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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly good, December 20, 2003
Rockstar's GBA conversion of the first Max Payne game is surprisingly faithful to the original. I had originally thought that some drastic changes for the game would be in store in bringing it to the GBA, but the only major change is shifting the game from a third person perspective to an isometric point of view. The only other real change to the game is the opening sequence when you play as Max and find your wife and baby dead is completely gone, as are the dream sequences that follow. The same comic style cut scenes are still here though, and the character designs and animations resemble their larger console counterparts surprisingly well. The controls are tight for the most part as well, but this GBA conversion of Max Payne isn't without it's flaws. Thanks to the isometric point of view, it is too easy to enter a room and get shot first by enemies that aren't even on the screen yet. Also, the look of the game is kind of dark, but if played on a GameBoy Advance SP the lighting can be improved. Those few flaws aside though, Max Payne on the GBA is a surprisingly good game that manages to be almost as satisfying as it's larger console bretheren.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great game for the GBA, February 27, 2004
Rockstar quietly snuck onto the Game Boy Advance scene last year with an absolutely fantastic handheld rendition of its Duke Nukem franchise, aptly titled Duke Nukem Advance. This year, the company's struck gold again with a GBA version of the original PC and console design, Max Payne. Though the game's in a brand new viewpoint with gameplay that's been simplified to work with the portable system's limitations, the Game Boy Advance version of Max Payne is an excellent title that brings a lot of new style gameplay (along with buckets of blood, gore, and adult situations) to the handheld. The adventure is a bit on the short side, but it's one hell of a ride from start to finish.
The Game Boy Advance market isn't entirely free of Mature rated games, but Max Payne definitely joins an extremely small club with its M rating slapped on the box. Rockstar obviously isn't afraid to push the content well within that rating, as Max Payne features as much carnage as a Paul Verhoven action flick. The situations aren't exactly kid-friendly, either: a cop, with a murdered wife and daughter, goes solo up against drug traffickers, mob bosses, and cult leaders in twelve chapters of guns a-blazin'. Max Payne is essentially an action shooter with the basics of an adventure game -- hitting triggers or switches to open doors -- thrown in. The hook of the game design is its implementation of what's called "Bullet Time," an effect stolen from the film version of The Matrix; players can...no, scratch that, must utilize Max Payne's bullet time ability to slow down the passage of time. One tap of the R trigger sends time on a slowdown, and puts Max in a superhuman dive in the direction he's facing. This gives players the ability to avoid enemy bullets, as well as lock in on these bad guys to take 'em out with a few blasts from the gun. The Bullet Time meter is limited, but as long as your aim is true and bad guys get shot, it'll replenish. But successfully blasting through an area without Bullet Time enabled is nearly impossible, so wasting what little Bullet Time you have is definitely not a good thing. Mobius Entertainment, the UK development studio behind lower-key GBA titles such as Army Men: Turf Wars and Drome Racers, the group behind bringing the Remedy-created action series to the Game Boy Advance. Max Payne, and the team has pulled off an outstanding job rebuilding, from scratch, all of the elements that made the PC and console versions so damn fun to play. Mobius already had an existing pile of tools and technology it created for the long-in-the-can A Sound of Thunder title the team developed for BAM, and the studio tweaked this engine to more mimic the style of game that Max Payne is. The engine, and its ability to manipulate 3D characters, is what makes Bullet Time possible on the Game Boy Advance. The effect is incredibly believable since Max and his enemies are real-time 3D objects, which gives the developers freedom in their animations. These characters fly around the screen with smooth grace and motion, flailing arms and legs when they hit the ground; the animations only enhanced further when the Bullet Time kicks in. But the impact isn't just limited to character motions. The engine also allows for destructible and interactive objects; crates, bottles, and water coolers explode; hotel beds vibrate. And walls can be shot as well, leaving holes pecked in the surface, or blood caked up there if an enemy gets too close to the "action." All of these effects are also slowed down when Bullet Time is initiated, making the effect even more believable...and awesome to watch on the GBA screen. Max Payne is split into three parts of multiple chapters, but it's essentially twelve missions long. The challenge comes from completing a chapter without losing all of your lives; Max only gets four chances in a level, but losing a life doesn't set players back very far. Lose all the lives, though, and you'll have to restart that chapter from the beginning, regardless of how deep you were. Throughout these levels you'll find painkillers tucked away in crates or medicine cabinets, items that replenish health by hitting the Select button. There are also a ton of different weapons, from clubs and grenades, to shotguns and double-fisted automatics...as well as plenty of ammunition to fill 'em. But with only 12 missions, players can finish the adventure in just about four hours. That isn't exactly a long time, and this was the huge downside to the PC and console games as well. The other downside is in the game's newer isometric perspective: since the "camera" can only show so much of the area, there are many times within Max Payne where players will blindly blast off-screen enemies to get rid of them. It's kind of unfair to have enemies attack so far beyond the borders of the LCD screen, and it's just a little awkward to be able to nail them without being able to see them. But even with the short length and off-screen action issues, Max Payne is a surprisingly awesome conversion that almost came out of nowhere. The Game Boy Advance isn't exactly a powerhouse of a gaming system, but Mobius' versatile technology allows for as much Max Payne gameplay as the isometric perspective allows. Rockstar's shooting two for two on the Game Boy Advance, with their Hat Trick, Grand Theft Auto on the way...and after experiencing the outstanding handheld versions of Duke Nukem and Max Payne, we're extremely eager to hit the portable streets next year.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Frustrating at times, but incredibly fun!, December 31, 2003
This was one of my first GBA games, and I have to say that it's set the bar pretty high for others to follow. Full voiceover work from multiple characters make this game incredible for a small console like the GBA! I've never played the PS2 version of Max Payne, so I can't comment on how it stacks up next to that one, but I can say that this one stands alone beautifully! The graphics are incredible, the bullet-time effect is a great addition to game play, and it's a reasonably fun game for the casual gamer for the most part. Weapons and painkillers are distributed pretty freely throughout the levels so you can play for a while without having to worry so much about staying alive. It does have it's frustrating moments when dealing with flame-spewing pipes (why can't you just duck and go under them instead of having to try and run through them?). The sound is great, the graphic novel cut-scenes are cool, and did I mention the awesome voice-over work? Definitely a must-have for the GBA!
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