RETRO – Max Payne is not a cop that reads your rights. He does not mess around with the handcuffs: a headshot is a much more efficient method to stop crime. By infiltrating the mafia, Payne tries to figure out who is behind the distribution of the Valkyr drug. As criminals under the effects of the drug killed his family. After his colleague and friend are slaughtered trying to help Payne, the murder is pinned on Payne and ends up being in the crossfire. On the one end the New York Police start a manhunt, and on the other the Mafia is trying to get him to sleep with the fishes. Max is driven by rage and vengeance, and will not stop until every blood and tear is repaid in bullets.

When I first played Max Payne, I thought I was going to play an over hyped Tomb Raider clone. After I loaded the game, and the first few scenes loaded in, I was hooked and was engulfed in the snowy noir of New York City.

It’s bullet time!

Remember The Matrix’s famous movie trick where Neo can dodge the bullet thanks to the slowed down time, and how the camera circled him? This is called, „Bullet time” and this effect was used in Max Payne. Here just like in Matrix time slows down so much that you can see the bullets shot from the guns, as it crosses the air, and the sound effects are dampened.

This movie effect enhances the game so much that a player might end up not caring about the gangsters but instead focus on the effect. Besides the practical side of the effect, it is an unbelievable sight and feeling when dashing towards in slow motion with a double barreled shotgun. With a bit of luck and agility, you will be able to dodge bullets while you kill the gangsters.

No turning back

The other new idea that the developers implemented was that besides the in game engine cinematics there are also comic book cutscenes. That might bother some as it breaks up the action, but thanks to the great voice actors, and Max’s monologues these were cool.

The entire thing looks like as if it was a flashback as most of the pages look washed out. The only point where this was annoying was at the beginning where I did not know whether tor un or click everywhere so that I would not skip any important information.

A good thing about the game is that it never takes itself too seriously. I laughed a lot when I heard the gangsters talking (just like in No One Lives Forever). One of them noticed that he is not just a paper maché and that he has a wife and kids, he only choose this line of work to take care of his family.

The agents in the game that are like in the Matrix also like to chat: one of them noted for example that in his line of work the pay does not matter, it’s that he has a licence to kill just like James Bond. While the other sighed and said how cool it would be to slow down time and dodge bullets just like int he action movies. The biggest laugh was when I heard Max’s drugged up monologue – I won’t spoil it though as it is worth to listen to it yourself.

Play it Bogart

Payne is the everyday noir movie hero: saddened, a lonely hero who is looking for his righteous vengeance against the mafia, all the while the cops are also after him. The story is dramatic: we expect that Max cannot win, as even if he gets everyone, the cops will probably just shoot him on sight. ( I won’t spoil the ending though).

It is an exceptionally depressing atmosphere that can only be found in excellent noir films: his family gets brutally murdered, later he gets beaten up, forced to take a drug, and in one scene he gets his head smashed with a baseball bat, etc.
Max does not look like any of the old classic crime protagonists either: he has a bit of Dirty Harry, a bit of McClane from Die Hard, a speck of Philip Marlowe (played by Humprey Bogart), and he can shoot with two pistols just like in a John Woo movie.

Eksön

An interesting question is how good Max Payne is regarding gameplay compared to other innovative action games. Bullet Time provides an experience that no other game has done so far. As if you were in an interactive movie: the experience is grand
Same goes for the encounters: you cannot be stealthy, or deal with the enemy in any other way. The only way here to progress is to shoot faster, and sometimes use the flammable barrels to our advantage, but this is almost all the tactical options we get Besides bullet time.

The AI for the gangsters is not that great, but it is okay: if they get injured they will try to run away, or find cover, and alarm the others, but that is pretty much it. Even with the AI being okay the game does not become boring thanks to bullet time, and on the other hand, the levels are pretty creative. We can play at a level where we have to get through Max’s nightmare. In another level, we have to escape a burning dinner, where the flames are burning everything, and we must find the correct route to survive.

Max graphics

We have not talked about the incredibly good looking graphics, which allows the environment (the walls, furniture, etc.) to be rendered in a highly detailed way. Max and the enemies’ animation are also top notch, but the biggest shock were the bullets, and fire effects that can be best enjoyed with the bullet time.

The faces are also extremely detailed, but sadly the lips do not move during talking, which is a bit of a disappointment in 2001. Luckily the developers had the brains not to zoom in on the faces when a conversation was occurring, unlike in the Infogrames Alone int he Dark 4.

I am not bloodthirsty (okay maybe sometimes I am…) but I did not like that the bullet wounds were not shown, and only blood pours out. Nothing extra shows no the bodies – as if we were watching a B movie …. The bad guys die spectacularly, but it is a bit strange seeing the same thing when shooting them with a double-barreled shotgun at point blank range or shooting them from long distance with a sniper rifle.

„A little closer to heaven…”

Max Payne is one of the most atmospheric, spectacular looking, and revolutionary action game. A big praise for the developers especially for the level variety, the graphics, and the bullet time. Even the characters are well developed and are not paper thin, which why it is so hard to stop playing Max Payne. An interesting, and deep game, with fun action moments.

-BadSector- (2001)

Publisher: Take 2

Developer: Remedy Entertainment

Genre: TPS

Relase date: 2001