Brilliant Concept on a Film Noire-esque Game
The basic premise is simple, in nature, a cop trying to right wrongs done to him, in a nutshell. The mature nature of the game makes some segments of the game a little dicey for younger gamers, and this is yet another title that kids probably shouldn't pick up. The fact that the protagonist pops pills when he's hurt is more than enough to send the conservatives into a tail-spin.
Despite that, the game play is very unique. I never quite mastered Bullet Time, I never used it, actually, but after playing Red Dead Redemption, looking back, I expect it was a similar concept. At times, the controls were challenging, but the ability to move around made poor camera angles something that could be tolerated.
The environments were a little boxy, you could tell they were all linear, but that's probably due to the platform more than anything. The voice acting was picture perfect and the scenes between chapters were just amazing. The one that sticks out the most for me, and I hope it was this one and not the sequel, was the drug-induced maze Max has to navigate to continue. It was very trippy and that alone made it worthwhile.
As the game progress, the story unfolds, and the corruption, as you'd expect, goes high up indeed. The story is told through cut-scene-like comics and actual game play. The comics are really brilliantly placed and make the story feel that much authentic. While I didn't love this game, I found it very addictive and was compelled to pick the second one up because of it. Overall, this is one of those games that you have to play, not a long play-through, but a great ride nonetheless.