Old reviews to ponder...

[Neo]

After four years of development, the long-awaited third-person shooter "Max Payne" has arrived. After the release of "The Matrix" in 1999, "Max Payne" became one of the most popular games to wait for, and it did not disappoint. Its gameplay, graphics, and story line are strong enough to keep gamers talking for a while. Its biggest flaw is a lack of a multiplayer mode, but once you see how this game works you will understand why.


The game world is a great reproduction of New York City. You actually feel as if you are running through the underworld culture of Manhattan. The drug lord you are fighting is the creator of an ultra-addictive drug called "valkyr," and this city is full of addicts and fiends. The ambient sound and random screams and sirens really add to the feel of a live city, not to mention the highly detailed level design, making each building feel like a real building as opposed to a random maze of doors. The mapping and level design is near perfect for the theme of the game.


Max Payne is an undercover cop trying to avenge his family's death when he gets framed for murder and goes all out to exact revenge. Of course, no man could challenge the Mafia, the police, and a drug lord by himself, but Max Payne has an advantage: Bullet-Time. Anyone who has seen "The Matrix" could tell you what Bullet-Time is. However, in "Max Payne," you the gamer get to take control and truly be "the one." There is nothing better than blowing into a room full of bad guys, clicking a button, and flying through the air shooting the bad guys in slow motion. It looks and sounds beautiful.


As a third-person shooter before the Bullet-Time action, "Max Payne" is a very simple game. You run forward and backward, strafing left to right while holding down the fire button. The strategy comes in when you enter a room full of many baddies totting Uzis, Berettas, Desert Eagles, and Colt Carbines, all of which are perfectly modeled and textured. This is where it gets fun. All you have to do is right-click in any direction and Max will proceed to dive in that direction in slow motion. As in "The Matrix," Max can turn and aim at full speed. The slow motion works great, making it easy to aim at and unload ammo into the proper receptacles: evil gun-toting mobsters and valkyr fiends.


"Max Payne" is also a very accurately damage-modeled game. A shot in the head will nearly kill Max or any of the nonboss enemies, and a shot to the leg will do far less damage. There are a few bosses who are always surrounded by baddies carrying only the most powerful weapons, and for some reason they are able to take about 50 rounds to the head. Disregarding the fact that they seem to eat bullets, these bosses are a lot of fun to kill and sometimes Max has to figure out a trick to cause their death, such as shooting a gas tank so that it will blow up and engulf the bad guys in flames.


Throughout the game Max is faced with impossible odds. Any player will be doing a lot of saving and loading, if only to see all the possible outcomes. Almost every group of bad guys has some scripted speech or movement that plays out as soon as Max moves within earshot, making the game more like an interactive movie than an all-out shooter. Also, the story line of the game plays out like a comic book. Every cut scene is displayed like a page from a comic book, dialog bubbles and all, giving the game an even darker feel. There are also in-engine small movies that play at key points in the game and use the slow motion to perfection. They're certainly better than some of the lame "Matrix" wanna-bes that have come out this summer.


This game is definitely not for children. Although there is a parental lock built into the game, the story line alone would be deemed inappropriate by most parents. For gamers, this is the story line of dreams: Your family has been slaughtered by a bunch of junkies, and the drug lord has framed you for even more murders, all because your wife got a memo with some info about the creation of the drug. You even get to play as Max before his family gets killed and see the transition of his facial expressions from happy family man to heartless, strapped-to-the-teeth bad-ass.


Graphically, "Max Payne" also delivers. Nothing looks better in slow motion than seeing the unhappy look on your adversary's face as you empty a clip into his torso. Faces are clear, clothing is crisp, and the texturing makes "Max Payne" look and feel like it's in the real New York City. The game also looks good and performs well on a slower machine (tested on athlon 750 with GeForce MX), but at a loss in resolution.


Overall, "Max Payne" does not disappoint -- unless you are looking for multiplayer. This game has only one mode. Anyone who likes fast-paced shooter action will have to check this out, and anyone who loved "The Matrix" has to at least see this game played. It's fun, it's beautiful, it's one of a kind, and it's just as fun to die as it is to live. Max Payne can move in Bullet-Time because he's inside a computer game. Will he wake up from this illusion? I hope not. I'm having too much fun playing it!

