Confessions: Men Who Kept Me Awake All Night

I still say the same thing I did when my brother first saw it. I didn't bring him, he brought me. Well, a black and white profile of a smirking guy, which is now said to be an infamous 'constipated look' with only a yellow Police Line Do Not Cross tape between him and you, what more would a gamer want? So, that was how I got my hands first on Max Payne, the game. I doubt if anyone thought it'd be one of the benchmark games when it was first released. Of course. further I shall tell you some commonly known facts about the game, which will put more light on Max Payne, the game.

There were several things that Max Payne did to games and the gaming industry in general. For one, the gaming world is distributed into different genres of people, and never the twain shall meet. For example, people playing FPS like the Half Life series will not touch a 'over the shoulder' game like Tomb Raider, or the more recent, BloodRayne. Max Payne got at least these two game players together.

FPS players would casually dismiss over the shoulder games, I call it TPS, as fantasies and light games with other motives. Couldn't blame them, all they had for examples was Tomb Raider, with a wafer thin plot and a uhmm, substantial investment in the character modeling quota, know what I mean, right? Also, Max Payne forced game companies to move away from 'stunning realistic graphics' to 'robust story line'. I mean, play the game for once... as far as I can see, not one single 3D object made in the original Max Payne couldn't be made within say an hour of rendering on a 3D software. Mind you, am not talking about the game engine, am talking about the 3D objects and imagery. Simple and precise, cut and dry, 'get on with the story, will ya?' kind of graphics.

Second, Max Payne made gamers increase the length of the game. I have had frustrated days where I get a new game for over fifty dollars and get the end credits in around ten levels. Come on.. PC gaming isn't arcade gaming, we own that machine, we need to play more! The length of the game was of course enhanced by the story. Most people will opine that Max Payne must be having one of the most intense, intricate, complicated, ok, let's not forget interesting, storyline to ever hit Gaming. Other than that, Max Payne also made gaming companies to think of at least one USP in their game, something new.. with the Bullet Time. The Bullet Time, now made famous by the Matrix, was first seen in Max Payne, make no mistake 'bout it, you saw the Bullet Time here first, in Max Payne.

Max Payne was also the game that made the entire 'one-man army' bravado look a bit more realistic. How, don't ask me, maybe it was the storyline that made me feel that one man can in fact mow down entire drug gangs.

And before I forget, Max Payne created the female character. Yes, argue all you want, but for me, Max Payne created the gemale character (gaming female character, got the idea from a typo a second back), Mona Sax must be the first female character in computer gaming who wouldn't need to hire a tailor every time she needed a new suit, simply because her measurements were 'normal' for once. Mona Sax was the 'pretty girl from next door' of computer gaming.

The immense success of Max Payne sent gaming gurus in a tizzy and thus was born (and maybe is now dead), the Max Payne franchise. Another game, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne hit the market. A movie on the game is already in the making, though sadly, there's no Max Payne 3 in the offing, or at least that's what the guys behind Max Payne have led us to believe as yet.

Max Payne 2 is as engrossing as Max Payne. What makes the killing in the game all the more realistic is what I think is called 'Rag Doll' tool in gaming parlance. It's basically a tool that gives a 3D object human movement attributes, and that's what makes the corpse fly in the air when shot by Max Payne.

It's said that Max Payne 2 had a script that was equal to around four Hollywood scripts. Well, Sam Lake didn't have to double as a model for Max Payne the second time round, and it showed. Yes, most of the characters in the game were modeled by people working on the game, for lack of funds.

Max Payne 2 also had what I consider the greatest music ever to hit the gaming scene, 'The Late Good Bye' by Poets of the Fall. It runs over while the credits. Keep a note of that, and if you want to feel the real meaning of the lyrics, play the entire game and then listen to the song.

So, it's around eleven in the night and I just juiced up the Internet to look for a walkthrough for somewhere I am stuck in Max Payne. Am sure, this guy is all set to keep me awake all night long. Other games in this genre are Blood Rayne, Blood Rayne 2, Freedom Fighters and of course, The Punisher.