Max Payne

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.