne
March 5, 2002
You play as the title character throughout the game. Max Payne is not having a good life. First, he finds his Wife and baby daughter murdered in cold blood by 3 drugged up junkies. Then he gets framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Everyone wants a piece of him. Max Payne is a mixture of pretty much every cop movie every made. The best part of this game is the control, It’s smooth, simple, and responsive. The right shoulder button fires your equipped weapons as rapidly as possible–the Xbox controller’s grip actually makes this feel like you’re squeezing a gun trigger (I don’t care what anybody says I think the Xbox controller is awesome!) –while the left shoulder button triggers Max’s “bullet time” special ability, which temporarily puts everything in slow motion, as in The Matrix. This “bullet time” is probably the best part of the game. The weird thing is that it never gets old. The sounds of gunfire become muted and distant, and you hear the pounding of Max’s heart. Bullet time isn’t just for show (but it is really fun to watch)–it effectively gives Max superhuman reflexes, and while all the action in the game is slowed, you can still aim in real time. As you launch yourself through the air, you’ll actually see the enemy’s bullets (or shotgun pellets) zing past you. (I’m telling you this “bullet time” makes the game!!)
To help Max Payne take out the criminal underworld, he has a huge arsenal of weapons that he has access to. Shotguns, Sawed off shot guns, dual pistols, semi automatic guns as well as grenades and molotov cocktails. Max is not superman though, he is human, a bullet in the head, or a grenade, can kill him. But he can withstand minor wounds that he can recover from by using painkillers, which you’ll find scattered about in desks and bathrooms and lockers.
The character models are somewhat blocky and the look on Max Payne’s face is a cross between constipation and determination. The textures are almost photo realistic and really do a great job of capturing some of the prettiest looking city slums that you will ever see in a video game. The frame rate stays pretty consistent. There are only a few instances where you can feel the frame rate slow down.
The story unfolds through comic-book-style cinemas that are completely non-interactive. I guess the only thing that I do not like about the game, is the cinemas. What is wrong with them? Besides the fact that you cannot interact with them, it takes FOREVER for them to load. This really interrupts the flow of the game. I really wanted to see some great video shots instead of the comic-book-style cinemas.
Unfortunately, the game is over almost as quickly as it begins. Average players should be able to play through the game in about 10 to 12 hours. After defeating the game once there is little incentive to play again. Overall, I like this game a lot, but after I was done, I did not play anymore.
CVG Report CardMax Payne
Developer: Remedy
Publisher: Rockstar Games
1 Player Game
Genre: Action
Rating: B+
Platform: Xbox
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