What time is it?......it's Bullet time......nah nah na naaaaaanana na naaaaaaaaa (Max Payne (PS2))

Member Name: sparkymarky1973

Product:	Max Payne (PS2)
Date:	03/12/08 (35 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great gameplay, excelllent story, brilliantly morose character

Disadvantages: Graphics feel dated slightly, controls take a tad getting used to

Max Payne is a now classic PS2 game that plays as a third-person shooter and is one of my favourite console games of all time. Recently made into a film starring Mark Walbherg to very mixed reviews, the game sees you playing the part of a cop who returns home to discover his wife and child brutally killed by junkies in what is essentially a flashback and preliminary level of the game. Following his family's death, he transfers to the DEA and goes undercover in order to prosecute the people responsible for the manufacture and distribution of the drugs that created his wife and child's killers. Three years pass and, just as Payne is getting close to the mob who push the drug, something goes wrong, he is betrayed and becomes wanted by both the mob who know now he is a cop and the police who suspect him in the death of one of his own. Payne has top take the law into his own hands to prove his innocence and take vengeance against those who have done him wrong......

The game was unique for bringing to the console the concept of "bullet-time" as seen in the Matrix movies; "bullet-time" is earned each time you kill a bad guy and enables you to slow down time during battle leading to all manner of slow-mo dives in the midst of gun-play and some truly spectacular battles. There is an end of the world theme with many of the characters and locations seemingly obsessed with this theme. One location for example is called Ragnorak which in the viking era was considered to be the end-time. There is also a very surreal element as seen in dream-sequences instigated by a drug overdose in which you re-visit a horrorific nightmare vision of your family's death scene. In some locations, a television can be turned on which airs both a mock soap or a twisted serial in the ilk of The Prisoner which features a talking flamingo and is very trippy and quite freaky to listen to as you pass through rooms in a building. In fact the whole game is extremely eerie and spooky in places and has a real acid-trip feel at times.

There are different difficulty levels that get progressively harder to near-impossible standards and a survival mode which is equallly hard. In later levels, it becomes not just about shooting and surviving but also about navigating laser-beam traps and avoiding trip-wires lending an added level of tension to an already heavily-laden game! It is a game that works on many levels and is a true masterpeice of gaming to play.

The first time I played it I actually didn't like it as the controls take a little getting used to- on the PS2 this is because you have to use both joysticks- but once you get the hang of it, it is actually quite smooth. Graphics are a little dated in places now but still this remains one of the best games available on the PS2!! It truly is an oldie but a goodie!

A sequel was made which was not quite as good and woefully shorter and there is heavy rumour of a third in current production for next generation consoles. So who knows maybe this is not the last we will see of this classic character.....but then they have been talking of a Duke Nukem next gen game for quite a while too with no sign yet so I won't hold my breath. Until then when I need my Max Payne fix, it'll be back to this and good old fashioned Matrix "bullet-time"!!

Summary: An oldie but a goodie- this game is still a PS2 classic- but whats the film like?