In a city teeming with low-life scum gunning for Max, the odds are distinctly
stacked against him. Max has an ace up his sleeve, though: bullet
time. Bullet time allows Max to slow time around him while still being
able to aim and fire in real-time. You'll see any bullets headed towards
you slowly moving at the head of shockwave trails, giving you time to dive or
roll out of the way. Action sequences during bullet time look like they
come straight out of the movie, The Matrix, except that this time you are
part of the action. Bullet time is a strong advantage, so you are only
given a limited amount of bullet time to use. Once used up, you'll have to
fight your battles in real-time until you earn more bullet time by killing your
enemies.
As you can probably surmise, Max Payne is a violent game. There are
plenty of shootouts and the bloodshed is plentiful. Well-placed kill shots
are rewarded with a slow-motion scene of the unlucky recipient of Max's justice
slumping to the ground for the last time. Taken within the game story's
context, though, the violence is not excessive or gratuitous. Many action
games cross the fine line that takes them into the territory of glorified
violence, but that is not the case with Max Payne.
It's hard to find anything negative to say about the game other than that the
story could be longer and there is no multiplayer support. Many gamers
will enjoy the game so much, that it will seem to end too soon and leave them
hungry for more.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 97%.
On it's own, bullet time would simply be a very cool gimmick. However, it
is wrapped up in a game with incredible graphics, a compelling storyline, and an
immersive experience. All of these features are expertly combined in Max
Payne, creating a candidate for game of the year. A note of caution,
though, Max Payne's system requirements are steep, so be sure that you have the
hardware to run the game before you buy it.
System Requirements: 450 MHz Pentium II CPU; 96 MB RAM; 16 MB
Video RAM; 4x CD-ROM; 780 MB Hard Drive Space; Mouse.
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