Max Payne

 PC
User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 2065 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,882 out of 2065
  2. Mixed: 152 out of 2065
  3. Negative: 31 out of 2065
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  1. Sean-M
    Jul 23, 2020
    8
    A great classic game. With a great story and gameplay. But I really prefer the second one.
  2. russiangamer
    Jul 20, 2020
    7
    У игры очень крепкая холодная атмосфера: горы холодных трупов, которые оставляет за собой Макс, кучки холодных, лишённых человечности наркоманов, наёмников, преступников и убийц, за которыми охотится тот же Макс; аномальная для Нью-йорка холодная погода; ссылки на скандинавскую мифологию, которые так же, как и всё перечисленное, укрепляют эту атмосферу холода...
    Сюжет можно описать в двух    У игры очень крепкая холодная атмосфера: горы холодных трупов, которые оставляет за собой Макс, кучки холодных, лишённых человечности наркоманов, наёмников, преступников и убийц, за которыми охотится тот же Макс; аномальная для Нью-йорка холодная погода; ссылки на скандинавскую мифологию, которые так же, как и всё перечисленное, укрепляют эту атмосферу холода...
    Сюжет можно описать в двух словах: Макс мстит убийцам своей семьи. Но вся соль именно в комикс-диалогах, которые написаны очень талантливо - они захватывают. Эти речевые обороты, эти персонажи, одержимые то наживой, то ещё каким пороком, говорящие с Максом - всё это крайне увлекательно.
    Чуть менее увлекателен геймплей, но даже спустя 20 лет играть в первого Пейна довольно интересно и немного даже сложновато (сохранялся, к слову, частенько...).
    Советую вам поиграть - игра определённо доставит вам удовольствие и даст возможность вжиться в роль ироничного и опустошённого героя, который потерял всё самое дорогое.
    7.5/10    … Expand
  3. 85558457
    Jul 20, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Великолепный шутер своего времени. Я досихпор в него иногда играю. Хороший геймплэй, мрачный сюжет, это все за что я полюбил эту игру . это легендарная игра и я советую каждому геймеру пройти её.… Expand
  4. Rickkard
    Jul 14, 2020
    9
    Великолепная игра, за исключением миссий с красной лентой и приходами.
  5. FilippoGugli
    Jul 5, 2020
    10
    Un gran clasico con mecánicas y gráficos adelantados a su tiempo.
    Excelente historia y jugabilidad
  6. Ctrl1138
    Jul 5, 2020
    10
    Incredible atmosphere, cool music, Incredible atmosphere, cool music, lots of weapons
    One of the best noir!!!
  7. DragonMonk
    Jul 3, 2020
    10
    Очень хорошая игра боевик с элементами "Матрицы". Комиксный сюжет редко где увидишь. 10 из 10
  8. ugurbugraergor
    Jun 29, 2020
    9
    Max Payne has an amazing story.It breaks 4th wall for many times,and this makes the game very interesting.Also the game has amazing controls for PC.Graphics are so good for a 2001 game.For today,it can be playable.Easter Eggs,many guns,good gun firing.But there is a little problem.The game has a dark atmosphere.I loved the atmosphere but there is some haters for Max Payne because ofMax Payne has an amazing story.It breaks 4th wall for many times,and this makes the game very interesting.Also the game has amazing controls for PC.Graphics are so good for a 2001 game.For today,it can be playable.Easter Eggs,many guns,good gun firing.But there is a little problem.The game has a dark atmosphere.I loved the atmosphere but there is some haters for Max Payne because of this.Very amazing game,most enjoyable game,I've ever played..… Expand
  9. Broyax
    May 15, 2020
    1
    Pour un jeu de 2001, je trouve que ce Max Payne a étonnamment bien vieilli, d'autant qu'il accepte le 1080 et que ses textures sont encore tout-à-fait correctes (tout à fond évidemment). Il fonctionne donc très bien sur... un OS 32 bits comme Windows XP ! car sur les 64 bits, il ne s'installe même pas...

    Autre sujet de surprise avec une bonne VF intégrale et des bruitages de qualité ;    Pour un jeu de 2001, je trouve que ce Max Payne a étonnamment bien vieilli, d'autant qu'il accepte le 1080 et que ses textures sont encore tout-à-fait correctes (tout à fond évidemment). Il fonctionne donc très bien sur... un OS 32 bits comme Windows XP ! car sur les 64 bits, il ne s'installe même pas...

