NO SLEEP TILL BROOKLYN!
The FIRST one, not the second one. If you thought I
was talking about #2, you were wrong. For those of you who don't know,
Max Payne is for the PS2 (which is what I got), PC, and XBOX. Yeah, this
game is old news, but one of my friends insists that I review it. Anyway,
I got this game for 11 bucks at a Music Recyclery. Score.
Before I begin, I must address the bitching of every Microsoft fanboy or other whiny ass. Yes, the PS2 version is the least graphically impressive, but if you never played the other versions (like me) you won't notice at all. However, one cannot even mention the PS2 version without somebody standing up and saying "The PS2 version looks horrible! The PC version is far superior! It looks beautiful on my new PC that I had to buy just so I could meet the minimum requirements!" The graphics still look great (well, not anymore), they're just not as polished. Just shut the fuck up.
UPDATE: Now that I've played the XBOX version, I can compare the two. Yes, the PS2 does lack the graphical flare and certain bells and whistles of the other versions. However, the PS2 does the audio a smidgen better. This is because the programmers had no concept of KEEPING THE AUDIO CONSISTENT when making the XBOX version (dunno about the PC.) The FMV volume can be anywhere from even to about 1/30th to that of the normal gameplay's (more likely around the latter figure though.) Seriously, you will need to constantly tweak the volume to hear what people are saying during the FMV's while keeping the 70-year old that lives next to you from calling the police. The PS2 isn't perfectly tweaked either, but at least you can keep the knob comfortably set.
The music is pretty good, I guess. I didn't particularly like anything I heard, but I also didn't hate anything either. Then again, I never really had an ear for music. Sound effects are standard fare, and voice acting is usually pretty good. Usually. Max crying over the body of his dead wife is one of the worst attempts at emotion I have ever heard. Also, some of the deliveries don't exactly make sense (as in you don't know what exactly is tried to be conveyed.) Also, the bad guy's death screams get old really fast. The V-Junkies? Shudder.
Controls are... well, completely unorthodox. You use the left control stick to move your guy, and the right to look around. A bit crazy, but not too bad and not entirely unfamiliar for those who have played Super Smash TV or Robotron X. However, its easy to get confused and accidentally walk yourself off a roof when you meant to take a look around. And the fire button is L1? What? Fortunately, you get adjusted pretty fast.
The main hubbub about this game is the revolutionary Bullet Time system. Basically, you hit the appropriate button and viola, instant Keanu! (Yeah, so I just ripped that off my Virtua Cop 3 section. Sue me.) Now you can see incoming bullets and people's voices turn into those long, low slurring drones. You can also Shootdodge, which is where you execute a dive while in Bullet Time, much like in those John Woo movies. Very cool. However, you only get a limited amount.
And now, the game!
You play as a New York cop named... Max Payne! Oh, that is just too clever. Here he is...
Before I begin, I must address the bitching of every Microsoft fanboy or other whiny ass. Yes, the PS2 version is the least graphically impressive, but if you never played the other versions (like me) you won't notice at all. However, one cannot even mention the PS2 version without somebody standing up and saying "The PS2 version looks horrible! The PC version is far superior! It looks beautiful on my new PC that I had to buy just so I could meet the minimum requirements!" The graphics still look great (well, not anymore), they're just not as polished. Just shut the fuck up.
UPDATE: Now that I've played the XBOX version, I can compare the two. Yes, the PS2 does lack the graphical flare and certain bells and whistles of the other versions. However, the PS2 does the audio a smidgen better. This is because the programmers had no concept of KEEPING THE AUDIO CONSISTENT when making the XBOX version (dunno about the PC.) The FMV volume can be anywhere from even to about 1/30th to that of the normal gameplay's (more likely around the latter figure though.) Seriously, you will need to constantly tweak the volume to hear what people are saying during the FMV's while keeping the 70-year old that lives next to you from calling the police. The PS2 isn't perfectly tweaked either, but at least you can keep the knob comfortably set.
