rec.autos.simulators

I've been thinking lately about taking a break from racing and get the wheel
off my desk for a while.  I've never been a fan of first person shooters but
I really had fun with Tomb Raider 2 as it's perspective was from the third
person.  I thought how cool it would be to find a new game that could dish
out some killer graphics and push this Ghz box + 64MB GF2 to it's limit.

I stumbled upon an article about a new title called Max Payne on USA Today's
Game Zone and am thinking about picking it up.  It's third person, and
supposedly kicks some serious arse in the graphics department.  There's a
Matrix like sequence in the Mad Onioin  3DMark 2001 which I think is from
this game.  It looks to rock!

Anybody here played with it?  What do you think?

DC

My summary of Max Payne is as follows: it's just another first person
shooter (FPS) and not a particularly good one. It has a couple of gimmicks
("Bullet Time") that have really sucked in the game reviewers but if you
look past that, it's the same as the rest.

That being said, I played it through and enjoyed it quite a bit. I just
don't think it lives up to all the hype it has been given. The graphics are
good but not spectacular, the game world is very bland and non-interactive,
and the AI is not very good. The game is incredibly linear - there is only
ever one way to do something. And it's short. It took me maybe 15 hours of
game time to complete (I'm guessing there). And I explore *everything* - I
wasn't rushing through. The ending was very good I have to admit.

Before MP, the last two FPS games I played were Thief II and Deus Ex (in
that order). These games spoiled me for any other FPS, and I hadn't played
another one since, until MP. MP is to either of those games like Need For
Speed is to GPL: pretty but shallow.

If you like pure action you might not enjoy the Thief games (I and II) but
if you like having to sneak around instead of just killing everybody then I
recommend you try these games - Thief II if you don't have time for both,
otherwise pick up Thief Gold and Thief II.

Deus Ex isn't quite as "sneaky" as Thief, but it is just as good, if not
better. Max Payne tried to be like Deus Ex in some ways, but couldn't reach
that level.

Everybody has raved about the graphics in MP but I'm not sure why - I wasn't
that impressed. And I have a very fast PC (1.333 TBird, GeForce II Ultra,
etc.) so I had all options cranked.

Anyway, that's my 2 (50?) cents.

Max payne is an excellent game with some great special effects and decent
gameplay.  There are plenty of reviews on the net so check it out.  The one
problem is it is extremely short, and I finished it in a week of play, not
too solid play either.  I would suggest hiring it for a week, youll finish
it.

Most FPS these days have to rely on "gimmicks" like in Max Payne to counter
the effect of the poor quality of them globally.  It's a shame.

--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
-- May the Downforce be with you...
-- http://www.ymenard.com/
-- This announcement is brought to you by the Shimato Dominguez
Corporation - helping America into the New World...

I enjoyed it. I thought the graphics and bullet time effects were great,
but as others have said, the game is too short and the AI are none too
smart.

--
Skotty Flynn
http://www.nascar-racing-sims.com

Go and see if you can get a copy of Half-Life Platinum Edition. It's also
available on Sierra's hp. You won't be disappointed. And there's a hack to
play it from F10-view, too ;)) (but the original view makes it more scary).

Regards
Crash

It has reasonably good graphics and some fun features, like the ability
to go slowmotion and dive into a room shooting.  It is also fairly
***ive and makes you want to go to the next 'scene' all the time.
However I found that it got repetitive quite quickly - Quick Save - load
gun - turn corner and shoot the baddies - take a 'pain killer - quick
save - load gun - turn corner and shoot the baddies.  Also the plot is
VERY linear - on rails, and the gameplay is VERY limited.  So I found I
was just wasting my time, which is normal for computer games, but
without even really enjoying it.  There are a lot of more enjoyable
wastes of time (e.g. Diablo II).

regards
Graham

it isn't "from the game", but it's render with the MaxFX engine.

it does. :)

the most fun I've had in a long time.

--
Gunnar
    #31 SUCKS#015 Tupperware MC#002 DoD#0x1B DoDRT#003 DoD:CT#4,8 Kibo: 2
               "a language is a dialect with an army and a navy"

it's not a first person shooter.

--
Gunnar
    #31 SUCKS#015 Tupperware MC#002 DoD#0x1B DoDRT#003 DoD:CT#4,8 Kibo: 2
        gnus don't kill people.  gnus-summary-lower-score kills people.

says...

But you don't find Diablo II repetitive?
While I did enjoy the Diablo series, I got tired of just - clicking
baddies - pick up dropped items - clicking baddies - pick up dropped
items - take a health potion, etc :)
--
Skotty Flynn
http://www.nascar-racing-sims.com

I think it's much fun, although more in the beginning than halfway (am
now in Part II, the game seems to be quite short, relatively). I hate
harbour scenes with lots of cubish containers, yugh. But well, the
slomo's are great, the story is fine too, and some scene really give a
movie-ish feel.
Considering I NEVER play Quake and dislike all its clones I'd say this
is very nice entertainment for the buck. As for longevity (but oh
you'll waste so much time!) I'd go for Black & White, although that
too is more interesting in the first time and gets slower and more
repetitive at an island or 2 down the road.

Still, Max Payne is one of better titles today.

Ruud van Gaal
Free car sim  : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/racer/
Pencil art    : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/

I think it's really good.  The graphics are probably better than the demo
you speak of in 3dMark2001.  Good gameplay.  A little too short maybe, but
so are plenty of other games.  Compared with TR2, less adventure, more
combat.

Strictly speaking you're absolutely correct, it's not an FPS because it
isn't first-person, it's third-person, but "FPS" has become a somewhat
generic term referring to all games in which you pilot a single character
through a 3D world and kill bad guys.

Tomb Raider is no FPS though.  Not sure I'd class Max Payne as FPS, how
about TPS?

Hey Ronny, have you tried Operation FlashPoint yet?  Very cool FPS.

--

Fester