Pretty awesome game, the story of Max Payne is very tragic, and the atmosphere of the sound design of the game really works here, the controls have also aged really well for a 2001 game which is awesome, and the slow motion mechanic is really awesome, the only issue with the game however is I got stuck during some missions, there was no hints at what you need to do at points, so you're kinda stuck there until you figure it out, or you look a video which sucked, despite that I really recommend this game, it's awesome, and now I want to play 2 and 3 really bad now.

The cinematic qualities of Max Payne still shine. Noir York during a freak blizzard is a beautiful thing, especially in these crisp early 2000s 3D graphics. Large skyscrapers shown as the camera flies through a blizzard and Max running in slow motion from an underground lab that's self destructing. Max isn't at his most self-destructive yet, it takes Mona to bring him there.

Remedy had peppered this thing full of cheap deaths. Sometimes you'll survive a shotgun blast and others right after you get out of one of the many comicbook cutscenes several armed goons will spawn in behind you. I was surprised that the parking structure shootout was one of the most difficult. Gunning your way all the way down is a pure gauntlet. Another levels filled with trial and error is the mob restaurant that catches fire. That one took like 15 tries to learn the right path. For some reason I found fighting the trained mercenary soldiers to be way easier than the mobsters. The AI director in this is a strange beast.

Max Payne 2 is my favorite game but this one is right up there especially considering this has a world that's a lot more vivid. Ragnarök is both a nightclub and the end of the world. Jack Lupino mixed the occult, including Cthulhu, and supersoldier drug Valkyr. There are plenty of mobsters, like the Finito brothers and the 'Trio', who have silly names but are deadly killers. Max Payne 1 turns into Half-Life 1 for a couple of levels with you fighting mercs, some of which lurk inside shipping containers, and has you blowing up lazer trip mines and going into an underground lab. There is a whole secret society plot going on.

One of the reasons I really love this one is that feels like a 3D Realms game even though it was developed by Finnish Remedy (3D Realms guys helped produce it). All the destructible environments (these mobsters really love blowing up their own businesses) and all the sinks you can turn on and toilets you can flush. There are secrets everywhere if you look. The lazer trip mines always remind me of messing around with these things for hours in Duke Nukem 3D. Duke Nukem 3D was a riff on all 80s and 90s action heroes, Shadow Warrior was a riff on kung fu and ninja movies, Blood was a riff on all things horror and Max Payne is a riff on film noir, John Woo, and all things heroic bloodshed.

Remedy’s second game after Death Rally, Max Payne is their first game to feature a real story and set the stage for the rest of Remedy’s specific brand of storytelling and writing (especially by Sam Lake).

The plot oozes noir tropes and rockets between a crime drama, political thriller, science fiction, and psychological horror in some parts, with each part feeling perfectly in sync with one another despite their desperate genres.

The gameplay, however, is significantly more hit or miss due to the bugged adaptive difficulty system, which causes the game to start causing you to instantly die while pills only heal you for 1/16th of your health. However, when it actually does work it feels like a frantic take on the third person shooter, especially with the bullet time and shootdodging mechanics.

I want to highlight the level design by the way, namely on how much it owes to Duke Nukem 3D’s design ethos (realistic-ish spaces, high levels of interactivity in the environment, various puzzles in the environment requiring you to find the correct button to press, etc).

They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. I released my finger from the trigger.
And then it was all over. The storm seemed to lose its frenzy. The ragged clouds gave way to the stars above.
A bit closer to heaven.

For the first time ever, I have played Max Payne and wow, this game is a lot of fun! I will say it is really dated, I mean this game is over 20 years old but it is still so much fun! Here are the Pros and Cons.

PROS:

Combat- This game takes the "Bullet Time" effect and makes it fun! In my opinion, I personally do not like using Bullet Time in games but in Max Payne, I found myself using it a lot more, all the neat tricks and stunts you can do just made the combat really unique.

Guns- You had a well done variety of guns! Couple shotguns, the famous Akimbo Uzis, Commando, and a freaking M79! A lot of fun weapons to use for taking down these people!

Max Payne himself- Max is one of the coolest MC's I have ever played as in a video game. He is just a chill dude but when you get on his bad side, he is not going to be very chill. His character is very unique.

Difficulty- This game has some what of a hard difficulty, some parts you can get by pretty easily, some not so much. This game is not ridiculously hard, it gives you a good challenge which is always nice.

THE COMIC BOOK TRANSITIONS- I am not even going to say anything, if you have played this, you know how cool they are.

CONS-

This is kind of all my cons packed into one because of this reason... THIS GAME NEEDS A REMASTER. This game is over 20 years old, it has not aged great, there are some really annoying bugs, the save system is awful, and the graphics are not the greatest. I know, this game is made by the notorious Rockstar Games, we probably are not getting a remaster (anytime soon). But I would 100% replay this again if it gets a remaster, along with Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, which I have yet to play but I will in the near future! Remaster both of these games and Rockstar will make a TON of cash.

Overall, Max Payne is a fun shooter, with a nice story to follow, great combat, epic moves, and one of the greatest Video Game Main Characters of all time. Like I stated above, I will be playing the sequel, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne in the near future.