Written By:
Date Posted: September 17, 2001

Yes folks, that's a real screenshot, and not pre-rendered. By now, I'm sure you've all heard of Max Payne, and anyone who's played it is probably as amazed as I am. It's been a long time since a game got me to devote so much time playing it, and I was sorry to see it end when I finished it.

Four years in development by , Max Payne was unleashed on the gaming community at the end of July 2001. It was late by a couple of years, but it looks like the wait was well worth it (Just like my review :P). Unlike the popular action games, where the perspective is from the first person point of view, Max Payne takes a 3rd person, "Tomb Raider-ish" perspective. It could be tedious, but Max Payne plays well from this perspective. It also draws you into the game a little more, which is odd, since that's the whole point of "first-person".

Specifications

Minimum Requirements:

450MHz AMD / Intel Processor
96 MB RAM
16MB Direct3D Compatible Graphics Card

Recommended System:

700 MHz AMD / Intel Processor
128 MB RAM
32 MB Direct3D Compatible Graphics Card

Generic requirements:

DirectX 8.0
DirectSound compatible sound card

Full install: 830 MB
Minimum install: 530 MB

Minimum install will load the levels from the game cd. Full installation is recommended for optimal performance.

Honestly, I think that the recommended requirements should be the minimum to play the game it was meant to be played. Definently load the whole game onto your hard drive also, since the load times take a while.

The Story

Yup, there is actually a story, and thankfully not one that involves key finding and putting together puzzles, as is the norm for 3rd person games. It is a little cliché, I'll admit, but at least it's better "than fighting space aliens and save the planet Earth" story again. The story actually begins near the end of the game, with Max looking over New york City after dealing serious punishment to his enemies. He looks back at the events that transpired that led him to his current situation.

Max Payne was a regular cop, doing his daily grind three years earlier. A buddy in the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) continues to hound Max into joining his team, but Max declines, citing he needs to go home to his family. Of course, being an action game/movie, Max returns home to find his wife and child brutally murdered by a bunch of thugs loaded on a drug named Valkyr. After dispatching the thugs to the afterworld, which you actually play through, Max joins up with the DEA.

Fast forward three years later, where Max is working undercover to infiltrate a local mob family. He's getting closer to the source of Valkyr, and unfortunently, the bad guys know this also. Thus begins the "real" game of "John Woo, action movie style" gun shooting carnage. Like many an action flick, your best buddy gets nailed, and as luck would have it, Max is the prime suspect. Shortly after, not only is the mob after him, but so is the police, and a mysterious group of government soldiers and spooks.

There are shootouts in the streets of New York, subway stations, temples, ship cargo bays, rooftops, helicopter gunships, you name it. As Max progresses through the game, there are still more double crosses, deceit, plot turns, and of course, blowing baddies away. There are even a few dream (nightmare) sequences thrown into the mix where Max relives the murder of his family. I'll have to admit, with the screaming and warped looking hallways, it was fairly chilling.

The Technology

Considering that Max Payne takes place in the "real-world", character design is utterly amazing. I've always found that human models were hard to make work, which would explain the number of fantasy type characters we see in action games. Those of you who've run 3D Mark 2001, have already seen Remedy's Max-FX engine at work. I haven't seen a game come this close to photo realism yet. Sure, the hands do look a little blocky, but weapon detail is extremely realistic, not that I would know :P

For those of you who don't have juiced up rigs, Max Payne is extremely customizable when it comes to graphical settings. Everything from resolution, texture detail to sound and colour depth. I've read that even on Celeron 400s with a TNT2 level videocard, the game is quite playable and still looks pretty good. Credit to Remedy and their tight code. For those who have a high end PC though, turn on all that detail, because it looks great. Other than character animation, muzzle flashes and fire effects are simply awesome. Sure, they may not be totally realistic (huge muzzle flashes from a Beretta), but it adds to the "cool" factor of the game.

I think I made it clear that the graphics are jaw dropping, but another note worthy aspect of the game is the audio. There is a lot of ambient audio, such as police sirens wailing in the distance, and the gun effects are clear and sharp. Each weapon has the right amount of oomph, and you can feel your teeth rattle as you lay into a room of villains, ripping into them with your double handed Uzis blazing away.

Level design is another high point. Since it's based on "real-world" environments, doors and hallways are placed fairly logically. Any bullet holes left from a gunfight, or dead bodies you leave behind, ...will remain there if you need to back track your steps. Need a marker? Shoot a bad guy. Apartment buildings look like apartment buildings, and a hallway that turns left, actually turns left. Because of this, it isn't likely for you to get lost. Some critics may say this is uninspiring, but I have yet to see a vortex portal when opening a door at the end of the hall.

I also want to add a note about level loading. Whenever you start a new level, it takes anywhere from 15 - 30 seconds to load, depending on the speed of your machine. But when you die, and believe me, you will (such as dropping a Molotov Cocktail on your feet), reloads are almost instantanious.

One amusing thing about the enemies is that they have some personality. If you choose to sneak up on them, you can here them chit chatting about their lives and such. They'll actually try to use cover if it's available, and attack in groups to try to outflank you. For the most part though, they usually end up running right at you. It doesn't make for "smart" A.I., but it's typical action movie intelligence.

Gameplay

Max Payne is fully customizable in terms of controls. I customized my keyboard using my WASD Quake settings, and it works quite well. There aren't many jumping puzzles, so really, all you're doing is running around blowing people away. Don't look for any innocents to kill. The game takes place in the biggest snowstorm of the century, and civilians are at home.

The game borrows heavily from "John Woo" and "The Matrix". Other than the dark, film noir style, the action sequences are explosive. When you're shooting it out with multiple enemies, you can feel the tension just building. One great moment that'll stay in my mind for awhile is the underground parking garage sequence. you got dozens and dozens of bad guys, on foot and in MOVING vehicles! Cars are blowing up left and right, bullets zinging past you, echos of tire screeches and bullets spattering the walls...., wow.

Bullet-time is a big part of the game, and could make the difference between life and death. You have a little hour-glass to the left of your screen indicating how much time you have. It does replenish itself when you accumulate the death toll on the bad guys. What bullet-time does is that it slows everything down, including the bullets. Max slows down as well, but not as drastically as the enemies, and he can still aim in real-time. This means Max can dodge bullets, and aim at the baddies precisely. With practice, a combination of bullet-time and a heavy duty gun, Max can easily take out 4-6 baddies with barely a scratch on him. Dodging is also handy, since it actually works in throwing off a villain's aim.

Final Words

As much as I enjoyed the game, it isn't without a few downfalls. The game is very short. This is compounded with the fact that there is only one difficulty level to start with, and the others are unlocked when you complete the game. Because Max Payne doesn't dynamically change the environments, I don't really see the point of replaying the game once it's done. Sure, it's a lot of fun, but I don't go watch "The Terminator" over, and over. There is also no multiplayer, which isn't surpising due to the obvious imbalance of the bullet-time effect, but this just limits the replay value some more. There is a mod/level editor included, so there will hopefully be some 3rd party development to keep the game alive.

That being said, the game is a heck of a lot of fun, and amazing to look at. If you want to show your computer off to envious friends, this is the game to load up. The game plays well, looks and sounds great, and is sure to rob 20-30 hours of your life. But it'll be worth it.

Hasta...

...la vista...

...baby!

GoD Game:

90%

Pros: Unbelievable graphics, amazing fire animation, great story, "Bullet-Time", free mousepad, amazingly accurate "action movie" enemy A.I., .....

Cons: ...which makes enemies as dumb as rocks, no multiplayer, some clipping problems, need a high end system to get full effect, short game, little replay value.

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