Motordoom is the latest entry in the survivor-like horde shooter genre popularised by Vampire Survivors, and this one has you do some freestyle-sports.
At long last, the alien invasion is finally over! That being said though, Fortnite’s island is full of…cubes? We always get a certain theme when it comes to starting with a new season, and this time, when Season 8 launched, it was simply called “Cubed”.
While we won’t get into the nitty-gritty of how the story is going so far because of its intricacy, the basic premise is that the cubes that were used to power the alien mothership that used to abduct players has now been set free, resulting in the cubes wreaking havoc on the island.
Besides that though, players can expect a combination of new weapons, locations, characters, and skins in the Fortnite Item Shop. Heck, there are even portals that transport players into a monster-filled realm. So just what can we expect in Season 2: Chapter 8 of Fortnite? Let’s find out.
The Season 8 Battle Pass: Same Old, Same Old
When talking about the Battle Pass in Fortnite, it’s pretty much the same thing every time. Veterans will be happy to know that the Season 8 Battle Pass will come at a familiar price point of 950 V-Bucks or approximately $10 for those that want to unlock all of the premium goodies. The free Battle Pass is available for everyone, but they won’t be able to get the more wanted items such as skins that aren’t available in the Fortnite Item Shop.
For those that want to skip the grind, they have the option to avail the premium track of the Battle Pass which costs 2,800 V-Bucks or approximately $25. This lets players skip 25 tiers in an instant, thereby granting them the ability to start their grind to tier 100 a quarter of the way through already.
The Season 8 Battle Pass will be coming with all sorts of unique items that players can collect. From villainous skins such as Carnage down to ultra-vibrant unicorns, there’s a lot to cover in terms of variety. Marvel characters have always popped in and out of Fortnite, so it’s no surprise to have Carnage in for the ride. There are also the likes of characters that are unique to the storyline in Fortnite such as Charlotte and Fabio Sparklemane. Exclusive content is given in abundance to Fortnite players this time for those that get the premium Battle Pass, and the best part of all this is that they can earn free V-Bucks along the way that’s enough to purchase the next season’s Battle Pass.
It’s like a neverending cycle of getting free Battle Passes after every season!
A New Element
Perhaps the biggest change that’s coming to Season 8 is that there’s a new element coming called “The Sideways”. Described as a “monster-filled reality” that’s “dark” and “malevolent”, it’s what’s being spread by the cubes that are now creating chaos within Fortnite’s island. Players will be able to access them by entering through portals. With the addition of monster NPCs called Cube Monsters, features will include low gravity and the inability to build anything. This will certainly impact the different island locations.
At the very least, there’s still some fun to be had with “The Sideways” in the form of new weapons. Players can craft and create superpowered “sideways” weapons in Season 8 by accumulating a new crafting component from those areas. These new materials are called Cube Monster Parts. Oh, and don’t forget, classic guns such as the harpoon gun and automatic sniper rifle will be making a comeback.
This Means War
With the fate of the island up to the players, it’s your job to protect it. Since Season 8 is all about an all-out war against the Cubes, support from far and wide is needed if players want to secure a future for their beloved island. Since there will be fellow Loopers (players that go in and out of the portals) across the island, you have the option to donate the Bars that you earn to certain construction sites where Turret Stations will be built.
Final Thoughts
It’s certainly a bizarre time for Fortnite players this time around. With Chapter 2: Season 8 all about fighting back against the Cubes, one would think that the alien invasion that we had in the last season was so much better. Sure they abducted players into their mothership, but they at least gave them enhancements that ultimately buffed them.
But hey, at least there are some cool exclusive skins in the Battle Pass that aren’t available in the Fortnite Item Shop!
What do you think of Chapter 2: Season 8 of Fortnite so far? Let us know down below.
There’s a Best Friendzy event in Fortnite, and it requires players to actually play with a friend. It’s not exactly great for folks that prefer going solo, but at least there’s free stuff.
Saddle up Fortnite players, because there’s a new event in town. The two-week Best Friendzy event rewards players with all sorts of in-game cosmetics for free. That’s right, players can now get their mitts on some cool new stuff without having to pay or purchase anything from the Fortnite Item Shop now! Ever since Season 7, Fortnite has been offering its players a wide variety of new content that they’ve been experimenting with. The best part is, it’s not exclusive to players who have the Battle Pass. A prime example would be the Imposters game mode that we all know is an Among Us rip-off at this point, and there’s the upcoming Island Games event as well. So just what can we expect for the Best Friendzy event? Let’s find out.
