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MAX
PAYNE
Max Payne is pissed off, real pissed off. 3 years ago this tough cop
arrived home with his wife & baby murdered. At the base of it is the
drug Valkyr (V) and mob kingpin Jack Lupino. Payne infiltrated the ranks
and you take control of this trigger happy cop on the edge at the point
where the case is getting hot. Besides a multitude of perps, thugs,
gangsters and druggies to deal with, the murder of a colleague gets
pinned on you! The game developers combine a bunch of exciting techniques
to keep the ball rolling. Besides the delightfully cheezy narration
you get graphic novel-style panels with speech bubbles progressing the
story-line as each chapter unfolds. Cinematic techniques add to the
great mood created with better resolution cut scenes included where
necessary. The justified violence is bloody and stylish, with the Bullet-Time
function sending you into Matrix territory of super-slow-motion carnage
with the press of a button (L2 to be precise!). A multitude of weapons
and ammunition can be collected and selected from your inventory, either
hidden around the locations or picked up from nailed bad guys. With
Berettas, Desert Eagles, shotguns, baseball bats, lead pipes, grenades,
sniper rifles and other deadly weapons at your disposal, the bad asses
don't stand a chance against this young Mickey Rourke look-alike. The
tutorial takes you through all the necessary paces with a handy Enemy
Dispenser lever at your disposal to, well, dispose of gun wielding punks
as you hone your shooting skills! The four game modes start with Fugitive
that takes you through subways, sleazy hotels, streets & rooftops as
you get to the bottom of the whole criminal scenario. Hardboiled, Dead
On Arrival and New York Minute can only be unlocked as you finish each
segment. The collection of keys, info, detonators and whatnot add to
the attention span while you'll need to sniff out pain killers to restore
your health, those bastards also shooting straight. Details include
chatting bad guys (listen to them before you burst in and plug 'em full
of lead). You can shoot anything from cans and fire extinguishers to
gas tanks and rats. Other exhilarating features include sniper mode
where the "camera" follows the bullet as it exits your barrel when you
have a direct hit. The environment is quite interactive (albeit without
much more purpose than the gamers amusement) - you can flush toilets,
glug the water coolers, switch TVs on & off, eject cans from the soda
vendor, pick up the pay phone, type on the cash register, activate vibrating
beds etc. A blast (pun intended). Max Payne has an autosave function
and bounces you back to the beginning of the level you're at when the
scumbags shoot you to hell. The graphic content is a bit too much for
younger players, so parents will have to use their discretion when getting
this game for their youngsters. Go kick some ass!
6 / B
- PB
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