First of all, if you are familiar with the Max Payne series, or even Rockstar games, the game is basically what most would imagine. It does shine in specific areas.
Max Payne, the protagonist, is a serious bad-ass. The story immerses you in Max's horror-ridden past, and showing him at his worse. Max is an ex-cop with a dead family, a drinking problem, nothing to lose, a temper, and a gun. Sounds somewhat cliché, but his intense bad-ass-ery makes up for it.
When Max gets roughed up, it looks so painful and gritty, you can almost feel it yourself. Every bullet, every punch to the face, leaves a painful obvious mark. And damn do you see every bullet hit. Aside from max taking 8 bullets in a day, his suit shows its wear and tear with him, a bullet to the leg will make max bleed until the end of the level. The bad guys have it just as bad, ill spare you, but it is quite gruesome to see someone shot up and down. They do deserve it though.
The story makes this game so damn awesome, Max is a valiant hero by no means, but he does have a sense of good that he tries to make out... With guns. Max's emotions are intense, and when Max becomes angry or breaks down in tears, you forget that he isn't real and someone is acting. James McCaffrey is the voice of Max Payne. Perfectly, might I add... And Rockstar overlooks no detail in projecting a cinema quality video game. Even the sound track is perfectly picked for this game.
-Gameplay-
Max Payne is a third person shooter, mostly over the shoulder. Max has the ability to slow his perception of time, and get a couple well placed shots. This is what makes the game so unique. Max can leap in any direction while slowing time, and shooting like mad. Every gunfight seems like an epic movie scene *untill* you fudge up and smack your head on a wall.
Most often, Max will engage a battle guns blazing, leaping through a window or down a roof, hoping to shoot as many bad-guys as possible before hitting the ground. This Rambo like approach to the game encourages you to take out as many enemies as possible as quickly as possible, sometimes before they even know whats going on. In some cases, I was able to leap sideways into a room while carrying a machine gun, and clear a room of a dozen bad-guys. Its quite fun to do, and watch happen, making Max that much more of a bad-ass.
This game is quite difficult. While some might argue that the game is too hard, turning the difficulty down and turning on aim assist is always available. You can get through this game despite your skill.
You control Max through the entire game.
sometimes controls can be clunky, my only con was max's collision with the world. Hard to understand why he cannot literally step over a suitcase on the ground. But that happens rarely.
Max has health, and it does not regenerate, with the exception of the last tiny bit of his life. He can pop a few pain pills and regain some health.
Max can only carry three guns, two in holsters, and one two handed weapon. Ammo is plentiful, however you cannot carry quite as much as you might prefer, encouraging you to make your shots count during long shootouts.
Again, this game is damn hard. When playing on harder difficulties, you MUST go guns blazing, make every shot count, and dodge thru the air to get the first shot in. Really encourages the player to be less *boring* so to say.
That being said, I applaud Rockstar for another great game, an artful display, and keeping me on the edge of my seat!!
