Michal Ždanský Max Payne was one of the most unsuccessful games of 2001. Eleven years later, we saw it on the screens of mobile phones and tablets. The porting of the game was really successful and became an instant hit on the App Store.
I fought back a nostalgic tear when I launched Max Payne on my iPad and the logos flashed across the screen followed by the intro video. I remember well how many evenings I spent with this game as a fourteen-year-old teenager. The atmosphere in which one could completely immerse oneself surrounded me even after eleven years, and playing the mobile version was like a small trip back in time.
Video review of Max Payne Mobile
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Back to 2001
The original game was in development for four years and changed beyond recognition from the original concept during development. The film Matrix from 1999 had the greatest influence that led to the overall change of the game system. At that time, the film brought a completely unique work with the camera, which was eventually used by the developers of Max Payne. There was a lot of hype surrounding the release of the game, which the developers fed with their secrecy. The result was very well received by critics and players. The game was released for PC, Playstation 2 and Xbox, and a year later you could also play it on Mac.
At the beginning of the game, Max Payne begins to tell his story on the terrace of a skyscraper. A darkened New York covered with snow and gradually the player works his way up to this very moment, knowing what brought the protagonist here. Three years ago, he was a police officer in the anti-narcotics department, living a happy life with his wife and child. One day, when he came home in the evening, he became a helpless witness to the murder of his family by drug addicts.
After this event, he accepts a job that he refused because of his family - as a secret agent, he infiltrates the mafia, where only two people know his identity. After one of them is murdered, he discovers that the bank robbery of the securities he was on the trail reaches much further and is closely connected to the Valkyrie drug, to which the murderers of his wife and child were also addicted.
The deeper Max gets into the whole plot, the more shocking the revelations become. Not only the mafia is behind the whole affair, but also his colleagues from the police and other socially high-ranking people. Payne thus stands alone against everyone and will find allies in completely unexpected places. It is the story that elevates Max Payne from a headless action shooter to a unique title with an unmistakable atmosphere, although there will be no shortage of enemies. An interesting element is also the rendering of non-game parts, where comics are used instead of animations.
For its time, the game excelled in working with a camera that was able to dynamically adapt and offer the player the best possible view. Max Payne had, even for its time, quite unusual shots in the film style, which are a staple today, this was not the case before. The most important here, however, are the camera tricks that were first used in the film The Matrix.
The main one is the so-called Bullet Time, when time around you slows down and you have time to think about your action, target the enemy while dodging the rolls to the sides. However, the slowed-down time is not unlimited, you will see its indication in the lower left corner in the form of an hourglass. With normal deceleration, time runs out very quickly, and it can easily happen that you will have zero time at the moment when it would be most useful to you. It is therefore more economical to use the Bullet Time Combo, which is a slow-down combined with a sideways jump, during which you can shower your enemies with a dose of bullets. Your gauge is replenished every time you kill an enemy.
You will usually see another typically "Matrix" scene when you kill the last enemy in the room. The camera then captures him at the moment of the hit, pans around him while time stands still, and runs only after this sequence. The last reference to the cult sci-fi is seen when using the sniper rifle. After the shot, the camera follows the bullet in slow motion and then you just see the enemy falling to the ground.
In the game, you move through different environments, from the subway to the hour hotel, canals to the magnificent skyscrapers of New York. On top of that, there are two more interesting psychedelic prologues that I'll get to. However, don't expect much freedom of movement, the game is strongly linear and you hardly ever get lost. All the locations are carefully modeled, whether they are pictures on the wall, office equipment or shelves full of goods. Remedy really won with the details, although the game was created on an engine that was not even the best on the market at the time.
Sure, the graphics seem dated from today's perspective. Skeletal character features and low-resolution textures aren't the best that today's games have to offer. Titles like Infinity Blade or Czech Shadowgun they are significantly better in terms of graphics. Max Payne is 100% a port of the game, so nothing has been improved on the graphics side. Which is perhaps a shame. Still, these are very decent graphics and for example surpasses most titles from Gameloft. When you think about it, it's just as incredible that the games that ten years ago mined the most powerful computer sets can be played on a mobile phone today.
As I mentioned, the number of enemies you can send to the other world is plentiful in the game, averaging three per room. For the most part they are not very different from each other, in fact you will not find many types of opponents, that is in terms of appearance. After you've shot the gangster in the pink jacket for the fiftieth time, maybe the small variability will start to bother you a little. In addition to hordes of identical-looking enemies, you'll also encounter a few bosses that you'll need to empty a few stacks of in order to finish them off once and for all. The difficulty increases as you progress through the game, and while a few shots from a pistol were enough for the first gangsters, you'll need a bigger caliber and a lot more bullets for the professional mercenaries with body armor and assault rifles.
