A fantastic noir-style shooter (Max Payne (PC))

Member Name: Burning_Darkness

Product:	Max Payne (PC)
Date:	12/08/09 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great graphics, story, animation, gameplay, voice acting

Disadvantages: no multiplayer, a little on the short side

Max payne is a noir-style third-person shooter in which you play as a detective, Max Payne, who has all but lost his mind after his wife and child were murdered by thugs high on valkyrie, a new drug which is sweeping the country. Playing as Max you must fight your way through numerous urban locales including slums, subways, offices, skyscrapers, parking lots and shipyards as you strive to uncover a conspiracy involving local crime syndicates, the police, and valkyrie in an effort to find out what really happened to your family.

The arcade-style gameplay is simple but hugely entertaining- Max can dive from side to side and generally throw himself about whilst shooting at his foes, and you can also go into bullet-time, as seen in the Matrix, whereby time slows down and the frenetic gun battles take place in jaw-dropping slow motion. This looks and feels amazing, and the visuals are hugely impressive, with great attention to detail such as spent cartridges and muzzle flares coming from guns and great ragdoll physics, with your enemies crumpling and flying back satisfyingly when shot. You have a great range of weapons too, that includes dual Berettas, a pump-action shotgun, a desert eagle, an M16 assault rifle and best of all dual Mac 10s.

The game has no multiplayer function as this would violate the laws of time, and is fairly short, but makes up for this by being incredibly exciting and possessive of an excellent story, all narrated by Max via some truly excellent voice acting as well as lots of lovingly created comic strips that help move the story along. The story itself is gripping, with lots of twists and turns and an intriguing obsession with Norse Mythology, evident through both the valkyrie drug and the Ragarok nightclub you visit, Ragnarok being the apocalypse of Norse mythology, with the story taking place in the middle of New York's biggest snowstorm in decades. Max Payne is an immensely enjoyable game with near limitless longevity, and has lost none of its appeal since its initial release in 2001.

Summary: A classic shooter