Max Payne PlayStation 2
User Score
8.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 46 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 46
  3. Negative: 5 out of 46

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  1. DanP.
    Feb 4, 2002
    9
    Great action shoot em up controls had to learn at the start but once you get the hang of them they are o.k but the load time for cut scenes is far too long and the fact that you have to watch them over and over again stop this game getting a perfect 10.
  2. AdamS.
    Feb 4, 2002
    10
    I believe this game is the best and couln't get any better. IT KICKS ASS.
  3. MarshalM.
    Dec 23, 2001
    10
    After you get used to the controlling...this game is simply incredible.
  4. VanL.
    Jan 9, 2002
    10
    What can I say? This game just kicks some serious ass! The bullet time just makes it different from all the other 3rd person shooter games and with a serious arseneal of weapons and cool graphics it has got to be the best game ever.
  5. JayF.
    Apr 1, 2002
    10
    Great gameplay, with the codes you could play all night, good storyline, and nice violence, this is the next game that will make college kids fail that class, I am one of them.
  6. RyanV.
    Dec 30, 2001
    10
    I give this "wacko game" a 10 on 10! Very very good game! If you like 3ed-person shooter games...You will LOVE this game! Specially the matrix kinda thing were everything slows things down! Pretty Cool! Gotta buy it!
  7. Taylorw
    Feb 22, 2002
    10
    The game kicks ass! It is awesome. I love the imgrams!
  8. [Anonymous]
    Feb 4, 2002
    10
    Awesome.
  9. AndrewW.
    Mar 23, 2002
    9
    I get this game as import from ma videodealer. (In germany it has never found the way on market) It's very cool 2 blast everythin' with the 2-berettas. Grafix look also very cool (especially the poster in the bitch-rooms!). The only problem on this game is: the engine is sometimes too slow, if you're on the street (for xample in the tutorial) it "ruckelt" sometimes!
  10. RickP.
    Dec 30, 2001
    10
    Couldn't get any better.
  11. BogMan
    Jul 15, 2002
    9
    I haven't played any other version but i don't care, i'm still playing 6 months on. There is nothing else quite like it on ps2. It's similar to Deus Ex in the fact that it may not be the best conversion but the gameplay will suck you in.
  12. CodyB
    Mar 17, 2009
    10
    Not since final fantasy 8 has a game been so good that it sucked me away from my social life. A multiple award-winning revolution for gaming back in 2001 (of course in competition with metal gear solid 2, gta 3, halo, and devil may cry) and won the hearts of many die-hard gamers such as myself. It's not necessarily a game to hate nor is it a game to give your own kids up for but all the while, it's a revolutionary experience that all gamers should give a chance!… Expand
  13. Justinavery7074
    Dec 4, 2012
    9
    Man, it's **** dark. and that's a good thing. One of the best shooters at the time for PS2 and it probably still is one of them. It's like a movie.
  14. llamayarmybar
    Jul 21, 2011
    10
    Going back- its still a good premise. Good cop turns bad-cop by way of dead wife and newborn baby by way of drug addicts hosing down said family with bullets. Of course then you get to the end and it really feels like the plot had been reaching for a convenient method of telling you the whole story out of the blue. Gun play is pretty fun even today- although Max Payne 2 feels a little tighter in this regard. It looked really freaking sweet at the time (on PC) and I'm sure most of that got carried over the Playstation 2 with this port. The bullet time effect really didn't quite start with this game (completely) but it popularized it into its deranged cousin that gets thrown into most titles these days...… Expand
  15. JayG203
    Feb 23, 2012
    9
    Max Payne is a game you either love or hate. The gameplay is extremely simple and never evolves, though the environment, the story and the way the story is told through perfectly narrated noire stylings, this can be a great game. Personally I love this game. Even though the graphics are not the best, it's completely immersive. The majority of the game you'll be fighting your way through snowy back alleys at night, dark parking garages and abandon hotels now occupied by junkies and vermin. The environment is what makes this game and if you don't like the environment, these's not much here for you. The story is a generic action affair: you're a cop who's now gone fugitive on the premise that your wife and child were murdered by gangsters and the police have a mixed bag of evidence on who did it. The gang is sleezy and deals drugs to junkies in some not so appealing places, setting the backdrop for where you'll find yourself. Along the way you'll also find connections between cults and politics and blah blah blah. There's not much here but cheezyness, but it's wrapped in noire comics style cutscenes that are really mindblowingly engrossing. Seriously, the comic book story telling is enough to get anyone interested. Now apart from all this great story telling, if you don't like it, you really have nothing. For the gameplay is just plain ok. You run around and shoot people in slow-motion and dive left to right. It's really damn simple and wouldn't get a passing grade in and of itself. where you find yourself doing it and your incentive for being there is what makes the game worth while. So in the end it's a decent action game with a very entertaining and engrossing story. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone looking into anything deep, though if you enjoy the occasional generic story, this will do well to catch you for longer than you'd think. The story may be same old, but the story TELLING is amazing, and the environments are some of my personal favorite in gaming. It's dark, it's cold, and it's damn well entertaining.â… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. GamerWeb Sony
    73
    Somehow Remedy Entertainment made the PS2 look like an old man when compared to the new console and the tried and true personal computer.
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  2. All Game Guide
    70
    Even if the overall experience is a bit too short, the length to which it goes to inspire some real John Woo-style gunplay and adrenaline is impressive and definitely deserves praise.
    Read full review
  3. Electronic Gaming Monthly
    75
    Once Bullet Time’s novelty wears off, you’re left with a repetitive shooter, blasting the same species of enemy over and over. [Feb 2002, p.158]
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