The music is pretty good, I guess. I didn't particularly like anything I heard, but I also didn't hate anything either. Then again, I never really had an ear for music. Sound effects are standard fare, and voice acting is usually pretty good. Usually. Max crying over the body of his dead wife is one of the worst attempts at emotion I have ever heard. Also, some of the deliveries don't exactly make sense (as in you don't know what exactly is tried to be conveyed.) Also, the bad guy's death screams get old really fast. The V-Junkies? Shudder.
Controls are... well, completely unorthodox. You use the left control stick to move your guy, and the right to look around. A bit crazy, but not too bad and not entirely unfamiliar for those who have played Super Smash TV or Robotron X. However, its easy to get confused and accidentally walk yourself off a roof when you meant to take a look around. And the fire button is L1? What? Fortunately, you get adjusted pretty fast.
The main hubbub about this game is the revolutionary Bullet Time system. Basically, you hit the appropriate button and viola, instant Keanu! (Yeah, so I just ripped that off my Virtua Cop 3 section. Sue me.) Now you can see incoming bullets and people's voices turn into those long, low slurring drones. You can also Shootdodge, which is where you execute a dive while in Bullet Time, much like in those John Woo movies. Very cool. However, you only get a limited amount.
And now, the game!
You play as a New York cop named... Max Payne! Oh, that is just too clever. Here he is...
Yep, nothing says tough like a face twisted with the
effects of constipation. Better watch out, Steven Seagal! All right, so
everyone already knows about the face, but I just had to mention
it. The game starts off with his wife and baby daughter being killed by
junkies. Hmmm... Hardass but good natured cop loses everything and is
pushed over the edge? Yeah, I'd like to buy a cliché for 5000.
Come on, let me try...
Detective John Steel was once a good cop... But then...
They killed his partner. They burned down his apartment. They stole $700 from him. Now he's been kicked off the force and he's looking for payback. He's taking the fight to the streets.
(cuts to the drug lord)
Drug Lord: "I want John Steel DEAD! I want his family... DEAD! His friends... DEAD! I want everyone on his block... DEAD!"
(now we see some scenes of John Steel fighting)
Steel: "If its a war you want, then bombs away, motherfu..."
KA-BOOM!
(Giant office building explodes)
Steven Seagal in Lethal Cop 2: City Of Death.
Rated: R for Retarded.
And that's just for starters! The story of Max Payne is a crazy one. I have heard critics call it overblown, but I just think its completely fucked. They must have brought together a bunch of guys to think up a few plot points, then just went ahead and threw them all in a story.
(total major spoilers herein!)
After the death of his family, Max goes to work for the DEA trying to bring down the manufacturers/pushers of Valkyr (the drug that the junkies were on) and maybe get some laxatives while he's at it. Max gets summoned to the Roscoe Street Station (dunno if it actually exists, I don't live in NY) to meet his buddy. Turns out there's something going down. Specifically, the Lupino crime syndicate has blown a hole into the vault of the Roscoe Bank from the subway. Ummm... I guess that might work, although this sort of thing would probably be more suited for a James Bond movie. I seem to remember Jack Lupino being a total cokehead who probably couldn't even tie his own shoe without assistance, so I don't know how he could have possibly planned such a score, let alone pull it off.
Notice that the game starts off right next to a billboard for Aesir Corporation. Holy crap! Foreshadowing! After going through a few decks, you come to an abandoned station where you encounter 2 thugs talking. They have rigged a door to blow, which I would assume that they would have used to escape from. Anyway, the scene goes down like this.
Thug 1: "Give me the detonator."
Thug 2: "I thought YOU had it!"
Thug 1: "YOU were supposed to bring it!"
Thug 2: "Yeah right."
(Thug 1 blows Thug 2 away.)