 

[Neo]

Hitman: Codename 47

With the release of Hitman: Codename 47, Eidos Interactive takes a step in a new direction. In most action titles, strategy can be boiled down to jumping out in the middle of a hallway and mowing down anyone, or anything, in your way with a hail of bullets. Hitman, though, requires you to think through what you're going to do if you're spotted coming around that bend.



As you might expect from a stereotypical hitman, your character is a nameless, unemotional, and unfeeling assassin. He is a professional. He has no past, no future. He lives for the client. The only thing unique about this guy is a barcode tattoo on the back of his head. Once you go through the training session, it becomes clear that our hero is the product of some genetic experiment, or he's just waking up from an induced amnesiac state. These are not Mafia-style hits. A company simply known as the "Agency" employs you. And as an employee of the Agency, you're contracted to do some traveling, see the world, and always, ahem, take care of your client.


Hitman uses a third-person perspective, which resembles that of Rune, Alice, and Eidos' signature game, Tomb Raider. You use the keyboard and mouse to navigate. Your crosshairs/cursor changes when you approach a door, an elevator button, try to pick up a weapon, or drag a body. All the items you pick up along the way are chosen in a similar way, with a pop-up menu appearing when the key is pressed.


At the beginning of each contract, you are given a mission briefing in the form of a contractual-obligation screen that gives you all the information about your current mission and objectives. The last screen in your mission briefing is the weapons-selection screen. What you bring along to the client's site is entirely up to you. But think about the information from the previous screens and choose carefully -- what you pick is important. Your gear ranges from close-range weapons like a knife and piano wire to guns like an UZI and, of course, a sniper rifle.


Stealth is all-important to your survival; it's the way the missions are designed to be approached. Using your surroundings as cover and managing your inventory well mean everything to your success and survival. I was in too many situations where I had forgotten which key was bound to what action and I'd be hitting my keyboard furiously while getting bullets embedded in every inch of my assassin's body. Not a whole of fun when that happens to you... and it will.


Staying incognito after you've disposed of a guard or two is very important. Running from room to room will certainly alarm, or at least make suspicious, any guards who see you. If you survive the mission and accomplish your entire task list the Agency will pay you a stipend. These proceeds can be used towards any future dealings with the Agency for weapons and equipment.


A review of this game wouldn't be complete without a warning to parents: There's no parental lock on it, and there are no kiddie skill levels; there's simply no way to rationalize letting the youngsters get a hold of this game. Hitman: Codename 47 is the most violent game I've ever played. How do I feel about giving it a positive review? Let me just say that I don't condone violence in any way in real life. And I wouldn't let a young child play this game at all. So do I feel strangely about recommending it? A little bit. Do I feel strangely enough about it to change my opinion that this is one great title and a ton of fun to play? No.


Graphics: 5 of 5


The only games I've seen that can compete with Hitman's eye candy are Alice and Rune. Hitman's graphic rendering of textures and player models is superb. I thought for sure it was using the Quake III engine or the UT engine, but to my surprise the development team over at IO Interactive made their own and they call it Glacier. Nice job, IO. Walking around the city, the hotel, and the jungle was absolutely amazing. It seriously helps that I'm using a Voodoo5 with 64 MB of Video RAM. Had I not been, I'd have to play Hitman the way I saw it rendered on my laptop at work, a PIII 500MHz with 192 MB of RAM, and that was not good. To truly experience this game, I would follow the "recommended" system requirements, not the "minimal" ones.


Sound: 4 of 5


Hitman uses sounds for more than just action sequences. The surprisingly scary sound of a door opening behind you, or in another hallway, makes all the difference when it comes to really bringing you into the game. Listening for the dull drum of footsteps coming up the stairs as you wait by the door you're poised to protect makes this game as entertaining as any I've ever played. The cunning and planning needed to successfully complete your missions are impossible without a sensitive ear for patterns in the guards' walk on the other side of the door.


