Payne and Suffering

Game: Max Payne
System: Microsoft Xbox
Release date: December 11, 2001
Developed by: Neo Software
Published by: Take-Two Interactive

Max Payne is a troubled soul. The violent deaths of his wife and young child weigh heavily on him, as does the insolubility of the crime, perpetrated by mystery men high on Valkyr, the drug du jour in New York City. Max is a cop, deep undercover in the Punchinello crime family; that cover, however, will not protect him for long...

When we first meet Max it is at the end of his journey through the darkness; the player controls Max in the days and hours which lead up to the denouement.

Max Payne is heavy on action and style, much like The Matrix and the films of John Woo, which greatly inspired the game. The player takes on heavily armed and dangerous enemies in the snowy streets of New York City, in brothels and in boardrooms, in run-down tenements and in a luxurious skyscraper. At Max's disposal are pistols, shotguns, Uzis, sub-machine guns and grenade launchers, all of which are used with extreme prejudice against the enemies of Max Payne. The most important weapon available to Max, however, is his own superhuman ability to slow down the action around him while he maintains his normal speed. This "bullet-time," which owes something to The Matrix, makes progression through the game much easier and produces some dynamic action scenes during the many firefights which occur throughout Max Payne.


Another facet of the game which allows Max Payne to stand out among other similar third-person shooters is the connecting scenes which drive the plot forward between action events. These scenes are illustrative panels which look like they've been torn from the pages of the grittiest graphic novel.

Despite some derivative stylistic choices, Max Payne is a gripping and innovative experience that combines superior action with tight play control and a sinister film noir storyline.

Score: 91/100

Note: Max Payne is rated M for "mature" by the ESRB. It contans violence, blood, adult language and sexual content.