Enemies' intelligence is inconsistent. Many behave according to scripts, hide in cover, build barricades, try to lure you into crossfire. If they can't get a shot at you, they don't hesitate to throw a grenade at your back. But as soon as there are no scripts available, the innate artificial intelligence is not very exciting. Often, opponents will eliminate their colleagues if they happen to be in their way, or throw a Molotov cocktail at a nearby pillar, setting themselves on fire and burning in desperate agony. If your opponents injure you, you can treat yourself with painkillers, which you will find on shelves and in medicine cabinets.
In terms of sound, there is nothing to complain about. The main melody will be ringing in your ears long after it's over. There are not many songs in the game, there are several motifs that alternate, but they change dynamically with regard to the action and perfectly color the events around you. Other sounds add to the unforgettable atmosphere – water dripping, the sighs of drug addicts standing by, the television playing in the background… these are all little things that complete an amazing atmospheric whole. The chapter itself is a professionally managed dubbing despite the project's lower budget. The sarcastic baritone of the main protagonist (voiced by James McCaffrey) guides you through the whole game, and sometimes you'll laugh at the scathing remarks, if you know English well. Humorous are the conversations of some gangsters, which you usually hear before you send them to the eternal hunting grounds.
Max Payne is interwoven with many details that will add to the great experience of the game. This is especially the interaction with a number of objects. For example, if you find yourself in a theater and open the curtain, two gangsters will run at you. You can either eliminate them classically with a weapon, or start fireworks from the control panel, which will set them on fire. You can also have fun with propane-butane bottles, which can suddenly turn into a rocket that you send at your opponents. You can find dozens of similar little things in the game, you can even shoot your own monogram into the wall.
Control
What I was a little afraid of is the controls adapted for the touch screen. While the PC version occupied part of the keyboard and mouse, in the mobile version you have to make do with two virtual joysticks and a few buttons. You can get used to this method of control, although it lacks the precise aiming that you can achieve with a mouse. What bothered me the most is that it is not possible to aim with the same finger when pressing fire, as is the case in other games. I finally solved it by moving the fire button to the left side. So I can aim while shooting at least with Bullet Time Combo or when I'm standing still, I had to sacrifice shooting while running. The authors compensate for this shortcoming with automatic aiming, the degree of which can be adjusted, but it is simply not that.
In general, the touch control is not the most accurate in this type of games, which you can see mainly in the mentioned prologues. These episodes take place inside Max's head after he's been drugged, and are among the more unimpressive parts of the game. But there is a scene where you have to carefully walk and jump over thin lines of blood, which requires precise control. It was already quite frustrating on PC, and it's even worse with touch controls. Fortunately, you can skip the prologue after the first death. You will lose an interesting part of the game, but you will save yourself a lot of frustration. Another option is to purchase special gaming accessories such as flinging, which I use in the video.
Unfortunately, the weapon selection system was not very successful. The weapons do change automatically. If you pick up a better one, or you run out of ammo, but if you want to choose a specific one, it's not exactly an easy operation. You have to hit the little triangle at the top and then the little gun icon. If the desired weapon is up to third in order in the given group, you have to repeat the process several times. This makes it completely impossible to switch weapons during the action, for example throwing a grenade over a wall to a barricaded gangster. As far as weapons are concerned, the arsenal is really large, you will gradually have a choice from a baseball bat to ingrams to a grenade launcher, while you will actually use most of the weapons. Their quite realistic sound is also worth mentioning.
Another flaw in the beauty is the game's save system. The PC version had the ability to quickly save and load using the function keys, in Max Payne Mobile you must always save the game via the main menu. There is no auto save here. If you forget to save, you can easily find yourself at the beginning of a chapter when you die near the end. A system of checkpoints would definitely not hurt.
Summary
Despite the flaws in the controls, this is still one of the best games you can play on iOS. You can go through the whole story in about 12-15 hours of pure game time, after completing it you will also unlock new difficulty levels with some interesting modifications.
For three dollars, you get an elaborate story with a unique atmosphere, long hours of gameplay in a detailed modeled environment and a lot of cinematic action. However, make sure you have enough space on your device, the game will take up 1,1 GB of space on your flash drive. At the same time, the original game fit on a CD-ROM with a size of 700 MB. Anyway, we can only hope that a great second part will appear in time.
Interesting facts about the game
The budget for the development of the game was not high, so savings had to be made where possible. For reasons of economy, the writer and creator of the scenario became the model for the protagonist Sami Järvi. He is also responsible for the screenplay for the game Alan Wake, where you can find a lot of references to Max Payne.
Based on the first part, a film was also made with Mark Wahlberg in the lead role. It was released in cinemas in 2008, but met with rather negative criticism mainly due to a bad script.
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May I ask what kind of control (spring-shaped) it is that can be seen when pointing the entire iPad from 1:34 minute of the video? Thank you
I also wrote it in the review, it's called Fling by Ten One Design. I don't know if it is sold here, but Alza offers something similar http://www.alza.cz/logitech-ipad-d298182.htm
May I ask what kind of control (spring-shaped) it is that can be seen when pointing the entire iPad from 1:34 minute of the video? Thank you
But what you found is a Chinese copy. It's hard to say how good it will be.