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Max Payne
PC
FAQ/Walkthrough
by bluesea

bluesea_jsrf@yahoo.com

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Contents
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1) Introduction and Review
2) Story
3) Characters
Good Guys
Bad Guys
4) Weapons
Hand Weapons
Handguns
Shotguns
Automatics
Throwable Weapons
Sniper Rifle
5) Bullet Time and Shootdodges
6) Hints and Tips
General
Movement
Combat
Bullet Time and Shootdodges
7) Controls
8) Walkthrough
Part I
Part II
Part III
9) Enemies
10) Cheats
11) FAQ
12) History
13) Sites that have Permission to use this FAQ
14) My FAQs
15) Credits

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1. Introduction and Review
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Max Payne is one of my favorite games. It specializes in a certain kind of
offensive combat system, which is basically the idea that there are no
civilians on the streets and hundreds of mafia members, junkies and government
assassins, all of which you're going to have to kill. Just you, with your small
arsenal of handguns, shotguns, automatics, and grenades. A city full of
lawbreakers is out to kill you. And, even though you're a DEA agent, you don't
have the support of the authorities because you've been framed for murder.

Of course, there's a sensible reason for the fact that the streets are empty of
law-abiding citizens, and that is that there is the fiercest storm in recorded
history is pummeling the city, and the nightmare drug Valkyr is making its
presence known in the worst way.

The worst part of the game is the enemy AI. I wish it were just a little more
like Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid. I mean, say you run from enemies. They
know exactly where you are, even if you run away and hide. It's already a great
game, if it only had a little bit of that sneaking quality Splinter Cell has,
it'd be twenty times better. However, the game makes up for some of that loss
with its incredible concept called Bullet Time. The idea is that, when you use
Bullet Time at the touch of a mouse button or a key, everything in the game
except your aiming cursor slows down. This makes it a lot easier to dodge
bullets and fire them more effectively. What's more, you can couple Bullet Time
with shootdodges, which are basically dives forward. However, you don't get out
of it that easily. Bullet Time is not infinite, it diminishes as you use it.
You regain Bullet Time by killing enemies.

Another interesting concept of the game is the graphic novels. Instead of
having cutscenes as most games do, there are graphic novels in which the actual
models of the characters do things in comic-strip format, the only relation to
comics being that there are panels and speech bubbles. I personally like that.
Another concept is the fact that the whole game is played as a story from Max's
point of view. Max has an overly metaphorical way of speaking, which actually
perfectly fits his tormented character and the entire game. You'll see if you
read Cybiolink8000's FAQ at the GameFaqs Max Payne PC FAQ page or just play the
game.

Here's my review of the game.

Graphics: 10/10

The graphics are photo-quality. In fact, they're based upon photos. The graphic
novels are a great touch, and very well done. No detail was left untouched.
Everything looks very realistic.

Sound: 9/10

The speech is very good, especially Max's. The gun and explosion sounds are
excellent, as well as the music.

Gameplay: 10/10

The gameplay is great. You can shoot bottles and TVs, you can hold two handguns
at a time, you can use appliances and sinks to make water fall out. When you
shoot the last enemy in an area, you see the game from a different camera angle
as that man falls. It's great. And the best thing of all is, of course, Bullet
Time, slow motion, and the shootdodges. Also, I have to really give credit to
this game on the camera angles: it's a third-person shooter, but the aiming is
just like that of an FPS. For me, Max almost never got in the way of aiming.

Story: 10/10

The story is very involving, and pretty darn good. See the Story chapter for
details. The story is, unlike in many great games, very important.

Replayability: 9/10

There are a lot of secrets and Easter Eggs. I'm discovering them all the time
now that I'm exploring the levels in detail. It's amazing how I missed them all
the first few times. Also, you can play the game in various difficulty modes,
as if the first wasn't hard enough. You'll want to replay it at least once.
It's a long game, but worth it.

AI: 7/10

The enemy AI isn't that good. I already mentioned the problems I have with
enemies being able to track you all the way back through the whole level even
though they didn't see you. If they could just lose track, I would give this a
9/10. Also, why don't they ever run out of ammo? A couple guys do, when they
have another weapon to switch to, but those guys' second weapons have infinite
ammo.

