Max Payne : DIE HARD 4?

While staying at a friends house we were watching some "All things rock" when a commercial came on . Max payne diving through the air and picking off two guys at the top of the stairs with perfect aim. Bullet time action at its best. This game we had to get. Though the game was out at the local video store for weeks we thought for sure this game was worth the wait.

The game starts out as you , Max payne, coming home after a long days work at the police station to a beautiful wife and a brand new baby when your dream life slips.You open the door of your suburban home to see drawers turned and the mark of a city gang on your walls. A capital V with what looks like a syrringe through it. You continue down the hall into the living room when you hear the phone ring , and thwen hear the screaming of your wife as you run upstairs you make it into thr bathroom to find out that you cant make it into your bedroom the door is closed off when two thugs come after you , "using your superman like skills" you take them out . You walk out of the bathroom and into the nursery to find the tiny corpse of your baby daughter wrapped up and drenched with blood lying next to her overturned crib. You now hear the screams of your wife and bolt into the end door of the nursery into your bedroom "boom boom" as you kick open the door the killer stand there.Your wife is gone. The only thing you can do to take out your anger is to whack the psycho that finished her off.Later on you find a crack in the case and spend the rest of the game undercover. Paybacks is b!tch.

Pros...........

1.Graphics are beautiful the close ups on max's face are nice , or how when you shoot at the shower the glass breaks, or if you take out a street light. You can almost anything imaginable its great.

2.The plot is exciting , the fact that your wife is dead and now you are dead inside and are trying to rid of that itch in the back of your heart excites me, any game with payback is a game for me

3.Sound , sounds is great in this game the click of the guns when you run out of bullets to the blast of Max's 9mm echoing down the hallways after you finish of the perp staring back at you

4.Lots of secrets, in levels where you can climb out on the ledge of the buildings and get health or take down walls to find a new room

5.Details of the game.The footprints in the snow , the embers of fires how if you actually shoot a guy in the chest with a shotgun he is tossed like a rag doll into the wall trailing him , unlike other games where they might just tip back and fade away. Or on one level they have a bell hanging in front of a hotel room door the signal the perp that you are coming in, that little stuff is what makes the game great

6.misc., a hidden camera that a hooker uses to tape her clients,shooting bums , torn down buildings, walking into stores in the city, radios playing , tv.'s on,crack heads screaming when you shoot near them

7.Parts of the game. you might walk in on a busting in of a bank safe , or be walking on rafters in the fear of falling maybe 40 feet down after you lose your balance after picking off a thug down below.(lots of afters sorry)
These levels are the best around. Especially the first level.Or the level of Max's dream which gave me nightmares.But you'll have to play the game to see what happens.Involves alot of goosebumps and screaming

cons..........


1.The story gets so confusing!!! Ill asmit i loved this game but the story turns at every level.I didnt even know half the time why i was killing this boss.I still dont know why they killed my family. This is what ruined the game for me. Satanic guys , guys running away from me , thugs, i didnt know why these guys were here.How they knew I was after them confused me.And somehow I end up in a mansion with cops surrounding me? Urghhhhhhh check out the game maybe you'll get it all .


2.Terrible voice acting. "I'm sorry Max, I didn't mean to" Mrs. Payne and her valley girl voice gave me a headache. Or the dream levels with the constant screaming and crying.Overacting lowered the games overall value in my opinion , it was like listening to a highschool play , where they try to be a heart throb

3.All the thugs are the same, yes i know this would take alotta time to define all of them differently , but at least some variety please. Same clothes ,gun,face,build.

4.Max always has that sh!t eating grin on his face.



Ok now for some details......

Bullet time? There are actually two different ways to activate Bullet Time. The first is to simply stand still and hit the Bullet Time button. This will cause the entire game to slow down, allowing Payne to perform whatever maneuvers he wishes, and will last until Payne offs all onscreen enemies or until the Bullet Time meter itself runs out. This method is particularly useful when the player is aware that he's about to enter a room full of thugs.

The second way, which sees way more use than the first, is that Payne can jump in any direction on a horizontal plane while activating Bullet Time. This will cause Max to jump in whatever direction with his weapons at the ready while kicking in the slow motion movement. Useful for dodging gunfire, this method also allows Payne to deal with small groups of enemies while using a minimum of Bullet Time.

Either way bullet time is a creative addition to the game , I've caught myself many times easily being able to take a guy out but throwing in bullet time and diving back spinning in the air and taking the guy out or diving down stirs facing the way that a thug might be at th bottom hallway of the stairs.

____________________Tips____________________________________


1.Dont play this game all in one night, stretch it out.You'll get tired of it if you continue to play it all night.But if you say play a little everyday you'll get more into the plot.

2.Use bullet time often, you are less likely to get shot and to me your aim increases

3. Pay attention to the plot like your life is on the line.Because I didn't pay attention I was lost as i mentioned before

4.Dont shut the game off when you get stuck in an area look around and shoot suspicious stuff.



The end, Skipster

P.S. I Strongly suggest you check this game out it's worth it