Max Payne Review

Take a lot of film-noir darkness and add a dash of The Matrix, and you'll get Max Payne.  In this third-person shooter, you take on the role of Max Payne, a fugitive undercover cop who has been accused of murder.  You must dive deep into New York's dark underbelly to clear your name and find the source of a new drug scourge gripping the city.

Max Payne does a top-notch job of creating an immersive, film-noir environment - the game just oozes atmosphere.  Run-down buildings, abandoned subway stations, and dark back-alleys are just some of the locales Max must make his way through while the city is paralyzed by a major snowstorm.  

The game's story is very compelling and is brilliantly carried forward by cut-scenes which are a mix of action sequences and graphic novel, comic book frames.  The voice acting in these scenes is top-notch, driven by Max's own narrative which sounds part Dirty Harry, part hardboiled PI straight out of a 1940's detective movie. 

Max Payne's dark and dangerous world is populated by gangsters, thugs, pushers, and more scum of the Earth that stand between him and his vindication.  While it is often best to deal with these dirtbags with the business end of Max's well-stocked arsenal, sometimes it is a good idea to wait a few minutes before barging into a room with guns blazing.  Max's enemies have a life of their own and are involved in their various dirty dealings before their ill-fated meetings with Max, so eavesdropping on a conversation or two can provide some clues to unraveling the mystery and clearing Max's name.

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.

Final Rating: 97% - Take some of The Matrix, and a lot of film-noir, and you get this excellent action game.

Note: A review code for this game was provided by the publisher.