Control: 3 of 5


To truly be an efficient and methodical assassin you need to be able to control yourself well in any circumstance. It will probably take some time to master the controls, since there are simply so many things to keep track of. This being the case, you probably won't be a very good assassin until the fourth mission. I can't see anyone catching on quickly enough to take on three or more guards, set in different corners of the room, all firing at you while you're reloading, strafing and aiming -- without some practice. Although difficult, it's not impossible to get the keystrokes down pat. When you do, the game takes on a whole new sense of enjoyment.


Playability/Immersion: 5 of 5


Hitman plays well. The story line and missions are captivating enough to really get your sense of thrill going. The cut scenes look like actual game play; they don't feed the imagination and then fall short of delivery the way Starcraft did and Diablo does. Eidos and IO use just the right amount of teaser to chapter as you learn more and more about your creator.


Each chapter has its overall objective and it's revealed as you proceed from mission to mission. The game really takes you into a world of intrigue and deception -- you become a hit man. Sure, you can go Terminator-style and bust through a door, pistols in each hand, blazing at anything that moves, but not only will you not last very long, those are not the traits of a good assassin. A professional.


Overall: 4 out of 5


This is not a game for those people who have problems with violence. There are plenty of games out there for you. This is a game, however, for people who enjoy an engaging storyline, a whole host of action, and some thinking and planning, not just mindless plasma rocket launching.


I hardly want to hold this against Hitman, but the fact that there is no multi-player capability is a mark against it. The game is great without it, but the ability to play against someone else who is set to defend your client, or having a cooperative mission in which you team up with other assassins to take out the target would have been an excellent option.

 

[Neo]

PC role-playing games allow you to assume the identity of a fictional character and then guide that character step by step as an adventure unfolds. Most first-person shooter games such as Quake and Counter-Strike offer a 3D perspective in which the most accurate shot gets the reward. Giants: Citizen Kabuto blends characteristics from both genres while taking you in a completely different direction -- and on a very raucous ride.


Giants takes place on the pre Earth several billion years ago (we're talking before the Moon even existed) in a world known simply as "Island." Picture a large ball of water with dots of land jutting up all about. Some great, some small, but water everywhere.


A race of female creatures called Sea Reapers once inhabited the whole of Island and governed all its citizens. At the height of their influence, they channeled their magic into an enormous guardian named Kabuto. It's hard to imagine what the Sea Reapers had in mind, but Kabuto developed into a 50-foot tall, quad-horned, fanged beast from hell. Kabuto roamed Island for a bit, protecting the Sea Reapers from invaders while his sense of self-awareness steadily grew. Eventually, consumed by the loneliness and pain of being the only one of his kind, Kabuto went mad and began slaughtering the Sea Reapers as he drove them back into the waters of Island.


From this great carnage arose Sappho, the Sea Reaper Queen. She intends to restore the Sea Reapers to the top of Island's hierarchy "by whatever means necessary." Among her many challenges is her daughter, Delphi, who doesn't quite agree with Sappho's philosophy and is looking for an alternative.


Enter five Meccaryn space jocks who got seriously sidetracked on their way to an annual vacation spot called Planet Majorca. How sidetracked, you ask? Well, the short story is that a giant intergalactic fish swallowed their ship whole, and two months later a semi-digested spacecraft containing five hung-over passengers was excreted. Our Meccaryn heroes (Mecc for short) searched furiously for a suitable spot to land their craft and make repairs. The suitable spot turned out to be none other than Island.


So now we have Kabuto, the Sea Reaper clan, and our gang of Mecc castaways all fighting for survival on Island. Add to this mix a race of diminutive and rather ingenious people called Smarties. Smarties work hard and play even harder. Provided with enough vimp meat (a native animal) and ample quantities of beer, the gung-ho Smarties will gladly offer their talents to any friendly visitors. But Kabuto, friendly to no one, makes special use of the Smarties by eating them and creating babies. Don't ask.


Did we also mention the monsters, beasts, and hordes of enemy soldiers? Island isn't large enough, and someone must go.


