bullet-time and keep moving until your bullet-time meter is all used up. Or you can use it piecemeal by shoot-dodging. (Each bad guy you down, increases your store of bullet time.) I found shoot-dodging to me most useful – jumping sideways, back or forward in a burst of bullet-time. I got into a the bad habit of shootdodging through every door in an attempt to get the drop on any bad guys. More than a few times I jumped through a doorway only to find empty space and a ten storey drop. (No, Max can’t fly.) I turned Max around just before he hit the ground to see the ledge I overshot. Later, I blasted through a door only to splash into a pool of molten metal.

Aiding all this action are the graphics. If you’ve got the hardware, MP is probably the best game you’ve ever seen. While not truly photo realistic, it’s damn close. Those with 98-pound weakling hardware have to necessarily scale back the detail level, but even then it looks good. The character animations are fantastic, however there are some major clipping problems. More than a few times, downed enemies lie at strange angles to the ground – like perpendicular. And when Max dodges near a wall, his head disappears into the wall. (Add that to his list of superpowers – partial phasing.) It detracts a little from the level of realism but after a while you forget about it. The camera, thankfully, doesn’t make you suffer. Only once did something block the camera and it wasn’t at a critical moment.

(Even with all this action there is humor at many turns. One of my all time favorite gaming moments comes from MP. I won’t spoil it, but the moment is right out of a Warner Brothers cartoon. And taking a page from No One Lives Forever, some of the enemy dialogue between themselves manages to be light hearted.)

Levels are linear. Instead of making lots of branching areas to explore, the linear design has allowed for more action – you’ll leave a swath of bodies behind. There are occasional puzzles to overcome but none are brain taxing and they’re in logical places so you don’t feel any jarring changes of pace. (Even at the end of the game.) Mostly it’s push this button to open that door. (If you think you can design a longer game, Remedy has included the level and character design tools. With MP’s popularity, it’s a bet we’ll see some mods.)

To complement the graphics is some stellar audio. The voice acting is above average – even when the dialogue borders on ridiculous the actors play it straight. The same can be said of the sound effects and music, which are both very good. (You’ll begin to love the sound of entering/exiting bullet time.)

There’s been much said about the length of the game – namely, it’s too short. I beg to differ. MP is shooting for that action movie feel and what action movie runs 20 hours? For the hardcore gamer, finishing MP in a dedicated day of playing isn’t a problem, but average gamers can spend a couple of weeks. When you finish the first time more play modes open and you can test yourself with several handicaps that makes things extremely tough. Playing through Dead On Arrival mode, I limped my way through the early part of the game then ultimately gave up. The manual also claims that the game will adjust its difficulty on the fly depending how well you’re progressing. It’s hard to measure this because it’s subtle, but after quick loading one area in particular (right at the end of the game no less) a number of times since I had no health and hardly any ammo left for my trusty Colt Commando, suddenly I was able to get the drop on the swarm of bad guys instead of watching Max jump into a cloud of buckshot and die in slow motion. So, I suppose the claim is true.

Max Payne will surely spawn a number of clones. It’s slick, entertaining, and fun to watch – just like any good action movie. I recommend it, especially for John Woo, Matrix fans, and those that want a mouse pad that comes with a game!

- Omni