    Autre sujet de surprise avec une bonne VF intégrale et des bruitages de qualité ; de toute façon, techniquement les jeux de chez Remedy ont toujours été des pointures : rien de surprenant à ce qu'ils vieillissent bien... même si leur "rétrocompatibilité" est sujette à caution !

    Mais quoi qu'il en soit, pour le reste, pour tout le reste, c'est la soupe à la grimace... l'espèce d'histoire est complètement bateau et une soupe aux clichés très indigeste ; la narration à coups de bande dessinée pue du bec -et la paresse ; le ralentissement du temps (et les ralentis donc) est globalement mal implémenté et peu exploitable, sans doute parce qu'il s'agit d'un TPS dont la maniabilité n'est d'ailleurs pas la qualité première... et aucun système de couverture n'est disponible.

    La présentation est perfectible avec notamment cette silhouette qui se vide ou se remplit (?) à l'envers (?!) : on ne sait jamais si on est à peine touché ou sur le point de crever... Le jeu ne reste qu'un couloir scripté, beaucoup trop scripté (heureusement qu'on peut sauvegarder quand on veut !) et n'est pas agréable à l'usage : ni amusant malgré ses ralentis à la John Woo !

    ça donne juste envie de se remater encore une (énième) fois A Toute Epreuve ! je lui mettrais bien 2 quand même finalement... mais 1 point, je crois que c'est assez comme ça : on s'emmerde beaucoup trop vite ici.    … Expand
  10. Crimert
    May 13, 2020
    9
    It was an amazing game! One of the best stories in video game history! 12hrs on record.
  11. PublicNuisance
    May 1, 2020
    9
    Max Payne is easily one of the best games ever made and even nearly 20 years later that fact still stands in my view. I have played many games since this came out but it still ranks up there for me. The story is a masterpiece that fits together wonderfully. The voice acting is fantastic, James McCaffrey was a perfect choice for Max. The soundtrack fit well and set the mood. The game playMax Payne is easily one of the best games ever made and even nearly 20 years later that fact still stands in my view. I have played many games since this came out but it still ranks up there for me. The story is a masterpiece that fits together wonderfully. The voice acting is fantastic, James McCaffrey was a perfect choice for Max. The soundtrack fit well and set the mood. The game play itself was a thing of beauty. No game allowed you to be in a John Woo movie before and until Stranglehold years later none who tried to emulate it did it well. For me one of the things I loved was the little details. When you walk in the snow you leave footprints. After a gunfight there are shell casings on the floor and your discarded magazines. There are bullet holes in the walls left by you and your enemies. All adds to the game and sadly are things many games still don’t do for whatever reason. The games comic book style way of telling the story was awesome and fit well with the FMV cut scenes. The news reports in the background and on the televisions was also an ingenious way to add to the story. The cast of characters are memorable. Even after all this time I still remembered them, all the way from Mona; Max; Bravura; Lupino; Gogniti; etc. There isn’t a wasted character or bad one in the bunch. The variety of weapons and ability to dual wield most of them made for a kid in a candy shop during gunfights. I did feel that the shotgun was a little under powered sometimes as even point blank it took 2-3 shots to put basic enemies down. It also didn’t make sense why Lupino needed so many bullets to go down despite not being superhuman, V or no V. These were minor things though that didn’t stop my enjoyment one bit.

    I played Max Payne on Linux using Steam’s Proton. It never crashed on em and I didn’t notice any bugs or glitches. There are 3 settings for AA; 3 settings for AF; and 13 other graphic settings. The game allows you to manually save whenever you want and gives 10 slots for that. There are auto saves for those who prefer. Alt-Tab worked. You can pause FMV cut scenes but not skip them. You can skip the comic book cut scenes. Performance was fantastic. The game certainly is no spring chicken visually but n it’s time it was top notch. A few times the FPS dropped from 144 but only dropped to 130 and 119 and only for a split second so it wasn’t an issue. I played version 1.05 of the game.

    Disk Usage: 792 MB
    VRAM Usage: 706-797 MB
    CPU Usage: 10-14 %
    RAM Usage: 2.4-3.3 GB
    Frame Rate: 119-144 FPS

    If by some chance you haven’t had the pleasure of playing Max Payne and enjoy shooters then rush out and get this now. I finished the first play through on the fugitive difficulty and it took me 7 hours and 10 minutes. I forget what I paid for my physical copy years back but for this Steam version I paid $2.55 and it is worth so much more. Even the full price of $10.99 doesn’t do it justice. One of the few games worth $50.

