Good game, mediocre port.
Story: Max Payne is about a New York cop. After a long day at work, he comes home to his house broken into, and his family murdered by thugs hopped up on a drug named Valkyr. Max sets out to find more about the drug and the operation behind it. In the process, he gets framed for a murder, and has to go rogue. With the mob and police after him, Max sets off to fight against the odds. The story is basic, but very strong and emotional. The mood definitely has an impact on you, which is a good thing.
Gameplay: Max Payne is a Third Person Shooter, meaning the view of the game is behind Max the entire time. You get to blow away plenty of bad guys with a variety of weapons, such as Pistols, Shotguns, Machine Guns and Explosives. The mechanics work great on the PC version, but are a little riddled on the PS2. The big thing with Max Payne is the Bullet Time feature. This is when Max goes into a focused state of mind where time appears to slow down, and gives him the upper hand in firefights. Max can also do some jumps and dodges in slow motion, and it's a nice touch to the action. Bullet time is a welcome addition to the PS2, and works well. However, the aforementioned frame rate issues really hinder this game from greatness. As soon as an enemy appears and starts shooting, the game becomes choppy. As soon as more enemies come on-screen, it bogs down immensely. It sometimes forces you to strictly use Bullet Time so you can make sense of what's going on on-screen. The game is far from unplayable, but the lack of polish can get annoying. Another thing to mention is the loading times. They are kinda long. It's fine when you're loading a new level, but it's the same thing when you die. It takes just as long to load a save. It gets very frustrating to have to wait a minute to get another shot at a hard part of the game. The gameplay is flawed, but not completely ruined. There's still some enjoyment to be found.
Controls: Max Payne is best played with a mouse and keyboard combo, but the translation to the PS2 could have been executed better. The button layout is a little awkward, but it's easy to adjust after a few minutes of play time. The movement is where it gets more awkward. The aiming is very touchy. This along with the frame rate can become disorienting. Overall, the translation to DualShock 2 isn't as good as it could have been.
Graphics: The graphics look great on the Xbox and PC counterparts. Since this game was ported to a 128-bit machine, sacrifices are expected to be made. However, the game looks pretty good for the console. The textures aren't as sharp, and the models aren't as detailed, but it looks decent for a early PS2 game.
Sound: Max Payne has great sound on every port. Sounds vary from the slow night breeze, to police sirens, explosions, gunshots, chatter among the bad guys. Max Payne sounds great and really adds depth to the experience.
Overall: This game should only be played for the purpose of trying it. I would say if you only have a PS2, but the Xbox and PC versions are easy to come across nowadays, and cheap. It isn't bad, but it's not perfect either. I would stick with the Xbox or PC ports.