Overall: 10/10

This is probably the best game of 2001, and essential if you call yourself an
expert at shooting games. Although it's very violent, it's absolutely
fantastic. LATER EDIT: I recently played Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne,
and if you think THIS game is good, take a look at that!

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2. Story
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You, Max Payne, are a detective for the NYPD, New York Police Department. You
have a wife, Michelle, and an unnamed baby daughter. You refused when Alex,
your best friend and a DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) special agent, offered you
work in the DEA, because you might have to go undercover, and that wouldn't be
good for your family. You've even quit smoking because it's bad for your
daughter. It was an American dream come true.

You returned home one day, to find that your house has been broken into, and
that your family was in danger. Your family was killed. That was all three
years ago. Now, you've joined the DEA to infiltrate the crime family that's
dealing Valkyr, the drug the killer junkies who killed your family were on.
It's a mission of revenge.

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3. Characters
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Note that it's interesting. Max's name begins with M, right? Michelle's name
begins with M. And Mona Sax, who is the love interest in Max Payne 2, also has
a first name beginning with M. If the pattern holds true, Max's daughter's name
will begin with M too.

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Good Guys (listed in order of appearance)
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Max Payne: You are Max Payne. After your family was killed, you joined the DEA
and went undercover. Your main mission is to avenge the deaths of your wife and
daughter. You'd be amazed how many people you'll have to kill to do so.

Max's Daughter: Her name is not even known. Max and Michelle Payne's baby
daughter is killed very early on by junkies.

Michelle Payne: Michelle is Max's wife. She is killed very early on in the game
by junkies because she accidentally learned something...

Transit Cop: Max saves this cop from a thug in the train station. The cop opens
a locked door for him before being shot by a gangster.

Alex Balder: Alex is Max's boss and best friend. He is killed early on to
discourage Max off the case and his death is framed upon Max.

Jim Bravura: Bravura is an NYPD Deputy Chief. He's one of the good guys, but
he's after you because he and the rest of the honest world thinks you're a
killer.

Vladimir: Vladimir is a gangster, an archrival of Angelo Punchinello. He and
Max team up to take care of Boris Dime, one of Vladimir's men who betrayed him
in favor of Punchinello.

Mona Sax: Mona is the sister of Angelo Punchinello's wife Lisa Punchinello. She
is also fighting against Punchinello, but appears not entirely trustworthy, to
say the least. She slips Max a mickey in a drink, making him delusional and
allowing him to be captured by Punchinello's men. She says she does this to
prevent him from harming Lisa, who's coincidentally already dead (or killed the
next day, you never find out). Mona later decides to help Max (or something),
but she is apparently killed.

Chemist: This chemist helps you open an airlock in the Cold Steel plant (thanks
to mr_scary_wasp for reminding me what he did).

Alfred Woden: Alfred is a mysterious and apparently power-hungry man inside
what is known as the Inner Circle, which played a part in the developement of
Valhalla. In fact, the Inner Circle is like the Syndicate in X-files. He always
seems to know where Max is and alerts him to various dangers. Woden appears to
die later in the game, but it turns out that he really didn't. He wants Nicole
Horne dead.

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Bad Guys (listed in order of appearance)
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Finitos: The two Finito brothers, Joey and Virgilio, run Lupino's hotel.

Rico Muerte: Rico is a gangster visiting Lupino's hotel and returning a favor
for Punchinello.

Candy Dawn: Candy's a woman visiting Lupino's hotel. Okay, not exactly. You'll
see.

Double-Crossing Junkie: Max meets up with this guy, and he agrees to help Max
into a place called Luigi's Laundry. But, as soon as he's inside the laundry,
he double-crosses Max and alerts his friends.

Vinnie Gognitti: Gognitti is Lupino's right-hand man, although he's actually
pretty lacking in nerve.

Jack Lupino: Lupino is an insane, truly insane, gangster boss in the
Punchinello crime family.

Frankie "The Bat" Niagara: Niagara's a gangster working for Punchinello. He
reads Captain Baseballbat-boy comics and loves beating people's brains out with
his favorite bat when they're strapped to chairs.

Boris Dime: Boris worked for Vladimir, but turned backstabber and started doing
jobs for Punchinello. He is taking a ship with lots of weapons to Puchinello.
If those weapons reach him, Valdimir has lost, I guess. Boris's ship is called