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Awesome game for PS2 or PC

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Dont let those low ratings or comments deter you MAX PAYNE is
one of the best third person games that have come out in the last 10 yrs, it was one of the best games for the PC next
to Half Life and its gritty violent realism and "bullet time"
mode are being used systematically in many games.

The story is that as Max Payne you a cop turned DEA detective
you find your family murdered by drugged thugs infautated with
the drug V.

As Max you turned into a "Dirty Harry" persona where you look
clues, crooks and criminals while exacting revenge on those
who have murdered your family and friends.

The game is for adults, but that is not to say its a bad game,
its not, the scenes in each game are wonderfully created, and
the intense realism during these one on one shootout still
sends a shiver down my spine. I wouldnt be surprised
if realy cops played the game for real life training as you
have to be quick on your toes.

Graphics 9

Awesomely detailed from New York City to Max Payne himself,
heck even the bad guys look good. You also see those cool
shaded effects that come from good 3d environment. Lastly
the game comes loaded with FMV movies for your enjoyment.

Sound and Music 5

Well yeah there is hardly music, but this is the rare occasion
where lack of music helps not hurts the game, especially
in those shootouts. The sound is equally incredible, using digitized speech throughout the game via Max Payne, his friend Alex and all the characters in the game including the Mob bosses.

Control 7

Well in the PC/WINDOWS version you had to use the keyboard
and mouse only which was very tiring and offered few
flexibility but now for the PS2, you could your joystick to kick
butt in the game. This was a very warm welcome. The programmers
stuck pretty to the PC port, depending on how you assigned your
controls the buttons are the same. One for aiming and shooting,
another to changed weapons and of course the famous
"Bullet Time" mode.

Bonuses:

Just like the PC port, the game does offer cool bonuses like
difficulty settings, but lacks of course the mods and maps
that the pc port has.

Still this is a great port for your PS2!!!!

Great with a few flaws

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I throughly enjoyed this game. The voice acting may not be the greatest, but I think the gameplay is really well done and the atmospheres are fantastic. The controls take some getting used too and are not for everyone. They are a problem and could have been better to control, surprisenly I can do it very well. The major problem I have is that as the game progresses it gives you less times to save, so you have to go through almost an entire level (though short) and complete it WITHOUT saving once. That is so stupid because if you die at the end you have to do the entire level over again, that is the dumbest thing ever in a video game. I just feel it's unfair for the game makers to make a fairly difficult level then make you do it over and over if you slip and die toward the end. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
The levels can be a bit difficult if you're not one to be quick on the trigger. And as much I gripe on the camera angles, they're useful in stopping Max at the end a hall, swing the camera around and see if an enemy is around the corner, waiting on the steps, right inside the next room, etc. It gives you a heads up and makes it easier to stay alive.
However, I still really liked it. I didn't enjoy MP2 as much, but MP3 (which should end the series I think) should, (re: SHOULD) be much better. I'm looking forward to it.

Awesome!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Max Payne is a great game. The slow motion bullet time provides unique gameplay and gives you that extra edge when facing multiple enemies. The only drawback to the game is the control system, which makes it mandatory to move and strafe with one joystick and turn and look up and down with the other.

Gritty New York Syphon Filter with slo-mo

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: February 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The controls of this game & the graphics remind me very much of Syphon Filter, only looser and sloppier. Aiming is difficult unless you engage auto-lock, and then it's too easy. I'm about 3/4 the way through the game and none too impressed.

The graphics are good, but c'mon, this is PS2. I guess it's a port of an older PC game, but I can't help thinking they're just updated Doom/Syphon Filter graphics. Plus, there are NO CUTSCENES. That's right. None whatsoever. Instead, they've been replaced them all with cheesy graphic novel looking static images.

The missions are boring and confusing. I commented to my girlfriend while playing that I constantly felt lost, but Max seemed to 'know' where he was going. The only way I could tell I wasn't backtracking was that people would come out to shoot me. In fact, with auto-lock mode on, you could pretty much run straight foward while shooting and auto-lock would point you the right direction - that's where the enemies are coming from, that's where I have to go.

