head-driller's Full Review: Max Payne for PlayStation 2
2001 was probably one of the biggest years for gaming in a while. The highly-anticipated Sony PlayStation2, Microsoft X-Box, and Nintendo GameCube game consoles all saw release that year and sold in record time. All three systems had games that also sold very well and became instant classics.
2001 was also a big year for Rockstar Games. They released the mega hit Grand Theft Auto III (and it's smash follow-up, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, in October 2002), which helped put them on the map with companies like Capcom and Konami, and they also released Max Payne, a port of the hit PC game. Max Payne was also a top-seller for the PS2 and X-Box consoles and is now a Greatest Hit and Platinum title. The game was followed by a recently released sequel, Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne, for the PS2 and X-Box (which I haven't played yet). Max Payne is well deserving of it's success, because it's an excellent action game and one of the best to be released in years.
Story:
Max Payne is a detective working for the New York City Police Department. He has a wife and baby daughter and his life seems to be doing great until one night when he arrives home to find them both murdered by gun-toting drug addicts who are high on Valkyr, a new drug on the streets. Max wastes them and for three years, copes with the trauma. He joins the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and along with another DEA agent named Alex Balder, goes undercover to infiltrate a Mafia gang in New York that's believed to be dealing with the Valkyr drug. Things don't go as planned when Payne encounters armed gang members in the subway and Balder is killed, and to make matters worse, Payne is framed for the murder and is now the subject of a police manhunt. Payne now has to outrun the police while trying to uncover the mystery of the Valkyr drug, and when he does, it's far more sinister than he imagined, as it's linked to a powerful corporation. Payne prepares to take his revenge on the Mafia and the corrupt corporation for his family's death, but will he succeed? It depends on how you control him.
Max Payne's story is nothing original, the theme of an angry man seeking revenge on those who wronged him or harmed his loved ones, but the game excels in the most important category of any video game: fun. Max Payne is barrels of bullet-riddled fun from start to finish and never lets up, with it's incredibly intense scenarios, fun (if limited) weapon selection, and nice level designs along with plot twists that further intensify the action. I have only played the PS2 version thus far, but I'm extremely impressed with what I've played.
Max Payne's story may not be original, but let's face it: we're living in a time where originality is hard to come by and these days just about every kind of concept has been done countless times. The story of Max Payne is nothing original but nevertheless intriguing, mainly because Payne himself is a strong and likeable leading character. He's struggling with intense emotional pain, just when he thought his life couldn't have been any better. Payne eventually hardens up though, and when he does, stand back, otherwise he'll riddle you with about a billion bullets. The player right from the start is immersed in Payne's persona and hopes he accomplishes his goals and recovers. In addition to sporting a great leading character, the story has a nice flow to it and some very cool and even occasionally surprising twists.
Making the story all the more unique is it's presentation in using comic book-style cutscenes, with a picture of the situation and events leading up to the current level and dialogue bubbles along with actors posing in the scene. Some of the cutscenes are cheesy but nevertheless they are interesting to watch.
The graphics are great, with incredible detailing. Metal grates and catwalks are rusted, bullet holes get stuck in walls after being shot, crime scenes have yellow police tape around them, hypodermic needles are scattered around dirty bathrooms, grafitti is sprayed all over walls, splinters burst out of wood after being shot, grounds are covered with snow, I could go on how much detail was put into the game. The attention to detail is outstanding.
Character models are also very good, though the faces leave a bit to be desired (more than one expression would've been nice). Max Payne himself in particular looks very real and the designers did a great job at making him look like a real person. The movements and animations can be a little jerky but are pretty fluid overall in addition to boasting some very cool designs (such as the Commandos). The game also boasts plenty of cool effects, ranging from explosions, spreading flames, shattering glass, and bullets whizzing by.
The one area where the game really excels in the graphics department though are the level designs. From the run-down ghettos mobsters use as their hideouts, to the elaborate halls of a corporations highrise tower, the game boasts some great levels and designs. The levels work great for the action scenarios, are immensely detailed, and even have some fun interactive elements (such as fire extinguishers you can shoot to spray foam, for example). The game has some fairly varied levels too, sometimes taking a break from the run-down buildings and big warehouses, exploring territory such as a cargo ship, a parking lot and garage, and even a Satanic church. The game's graphics overall are very nice and well-done, the level of detail is incredible as are the level designs and the various special effects are neat little touches. The only downsides are the lack of multiple facial expressions for the characters and some occasional slowdown, which you'll experience quite a bit. Slowdown tends to occur when facing off against a certain number of enemies and when you and their guns are firing. The frame rate gets quite slow and choppy and the slowness can be distracting, although eventually you'll probably get used to it.