What is the Fortnite Best Friendzy?
The Best Friendzy event is a new time-limited reward system in Fortnite which requires players to team up with anyone on their friend’s list together to receive points. If you’re more of a solo player, it’s time to change things up if you’re looking to get the in-game cosmetic items, because they’ll only be available during the event and can’t be purchased in the Fortnite Item Shop. Plus, getting a Victory Royale is so much better with friends!
Getting Started
To begin with, players have to visit the official Best Friendzy website and follow the instructions that will be provided to their Epic Games account. Once that’s over, Fortnite will be able to track their progression. After registering and logging into the Best Friendzy website, they’ll finally be able to earn the rewards. Their friends don’t need to register for you to see your progress together, but they have the option to track their progress. One thing to note about the status of one’s point progression is that players ought to expect a delay of about 30 minutes when it comes to updating their points on the website.
Point Progressions in Best Friendzy
A player’s point progression is based on the time that they’ve spent playing Fortnite together with a friend. For every 10 minutes that they have played together with a friend in the Battle Royale mode, they get to earn a point. For every 10 minutes that a player and their friend play together in the Creative mode, they also get a point, but they can only earn a maximum of 6 points per day in Fortnite’s Creative mode. As a bonus, Fortnite will be giving out 60 minutes worth of Daily Bonus wherein players will receive a 3x bonus for their time spent playing Fortnite. This means that for the next hour, players get to earn 3 points for every 10 minutes instead of just a single point.
Reaping the Rewards
Remember those points that have just been accumulating? Well, there’s a use for them! All of the points count towards the four new in-game items that players can redeem. The very best of the rewards have to be grinded for, unfortunately. But at the very least, they look pretty cool.
For just 3 points, players can get an Outer Space Handshake Emoticon that they can flex to other opponents or players in Battle Royale mode. Then there’s also the Invasion Remix Track which they can get for 10 points if they’re looking to turn things up in the music aspect. Players weren’t too keen on Wraps before, but they slowly warmed up to the idea of using it for their weapons. The Life’s a Beach Wrap which can be purchased for 20 points is the perfect cosmetic Wrap to sum up how life has been for some gamers over the last couple of years. And finally, there’s the Aquari-Axe Pickaxe which looks like it’s made out of Jello. That one is the most expensive out of the four free items that players get, amounting to a whopping 50 points.
Final Thoughts
For those who are interested in getting the free cosmetic items that can’t be found in the Fortnite Item Shop, the rewards will only be available from August 31 to September 12, so act quickly! Players have to make sure that they play with friends that are actually part of their friend’s list and to make the most out of their 60 minutes worth of Daily Bonus if they’re looking to gun the Aquari-Axe Pickaxe. What do you think of the Best Friendzy event? Are you thinking of partnering up with a buddy to get the rewards? Let us know down below.
Both Remnant: From the Ashes and its sequel Remnant 2 offer thrilling boss encounters that require intricate strategy for success, cementing their place among gaming excellence in this genre. Bosses with unique movesets and abilities offer encounters full of variety; Remnant 1/Remnant: From the Ashes, who also has more varied bosses, stands out in particular by encouraging multiple tactics against each adversary precisely because they are varied. so you have to adapt to each situation.
Soulslike Combat
Remnant (both its predecessor and sequel) presents players with captivating and unforgettable combat experiences through its boss battles, marked by individual traits, detailed backstories and visually arresting displays of aggression. It's time to explore and buy PS5 games that have as their model the celebrated Demon Souls but are at the same time different and innovative enough to be worth playing: Remnant is one of those. Souls-esque games provide formidable challenges while providing profound depth that allows players to decipher animations, anticipate attacks and ultimately emerge victorious without succumbing to damage; an extremely satisfying feat!
Examples of Boss Fights in Remnant: From the Ashes and Remnant II
Here are some examples of boss fights from each game:
Remnant 1
Gorefist: A large, lumbering beast that attacks with melee and ranged attacks.
Shroud: A shadowy figure that teleports around the arena and attacks with a variety of projectiles.