The gameplay is frustrating. You use the analogue sticks, which, being an old-time gamer, I've never quite gotten used to. I'm used to extreme slams on the stick being the same as subtle taps. Other than that, it really feels like the old Syphon Filter engine.

The left stick makes Max move, and the right one changes his direction/aims. You shoot with R1, select weapons (in real time, the game doesn't pause wile you do this) with the d-pad. Aiming with the sticks feels sloppy, and maybe that's appropriate because this is a sloppy game.... err, gritty game.

The plot is interesting, but doesn't really pick up until 2/3 of the way through the game. And the graphic-novel style cutscenes are just plain boring. Plus, the game has to load for like 20 seconds ever time it wants to flash one of them on the screen. Why?

Bullet Time. Now this feature is cool. Hit a button & everything (including Max) slows down. You can dodge in Bullet Time. It allows your reactions to be faster than those around you. This is an advantage because aiming (if you can call it that) doesn't slow down. It only lasts a few frustrating seconds, and it has to be replenished (by killing more people). Onimusha did this better.

As a shoot-em-up this game probably rates a 4 or a 5, but I'm not a big shoot-em-up fan. I'd much rather wait for the new Syphon Filter. Worth a rental or maybe buy it used. Could also use a tournament mode. What's the point of a shoot-em-up without being able to kill your friends?

This game is HORRIBLE!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 18
Date: December 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I have played many video games in my lifetime and this has got to be one of the WORST! The only thing I liked about this game is the "Bullet Time", but once you do it 3 times it gets old. The graphics are terrible, everyone's head are boxy. It reminds me of the Blockheads from The Gumby Show. The "cut scenes" are stupid. Its like reading a comc book. It shows what they say above their heads, and has still pictures. The controlls are even worst than the graphics. You have to use both the left and right analog stick to control the character. I bought this game and took it back the same afternoon for a full refund. Other people here have written good comments about this game, but I think this not a good buy at all. If you want some action with nice weapons...play Devil May Cry.

Not very fun at all...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: January 02, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is pretty bad. The graphics look like something from an early Playstation (v.1) game, the controls are awkward, the acting is horrible, the storyline is boring, and it tries milking that cheezy Matrix style slow-mo effect for all its worth. Even if you do happen to enjoy playing the game, the gameplay is interrupted every couple of minutes for a new "chapter" and more bad story to unfold.

This game is awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 10
Date: October 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game will be awesome. If you've seen The Matrix this game has graphic just like that. I can't wait till ps2 Max Payne comes out. Its will for sure be quicker than computers and the control pad is better than a mouse and a keyboard. All I know is this game is sweet and it on many sites this game has topped HalfLife and other sweet game for anyone who likes this game I would consider Silent Hill 2 and Spy Hunter...

Well conceived, flawed gameplay

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

One of the most critically acclaimed and popular computer games in recent years has been the MAX PAYNE series, created by a Finland company called Remedy. The first two games were best sellers in 2001 and '03, and a third is planned for '05. Essentially a 3rd-person shooter like TOMB RAIDER, this game has a genuinely compelling atmosphere, with its dark and noirish story about hard-boiled cops and gangsters, and a well-conceived graphic-novel style cut-scenes. The first MAX PAYNE takes place entirely in one snowy night in New York City, and it has you visit diverse places and achieve various objectives. But mostly, as in many action games, you just shoot and kill whoever that is in your way.

You play the title character, an NYPD detective whose wife is murdered at home in the beginning of the game. You then go undercover and seek out various New York gangs and informants, and discover an evil conspiracy involving a deadly drug. The thick plot and stylish dialogs may be a turn-off to some, but they are obviously a homage to film noirs. In fact, the game makes references to Humphrey Bogart a few times. A nice touch is having cut-scenes shown in a graphic-novel style -- a panel of painterly still drawings with dialog balloons and voice overs. The cut-scenes can be skipped, and are always replayable by pressing F1 during gameplay.