The sky in Giants is marvelously colored, with just the right amount of cloud and light. The sun in Giants directly affects the lighting and how you actually see things. Dodge behind an outcropping of rock or behind a hill to block the sun and the surrounding scenery quickly dims. Likewise, walking into a sunny area brightens the view noticeably and results in fabulous lens-flare effects.


That thud-like noise you hear the first time you run a Mecc off of a cliff and jetpack over a sun-swept valley? That's the sound of your jaw hitting the keyboard. One feature we wanted more of, though, was weather effects. Later Kabuto levels do feature smoldering volcanoes and the occasional lightning bolt, but we were hoping for more some atmospheric effects like rain and fog.


Giants ships with DirectX 8. With its 32bit color and resolutions above 1024x768, it supports hardware transformation and lighting that will test even the strongest of systems. And why shouldn't it, considering how good it looks? Pair a strong CPU with a GeForce or Radeon video card with the latest reference drivers and you'll get the best possible visuals and performance. Performance issues and other bugs were neatly squashed in a v1.1 update.


Much of the humor found in Giants comes from the superb voice talents who breathe life into the game's characters. Something about the Meccaryns' slick British accents makes the funny dialogue -- about their current mission, their delayed vacation, and members of the opposite sex -- sound that much funnier. The Smarties, with their higher-pitched voices, delighted us with their uninhibited expressions and witty comments about their current mood. Delphi has an attractive accent and offers a smooth and soothing presence to the game. Kabuto may not have a ton of dialogue (OK, none), but this guy can roar. Triggering any of his three main roars results in an unprecedented animation sequence that perfectly matches the great sound spewing forth.


Giants allows you to toggle between first and third-person perspectives. We found that the third-person perspective offered the best views of your character and of the distinctive Giants landscape, but in this mode it the character occasionally blocked the line of sight to a target. The first-person perspective allowed us to see what the character sees: a weapon in your hands with the crosshairs in front of you. We ended up playing mostly in the third-person, as the spectacle itself was more than worth the occasional blocked shot.


The first half of Giants is spent playing the fun-seeking Meccaryns; the remaining half is split between Delphi and Kabuto. The Mecc levels offered well-scripted adventures with plenty of combat and some serious challenges. Well-scripted doesn't mean rigid and static, though. Each level can be finished using any number of tactics as long as the main goal is accomplished.


The Torture Square level offers one of the most intense Meccaryn battles in the whole of the game. This multi-stage land war pits you against overwhelming numbers and offers a fine demonstration of the clever squad-based AI employed throughout the game. After an initial conflict with a large group of Rippers (subterranean beasts that spring from the ground to rip you to shreds), your Meccs are able to scout out the nearby hills. If you aren't watchful, reaper guards will try to flank you by staying low and sneaking around the hills. Individual and group reactions to your attacks also highlight Giants' excellent AI. Shoot an enemy and surrounding troops will either scatter for cover or return fire. You won't know which until you shoot.


The bigger the battle the bigger the gun, and Giants delivers everything short of a thermonuclear device. It pairs increasingly difficult levels with an increasingly deadly arsenal. The Meccaryns are the weapons experts in Giants, and they depend upon technology to fight well. In contrast, Delphi and Kabuto both seem well equipped to handle their adventures as they are.


Multiplayer features are well implemented and a lot of fun to play. LAN and Internet play options are available, but Giants has no built-in Internet server browser. We found that GameSpy Arcade now supports Giants, and it works just fine. Multiplayer options include traditional team games such as "Capture the Smartie" as well as team deathmatch.


Many early reviews of Giants pointed out the various bugs and rough spots in the initial v1.0 release. Judging by the readme file listing all the fixes, the v1.1 patch is necessary to fully appreciate this game. You can download the v1.1 patch here. Sure enough, with the v1.1 release we encountered no crashes, glitches, or noticeable slowdowns, even during intense battles.


Giants makes for a beautiful and thrilling ride that kept us coming back to see what the next level offered. Unfortunately, the ending does feel a bit rushed. Multiplayer Giants is fresh with plenty of fun warfare options. If you're in the mood for an adventure and you have a powerful system to run it on, what are you waiting for?