When it comes to Max Payne, it's difficult to recommend a game like this over 20 years later. The game feels great, but there is nothing that it does better than its successors. Needing to work around bugs due to two decades of technological advances is inevitable and will not hinder my thoughts on this game; however I will note that I needed to download a sound fix mod to properly run this game.

[Level Design]
The overall level design is predictable after a few rooms in a level, but fresh at the same time. Once the game picks up you get a feel for the layout of rooms and where to spot potential secret areas. I was pleasantly surprised at the verticality in the level design and would constantly come to a ledge to see enemies shooting at me from above or below where I had previously been. The interconnectivity of the levels is interesting and I would love to see a 3D map of each level.

The environment has an immersive amount of interactable objects to keep anyone satisfied. I did find the crouch mechanic almost entirely useless seeing as Max can’t move while crouched, which is still prevalent in Max Payne 2. The most frustrating part of my experience was a bug that would cause me to hug walls. During one “Dream Level” where Max is walking through a maze of hallways, I found myself stuck on the walls with no way to separate myself other than reloading a previous save and walking slowly to ensure this didn’t happen again. The only other level design aspect I hated was the mazes in the dark where you walk on blood trails. I think it is a great segment with terrible collision design.

[Artistic Design]
With a setting like crime ridden New York, they did a great job with the variety of level design.
While the setting feels less like a recreation of New York and more like “Hollywood's depiction of a New York alley” it still manages to plop you right into the crime drama it’s trying to be. It may seem silly that Max is dodge rolling out of windows to avoid bombs on the 15th floor but it doesn’t make it any less exhilarating. The weapons look great and textures have an unrealistic cleanliness to them but this fact fades moments after immersing yourself in the game.

[Gameplay]
Let’s talk about gunplay. As someone who’s guilty pleasure shooter is GTA V, this was right up my alley. Precise aiming (with clear auto assist in earlier difficulties) and mechanics that you start to figure out around the first or second level allow you to play the game feeling like a total badass. An arsenal of 13 weapons allow Max to use any playstyle the player might like, but limited ammo might force you to change your habits. Typically in games I tend to avoid the shotguns but I found myself using that throughout the game until obtaining the Colt Commando. Running out of ammo means you have to swap to something else and take some time and scrounge for ammo whether it’s from a defeated enemy or a secret room.

Speaking of secret rooms, they feel great. It could be a security room stocked with enough ammo for an army or a disgusting drug den bathroom with three painkillers inside and I feel just as warm and fuzzy in both. The rewards after each firefight are usually worth it and are just enough to keep you going.

Damage is interesting and Auto Aim plays a large factor. You want to get headshots on enemies so that you are not wasting ammo, but auto aim goes for the chest meaning you will likely hit your target but at the cost of reduced damage, so it is recommended to turn this option off. Even on the easiest difficulties I thought the damage that Max received was unfair at some points such as trying to take cover or getting up out of a dodge roll, often ‘save scumming’ is the solution in what would otherwise be easier sections of the game.

Although I enjoyed my playthrough of this game I found myself wanting to finish and move on to Max Payne 2. I knew that there was a better game waiting for me and I know that’s unfair. To judge a game two decades later is a somewhat disrespectful thing to do to Max Payne. Remedy did an incredible job with this game and I’m glad that I played it, but I just wish that it wasn’t in hindsight

Max Payne is not the best entry in the series, but it has a foundation that many modern games should take notes from. I enjoyed my time with this one.

(Full review on my curator page)