| DATA | |
|---|---|
| Base game | Max Payne |
| Developer(s) | Nathan Paschenberg |
| Release date | 2022-07-09 |
A very short Max Payne mod about a young man who apparently lives in a pretty tough neighborhood. The author describes it as a "personal survival story loosely based on real events set in western Ukraine", and considering that in this 15-minute (non) story, he'll go from point A to point B meeting a lot of angry people armed with bats, metal pipes and other nasty objects, I don't know exactly what to make of that.
The mod is focused on close-quarters combat with blunt objects, so don't go in expecting the usual gunfights. There's only one pistol to be found and it's meant to be used for opening a new path. Bullet time is hence unnecessary, but the painkillers are certainly not.
The melee fights were initially very hard for me, as the first tactic I tried was to circle around enemies while swinging at them with my bat. That turned out not to be very optimal. Instead, you must walk backwards while keeping the attack button pressed. And voilà! "Very difficult" transformed into "a walk in the park" (a very dangerous park, that is).
It consists of a single map only, but quite big and with many open areas. On one hand this offers some nice sets, and the author implemented a novel daylight system, something I don't recall seeing in a MP mod before. On the other hand, it is horribly unoptimized and there are frequent slowdowns. I remember an underground area where the game morphed into a PowerPoint presentation when looking in a certain direction, probably due to improper culling.
Finally, there were also a couple of places where I lost momentum and meandered around, confused, looking for the way out. It turned out to be hidden in a shadowy corner, not very obvious. Perhaps I should increase the screen brightness, but the level design could use a slight remodeling nonetheless. All in all, it's a curiosity.
Playing