At this point, he strolls away, whistling. Well, he's satisfied. Even though he didn't do his job and blow the door, he just walks away, towards you. Of course, you can't actually HIDE from anyone, so he'll notice you eventually. Oh, and Max's buddy Balder ends up getting killed too. NOW MAX PAYNE IS OUT FOR JUSTICE, BITCHES!
So he goes around looking for Lupino, blowing away thugs at every corner. He manages to overcome them thanks to a massive supply of painkillers, handguns, and every type of ammunition stuffed into various dressers, desks, boxes, and nightstands located throughout the city. Finally, he meets Vinnie Cognitti, one of Lupino's top goons and 'wings' him. He flees, leaving his men to fight you. After taking them down, you proceed to search the office and discover a letter talking about Lupino. Apparently he's gone crazy and blown away poor Dino. Very informative. Now what? Oh yeah, let's get Cognitti! That is, if you can find him since he ran out of the room about 5 minutes ago and he's probably 7 blocks away by now. Fortunately, he'll wait for you outside. Sure he's injured, but come on, this is sad. I mean, this one dude I stabbed (TWICE!) in an alley led me on a chase all across Arlington Heights before I finally caught up with him struggling to open the door to his house. Poor bastard.
Oh, ah... Anyway, you chase him across some roofs, then onto a passing train, and then on some more buildings. Of course, there just happens to be gangs of Lupino's men hanging around on the various rooftops and in the apartments for no logical reason (and apparently you stumble across the remnants of a drug deal or something.) Finally, Max takes him down. Vinnie apparently found some time away from rolling around in pain from several bullet wounds and managed to put his sunglasses on just in time for interrogation (pay attention and you'll see.)
Now it just gets fucking GREAT. Turns out Lupino is all into the Goth and demonic scene. Now, I love having cultists in my stories, but here I get the feeling Rockstar just wanted an excuse to throw in some more dark material. I mean, we've got Max avenging his family, a large-scale bank robbery, a national narcotics distribution operation, a plot to assassinate the mayor, lets see if we can slip some Satanism in here somewhere. So I take him down, and I meet some chick named Mona Sax who slips me some Valkyr. This whole part is trippy and actually pretty disturbing. I'm walking along a distorted representation of my house and trails of blood trying to find the source of the baby's cries.
Unfortunately, during my acid trip I was picked up by the thugs and brought back to the same hotel that I shot up earlier. All the cops still present at the scene were killed and the rest of the NYPD apparently don't give a shit. So I escape and end up working for some Russian dude. I go to the harbor to cap some traitorous captain and retrieve a stash of weapons. Of course, this also just also happens to be the contact point for a hitman and I discover a letter reading "mayor" and a sniper rifle. The meaning of this is quite clear, but this is the only such mention of this little plot point. Totally immersive plot my ass. I should also mention I once was once completely stuck here because a crane apparently moved and blocked my way. The game moves on to a shootout at Angelo Punchinello's (great name, by the way) mansion. However, the truly bad guys show up and I get stabbed with more Valkyr. I fail to see why they think its a better idea to get me high than to simply kill me.
Whatever. Fortunately, the head honcho mentioned the words 'cold steel', so Max logically figures that the hideout is at the Cold Steel mill. Nice one. Too bad you can't sneak for shit, cause you're immediately detected. Oh well, you can't play a level in this game without killing 120 different people. However, the place gets blown sky-high along with all the leads. But of course, it can't all end here, can it? Nope.
Max finds out somehow that BB has set him up, which might have qualified for a plot twist except for the fact that you probably have no clue who the fuck BB is. I was scratching my head wondering who this guy was supposed to be. On a subsequent playthrough, I noticed that it was he that called Max at the beginning at the game. Your only previous encounter with BB was 3 sentences over the phone, and that was a recording. What a waste of a character with serious potential. So you agree to meet him on top of a parking garage and get ambushed by a battalion of thugs, including some drive-by shooters in a van who manage to blow up about 3 different cars with gunfire. On the ground floor, the inept killers somehow manage to set their own van on fire and blow themselves up. Then BB makes tries to make his getaway and crashes into the only motorist stupid enough to brave the winter storm. Kids, don't do drugs.