The sound effects are also strong, the guns are loud and sound a lot like their real-life counterparts, the explosions sound big, and other touches throughout, such as crates and glass being broken and snowy winds blowing, all sound strong. The game is very good in the sound department, and the voice acting is solid as well. James McAffrey voices Max Payne and is excellent at the role, with his deep monotone voice that perfectly fits Payne's character and personality, making him sound both tough yet psychologically torn all at once. McAffrey almost makes Payne sound like a hardened war veteran. The other voice acting is good too, although some of it is funny (like the Mafia thugs, for example).
Of course, great graphics, detail, and sound wouldn't mean anything if it wasn't for the most important element of all: gameplay. Max Payne more than delivers in the gameplay department. The most famous feature of the game is probably the Bullet Time feature. Modeled after the slow-motion action sequences made famous in The Matrix Trilogy, Bullet Time allows the player to temporarily slow everything around them down for a little bit, slowing the enemies and their bullets, and though Max moves more slowly in Bullet Time, his accuracy has increased and his hit percentage is also higher, and his chances of gunning down his enemies is higher. The Bullet Time feature is a lot of fun to use (although admittedly after being used excessively in The Matrix films has gotten a bit tiring to watch), and will prove extremely helpful in various areas of the game, especially large-scale firefights where you have to battle with multiple waves of enemies.
In addition to the famous and fun Bullet Time feature, Max Payne's weapon selection is a fun one, with Handguns, Shotguns, Assault Rifles, and Explosives. Payne has all sorts of weapons at his disposal, with his standard solo and dual Beretta Handguns, Desert Eagle Handgun with high knockdown power, Pump-Action and Sawed-Off Shotguns that are devastating at close range, insanely fast-firing solo and dual Ingrams (better known as Uzis), and a long-range and accurate Sniper Rifle with scope. Other weapons include Grenades and Molotov Cocktails, a lead pipe and baseball bat, an M-79 Grenade Launcher, the Jackhammer Shotgun (a rapid-fire Shotgun that inflicts major damage), and my personal favorite, the Colt Commando (an M-16-type Assault Rifle with a fast fire rate and very high stopping power, making it arguably the best weapon for large-scale gun battles). The weapon selection could use some more variety but nevertheless is a lot of fun to use.
You'll need all those weapons to battle the game's numerous enemies too, ranging from Mafia thugs, drug-addicted junkees, Satanists, S.W.A.T. Team Commandos, and "Killer Suits" (CIA-type agents in tuxedos who are brutally efficient fighters). You'll take on this interesting cast of villains in the game's excellently-designed levels, from subway stations, ghettos, warehouses, parking garages, and top-secret government buildings. Add the great level designs, cool villains, fun weapons, and neat Bullet Time feature together, and you've got one intense and fun action game that never lets up.
Further adding to the gameplay is the incredible atmosphere, which totally immerses you and really makes you feel like you're in the game. The game does a good job of creating an oppressive and isolated feeling and the environments are grim, gritty, and violent. The weather effects certainly add some more to the game too; you can almost feel the snow blowing all around you...
Overall Max Payne is simply an excellent action game and one that no action gamer should miss. It's not perfect and in fact has it's share of flaws (such as the occasional slowdown, the long loading times that often interfere between each level that can be quite annoying to sit through, and a control scheme that'll take time and patience to get used to), but there's no questions the pros beat the cons, the game is a whole lot of fun to play from start to finish and is very addicting, boasts an intriguing (albeit unoriginal and at-times slightly cheesy) story, and has some very cool level designs that make for some way cool action scenarios that'll make you feel like you're in a major action movie. The game could use some more variety (like more weapons and more varied missions, like sneaking into enemy headquarters in disguise and firing away at gunmen pursuing you in vehicles while shooting from the back of a truck, for example, just to add some variety and freshness in-between). Max Payne is overall an excellent game and all gamers who are fans of the action genre should check it out immediately. It gets my highest recommendation, and now priced at only $19.99, you've got nothing to lose (no pun intended).
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