Max Payne uses the better aspects of movies (ie plot twists, character depth) to set it apart from the thousands of other "shoot 'em up" games out there. Over the course of the game you get into Max's head, learning his personality and understanding how he feels about his family's demise. Max did critically well except critics said the noir-ish writing was over-the-top (ie "The sun set with practiced bravado"). They equated this to bad writing, while in my opinion the overly wordy writing was on purpose. Also there is supposed to be a movie released based off this game. If the movie makers take this title as seriously as did the game designers, this could be a great movie. Personally I think Edward Norton would be a perfect Max Payne.