From there, the mysterious informant who's been helping you through the story (and who I've been too lazy to mention) invites you to his headquarters. Deep 6, I think they called it. They give you the dirt on Aesir Corp and send you to do the job. Hey, guess what happens next. No, really. Take a completely wild guess. The bad guys show up and shoot the place up. You escape and head for the Aesir Corporation.
Whoa, big surprise. Maybe Max should have just gone straight from the subway to Aesir Plaza. Once there, you have to face legions of suited enemies, some of which have grenade launchers and are a total bitch to kill. Then, a helicopter shows up and prepares to open fire. Oh no! What are you possibly going to do? Hide behind a statue! Thankfully, the sculpture will absorb all the firepower of the chopper and protect you. Unfortunately, the helicopter has a bajillion rounds, so you get to crouch behind the sculpture for about 2 FULL MINUTES as it shoots up the office (which only suffers minor bullet holes. Good thing they make everything out of titanium here.) You also meet up with Mona again and have a 'dramatic' conversation right before some henchman show up and shoot her. I guess I'm supposed to feel something for someone that I only met for a few seconds earlier. Note to Rockstar: If you want us to give a shit for somebody, then you should give us a reason to. Anyway, you chase the head honcho onto the roof and defeat her by knocking down a radio tower onto her chopper. So much for honor. Oh well, she dies a horrible death. What more you could you ask for?
(end of spoilers)
All right, I'm done with the story. Now I have a few loose ends to tidy up.
The game is a bit short and replay is solely based upon your level of commitment. There are several difficulty levels, but you need to unlock them by beating the game. To me, this is pure crap which acts as a blatant attempt to boost replay. I had interest in beating the game on the hardest setting, but after beating the game twice, my desire kinda fades. So I actually used cheats to blast through the game on Hard-Boiled to unlock Dead On Arrival.
And what about DOA? It's total bullshit. I love a good challenge, but this mode is so fucking frustrating its impossible for me to enjoy. A normal bullet will generally do at least 65% of your life, and painkillers are pretty scarce, not to mention also lacking in effectiveness. If a guy has a shotgun and hits you, you are automatically dead unless maybe, MAYBE he was all the way across the room and his aim was a little off. So whenever you meet somebody with a shotgun, you have to do a Shootdodge and take him out with perfect precision. Of course, since there's probably at least 7 guys with shotguns in any given level, your chances of survival go right down the shitter. As Max himself said it, its more about luck than skill. Then there's also New York Minute, which is the same thing except that you start off with only 1 minute and you have to kill to get more time. Um, how about fuck no? Yeah, I might play this mode... the next time I get completely blasted on PCP.
The story is fleshed out in either cutscenes or little comic book styled images. Pretty neat, cool, and definitely unique. However, as cool as they may be, they're also a catch 22; they can get kinda annoying. Sometimes, you'll find a room with 3 different objects of interest and Max will give each one a 20 second monolog on it. I don't mind one long cutscene, but several brief ones almost make me want to rip the disc out and break it over my knee.
And now the little things. The interactions with NPC are pretty primitive. Everybody must be killed; you can't hide from them or sneak by them even if they haven't seen or heard you. You can't sneak up on them much, either. You can get a few headshots from a good distance, but you won't get very close without them noticing you. Barrels will explode if you touch them with a bat swing. What is in those things? Grenades are damn near impossible to avoid. There usually is no time to get clear of them without getting a back full of shrapnel. You almost have to know ahead of time who is going to throw a grenade and be moving before it hits the ground. The max amounts of ammo you can carry for a weapon are a little too low for my tastes. Also, the game has to reload a level whenever you die, which can be quite often... Finally, the cutscenes will occasionally screw up. This happened more than once on the last level. The gate on the roof didn't open, so Nicole was stuck and the cutscene just showed Max pumping her full of lead (not nearly as funny as it sounds) until I got up and hit the reset button.
