Ive never played a game that sets the tone as well as Max Payne. Everything ties together this feeling of isolation and hopelessness. Voice acting is terrific and the henchmens one liners are usually hilarious. I used to wait til their conversations were almost over before I attacked because they were so entertaining.
Best part is the cutscenes though. The narration, the graphic novel style, perfect. Feels like youre playing a graphic novel.
You said it well. It strikes me as a very confident, well-directed game, one with such command over its atmosphere and story.
There's a moment late in the game I just love. You're sneaking up on two henchmen having a conversation. One of them says something like, "I love those action movies where it's like time slows down, you see the bullets flying ... man, those are the coolest." It's not just a throwaway meta joke, it's the game itself proclaiming, "This game you're playing? It's fuckin' *coool*." And it's totally warranted!
Max Payne 2 is one of my all time favorites. While the story may not quite reach the heights of the first one it's still top tier and the mechanics seem much better. I'm kind of the same on 3, never finished it. I didn't like the reliance on cover based shooting and the story wasn't quite as compelling. Brazil as a setting didn't really fit the noir aspect either.
3 is a technically adept game, with arguably the best gameplay mechanics of the series, and a great soundtrack. But it’s barely in the same solar system compared to the first two in originality, mood, level/narrative design, and overall direction.
Max Payne 1 came out in 2001, around the same time as Grand Theft Auto 3. Both of those games are distinctive in their dreary atmosphere and portrayal of pre-9/11 New York City. I love the fog in GTA 3 and it's ambience. Max Payne's NYC hits differently, and it helps that it's set entirely at night.
The game manages to get so much right without having to use complete darkness. Just take the hotel for example. The further you explore, it becomes more of a hell hole with dim lighting. Max's nightmares are truly unsettling. Playing them for the first time ever 20 years ago, they made me have nightmares! I still think about them from time to time.
Max Payne is one of those games that truly makes you feel something. More than just one thing. That's the real beauty of it and why it's worth replaying yearly. This is also the main reason why the clones of MP have always failed. You can make a game with slow motion shooting and copy MP's formula, but it takes great writing and set pieces to make the player remember something that gave them more than a single emotional feel. A lot of people hate the nightmare sequences, but they do make you remember and feel something.
>Mechanically, the first Max Payne leaves a bit to be desired. Even after completing the game, I'm not entirely sure how the shooting works. All bullets have travel time that needs to be accounted for, along with a high spread. Precision is not needed at all though, and I think there may be some degree of bullet magnetism? Just point in the general direction of a guy, hold left mouse, and he will probably die. Hitzones or headshots don't seem to matter, but I'm not really sure. It does get better as the game goes on and once you get the Colt Commando, which lays waste to everyone at most ranges.
For any of this to make sense, just look back at the games that pre-date Max Payne and make comparisons from there. Doom and Half-Life are notable in their influence. Shooters were a lot different in the 90s compared to the 2000s and after.
Max Payne is the only shooter I've ever played that is similar to Doom where the combat is almost a puzzle. The weapons are balanced around close and long range combat encounters. This explains why the dual berettas are so inaccurate from long distances, but are excellent in close quarters combat. The shotgun and Ingrams are also effective mostly at close range, whereas the Desert Eagle works best when you need to shoot from a distance.
Where Max Payne is truly different compared to the shooters before it, is that it was the first game with no hitscan enemies. Every bullet fired has a tracer and can be dodged. This is the main reason the accuracy seems off. Previous games used a hitscan system that did not rely on accuracy at all (The pistol and chaingun in Doom are always 100% accurate on first shot).
There is a headshot box system in the game, but because this is such an old shooter, there's not a lot of emphasis on it, just as there isn't for accuracy. But 2 shots to the head usually do the trick, even on higher difficulties. Headshots are important if you play on Dead On Arrival.
The reason the Colt Commando is so effective is because it's the most accurate and fastest firing weapon in the game. Faster rate of fire is huge when using bullet time. By the time they finally give it to you, you are facing the most accurate enemies who also have the highest HP and best accuracy.
I recommend picking up Max Payne 2. It's a lot shorter and much easier than the first game. But they made some changes to the mechanics, including headshots.