The Mangler: A grotesque creature that uses its long tongue to grab and pull players towards it.
Brabus: A heavily armored knight that wields a large greatsword.
The Ent: A massive tree creature that attacks with its roots and branches.
Singe: A fire-based boss that uses a variety of fire-based attacks.
Remnant 2
Obryk: A towering warrior who wields a massive shield and hammer.
Erfor: A cunning assassin that uses stealth and poison attacks.
Tian: A skilled archer that attacks from a distance.
Ikro: A powerful ice mage that controls the elements.
Brudvaak: A skilled horseman who fights alongside his war dog.
Harsgaard: A powerful sorcerer that wields a variety of arcane magic.
Do not be deceived by its dull introduction! At first, Remnant: From the Ashes may appear unassuming with characters seeming interchangeable and an ineluctable narrative producing no thrills or spillover. Don't fall prey to its subpar opening sequence though! You will soon be hooked! But once you begin shooting at demons, the atmosphere changes significantly: clicking of reloads and hits are instantly familiar, reminding us of horror shooter classics such as Clive Barker's Undying or recalling Left 4 Dead's hectic atmosphere.
Conclusion
Gunfire Games stands out among recent attempts such as Immortal: Unchained in its ability to bring Dark Souls' framework into a shooter context with satisfying results, especially through shotguns and hunting rifles that deliver a satisfying punch. Solo experiences often fall short in meeting challenges posed by difficult bosses compared to teamplay dynamics enjoyed by three players or more. Bosses that come accompanied by dangerous mobs make solo play an unpredictable cat-and-mouse game that puts even experienced gamers to shame! I was convinced to buy Remnant: From the Ashes by other players and reviews who compared it with Demon Souls. I liked other Souls-like games too... Nioh may lack Bloodborne's captivating game world and characters, yet its extensive long-term content trumps this fact; nevertheless, it offers an enjoyable, stimulating, and intelligently orchestrated journey similar to what can be found within Souls games.
Surely it was just a standard third-person action shooter, telling a standard tale of revenge, albeit with a neat “bullet-time” gameplay gimmick which allowed shootout sequences that looked like they came straight out of The Matrix?
Neo dodging a bullet in The Matrix (1999)
I hadn’t played Max Payne since its release over twenty years ago, and had never finished it, but I got the feeling there was something special here I was missing out on. Interactions on my Instagram and Twitter accounts sparked comments like…
The super slow mo shooting part was incredible. I enjoyed the game. It had a cool ending.
The first two were real gritty, dark affairs that resonated in a whole different way. I can hear Max’s voice right now as I look at that screen.
Simply one of the best games ever made.
Love the noir style, everything dark and grim.
Like Max Payne, which starts at the end, I’ll do the same and start with my conclusion. The tldr version, if you like.
I found Max Payne repetitive, in a couple of ways. There are endless waves of enemies to clear through in each level. And the level design itself hasn’t aged well, with little to do except move from one similar environment to another. Rinse and repeat.
There’s a lot of this in Max Payne.
I also kept waiting for the story to advance beyond a simple tale of a man seeking his revenge during the first half of the game. But through my frustration while playing Max Payne, there was just one problem: I couldn’t stop playing.
Max Payne is incredibly addictive. All throughout my playthrough, when I wasn’t at my keyboard, all I could think about was getting back to Max and his one-man army arsenal of weapons.
I had to uncover the truth, and get Max his revenge!
Max will have his revenge!
And I had to uncover why over twenty years later Max Payne is still held in such high regard.
Taking a deep dive into Max Payne
So how did I resolve my conflict between repetitiveness and addiction? Again, like in Max Payne, we have to go back to the start…
It’s time to play Max Payne.
Max Payne—steely and emotionless
The Game
Max Payne is simple on the surface: it’s a run-and-gun third-person shooter. You control the titular character Max Payne, a former NYPD detective turned undercover DEA agent with a strong propensity for violent revenge. We’ll get to that revenge a little later.
Violence, and plenty of it.
But there’s a twist to how Max Payne controls. In order to give Max a slight edge on the high volume of guns being pointed in his direction, you have a special “bullet-time” ability. You can slow time right down, to the point of being able to see bullets flying, while still being able to aim in real-time. Think that scene from The Matrix. You know the one.
