Max Payne on PS2 - Trailer (2002)

Brief synopsis of Max Payne

Stop, bullet-time. The hit PC game Max Payne is now available on the PlayStation 2.

Max Payne was working as an undercover cop infiltrating the mafia gang that runs the city. One day he returned home to find his wife and child brutally murdered. Worse still, he was framed for the crime. Now hes on the run with both the police and the mob after him, looking for revenge.

The story of Max Payne is well scripted and delivered in the style of a graphic adventure. The story is littered with mission objectives that can be reviewed at any point by bringing up the menu.

So the scene is set, now its time to jump into the adventure. Max is presented in a third-person, over-the-shoulder perspective, with controls similar to console versions of Quake . This means that looking around and body movement are completely independent of each other, making the game a pleasure to play.

One of the coolest features of Max Payne has to be bullet-time. Players can activate Matrix-like action at any time, throwing the game into slow motion. You can leap through the air narrowly dodging incoming fire while lining up your headshots, and how sweet is that? Bullet-time recharges slowly so dont overuse it, because you never know when youre going to get ambused.

Max Payne certainly looks the part. Photographs have been digitised to give the game a scarily realistic look. Game animation is smooth, the polygon count is high, and the game is full of stylish special effects.

With a good plot, refined controls, new innovations and excellent gameplay, Max Payne is definitely worth a place in your collection.