So, that's my review of Max Payne. These minor gripes aside, I can safely say this is one of my personal favorites. All right, plot and extra difficulty modes aside, this game rocks. Very simple: you see a guy and you shoot him. For some, this may be considered shallow. But to others (like me) this is a throwback to the old school days of straight up, nonstop action. Its just so much fun (unless you're playing the aforementioned modes.) However, you may take a while to make up your mind about this game. When I first bought it, I was addicted. After an hour or so, I actually felt the game was shallow and repetitive. But after another hour, I was back in love with the game. It's pretty old school with nonstop killing. In some games, this kind of repetitiveness is boring, but done right, it is just SO much fun. Unless of course, you don't like simplicity, in which case fuck off.
Detective John Steel was once a good cop... But then...
They killed his partner. They burned down his apartment. They stole $700 from him. Now he's been kicked off the force and he's looking for payback. He's taking the fight to the streets.
(cuts to the drug lord)
Drug Lord: "I want John Steel DEAD! I want his family... DEAD! His friends... DEAD! I want everyone on his block... DEAD!"
(now we see some scenes of John Steel fighting)
Steel: "If its a war you want, then bombs away, motherfu..."
KA-BOOM!
(Giant office building explodes)
Steven Seagal in Lethal Cop 2: City Of Death.
Rated: R for Retarded.
And that's just for starters! The story of Max Payne is a crazy one. I have heard critics call it overblown, but I just think its completely fucked. They must have brought together a bunch of guys to think up a few plot points, then just went ahead and threw them all in a story.
(total major spoilers herein!)
After the death of his family, Max goes to work for the DEA trying to bring down the manufacturers/pushers of Valkyr (the drug that the junkies were on) and maybe get some laxatives while he's at it. Max gets summoned to the Roscoe Street Station (dunno if it actually exists, I don't live in NY) to meet his buddy. Turns out there's something going down. Specifically, the Lupino crime syndicate has blown a hole into the vault of the Roscoe Bank from the subway. Ummm... I guess that might work, although this sort of thing would probably be more suited for a James Bond movie. I seem to remember Jack Lupino being a total cokehead who probably couldn't even tie his own shoe without assistance, so I don't know how he could have possibly planned such a score, let alone pull it off.
Notice that the game starts off right next to a billboard for Aesir Corporation. Holy crap! Foreshadowing! After going through a few decks, you come to an abandoned station where you encounter 2 thugs talking. They have rigged a door to blow, which I would assume that they would have used to escape from. Anyway, the scene goes down like this.
Thug 1: "Give me the detonator."
Thug 2: "I thought YOU had it!"
Thug 1: "YOU were supposed to bring it!"
Thug 2: "Yeah right."
(Thug 1 blows Thug 2 away.)
At this point, he strolls away, whistling. Well, he's satisfied. Even though he didn't do his job and blow the door, he just walks away, towards you. Of course, you can't actually HIDE from anyone, so he'll notice you eventually. Oh, and Max's buddy Balder ends up getting killed too. NOW MAX PAYNE IS OUT FOR JUSTICE, BITCHES!
So he goes around looking for Lupino, blowing away thugs at every corner. He manages to overcome them thanks to a massive supply of painkillers, handguns, and every type of ammunition stuffed into various dressers, desks, boxes, and nightstands located throughout the city. Finally, he meets Vinnie Cognitti, one of Lupino's top goons and 'wings' him. He flees, leaving his men to fight you. After taking them down, you proceed to search the office and discover a letter talking about Lupino. Apparently he's gone crazy and blown away poor Dino. Very informative. Now what? Oh yeah, let's get Cognitti! That is, if you can find him since he ran out of the room about 5 minutes ago and he's probably 7 blocks away by now. Fortunately, he'll wait for you outside. Sure he's injured, but come on, this is sad. I mean, this one dude I stabbed (TWICE!) in an alley led me on a chase all across Arlington Heights before I finally caught up with him struggling to open the door to his house. Poor bastard.