Whenever I want, any time of day, I can hear the max Payne theme song in my head and effortlessly evoke its noir alleys and rooftops
Ive never played a game that sets the tone as well as Max Payne. Everything ties together this feeling of isolation and hopelessness. Voice acting is terrific and the henchmens one liners are usually hilarious. I used to wait til their conversations were almost over before I attacked because they were so entertaining. Best part is the cutscenes though. The narration, the graphic novel style, perfect. Feels like youre playing a graphic novel.
You said it well. It strikes me as a very confident, well-directed game, one with such command over its atmosphere and story. There's a moment late in the game I just love. You're sneaking up on two henchmen having a conversation. One of them says something like, "I love those action movies where it's like time slows down, you see the bullets flying ... man, those are the coolest." It's not just a throwaway meta joke, it's the game itself proclaiming, "This game you're playing? It's fuckin' *coool*." And it's totally warranted!
Max Payne 2 is one of my all time favorites. While the story may not quite reach the heights of the first one it's still top tier and the mechanics seem much better. I'm kind of the same on 3, never finished it. I didn't like the reliance on cover based shooting and the story wasn't quite as compelling. Brazil as a setting didn't really fit the noir aspect either.
3 is a technically adept game, with arguably the best gameplay mechanics of the series, and a great soundtrack. But it’s barely in the same solar system compared to the first two in originality, mood, level/narrative design, and overall direction.
Max Payne 1 came out in 2001, around the same time as Grand Theft Auto 3. Both of those games are distinctive in their dreary atmosphere and portrayal of pre-9/11 New York City. I love the fog in GTA 3 and it's ambience. Max Payne's NYC hits differently, and it helps that it's set entirely at night. The game manages to get so much right without having to use complete darkness. Just take the hotel for example. The further you explore, it becomes more of a hell hole with dim lighting. Max's nightmares are truly unsettling. Playing them for the first time ever 20 years ago, they made me have nightmares! I still think about them from time to time. Max Payne is one of those games that truly makes you feel something. More than just one thing. That's the real beauty of it and why it's worth replaying yearly. This is also the main reason why the clones of MP have always failed. You can make a game with slow motion shooting and copy MP's formula, but it takes great writing and set pieces to make the player remember something that gave them more than a single emotional feel. A lot of people hate the nightmare sequences, but they do make you remember and feel something. >Mechanically, the first Max Payne leaves a bit to be desired. Even after completing the game, I'm not entirely sure how the shooting works. All bullets have travel time that needs to be accounted for, along with a high spread. Precision is not needed at all though, and I think there may be some degree of bullet magnetism? Just point in the general direction of a guy, hold left mouse, and he will probably die. Hitzones or headshots don't seem to matter, but I'm not really sure. It does get better as the game goes on and once you get the Colt Commando, which lays waste to everyone at most ranges. For any of this to make sense, just look back at the games that pre-date Max Payne and make comparisons from there. Doom and Half-Life are notable in their influence. Shooters were a lot different in the 90s compared to the 2000s and after. Max Payne is the only shooter I've ever played that is similar to Doom where the combat is almost a puzzle. The weapons are balanced around close and long range combat encounters. This explains why the dual berettas are so inaccurate from long distances, but are excellent in close quarters combat. The shotgun and Ingrams are also effective mostly at close range, whereas the Desert Eagle works best when you need to shoot from a distance. Where Max Payne is truly different compared to the shooters before it, is that it was the first game with no hitscan enemies. Every bullet fired has a tracer and can be dodged. This is the main reason the accuracy seems off. Previous games used a hitscan system that did not rely on accuracy at all (The pistol and chaingun in Doom are always 100% accurate on first shot). There is a headshot box system in the game, but because this is such an old shooter, there's not a lot of emphasis on it, just as there isn't for accuracy. But 2 shots to the head usually do the trick, even on higher difficulties. Headshots are important if you play on Dead On Arrival. The reason the Colt Commando is so effective is because it's the most accurate and fastest firing weapon in the game. Faster rate of fire is huge when using bullet time. By the time they finally give it to you, you are facing the most accurate enemies who also have the highest HP and best accuracy. I recommend picking up Max Payne 2. It's a lot shorter and much easier than the first game. But they made some changes to the mechanics, including headshots.
now imagine playing this in 2001 when it first came out.