Recent reviews by CyaAqua

a pretty awful game, or maybe I just don't "get it". incredibly boring, unfun and not scary in the slightest especially when the monsters glitch out right in front of you, in an unintentional way. and that's when you're not aimlessly wandering around long, empty corridors or rooms trying to guess what the game wants you to do with nothing happening in the meantime. even playing with friends, it still feels like a chore to get through which is quite an achievement.

F5 + F9 Simulator, a.k.a Max Payne, is a classic PC title that still holds up today even with all its early-2000's glory and quirks. the Bullet Time mechanic is still very fun to use, and there is evidently tons of love and care poured into each part of the gameplay, its presentation, and narrative. it's worth playing just to witness the characters' faces look like they sucked on a lemon immediately after you pour hundreds of bullets into them. you die very quickly, which allows for the game to become more about strategy than it is about perfect accuracy. it can lead to some frustration later on in the game, but i'd say with the quicksave/quickload feature, it negates a lot of potential irritation you would otherwise encounter with cheap enemy placements and seemingly-random damage for some of the weapons.

sadly it's also one of those games that doesn't play nicely with modern computers. a few fan patches will smooth the majority of issues out, but without them i came across a few problems including lack of audio in cutscenes and an unlocked framerate which caused Max's dodge distance to decrease significantly. it shouldn't really be acceptable to sell the game in this state, but this is Rockstar we're talking about...

if you're reading this and are considering playing this game on PC, go check out the PCGamingWiki page [www.pcgamingwiki.com] and install the fixes they recommend. it'll save you a lot of headache.

mostly an improvement across the board compared to the first game; mechanics have been fine-tuned and gunplay is more satisfying with weapons that are more accurate and sound punchier. although, with the increased budget comes less charm, less cheese and an overall more depressing tone which can be a good or bad thing depending on your personal taste. it's also very short - i managed to complete it in one sitting. still a great game regardless of some minor nitpicks

overall game is fun aside from the botched matchmaking system that prioritises speed over balance. just a shame then that Blizzard has to be one of the most reprehensible game companies in existence that it negates pretty much all praise the game could receive, and that they are apparently dedicated to ruining not only their own game but their entire brand reputation as a whole.

pretty terrible PC port but the game itself mostly holds up. i'd recommend SADX Mod Installer [sadxmodinstaller.unreliable.network] to make the game look and feel as it should (actual widescreen, lighting fixes, proper control remappings, etc).

Still more alive than Battlefield 2042.

That's it. That seals the deal. I'm no longer a PogChamp gamer. I’ve been a PogChamp fan since 2010 and have taken Ls after Ls. I will no longer buy a PogChamp and instead will buy a WeirdChamp where they actually know how to make great bhop and surf maps.

10/10.

The perfect game.