    My Score: 9/10

    My System:

    AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | MSI RX 5700 XT 8GB Gaming X | Mesa 20.0.5 | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB | Manjaro 19.0.2 | Mate 1.24 | Kernel 5.6.7-1-MANJARO | Proton 5.0.6    … Expand
  12. ChesterField
    May 1, 2020
    9
    Good story, good gameplay, excellent addition to bullet time, tons of fun. Nothing more to say. 100% recommended.
  13. Hitman_47
    Apr 13, 2020
    9
    Great game with good story, great graphics and bullet time. Highly Recommended.
  14. AbhinavDasiga
    Mar 31, 2020
    8
    From the graphic novel cut scenes to the neo noir rendition of the story, Max Payne has character in spades. Bullet time mechanics changed the landscape of gaming. For all its short comings such as enemy variety, Max Payne remains engaging from beginning to end.
  15. Relkad
    Mar 25, 2020
    9
    Story telling is unique,or it was.Still i have seen none that reaches it's quality.
    Kind of game that will get old but will always have a special place in your memory.
  16. PanMrkvicka
    Feb 12, 2020
    10
    One of the best gameplay in shooter game ever. The noir detective story is also very good and I love this game.
  17. sashok9026
    Nov 30, 2019
    9
    One of the best games I've played.
    I am not a fan of the shooter genre, but this game turned out to be very good. I was ready to play it for several hours without a break.
  18. kuzey
    Nov 30, 2019
    10
    gelmiş geçmiş en iyi 2. oyun en iyiside max payne 2 2 side harika mükemmel oyunlar 3 de iyidir ama bi max payne denmez 3 için
  19. Genek13
    Nov 19, 2019
    9
    Man, when this was released blows every gamer mind :)
    The slow motion mechanics was so good back then.
    Still playable to this date, and still best in the series.
  20. SilverOrlov
    Oct 7, 2019
    10
    Incredibly strong and enveloping atmosphere, interesting and intriguing story. Interesting mechanics of focus, and comic-storytelling style with noir music ...it was very-very cool.
  21. strangermoon
    Sep 27, 2019
    10
    stil remains one of best story and best revenge and matrix style slow motion game. comic book it self remain unuiqe. story telling and music here top. its better and deep than every cop movie even. tonly game forget to players half life on pc. visually remains decent.
  22. sebastianali
    Aug 30, 2019
    7
    El juego esta bastante bien. Curiosamente, los controles y el movimiento del personaje me recuerdan mucho al Grand Theft Auto Vice City. La historia y la música están bien, al igual que la jugabilidad. Sin embargo, a veces la IA es demasiado y su resistencia es muy irrealista. El juego te obliga si o si a jugar con el Bullet Time. Tampoco hay multijugador y a veces la historia es confusa.El juego esta bastante bien. Curiosamente, los controles y el movimiento del personaje me recuerdan mucho al Grand Theft Auto Vice City. La historia y la música están bien, al igual que la jugabilidad. Sin embargo, a veces la IA es demasiado y su resistencia es muy irrealista. El juego te obliga si o si a jugar con el Bullet Time. Tampoco hay multijugador y a veces la historia es confusa. Por ultimo, si bien el juego esta increíblemente optimizado, no envejeció muy bien a nivel gráfico. Un juego bueno para pasar el rato, pero creo que no vale la pena desbloquear el resto de dificultades una vez completado.… Expand
  23. Babutto
    Aug 26, 2019
    10
    One of the greatest creations in the gaming industry. There is nothing to say more.
    I beat the game this time without using bullet time. It was not hard but tricky.
    Anyways, replaying - repaying.
  24. Agez11
    Aug 2, 2019
    9
    Max Payne es genial e increíble con buena historia, gráficas decentes, personajes memorables, momentos intensos y buenos dibujos, además de correr en cualquier pc.
    Es simplemente un shooter inolvidable a pesar de ser muy infravalorado
  25. Bottlecaps
    Jul 21, 2019
    8
    Max payne 1 is a trend setter and a very important game for 3rd person and action games in general and is a triumph in story telling especialy for 2001. i had this game on the ps2 back in the day but never really gave it a real shot until i got it on steam and despite its age its a really fun game.