Oh, ah... Anyway, you chase him across some roofs, then onto a passing train, and then on some more buildings. Of course, there just happens to be gangs of Lupino's men hanging around on the various rooftops and in the apartments for no logical reason (and apparently you stumble across the remnants of a drug deal or something.) Finally, Max takes him down. Vinnie apparently found some time away from rolling around in pain from several bullet wounds and managed to put his sunglasses on just in time for interrogation (pay attention and you'll see.)
Now it just gets fucking GREAT. Turns out Lupino is all into the Goth and demonic scene. Now, I love having cultists in my stories, but here I get the feeling Rockstar just wanted an excuse to throw in some more dark material. I mean, we've got Max avenging his family, a large-scale bank robbery, a national narcotics distribution operation, a plot to assassinate the mayor, lets see if we can slip some Satanism in here somewhere. So I take him down, and I meet some chick named Mona Sax who slips me some Valkyr. This whole part is trippy and actually pretty disturbing. I'm walking along a distorted representation of my house and trails of blood trying to find the source of the baby's cries.
Unfortunately, during my acid trip I was picked up by the thugs and brought back to the same hotel that I shot up earlier. All the cops still present at the scene were killed and the rest of the NYPD apparently don't give a shit. So I escape and end up working for some Russian dude. I go to the harbor to cap some traitorous captain and retrieve a stash of weapons. Of course, this also just also happens to be the contact point for a hitman and I discover a letter reading "mayor" and a sniper rifle. The meaning of this is quite clear, but this is the only such mention of this little plot point. Totally immersive plot my ass. I should also mention I once was once completely stuck here because a crane apparently moved and blocked my way. The game moves on to a shootout at Angelo Punchinello's (great name, by the way) mansion. However, the truly bad guys show up and I get stabbed with more Valkyr. I fail to see why they think its a better idea to get me high than to simply kill me.
Whatever. Fortunately, the head honcho mentioned the words 'cold steel', so Max logically figures that the hideout is at the Cold Steel mill. Nice one. Too bad you can't sneak for shit, cause you're immediately detected. Oh well, you can't play a level in this game without killing 120 different people. However, the place gets blown sky-high along with all the leads. But of course, it can't all end here, can it? Nope.
Max finds out somehow that BB has set him up, which might have qualified for a plot twist except for the fact that you probably have no clue who the fuck BB is. I was scratching my head wondering who this guy was supposed to be. On a subsequent playthrough, I noticed that it was he that called Max at the beginning at the game. Your only previous encounter with BB was 3 sentences over the phone, and that was a recording. What a waste of a character with serious potential. So you agree to meet him on top of a parking garage and get ambushed by a battalion of thugs, including some drive-by shooters in a van who manage to blow up about 3 different cars with gunfire. On the ground floor, the inept killers somehow manage to set their own van on fire and blow themselves up. Then BB makes tries to make his getaway and crashes into the only motorist stupid enough to brave the winter storm. Kids, don't do drugs.
From there, the mysterious informant who's been helping you through the story (and who I've been too lazy to mention) invites you to his headquarters. Deep 6, I think they called it. They give you the dirt on Aesir Corp and send you to do the job. Hey, guess what happens next. No, really. Take a completely wild guess. The bad guys show up and shoot the place up. You escape and head for the Aesir Corporation.
