Max Payne was a gem to play and, even after many years, it still looks and plays great. In the core it is a standard, linear third person shooter, but very well implemented with a great story.

First, the love for this game is still alive, because normally, it will not run on modern hardware. But the community made a special patch that you can apply so the game will work perfectly after that.

In Max Payne, you are a cop that is chasing the murderers of your wife and child by unraveling the criminal gang that is behind it. You are a one-man army that eradicates everyone in your way. You search for answers, while meeting many different characters that help or betray you along the way, all while wiping out half of New York City.

Eventually, you find the b!tch behind it all, find out that a new drug is going to be used as an ultimate weapon for the US military and stop this dead in its tracks by infiltrating the facility and blowing it to bits.

I really liked the story element of this game. It always made me wonder what would happen next and the comic book L.A. Noire strips are a great way of telling you what happens.

The Nightmare levels in which you play the events of your family massacre over and over again are actually pretty disturbing. The crying of the baby, you wife begging for mercy, all while you run along endless corridors of your house in your own head.

This game is hard. It is all about timing your shots and anticipating enemies that come running towards you from out of nowhere. If you walk right into them, they shoot you faster than you can say “oh sh!t”. The Slow Motion really helps with the game, although in some fights, it makes it too easy.

The graphics are incredible, considering the time period this game got made, especially the facial animations and expressions. When looking at it closer, it is literally some dudes face in .png slapped over a polygon, but it is very well implemented. The animations, bullet holes and explosions are also very well done. Half the time, I forgot that I was playing a game from 2001.

The sound effects and music are excellent. Guns feel like guns instead of pea shooters and the explosions sound effects are as they should be. Thumbs up for the sound department.

The controls work fluently and feel responsive. The healing mechanics, the Slow-Motion, the aiming, it is all just right. There is nothing to complain about there.

Some minor annoyances that I had with the game are the slow-motion mechanics for example. While great for anticipating and reacting to sudden enemies that appear, it can be very frustrating when you dive into a dead corner which does not provide any cover and there is nothing you can do about it. You first must wait for the animation in slow motion until it’s over. This issue has been fixed in the next game, in which you can dive in slow motion and use it stationary.

Another thing is that the game sometimes starts you in a room with four or five enemies in a level, giving you 0.1 seconds to react or else you get pumped full of lead instantly.

The game can be a little repetitive because it always follows the same principle. A linear doorway, enemies spawn, kill enemies, progress. But I do not mind, this game is just fine as it is. It offers a lot of playtime, levels and adventure and is worth every penny.

In the end, I can only praise Max Payne and wished I played it sooner in my youth.

Definitely recommend this blast from the past.

Max Payne was one of those games that, since it involved pretty much just shooting everything and everyone, I was not interested in at all at first. But once I started playing it, I was HOOKED! I didn't know I could be so invested in the story of a man seeking vengeance who ALSO happens to have a paracetamol addiction. I especially liked the way the narration and story were shown and told, making it seem like the dialogues were comic strips and adding a rough watercolor-esque style to them.

Although I must admit, all that shooting around did end up becoming quite repetitive for me, since the story was actually pretty interesting, I kept on going to find out what was going to happen next. Still, the final stage was a nightmare for me, and the ending kind of left a bittersweet taste in my mouth. I guess it's meant to be that way, but it still felt a bit dull once I finished it. Did that ending make me change my thoughts on the game entirely? No! It was still all worth it.

I should mention that the nightmare scenes, even if they were a payne in the ass, are among my favorites. The game may be old, but it's still one hell of a good ride! Beating all of the enemies in slow motion always felt amazing and badass as well.

Recently Remedy has been getting a lot of positive press, both due to the reception of Control and renewed interest in Alan Wake. At this point they are some of the most respected AAA developers out there.

I personally am not on the Remedy Hype Train. Hell, I'm not even riding the Sam Lake train, although I like the guy. Max Payne 2 in my opinion was a good game but it has a straight-up bad story, no other way to put it. And Alan Wake, although a quality title, earns the "Most boring game everyone seems to adore" badge from me.

However I still respect Remedy enourmously and that respect comes from my love for their very first title, Max Payne.

Having beaten the Dead on Arrival mode and the New York Minute mode back to back in one sitting just now I can safely say, that this game has to be preserved, cherished, respected, perhaps even studied. This might be a lighting in a bottle, but it still remains to be the most consistent, stylish, ageless and exciting experiences ever. The simple story, the writing that doesn't miss a beat, the Bullet time and the shootdodges. Everything is perfect, fits right in, almost like a math equation or some formula.

And last, but not least, the graphic novel parts.

This is what separates MP from the rest. Obviously used as a crutch for not having the budget to do proper high quality cutscenes, this way of telling the story, coupled with James McCaffrey's performance, is not just memorable, it's iconic.

The humour and the camp is yet another very distinct element of the game, practically lost in the sequel and brought back to some degree (perhaps accidentally) in MP3.

To conclude, this is a must play for anyone who takes video games even halfway seriusly. Whatever you've been told, "it didn't age well, it's been surpassed, it too hard", ignore all of that noise.

I salute Remedy, this is a work of art, a perfect storm, a perfect game, it does everything it sets out to do and then some. Play it.