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Platform Filters:   All Platforms  Xbox   GameCube   PlayStation 2   PC   Game Boy Advance   Site Sections:   Updates  News   Games   Publishers   Developers   Reviews   Previews   Release Dates   Editorials   Glossary   Contact Us		Review:       24th April 2002: Max Payne  Fight your way out of an impossible situation, with loads of Payne! Posted by John Grothier - Xbox - UK and Europe Once in a while a game turns up that really blows the competition away. Max Payne for the Xbox is such a game. At the time I had not played the PC or PlayStation 2 versions, but after a look at the others, Max Payne on the Xbox is the only way to experience this modern day classic. The story starts with Max Payne loosing everything, his beloved wife and child in a genuinely horrific, but seemingly senseless murder. With nothing more to loose and his back to the wall, Max Payne fights back - proving that even when you're dealt a bad hand, a good poker player can always turn it around. Max Payne plays in third person perspective, yet plays like a bloody good first person shooter. The emphasis is unashamedly gory, with Max having to take out hundreds of mafia low life and small time crooks, to try to make sense of his terrible loss. Even the cops are on his trail. The story is classic film noir, with a healthy touch of the modern day gangster movie thrown in for good measure. Max moves from sleazy hotels, deserted subway stations, 'family' owned restaurants, warehouses, and giant corporations, in his search for answers for his own pain. Bullet time is the added ingredient, which takes Max Payne from being an average shooter into the big league. If you have ever seen The Matrix, you will know what this new dimension really is. Max can shift time in his favour, slowing it down so he can fight back; time really is on his side. This allows Max to perform some stunning pieces of action, and the game engine allows for multiple ways of removing those nasty Italians. So what you get is the closest thing yet to playing a film, and now you get to direct your own stunts. The attention to detail in Max Payne's world is truly staggering. Max can interact with just about anything he comes across, and also destroy it if he so desires. The game physics are spot on, so if you shoot a water cooler, the water will spray out of the newly punctured container. Shoot a computer or anything electrical and sparks will fly. Even signs and tiles on the walls will be affected by gunfire. And thanks to such a large arsenal, there are so many ways to inflict death and destruction - this is a mission of vengeance after all. Max will find himself not only up against an army of mafia goons, but he will also encounter a few puzzles on his bloodthirsty quest. These are fairly straightforward to solve, usually destroying something to gain access to other parts of the huge levels. But most of them are quite subtle and you do get an enormous amount of satisfaction when you realise what you have to do, and there are even a few clues left intentionally around. So if you get stuck, having a good look about can often be fruitful. Where other games might have used a cut scene, with Max Payne you play it out. Be it escaping from a burning restaurant, or jumping on and off a moving train, you get to do if for real. There are even dream sequences which you have absolute control of Max; these are often torturous and quite disturbing, but very original and groundbreaking. The style of Max Payne is dark and gritty, but graphically it is beautiful created. The main story is told thorough a unique comic-book style, which fits in with the games atmosphere perfectly. The attention to detail in Max Payne is astounding. A huge amount of time and energy has been put in to this project, and it's greatly appreciated. It must have taken an age just to test the game, let alone program it. Max Payne utilises the adaptable 3D Realms system, and it works very well. I discovered no glitches or bugs in the whole of the game. The game runs at an always-smooth sixty frames per second, and the picture fills the whole of the television screen, so not a black bar to be seen - hooray! The only thing I would love to see with a game of this type is a replay system. It would be fantastic to be able to watch a replay of the last level that you have completed, with many different camera angles to choose from - now that would be a movie! The sound in Max Payne is spot on with suitable dark, moody music and some witty dialogue spoken by all the characters in the game. Max can even creep up on some of the enemies and hear them talking. Some of these conversations are on nodding terms with the works of Tarantino, and are often hilarious. One example would be when Max breaks into an apartment to find a strange gun left in the kitchen, and someone whistling in the toilet - a scene straight out of Pulp Fiction! Overall Max Payne is one of the best games I have played for a long time. There is something about these more 'adult games' that seems a little more satisfying to the slightly older gamer. Like Rockstar's fantastic, (and eagerly awaited on the Xbox), Grand Theft Auto 3, Max Payne is set in a believable and working world, and I am already looking forward to the sequel. And thanks to a new deal with Dimension Films, the Payne will even be with us on the big screen! Remember: No Payne, No Gain! John Grothier             Latest Images:		Review Scores:    Graphics:   Sound:   Gameplay:   Length:   Overall: Click here for our Review Score Guidelines.  Review Summary:  Fantastic third person shooter with a strictly adult theme. Take on the role of renegade cop Max Payne, as he seeks vengeance for his wife and babys murder.ìéWith the inclusion of 'Bullet time' and a slick story, this game in no pain to play!  Related Games:  Max Payne for Xbox  16  Screenshots  1  Review Click here for All Game Information.
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