| DATA | |
|---|---|
| Base game | Max Payne |
| Developer(s) | The P=NP Group |
| Release date | 2006-10-20 |
Fear not: despite the title, this isn't a bad taste school-shooting mod or anything like that.
It takes place in a real location though (the Computer Engineering and Informatics Department -CEID- in the University of Patras, Greece, and its surroundings). It was made over the course of 3 years by a group of local students (Antoniou "Praetorian" Thanasis, Kokkinos "Pandomas" Panagiotis and Mylonas "Psyborg" George) and their dedication to the task is evident. Limitations of the MAX-FX engine notwithstanding, the similarities to the actual place are strong when looking at the real life photos. As an extra, you'll finish with a visit to the striking Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge, a steel behemoth.
The plot proposes an atypical origin story for Max Payne, our beloved antihero. Apparently, he was once a student of the Greek center too. Working on his PhD thesis he makes a disruptive breakthrough. His tutor summons him to have a chat, and when he arrives at CEID all hell breaks loose. The authors of m@u devoted a lot of effort to convey the story and, in addition to cutscenes and (average) voice acting, the mod has its own comic panels in the spirit of the original game (one of the few ones to do so), which adds to the score.
And while the premise sounds attractive, it's tarnished in the last chapter due to a surprising and outlandish revelation, leaving a sour taste. But that's just a minor inconvenience. The main dish here is the action.
Plenty of action, sure. And a lot of quickloading, following the tradition. Correctly managing your reserves of bullet time will be critical to see the end, and if that wasn't enough, the abilities from Kung Fu 3.0 are unlocked for you too. There are many difficult shootouts in cramped hallways where dodging bullets isn't always possible, and the more spacious classrooms are swarming with bad guys. Including some kind of weird SWAT guys who... explode upon dying? Near the end you'll have one of those "mandatory sword-only" fights (that I always hate) where you are stripped of your guns, but if the combat gets too tough, you can cheat by picking the weapons of previously slain enemies.
It's not very long. If you die often perhaps you'll squeeze an hour out of it, tops. Overall it's an entertaining mod, with some issues (like the difficulty and some performance drops due to unoptimized maps), but there are also touches of quality, like the comics. In summary, it was a positive experience.
Playing