    Story: max payne's story was innovative and felt like a noir graphic novel and easily    Max payne 1 is a trend setter and a very important game for 3rd person and action games in general and is a triumph in story telling especialy for 2001. i had this game on the ps2 back in the day but never really gave it a real shot until i got it on steam and despite its age its a really fun game.

    Story: max payne's story was innovative and felt like a noir graphic novel and easily could have been that. hell this easily could have been a movie ( except apperently there was nothing easy about it cause the movie got most everything wrong). max is a man that the universe just seems to like kicking the **** out of , his family is murdered by junkies , he is then undercover in a drug ring only to have his cover blown and the one man who knew he was under cover got murdered. so he has to shoot his way out. max is a great character and evolves in believable ways over the course of the 3 games. the comic panels although a stylistic choice i think it was a good one for the technology at the time , this game wouldn't have the same level of depth with cut scenes or in game cut scenes. it also helps make it memorable. one thing about all of the max payne games is that the story dosent always go how i expected it to and that keeps it interesting. i play and watch alot of stuff so im use to cliches but despite its age the story still feels fresh.
    Story: 9/10

    World building: max's world is dark but also has room for a little bit of humor especially with the quips and the sarcastic dialogue , this game is a treasure trove of great quotes. also the in game tv shows , a comic series like captain baseball bat boy that characters will say they are fans of. it gives the world a lived in feel. also reoccurring locations but not in a repetitive way and of course the different factions in the world.
    Worldbuilding 8/10

    Graphics: for 2001 the graphics are good i can tell witch doors open , witch buttons are push able , its got a muted art style in game and that actually helps the comic book style of the cut scenes . even if technically the game looks kinda bland but because its a stylistic choice i can look past it. i wouldn't be opposed to better character models.
    Graphics 7/10

    Gameplay: here it is here is the big one , this game is FUN , not your regular shooter fun but this game is actually challenging iv died so many times and sometimes i would quit come back and tackle it again but almost all the time i just wanted to keep going because i wanted to know what happens next in the story. but the combat it self is just fun , it is clearly influenced by the matrix film, bullet time may be a staple of gaming but max Payne made it work being both a technical achievement and a stylistic one . my only gripe is the nightmare levels , i hated them and they were really glitchy too but there was 3 of them and they werent THAT bad so it feels like a nit pick at this point
    Gameplay 10/10

    Sound design: a great sound track over all but i think is out done by the later 2 games and the voice acting is strong through out ESPECIALLY max him self , James McCaffrey performance of max payne is great and in the next 2 games only gets better.
    Sound design: 8.5/10

    9+8+7+10+8.5=42.5
    42.5/5= 8.5/10

    Max payne is a great game and i think if you are an action fan in general then you owe it to your self to give this entire series a shot.    … Expand
  26. Alien2436
    May 9, 2019
    8
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  27. CriticNamedZack
    Apr 27, 2019
    8
    Story: Max returns home in New Jersey to find that junkies have broken into his house while high on a new designer drug called Valkyr. Max rushed to aid his family, but was too late: his wife and their newborn daughter have been brutally murdered. After their funeral, Payne transferred to the DEA and the dark secrets behind his families death unfold...

    Pros: • The game is very dark,    Story: Max returns home in New Jersey to find that junkies have broken into his house while high on a new designer drug called Valkyr. Max rushed to aid his family, but was too late: his wife and their newborn daughter have been brutally murdered. After their funeral, Payne transferred to the DEA and the dark secrets behind his families death unfold...

    Pros:
    • The game is very dark, covering many dark themes and explores the ugly sides of New York and it's inhabitants.
    • The characters really leave a strong impression on you, especially Max Payne himself as you see and feel what he goes through to becomes a man with "Nothing to Lose".
    • The comic book/graphic novel style cutscenes are excellent, have aged well and tell the story more dramatically then the in-game rendered cutscenes.
    • A simple premise quickly becomes really deep and has you engaged on who was behind the downturn of Max's life and why
    •Dialogue is phenomenal to listen to.

    Cons:
    • You can't skip in-game cutscenes if your playing the game a second time. Very minor complaint though, but the in-game cutscenes themselves feel very underwhelming compared to the comic-style ones. However, it was 2001 and the technology of video game cutscenes had not been made great due to what was possible at the time.

