The photoshopped comic book cut scenes neatly dodged a problem that many other games of the era had: rendering plotpoints in an awkward 3d engine optimized for running and gunning. There’s nothing that pulls me out of a game worse than a badly puppeteered character jerkily trying to emote in a cut scene.

I will always remember the psychedelic hallucination level. Following maze trails of blood, falling into nightmare darkness, reliving traumatic moments in Max’s life — it hammered the character home by forcing me to negotiate his terrible life instead of watch it as exposition.

Finally, I love the bullet time effect. Even now. Even after The Matrix, even after its overuse in movies, even after Force Speed in Jedi Knight II. Bullet time is only edge Max really ever gets, and it’s a resource to be husbanded carefully. Depend on it too much and it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

Now, Max Payne II … I tried it once. ONCE.

The plot itself wasn’t great – but its unique storytelling and writing was captivating and enhanced the story so much more. It’s like Taxi Driver – gritty New York stuff that’s so noir it makes Humphrey Bogart look like Michael Cera.

@HOOfan_1: Max Payne 2 certainly had better graphics, better weapons, and the bullet-time recharger was better applied, but pulling the player our of Max’s shoes to play as Mona was almost a game-breaker for me. I mean,I’m already suffering from an identity crisis with Max’s odd looking grill, and now you put me in a killer chick’s role? Huh??

The pseudo-noir prose is facepalm-inducing at times to a Hammett lover, but the silliness has grown on me.