Neo in bullet-time in The Matrix (1999)
This ability becomes useful when you find Max exposed and encountering numerous enemies at once.
One down, two to go
It also allows for some cinematic action sequences.
A boss fight begins.
It’s not limitless though, as that would make the game too easy, and Max can still be hurt while in bullet-time mode. It doesn’t last for more than several seconds, at which point you’re thrust back into real-time. And how do you refill your bullet-time meter? By killing enemies.
Another one bites the dust.
There’s a wide arsenal of weapons to choose from, from handguns, semi-automatic pistols, and shotguns, to fully automatic rifles, a sniper rifle, and a grenade launcher. There are a couple of melee weapons (never used), and molotov cocktails and grenades (used).
Surprise! You’re dead!
There’s no cover system in Max Payne, and it reminded me of the Saints Row series with its chaotic firefights. You can make Max duck, but I never did (though it does keep your sniper rifle more steady). Max can also jump, and there are a few light platforming sections where you need to.
Don’t touch the lasers.
I mentioned cinematic action sequences above, and while Max Payne has no shortage of them, it wasn’t the only way it reminded me of film. The story is told in an almost neo-noir style, reminding me of films like Sin City. Max Payne is the antihero, with his back firmly against the wall, making desperate decisions. The setting is the dark, gritty underbelly of New York City.
And of course, there’s the revenge.
Whoever you are, Max Payne is coming for you.
What drove Max Payne to leave his detective’s post and join the DEA?
It was one fateful night involving a mysterious new designer drug named “Valkyr” and a home invasion. A group of junkies high on Valkyr had broken into Max Payne’s home. And murdered his wife and infant daughter.
The tragedy of Max Payne.
As you can see from the image above, the cutscenes tell the story via graphic novel-style interludes. These are narrated by Max Payne himself, in his unflinching monotone delivery.
Don’t get mad. Get even.
Having suffered such a harrowing fate, what is Max Payne’s solution?
Infiltrate the mob family controlling the trafficking of Valkyr. What’s he got to lose?
The Replay
Standing atop a New York City skyscraper, sniper rifle in hand, cops crawling below. You know something big has gone down.
How did it come to this?
The intro movie to Max Payne hinted at a lot of action and a lot of firepower.
Max giving it both barrels.
And going back to Max on top of that building, looking into his eyes, you see a tired man, one at the end of a long journey. But yet you also see a slight look of satisfaction on his face, one side of his mouth curled up into an almost smile.
As close as Max gets to a smile.
But as Max states himself, in order to make any sense of it, we need to go back three years to that fateful night when the pain began. This is where Max Payne begins.
It’s always dark in Max Payne.
You gain control of Max as he comes home from work as an NYPD detective. It quickly becomes apparent that all is not well in the Payne household.
“Honey, I’m home—wait, this ain’t right.”
As you explore the downstairs area, Max realises this is a home invasion. It’s time to grab some guns.
The 911 conversation suggests that something about this is off—it might not be a random act of senseless violence.
Who’s on the phone?
As you venture upstairs, it’s time to take care of the invaders, who are still in the house.
Max grabs his shotgun…
Unfortunately for Max, he’s too late to prevent the slaughter of his family. What is going on here?
Determined to find out, and seek his revenge, you join Max again almost three years later. He’d been working all that time in the DEA, trying to catch a break.
Max has been undercover in the Punchinello family for four months when he receives a call from a DEA colleague to meet his friend and former NYPD colleague at a subway station. This immediately felt like a setup when you encounter mobsters who are more of the shoot first, ask questions later kind.
Something doesn’t feel right here…
It seemed strange though, that there were mobsters intent on taking Max out, given what happens next. Max manages to find his friend in the subway station, only to witness his murder by an unknown gunman.
Max Payne delivers some great cinematic shots at times.
Max had been set up by the Punchinello family to take the fall, his cover blown. This plot was setting itself up nicely, with Max now truly isolated. It looked like he had been sold out by his colleague at the DEA, he’s been exposed to the Punchinello family as an undercover agent, and the NYPD is now looking for him for the murder of his friend.
Max can hear the NYPD sirens closing in…
I must admit that I found it difficult to keep up with the plot at times. In between the action sequences, the graphic novel cutscenes in Max Payne develop the plot in bite-sized pieces. It was little and often, and I found it really helped drive the action as I always wanted to see what was going to happen next with the story. It was just hard sometimes to piece it all together.