    Gameplay:

    Pros:
    •Bullet time really makes Max Payne unique from other third person shooters and makes combat really, really fun. Without it it would probably be just average.
    •The mobility of your character really makes the gameplay feel quicker and more action-packed and bullet velocity from each of the guns is interestingly done.
    • Levels have many little details you can interact with and find, making them feel more alive.
    •Takes roughly 8-10 hours to beat for your first time playing the game.
    • Challenging gameplay that's rewarding and satisfying. it can be trail and error, but it's addictive at the same time.
    • Plays extremely well with keyboard and mouse. Avoid using a controller as it feels clunky in comparison (The console versions in general for that matter)

    Cons:
    • The game can be very difficult. I also like that it's hard, but sometimes Max Payne makes it hard with cheap areas (Not so common) and cheaply placed enemies that will take down your health very quickly (way more common). Adding that the games "difficulties" are really more like challenge modes with there own twist, so you will die over and over since Max Payne has a fixed difficulty.
    • Some weapons like the shotguns are inconsistent as f**k, ranging from sniper rifle-like to nerf guns close range.

    Sound/Music:

    Pros:
    • The voice acting is spot on and really grabs the feel of the character being voiced position in the game world and background.

    Cons:
    • Max Payne doesn't offer that much in terms of music at all. You will mainly hear the main theme for most of the game in the cutscenes, Outside of that you won't hear much else and it's not that iconic compared to the main theme.
    • Had to install a patch to get the audio working normally. I played the Steam version and it seems to happen on Windows 10, it's fixable, but it's just a pain.
    • Sometimes couldn't hear the dialogue of Max due to the sound effects. For some reason, speech and sound effects are tied in with each other. This is a major problem since I found it hard to hear some of the dialogue as I was playing as Max and no cutscene was present.

    Performances/Visuals:

    Pros:
    • For an 2001 game, graphics look excellent and the game itself runs very smoothly indeed.
    • The depiction of New York and the many different areas of the city you travel through is brilliantly portrayed by Remedy. Even if some areas feel a little empty for a city like New York.

    Cons:
    •Now the graphics look great, but the character models... not so much... and the faces... just comedic to look at now. The faces never change as well, except when Max dies (which you will see a lot).

    Verdict:
    Story: 9/10
    Gameplay: 8.5/10
    Sound/Music: 7/10
    Performance/Visuals: 8/10
    Overall: 8.5/10    … Expand
  28. Elkay_Gaming
    Mar 19, 2019
    10
    This game is industry defining.

    The game play, the story and the delivery of said story are all amazing. I recently completed it on steam and still enjoyed every second of it despite the dated visuals. It is a must play for anyone that calls themselves a gamer. Living history lesson in how to develop an amazing game.
  29. Zeratex
    Feb 11, 2019
    8
    One of the best story telling detective games ever made.
    I enjoyed the dark theme the story had.
    From a technical point the game introduced a neat mechanics for the combat which is slowing time while dodging and shooting, i still remember that epic feeling when you pop out from behind a wall and start shooting the gangsters. Graphics and Animation were very good. Story is pretty well    One of the best story telling detective games ever made.
    I enjoyed the dark theme the story had.

    From a technical point the game introduced a neat mechanics for the combat which is slowing time while dodging and shooting, i still remember that epic feeling when you pop out from behind a wall and start shooting the gangsters.
    Graphics and Animation were very good.
    Story is pretty well made, you feel thrilled while uncovering the murder mystery of your family. However story suffers from pacing issues as its a bit rushed towards the end.
    Music is haunting, sad and dark.

    A great experience.

    8/10    … Expand
  30. trarantino
    Dec 29, 2018
    9
    Игра шидевр! Просто лучшая игра всех времён и народов. Какая графика, какой графон!
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Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Best PC Game of 2001
1
#1 Most Discussed PC Game of 2001
1
#1 Most Shared PC Game of 2001

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 32
  3. Negative: 1 out of 32
  1. Hot Games
    90
    A great FPS. The most serious problem we have with the game is stability – we lost all of our save games at one point, and experienced random freezes fairly frequently.
    Read full review
  2. GamePen
    30
    In the style of PC Gamer's David Manningesque vocabulary, Max Payne is the most forgettable action game in history. (I exaggerate, of course. It's only the most forgettable action game of the year.)
    Read full review
  3. Yahoo!
    80
    Its predominant flaw is that it whets our appetite for something unimaginably amazing but only fulfills half of that unveiled promise.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »