"Outnumbered and outgunned" doesn't mean much to a guy who can shoot down his opponents before their first round clears the barrel."

"Though bullet time slows down your enemies, nothing can slow Max Payne's relentless gameplay. The deeper you descend into Max's nightmarish quest, the more action you'll find. "

Gritty Graphic Goodness

Bright colors. Flashing numbers indicating points earned or rewards found. Some happy little creature or person makes you smile and think how happy you are to be playing this game … These are not things you are going to find in this game. If you are looking for an warm and fuzzy romp through videogame land, this is not the place to look. As a matter of fact, this is about as far away from that idea as one can get. Max Payne is a dark, foreboding, gritty, mean, nasty, and downright cruel game that tends to leave you wanting to take a shower.

Bringin’ the Payne.

That isn’t to say it isn’t an amazing game, though, because it certainly is. It just so happens that the story and world ofMax Payne is a very dark and disturbing one, and the team over at Godgames has done a supreme job of creating a game world that conveys all of the nastiness that you could imagine. From the run-down, rat-infested tenements to the feelings of distrust and nervousness every time you round a corner, Max Paynebrings to life a world and reality that leaves you wanting to disinfect your controller. The level of detail and immersion that Godgames has achieved is almost unheard of in video games. From the amazing artwork and textures to the killer frame rates and animations, I can’t possibly say enough good things about Max Payne. The world is dark and gritty, cracked and broken, but it most certainly is not dull and drab. Even the most dead and hopeless areas seem alive and tactile. It can get rather disturbing at times, looking at bloodstained walls and bullet holes that you almost feel are real. Spooky.

I mentioned the animations a bit earlier, but I think we really should go back and talk about them again. To put it bluntly, I think they are just plain cool. The weapons actually work like they are supposed to. When you fire one of the pistols, the slide jumps back and ejects the spent shell casing, which arcs gracefully away, to bounce and clatter across the floor. And then it does it again … and again … and again … and again. As fast as you fire, the animations manage to keep up. Each bullet goes someplace, too. It’s not like you fire, and the game only tracks some of the bullets. Nope. Max Payne keeps track of all of them, so if you miss that guy you were aiming at, the bullet is still going to hit something. A car, a wall, a desk, or any number of other things may be the recipient of your lead, instead of your intended target. Backtracking through some of the rooms, where you were involved in large shootouts, can be an awe-inspiring event. Bullet holes everywhere, blood stains and splatters, and of course, empty shell casings all over the place. It really is way too cool to see that much thought and detail in a game

Max Payne doesn’t miss a bullet.

I think everyone who has looked at or reviewed Max Payne has had to mention the Bullet Time feature. I was going to try and avoid talking about it just to be a bit different, but, well, umm, it’s entirely too cool not to mention. Adrenaline is a marvelous thing. At times, it can make it seem like time is slowing down, as your brain and body go into overdrive. Reaction times speed up, and people have been known to do some rather amazing things. That is Bullet Time in a nutshell. Hit a button, and Max’s world slows down to a crawl, but he can still aim and fire like normal. You can see the individual bullets whizzing by on their way to bury themselves in something (hopefully not Max). Initially, I didn’t use it much, but there came a point where Max was low on health, and I didn’t have any painkillers for him. Every bullet had to count, and I couldn’t afford to be hit by any more. Every fight was life or death (literally). You can bet I quickly made up for neglecting my Bullet Time use right then and there.

There really is a ton of good things to say about Max Payne, but I’ll leave it at this: Godgames has managed to put together a game with so many good features and ideas that I don’t think there is any point in even bothering to look for flaws. If you find any, I expect you’ll be too busy with all of the other goodies to notice. With amazing graphics, engrossing gameplay, and a great story line (so cool that it deserves its own article), what more could you ask for?

By Carlson