Whoa, big surprise. Maybe Max should have just gone straight from the subway to Aesir Plaza. Once there, you have to face legions of suited enemies, some of which have grenade launchers and are a total bitch to kill. Then, a helicopter shows up and prepares to open fire. Oh no! What are you possibly going to do? Hide behind a statue! Thankfully, the sculpture will absorb all the firepower of the chopper and protect you. Unfortunately, the helicopter has a bajillion rounds, so you get to crouch behind the sculpture for about 2 FULL MINUTES as it shoots up the office (which only suffers minor bullet holes. Good thing they make everything out of titanium here.) You also meet up with Mona again and have a 'dramatic' conversation right before some henchman show up and shoot her. I guess I'm supposed to feel something for someone that I only met for a few seconds earlier. Note to Rockstar: If you want us to give a shit for somebody, then you should give us a reason to. Anyway, you chase the head honcho onto the roof and defeat her by knocking down a radio tower onto her chopper. So much for honor. Oh well, she dies a horrible death. What more you could you ask for?
(end of spoilers)
All right, I'm done with the story. Now I have a few loose ends to tidy up.
The game is a bit short and replay is solely based upon your level of commitment. There are several difficulty levels, but you need to unlock them by beating the game. To me, this is pure crap which acts as a blatant attempt to boost replay. I had interest in beating the game on the hardest setting, but after beating the game twice, my desire kinda fades. So I actually used cheats to blast through the game on Hard-Boiled to unlock Dead On Arrival.
And what about DOA? It's total bullshit. I love a good challenge, but this mode is so fucking frustrating its impossible for me to enjoy. A normal bullet will generally do at least 65% of your life, and painkillers are pretty scarce, not to mention also lacking in effectiveness. If a guy has a shotgun and hits you, you are automatically dead unless maybe, MAYBE he was all the way across the room and his aim was a little off. So whenever you meet somebody with a shotgun, you have to do a Shootdodge and take him out with perfect precision. Of course, since there's probably at least 7 guys with shotguns in any given level, your chances of survival go right down the shitter. As Max himself said it, its more about luck than skill. Then there's also New York Minute, which is the same thing except that you start off with only 1 minute and you have to kill to get more time. Um, how about fuck no? Yeah, I might play this mode... the next time I get completely blasted on PCP.
The story is fleshed out in either cutscenes or little comic book styled images. Pretty neat, cool, and definitely unique. However, as cool as they may be, they're also a catch 22; they can get kinda annoying. Sometimes, you'll find a room with 3 different objects of interest and Max will give each one a 20 second monolog on it. I don't mind one long cutscene, but several brief ones almost make me want to rip the disc out and break it over my knee.
And now the little things. The interactions with NPC are pretty primitive. Everybody must be killed; you can't hide from them or sneak by them even if they haven't seen or heard you. You can't sneak up on them much, either. You can get a few headshots from a good distance, but you won't get very close without them noticing you. Barrels will explode if you touch them with a bat swing. What is in those things? Grenades are damn near impossible to avoid. There usually is no time to get clear of them without getting a back full of shrapnel. You almost have to know ahead of time who is going to throw a grenade and be moving before it hits the ground. The max amounts of ammo you can carry for a weapon are a little too low for my tastes. Also, the game has to reload a level whenever you die, which can be quite often... Finally, the cutscenes will occasionally screw up. This happened more than once on the last level. The gate on the roof didn't open, so Nicole was stuck and the cutscene just showed Max pumping her full of lead (not nearly as funny as it sounds) until I got up and hit the reset button.
So, that's my review of Max Payne. These minor gripes aside, I can safely say this is one of my personal favorites. All right, plot and extra difficulty modes aside, this game rocks. Very simple: you see a guy and you shoot him. For some, this may be considered shallow. But to others (like me) this is a throwback to the old school days of straight up, nonstop action. Its just so much fun (unless you're playing the aforementioned modes.) However, you may take a while to make up your mind about this game. When I first bought it, I was addicted. After an hour or so, I actually felt the game was shallow and repetitive. But after another hour, I was back in love with the game. It's pretty old school with nonstop killing. In some games, this kind of repetitiveness is boring, but done right, it is just SO much fun. Unless of course, you don't like simplicity, in which case fuck off.