Play this ambitious shooter which inspired all other third person shooter games!
Genre: Third Person Shooter
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
System: PC (Steam)
Total Score: 84/100
Value Score: 8.4/10
• Story: 10/10
o The story of Max Payne takes place in New York in the year 2001, however the story begins three years prior to the events of the current game. Max Payne is a police detective part of the NYPD, he had a great life going, a beautiful wife, a new baby girl and a good job. However everything comes at a price and his story is about to go down in a grim path. One day his wife and daughter were murdered in cold blood at his home in New Jersey, he quickly dispatched the murders however his family was slaughtered. A few years later in the year 2001 Max Payne's search for the real murders continues until he finally reaches a clue which will lead him to the right direction however what he might find will be far bigger than he had anticipated and will initiate his fall.
• Characters: 8/10
o Max Payne's characters are like from a usual Noire style film or a Mafia film better put as an example. All from the character designs towards the voice over, it feels like you are watching one of the great 1900s movies about gangs which is a pretty nice touch to the environment and the storyline. The best character of course is the main character, so much personality even through his narrator dialog that he speaks in majority of the game. The character designs for the enemies however may feel generic at first but the amount of different enemies is actually pretty big for a somewhat short game. The characters are best represented in the noire style film comic that is displayed throughout the entire game and that is how the storyline is shown to the player.
• GamePlay: 10/10
o Max Payne is your typical third person shooter, you play as Max Payne who can get access to all sorts of weapons and tools ranging from pistols, shotguns, rifles, grenade launchers, snipers, baseball bats, grenades and Molotov bottles. You also have a special ability called "Bullet Time" (which can be used with the right mouse button) which slows down the game enough for the player to do attacks against enemies with their weapon allowing you to do Matrix like moves in the process for precise aiming. You also get access to various amounts of Pain pills which can be used to heal your health. You'll be breaking through carts, boxes, cases and all sorts of instruments to get these items which will help you kill enemies. Enemies will usually pop up without warning, you can sneak up to them or even snipe them at different occasions. You'll also be prompted to start cutscenes showcasing the game's narration through a noire style film comic which you can replay with use of the F1 button. Pressing the F5 button saves the game F9 will load the game back to the previous state it was saved. You can press the number keys to switch weapons easily or roll the mouse wheel. Pressing space will let you jump and the usual WASD combo is used for walking in default mode. Pressing R will allow you reload ammo to your weapon and pressing E will allow you to search objects with exclamation points above them when you get near them or allow you to zoom in for sniping a enemy with a sniper rifle. You also have a arrange of difficulty modes which can only be accessed once you finish the default normal mode and have access to the credits automatically.
• Graphics: 7/10
o Max Payne's graphics at the time were in the mixture of N64/PSX and PS2/Dreamcast graphics. Although majority of the character sprites look like they were cardboard character cut outs from the WWF/WWE games, the environment, cutscenes and the narrator scenes were nicely done and matches with the story quite well. Adding a bleak color and setting to the storyline was well made and feels like you are in a movie. If you enjoyed games like GTA III you will not have any worries with this game.
• Sound: 10/10
o The voice acting in this game is simply amazing and you can tell they chose the best actors for the game. It really feels like you are watching a classic mafia/gang movie from the late 1900s. The sound effects from weapons, attacks, noises from the environment and characters were nicely made and was a rare thing back in its time.
• Music: 7/10
o The music may not be as good as other games but when it does play it brings up the mood and makes players feel like adrenaline rushing through their veins while fighting against enemies. Although majority of the game will not have any music unless you are fighting through a midway battle against the main enemies or against a "Boss" like character, the intro music plays during cutscenes giving a eerie feeling to the already gloomy and iconic movie like environment.
• Length: 6/10
o Max Payne 1 on PC is divided into three parts with about 7-9 chapters each with a prologue in the beginning as well to introduce the player to what the situation is. The main storyline should take you about 7 hours to complete and if you keep exploring through the terrain of the levels and areas within the game it could even take you up to 13 hours.
• Replay Value: 6/10
o Max Payne's replay value mostly comes from two extra levels which can be gained once you get to a higher difficulty. The game includes three additional difficulties which two of them can be unlocked at the end of the first playthrough and the third after a playthrough with one of the higher difficulty modes. The two extra levels adds extra challenge and little to no actual storyline however but it is great for replay value wise for players who want more hours squeezed out in this game.
• Player Value: 10/10
o Max Payne for the PC is an amazing experience. If you enjoyed noire type films, mafia style themed movies or action pack movies you will enjoy this game. To add to the amazing storyline and characters, you have an amazing gameplay system implemented that gives you more control to the game than most other shooters which also paves way towards future shooting games. Get this game on Steam now which is available with its sequel. You will not regret it.