Another character introduced into the story—it was getting hard to keep up with who’s who.
Speaking of the action, I was impressed so far with what Max Payne had to offer. The challenge of the set-piece firefights felt right. Typical set pieces see Max encountering anywhere from one to half a dozen enemies.
As I was playing this for the first time on PC, the difficulty level was fixed to “Fugitive”. Completing the game unlocks other modes which increase the difficulty in various ways including limited saves and time limits. On Fugitive mode, there’s a self-adjusting difficulty which changes enemy performance based on how well you’re controlling Max.
In practice though, I didn’t notice this. Sometimes I found myself having to repeat firefights several times before I got through them, but I didn’t feel like with each attempt it was getting noticeably easier.
A cinematic end to Max Payne
I found that the difficulty in Max Payne was challenging enough that I wasn’t just walking through it, but not so challenging that it became frustrating. Ammo and health pickups were plentiful, but did have to be managed. You can only carry a maximum of eight painkillers, which recover a small portion of your health slowly over time (so no instant healing in the middle of a shootout).
I was always on the lookout for these first-aid cabinets.
Managing ammo was easy due to the fact you never ran out of ammo completely, but sometimes an issue with ammo for a particular firearm. For example, I preferred using handguns and automatic weapons, but would occasionally run low or run out of ammo due to an over-reliance on them.
Final round
The enemy AI in Max Payne had also impressed me up to this point. The enemies employed a variety of approaches to trying to take Max out. At times you get rushed, and when this is by more than one enemy, it can become quite intense. This is where bullet-time comes in handy.
Slowing things down
At other times, the enemies wait for you to make the first move. Sometimes this means walking into an ambush. Again, bullet-time is your friend.
Three on one—I don’t like those odds without bullet-time.
It doesn’t take much to bring Max down, and your bullet-time is quite limited, so I experienced quite a few deaths along the way as I continually worked on my tactics and improved my approaches.
Another cinematic end to Max Payne
Getting back to the story, Max had started working his way up the chain of the Punchinello family, determined to get to the top.
All roads lead to Lupino’s nightclub.
Thankfully, Max seems to have some allies in his corner. One, a mysterious Alfred Woden who contacts Max by pay phone to warn him that the NYPD knows where he is and is closing in.
Someone wants Max alive.
The other, Russian mob boss Vladimir Lem, who just happens to have started a war with the Punchinello family by blowing up one of underboss Jack Lupino’s hangouts.
The enemy of my enemy…
What is going on here? Only one way to find out: keep shooting.
Another shootout
Part I of Max Payne ends with a showdown with Lupino, after emptying his nightclub of goons.
Ragnarok nightclub
Turns out Lupino has gone a little crazy, becoming obsessed with the occult (including Cthulhu references—check my replay of Alone in the Dark where I discuss my gaming experience with H. P. Lovecraft and his Cthulhu Mythos).
Max pauses for some light reading.
This is the first real boss fight in Max Payne, and it’s intense. Prior to Lupino revealing himself, you have to survive an onslaught of his gangsters. Getting through them after several attempts, Lupino gives a classic “we’re about to fight but I have a few things to say first” villain speech. Then it’s showtime. Bosses in Max Payne can take a real punishment, with Lupino taking several close-range shotgun shells before succumbing. A good strategy is to prevent enemies from being able to shoot back—this means keep shooting them so they can’t. Lupino was no different.
Lupino shows up.
Part I was done, but not before the story took a strange turn. Up until this point, I had taken it to be a standard revenge tale involving the Mafia. Following Lupino’s demise however, Max meets Mona Sax, whose sister is married to the head of the Punchinello family, Don Angelo Punchinello. Turns out she wants revenge against the Don too for abusing her sister.
Who’s gonna blink first?
Suspicious that Mona might lace his drink with something, he nevertheless shares one with her.
Surprise—the drink was laced.
Max ends up in a Valkyr-induced dream state, where he experiences a nightmare of the day his wife and daughter were murdered.
Max hearing the cries of his wife and daughter, but the hallway never ends…
It’s an odd, hallucinogenic exploration of Max’s dream, but one in which he is provided clues as to what is really going on. Turns out his wife was working in the district attorney’s office at the time of her murder. In his dream, Max sees his wife’s diary entry of the day she died. Apparently she had seen some military dossier mentioning “Valhalla”.
Perhaps the murders weren’t random.
Max feeling the guilt that he never made the time for his wife.
While Max was unconscious, Punchinello gangsters had dragged him back to Lupino’s hotel and tied him up. Seriously, why not just kill him?
(This is the second game in a row I’ve replayed where there were easy opportunities for the protagonist to be taken out; my previous replay was on Police Quest 4 .)
Max escapes from being tied to a chair. I’m wondering why he’s not already sleeping with the fishes.
Surprise, surprise, Max escapes and continues on his merry gangster-killing way.
Max Payne working his way through Lupino’s hotel. Again.
Escaping the hotel, Max runs into his Russian friend, Vladimir. It was time to make a deal.
Vladimir wants a shipment of weapons bound for Punchinello. Max, you’re up.
With Max accepting a mutually beneficial deal to get guns where he takes all the risk, it’s off to the docks to find that container.
Flying through the docks
It was at this point I started to find the gameplay repetitive. I really just wanted to get through this section and get on with the main story, which at this stage was to find Don Punchinello.
After spending a significant amount of time working my way through the docks, I located the ship with the container carrying all the guns. Queue another boss fight against another seemingly bulletproof superhuman.
Perhaps it was a bulletproof vest under that singlet that soaked up all the rounds?
With guns in hand, Max tries to lure Don Punchinello into a trap at his own restaurant.
Baiting Punchinello
Unfortunately for Max, Punchinello doesn’t take the bait. Instead, Max ends up trapped inside an inferno as Punchinello torches his own restaurant.
It’s getting hot in here…
This brings about what I think is the best action sequence of Max Payne. No shooting, just some light platforming as you navigate Max through an exploding building surrounded by fire. It’s a thrilling experience, and a welcome change of pace from all the firefights.
Jumping through fire
Escaping the fire, Max links back up with Vladimir, who offers to drop him off at Punchinello’s mansion. Looks like Max is going to have to do this the hard way again—guns blazing and an ever-increasing body count.
I call this “The Superman”.
Despite the amazing restaurant escape scene, I found Part II the weakest of the three parts in Max Payne. Vladimir’s side story didn’t feel necessary, and the mission to the docks to commandeer the guns was lengthy and repetitive.
However, the ending of Part II reveals more about what’s really going on, and sets up a thrilling finale in Part III.
That is, after you’ve cleared Punchinello’s mansion of his surely almost depleted gang…
Plus three to the body count—how many more of these guys can there be?
Somehow, Alfred Woden tracks you down at the mansion to warn you of an incoming force landing by helicopter. But who could this be?
Max is always in the right place at the right time to take Woden’s calls.
Punchinello was a pushover, but the suit-wearing private army that’s just landed proves too much for Payne.
One way to break up a meeting
But we do finally meet who’s been pulling the strings all along: a mysterious woman, currently only intent on drugging Max with more Valkyr. Again I had to ask myself, why not just kill him? (I know, I know, it’s not how these stories work—there needs to be opportunities for the hero to rise again from the ashes…)
Not again—lights out for Max
I had more than suspected that the story in Max Payne went higher than the gangs of New York. I was thinking maybe it was a government conspiracy, but this looked more like a private operation.
Anyway, that was not of great importance right now. It was time for another Valkyr-induced dream sequence.
More Valkyr-induced hallucinations
And then it got really weird, with Max Payne going meta. Max dreams he’s in a graphic novel, and then a video game.
Deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole…
Max does emerge from these hallucinations with a critical piece of information, as prior to going under, Max heard the mysterious woman mention “Cold Steel”. This leads Max to a steel mill, where he uncovers a secret army bunker.
One step closer to the truth
It seemed like Max was being led here, as I was really struggling to understand why Max was still standing.
In the bunker, he meets some more suited gentleman with guns. This immediately contradicted my theory of Max being led here, as they obviously did not want Max going any deeper.
So top secret—these guys even wear their sunglasses inside.
Of course, Max having come this far, he wasn’t going to let anyone stop him now.
Max on a mission
Max is finally rewarded for his persistence with the truth. Valkyr was part of a government project named Valhalla.
We learn the truth about Valkyr.
Valkyr was intended to be used to enhance soldiers, boosting their stamina and morale. After four years of experimentation in the 90s, the project was cancelled due to poor results.
However, someone didn’t want to let Valkyr go.
Max learns Valkyr didn’t stop when the government terminated the project.
Max’s wife had stumbled upon the project, and was deemed to be too close. She paid the ultimate price for seeing something she shouldn’t have.
Max knows the truth now. He just needs to find this mysterious woman.
That is, after he escapes from the bunker which has been set to self destruct.
Max thinks he’s lost all his leads…
Thankfully for Max, Alfred Woden calls up again. He wants to meet. And he wants to give Max the name of the mysterious woman.
…but the mythical Alfred Woden calls again.
Nicole Horne. The devil has a name. She runs an incredibly powerful and influential corporation, which acts as a front for her continued experimentation with Valkyr. Woden says he can clear Max of all criminal charges. That is, if he “relieves” Horne of her duties.
Finally seeing Woden face to face, he very much reminded me of the Cigarette Smoking Man from The X-Files TV show and the Illusive Man from Mass Effect 2 (2010)—who was he, and whose side is he really on? However, Max wasn’t really in a position to ponder these questions.
Horne went rogue after the government shut down project Valhalla.
Max Payne was heading to its inevitably violent conclusion, and we end up right back where we started.
It’s time to climb.
Aesir, Nicole Horne’s pharmaceutical company. It was time to climb the tower and flush Horne out.
The tower climb brought with it not just plenty of firefights, but some interesting platforming sections and opportunities to use alternative tactics to running and gunning.
A chance to bring out the sniper rifle.Dodging moving security lasers
My favourite section was in a rising elevator where you had to shoot out a series of lasers. If you don’t take each laser out before you reach it, BOOM.
Shoot quick
Ultimately, the endgame was Horne.
The final soliloquy
Chasing her up to the roof of the tower, all seems lost when she boards an awaiting helicopter.
She’s getting away!
But we haven’t brought Max this far to just let Horne get away now. In typical Max Payne fashion, Max brings this tale of revenge and redemption to its violent, destructive, and explosive end.
Max Payne brings down the curtain on Horne.
Cue the strut as Max walks out.
Now that’s a swagger.
Arrested, but seeing Woden in the crowd, Max knows everything is going to be okay.
End of the line
And Max almost cracks another smile.
Satisfaction and relief—Max Payne looks about ten years younger.
The Verdict
What a ride. Max Payne felt intense from start to finish.
It took me about twelve hours to complete, and it was all action all the time. Those graphic novel-style cutscenes I’ve shown a lot of above provided much needed short respites from the high-octane gameplay.
Explosive gameplay
I felt the pacing was near perfect, with only the section at the docks in Part II feeling like a grind and unnecessarily drawn out.
I didn’t enjoy the docks.
But was Max Payne an enjoyable experience?
Yes and no.
Always looking ahead for that next door to open.
Max Payne kept me coming back for more the whole game. I kept wanting to get to that next cutscene, to advance the story and learn a little bit more about what was going on.
The next cutscene was what drove me in Max Payne.
But I was also waiting for something. Something to make me understand why it is regarded by some as one of the greatest games ever. Those conversations I had on social media had increased my expectations. I was excited to play Max Payne and find out what makes it special.
At the end of my playthrough, I never got that “aha” moment. I realised I had projected others’ experiences and opinions onto my own expectations, and never got the payoff.
I was looking for something to jump out at me.
I came to the conclusion that I am more critical of games from this early 3D, third-person shooter era if I didn’t play them or didn’t play them much, like Max Payne. I’m more forgiving of titles like The Getaway (2002) and Grand Theft Auto (2001), where I played them fully at the time they were released.
And you probably know why that is.
Nostalgia. Those very subjective gaming memories.
Perhaps if I’d played Max Payne to its conclusion back when it was released, I’d be writing something very different right now. Maybe if I knew why I put this game down way back when, I might have a better understanding—I don’t know. It might have had nothing to do with the game. That will remain an unsolved mystery from my gaming past.
What isn’t a mystery? Max Payne is a great game. It’s just not one of my great games.
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So, have you played Max Payne?
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