In a game that has no multiplayer feature, the level design and A.I. for single-player become vital. The 22 levels in MAX PAYNE show great variety and challenge. You go to many different places: subway platforms, warehouses, shipyards, seedy apartments, high-rise buildings, laboratories, luxurious mansions, and even inside the dreams of the protagonist. Each level is not too large, and took me about half hour to finish. You have considerable interaction with the environment, such as the ability to break windows, break open boxes, leave bullet holes on objects, open cabinet doors, switch on appliances, flush toilets, etc. -- many of these are nothing new since HALF-LIFE in 1999 or even earlier games. Sometimes you are required to interact with something, and a big exclamation point appears above your head to remind you.

The A.I. (artificial intelligence for computer-controlled characters), however, is not the greatest. Your enemies always seem to misfire when you dive left or right to floor. They also don't move around or try to dodge your bullets often enough, making them easier to kill. Sometimes they come out of their hiding places for no reason and run straight towards you. Very often, A.I. behavior seems "scripted", with enemies running the same routes and stopping at the same way points every time you replay the scene. I have never been a fan of games with a lot of scripted A.I. (such as MEDAL OF HONOR: ALLIED ASSAULT).

In a 3rd-person action game, where you are able to see your on-screen character, movement controls become important. They have to work nicely with the gameplay and the results have to look good. Sadly, movement controls are rather limited in MAX PAYNE. Even in an old game like TOMB RAIDER, you can do all kinds of neat moves such as shimmying at the edge of a cliff, somersaulting, swimming, climbing, doing a handstand, etc. You have none of that in MAX PAYNE, which only allows you to strafe left or right, and dive left, right, or backward.

The game's designers obviously wanted to augment the movements with perhaps the game's greatest selling point: a feature called "bullet-time," which lets you move in super slow-motion for a limited time. This feature is supposedly helpful when you are greatly outnumbered in a gunfight, and it makes the game look good (a la the movie THE MATRIX). Surprisingly, I rarely needed to use bullet-time during the game! I was able to effectively dodge every bullet by simply diving left or right after every shot, even when there were 4 of 5 guys shooting at me. Also, during every dive, time seemed to slow down a little bit, essentially giving me a mini bullet-time segment.

More suspension of disbelief. Typical in action games, you just have to willingly accept the fact that you are able to carry 13 heavy weapons and still be able to move around acrobatically. (Thankfully, newer games such as FAR CRY put a limit on the number of weapons you carry.)

There are plenty of weapons at your disposal. Many of them are standard items such as pistols, shotguns, automatics, grenades, grenade launcher, sniper rifle. Strangely, I rarely had to use the sniper rifle. It was a design oversight not to create more situations for long-distance sniping, which would have made the game more fun (as in DEUS EX).

The game I bought was the unpatched, original PC version. Be sure to install the latest patch from 3D Realms' web site ( http://www.3drealms.com/downloads.html ) or the game may not run on a Windows XP system. On my Pentium 2.4 GHz, with an aging GeForce4 Ti4200 graphics card, I can run the game at 1280x1024x32 with maximum details pretty smoothly at 20-50 frames a second. The game comes with, and is made for, DirectX 8. But I had no problem running it under the latest DirectX 9.0b. You may download a playable demo of the game from the above link and test your PC with it. Also, be sure your PC is compatible with the system requirements listed at http://www.rockstargames.com/maxpayne/support/ .

Th best there is, the best there was,the best there will be

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is da bomb and everything about it is right. The graphics are superb and the bullet time rocks. Anyone wh disagrees needs to think again.

Max Payne: No fluffy bunnies or rosebuds here

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 8
Date: January 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

With a huge arsenal of weapons at your disposal, feel free to kill people as many different ways as you can think of. 3 chapters with approximately 8-9 levels in each chapter, this game will keep you playing for a while. Stunning graphics, and excellent enemy artificial intelligence make this game even more worth your while. One amazing feature is "bullet time," which allows you to slow down the action of your enemies, giving you an advantage in fighting them....OLD SCHOOL! So go to Lugi's if you want to get sick and DIE and leave a big garlicy corpse...or you can buy Max Payne(not window Paine, not "ow that hurts" pain...not even Max Pay...Oh wait, yes Max Payne)....it's your choice.

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