Max Payne is not your typical hero, nor does he want to be. He has no control over the events that occur in his life, he’s just been dealt a bad hand.

Three years ago he was living the American dream: a good job, a loving wife and a beautiful child. Until one day he returned home to find his family brutally murdered. No other thought but vengeance entered his mind and he vowed to make those responsible pay. Max must exonerate himself from the crime that he was framed for and deliver justi ... more >>

Max Payne is not your typical hero, nor does he want to be. He has no control over the events that occur in his life, he’s just been dealt a bad hand.

Three years ago he was living the American dream: a good job, a loving wife and a beautiful child. Until one day he returned home to find his family brutally murdered. No other thought but vengeance entered his mind and he vowed to make those responsible pay. Max must exonerate himself from the crime that he was framed for and deliver justice.

The storyline in Max Payne is dark and integral to the game. It is well written and is often displayed in the form of a graphic novel. You can recap at any point to refresh your current objectives. With corruption, murder, drug barons and other ‘underworldly’ goings-on to cope with, this game world is a dangerous place to be.

Max Payne is like a cross between Tomb Raider and Quake, with new gameplay innovations and an intriguing plot. For the first time in a game, bullets are realistically modelled, allowing for a new feature called ‘bullet time’. If you’ve seen the movie The Matrix, remember how quickly agents could move and how slow normal time was to them? Well, ‘bullet time’ is similar. In filmic fashion, you can leap through the air in slow motion, actually avoiding bullets, while lining up your headshots in real time. Very cool. ‘Bullet time’ is replenished by killing your enemies.

Depending on the setting, the game automatically adjusts its difficulty level to how well you’re playing. This is a nice touch that helps alleviate frustration when you first start playing and can always be toggled off as you become more competent. Graphically, Max Payne sets new standards. It can use hardware transform and lighting, full screen anti-aliasing, tri-linear filtering, and particle effects with high geometry models and levels.

Max Payne is one of the most stylish and playable games available. It brings together the best elements of games and films, and comes highly recommended.
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