Max Payne

The Good
+ Great soundtrack
+ Great storyline
+ Excellent storytelling
+ Bullet Time works with ease
+ Easy-to-learn level design


The Bad
- Stripped down levels
- No quick-saving abilities
- Rough, unstable framerate


The Bottom Line
Presentation: 95/100
The storyline is told through narration and graphic novel panels, but the panels do not appear one at a time like on the Xbox version; instead, all the panels appear all at once. There's also no DVD player-styled controls for novel cutscenes that appeared on the Xbox and PC versions. The only thing better about the graphic novel panels is the font for the dialogue text, as they appear with more bold letters with upper and lower cases.

Graphics: 74/100
The texture quality is noticeably reduced, and the framerate is unstable. There are times where the framerate is either sharp or nearly unplayable. The framerate on the PS2 version is somewhat jittery in general, and there are only very few times where this can affect the gameplay. If you've played the Xbox/PC version before this, you'll notice that there's a reduced amount of character models, therefore you'll end up killing the same looking guy over and over.

Audio: 90/100
The soundtrack is excellent and most if not all of the dialogue is there. Practically nothing has been stripped down or removed from the PS2 version. The sound quality on the PS2 version seems to be somewhat higher than the Xbox version, or a least that's how I heard.

Controls: 88/100
The controls on the PS2 version are translated well. The L1 button does Bullet Time with Shootdodging, L2 does Bullet Time without Shootdodging, R2 jumps and R1 fires your weapon. X performs actions and zooms on a sniper rifle, Square reloads, and Circle makes you use a painkiller. Painkillers will heal Max, but the healing will take seconds for it to be in full effect. The weapons are divided by classes and can be cycled through using the directional buttons, pressing R1 will equip the weapon that's highlighted. The PS2 version has an extra ability where pressing Triangle will make you switch to your best weapon, which can turn out useful at times. The walking issue is still on the PS2 version, also the PS2's analog sticks are stiff and shifty to work with, meaning that used controllers can end up with Max moving by himself until you wiggle the analog sticks.

Difficulty: Dynamic
The easiest difficulty can feel challenging at first, but after you beat the game, the Fugitive difficulty won't be as difficult. The Hard-Boiled difficulty is described as hard, but it's practically the same, hard at first, but feels easier after. Dead on Arrival is legitimately difficult, even you beat the game. New York Minute is where you have to beat each level in a minute. Ingame cutscenes and graphic novel panels pause the timer and killing bad guys will buy you some more time.

Gameplay: 90/100
The gameplay is different from typical shooters, as it is the first game to use Bullet Time, inspired by the films directed by John Woo and The Matrix. Bullet Time works like this: when triggered, everything slows down, but you can aim in real time, giving you the advantage over your enemies, using the Shootdodge maneuver will help you dodge bullets with ease. The AI's capabilities are prescripted and could put up a fight, but they don't react to hand grenades. Unfortunately, the level designs are shortened down, some even to the point where a size of a level is unreasonably short. The PS2 version does not have quick-saving abilities, the game automatically saves at the beginning of each level.

Overall: 82/100
Max Payne isn't a lengthy game, as there are 24 levels that are divided each. There is no multiplayer, which is forgivable, and also considering about how would Bullet Time work in multiplayer. If you aren't able to get this game on the Xbox or PC, get the PS2 version without too much reluctance.

Score: 82/100

The Good
Well the first thing anyone will love about this game is BULLET TIME!!! If you ever wanted to recreate The Matrix then this is definitely for you. Also the little details the game has, like when you shoot someone in the head blood will actually hit against the wall where it should. Also the weapon selection is pretty large and the guns look extremely realistic.

The Bad
The "dream" levels, extreme pain in the ass. Fortunately there's only 2 but it's impossible to get through them with out a strategy guide. Also the loading times are a little long but nothing unbearable. The enemies don't have many models so you'll probably kill the same guy about 50 times throughout the game. Also the controls are a little hard to get used to.

The Bottom Line
Great game thats a lot of fun but it does have it's flaws.

The Good
All features from the PC game are present and correct including the weapons, bullet-time, puzzles, chapters and difficulty levels. The controls are well calibrated, and like most 3rd-person shooters operates well on PlayStation consoles. There is additional artwork between the different parts of each chapters, but these would have been better off in a single loading screen.

The Bad
The graphics are not nearly as sharp as the PC version. No idea what's with the weird choice of text font that doesn't reflect the comic style it had in PC. For some reason there's less variety in the PS2 version including many reused enemy models and the identical dying voices that are reused even late in the game. To add irritation, there are a number of rooms cut out from this version such as some of the bathrooms in Lupino's Hotel.

Now performance problems. It's very hard to quickly move the camera and aim correctly before you find an enemy's bullet lodged into you. Then there's the stuttering framerate, sometimes getting you injured in gun fight or killed from a misjump. The two or three times each chapter splits ruins the game flow and denies you the opportunity to collect extra ammo and painkillers when you might need them. Also you're not able to save whenever and wherever you want, which ramps up the already difficulty gameplay. As if they couldn't fit a whole chapter into the game with save spots, since it had been done in Medal of Honor: Rising Sun.

The Bottom Line
While the story and setting are faithful to the original Windows game, the rest of the features falter. This haphazardly put together port really lacks the carefully tailored work that the PC version has to offer. There are so much better 3rd-person shooters out there for the PS2 because this game will quickly lose appeal and enjoyability altogether. Perhaps it is worth playing one just for the experience, but replay value is absent afterwards.

The Good
Sound were awesome with the gun shooting and explosions throughout the game. Also, the ability to pick your wasted victim's ammo is sweet to.

The Bad
Where do I begin? First, the voices are really blurred so you can never hear what the person is saying and when you can there is like only 5-6 different voices which is pretty lame. Plus, the background graphics are really shoty and just plain suck. Finally, the load times are horrible compared to the PC version.

The Bottom Line
Please, if you want this game, go buy either the Windows or Xbox version. If you don't have either, PS2 is only hope, and my friend you will be disappointed.