The Video Game Revue

Prey, Max Payne 2

I recently took a break from ArmA (which I've only just cracked the surface of) to finish off the remainder of Prey and start a proper play-through of a long-neglected copy of May Payne 2. Other than both being high profile FPS games (although Max Payne arguably isn't; it's more of a third-person shooter) that lie on the opposite end of the spectrum from ArmA's simulation-style realism, both Prey and Max Payne 2 have the dubious honor of having been purchased by me as $10 bargain bin titles, and I adjusted my expectations of them accordingly. That having been said, both games have been rewarding enough to have justified the time that I've put into them. They've also made me realize that my new-ish gaming PC isn't getting enough attention lately (World of WarCraft and Company of Heroes aside), and I really need to make more time for more Oblivion, F.E.A.R., etc.

Prey is graphically intense, not unlike a fireworks display on-screen; it uses some of the graphics engine from Doom 3, or some such thing. What surprised me is that the story and premise of Prey (which I was vaguely aware of before starting the game) are more compelling than I initially gave them credit for, and the first hour or so of the game had me fairly stoked. I definitely felt like I'd gotten a good bargain at $10, and I would venture to say that the producers were hoping that enough hype would have spread about Prey on the strength of that initial impression to make it a mega-hit.

It isn't that Prey started looking any worse after that first hour--it's just that the game didn't change much, if at all, between that point and the very end of the game. The environments and gameplay both became monotonous as hour after hour went by with the game experience being essentially the same from one minute to the next. This complete and utter lack of depth condemned the game to be a slog, although not an unpleasant one. Having finished Prey, I see absolutely no reason to return to it, nor would I really be interested in a sequel, unless there's some evidence that it goes in a radically new direction. Overall, this game would make a good case study in how a game project can get no single element (graphics, gameplay, story & art) wrong, yet still be lack-luster. It needs some kind of crazy hook, like F.E.A.R.'s impressive enemy squad AI, to make the experience memorable.

I'm enjoying Max Payne 2 much more than I enjoyed Prey, but this is largely because it's been years since I played the original (which I was a big fan of) and Max Payne 2 has me tripping on nostalgia. I haven't fired up the original to compare, but from what I can tell Max Payne 2 has the same gameplay, art style, and level design that is similar but larger in scope. Max Payne 2 feels a lot like an updated version of the first Max Payne that takes advantage of the advances made in computer hardware in the meanwhile.

One element that is noticeably missing from Max Payne 2 is the writing. I'm not trying to say that the original Max Payne had great writing, but it was particularly good for what the game was trying to be, and it added a certain intensity that made everything else about the game shine that much brighter. Max Payne 2 has a lot of trying-to-be clever moments, but overall the story and scripting fall flat, which I think is largely what makes the game unsatisfying when held up against the original.

Other than the writing, however, I'm hard-pressed to say why anybody who likes Max Payne wouldn't enjoy Max Payne 2. Its biggest fault is perhaps simply that it doesn't do enough to distinguish itself from the first Max Payne, but while it has lost some ground and in that respect fails to impress, it hasn't fallen far enough to cease being the self-mocking film noir, John Woo style bullet-ballet that one wants to see in a Max Payne game. That having been said, I've only played through the first two-thirds of the game, and I might yet see something in the last few hours that will completely ruin the experience for me.

As a final note, I finally snagged a copy of Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, and I've found everything that I've heard about it to be true: the core game is the same and the new control scheme makes trade-offs but comes out ahead overall. I was pleasantly surprised to find that RE4:Wii is offered at a reduced price point of $40, which is a nice gesture given that many Wii owners probably already own the GameCube, PS2, and/or PC version. I've only played about an hour of this so far, however, so I don't have a great deal to say about it yet.

posted by Parappa @ 3:19 PM