Canon Video Game Review: Max Payne 2 (XBOX)

Over the past few days, I've been playing the 2003 game for the original XBOX, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, which believe it or not is the sequel to Max Payne. Max is a New York City Police detective who if he had any luck at all, it would be bad. Because most of Max's loved ones have either killed him or betrayed him, Max has an outlook on life that is very dark and cynical, and that might be an understatement. Max Payne 2 was published by Rockstar, and developed by Remedy Entertainment, which also developed the 2010 game Alan Wake, and Rockstar Vienna.

Image courtesy of allgame.com

In Max Payne 2, Max Payne is back on the force after having his name cleared at the end of Max Payne 1. However, all is not well with Max, as he once again finds himself in a hailstorm of mistrust, corruption, and betrayal. To make matters worse, it seems that everyone Max comes across wants him dead. Max finds a new love interest in Mona Sax, a hired gun who like Max, seems to be unable to trust anybody but herself. To further complicate matters, Mona is the prime suspect in the murder of a Senator, and Max's partner Det. Winterson is hell bent on bringing Mona down for the murder. Also, Max's buddy Vladimir Lem, a Russian mobster, seems to have a role in all the goings on, but whose side is he really on? So Max does what he does best, killing a whole bunch of people before his dark life comes crashing down on him again, and maybe comes to a complete stop if Max is not careful.

The gameplay in Max Payne is rather simple, as you go through each level trying to shoot as many bad guys as possible. To assist with this, the game offers the ability to go into 'bullet time', which allows everything to move around you in slow motion, giving the player a major advantage in massive firefights with the enemy. Max also has the ability to dive in slow motion, giving him an advantage in dodging bullets and firing off many shots in mid dive. Also, it looks really cool as you dive over a crate or something and fire bullets at a rapid pace at your enemies. While the gameplay is solid, I did find that the levels got sort of repetitive, as most of the levels are inside apartment buildings and factories, and it kind of runs together after a while. I will say that the funhouse levels are rather interesting, as the surroundings add a whole other level of suspense to the game. Also, there are a few dream sequences that you must play through that further explores the fragile psyche of Max Payne. The narrative of Max Payne is very compelling and well-done, with a film noir esque style that is enhanced by the dark and gritty surrondings that each level has.

The graphics for Max Payne 2 are good. They're not great, as there are a few issues with the character design of some of the supporting characters, but overall the graphics look sharp and the physics engine of Max Payne 2 is probably the graphical strongpoint, as every character moves smoothly and in a realistic manner. Also, the comic panel scenes that advance the story in between levels look very sharp and are very well-drawn. The sound of Max Payne 2 is quite good, I must say, as the game featured excellent voice acting and the various sound effects of each weapon seem to be quite realistic. The game doesn't rely on a whole lot of music, but what music is there also adds to the dark tone of the narrative presented here. The game isn't very long, as one could get through the entire story in a day if they were so inclined, and still have time to play something else. I'd say I played the entire game through in about 13 hours over the course of the last couple of days, and the lack of a multiplayer mode hurts the replay value of the game. Plus, since the game is more of a linear experience than say, Grand Theft Auto, you don't really have a lot of control over the events of the story, so unless you really like the game, there's not really a lot of reason to play it over again (although there is a different ending if you beat the game on the highest level, so at least that's something).

Overall, Max Payne 2 may be a game that might be a little short, but it packs a hell of a punch in a small package. Max Payne 2 is a blast to play through and although it's not perfect, there's really not a lot for me to gripe about when it comes to this game. I'd recommend this game for any gamer that likes a hard hitting action game, and the compelling storyline will keep you engrossed in the game. Overall, I'd give Max Payne 2 an 8.5 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you any ideas for future posts, or thoughts about this post, than either leave a comment on the blog or send them to me at e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.

Canon Video Game Review: The Godfather (XBox)

For all the regular followers of The Canon Review (all three of you), you may have noticed that I have not been as active as usual over the past couple of weeks. Well, a large reason for that is because I have been playing The Godfather for the X-Box. The Godfather the Game is a 2006 game that was both produced and distributed by Electronic Arts. The game is, of course, based off of the book and the motion picture of the same name.

image courtesy of allgame.com

The makers of The Godfather went all out to keep true to the original source material, even bringing back James Caan, Robert Duvall, Abe Vigoda, and Marlon Brando to do voice overs for their characters in the movie. Unfortunately, Al Pacino could not voice Michael Corleone in the game, as he had a contract with another gaming company to do voice overs for the Scarface video game. As it turned out, Brando's voiceover work in this game was the last work he ever did, and there is some controversy as to how much of Don Vito's dialogue was actually done by Brando or by an impersonator. If it was an impersonator, well I must say that he had Brando's voice down pat. In the Godfather game, set in the 1950s, you play as an original character doing various deeds for the Corleone family after Luca Brasi. From there, you play a role in many of the key parts of The Godfather story, including the famous horse head scene and also planting the gun in the restuarant bathroom for Michael to murder the police chief and Sollozzo.

But missions is not all that you do in the Godfather. Much like the GTA games, the game allows you to roam around New York causing chaos. You can steal cars, chat with and beat up citizens, bribe police officers and even rob banks if that's what you're into. Also, you can go around town and take over businesses for the Corleone family, offering the family's protection to various shops and hotels around the city. If they refuse, then you can slap them around some or mess up their store front until they get the message. The more damage you do, the bigger your weekly cut, although if you get the store owners too riled up, they'll refuse to pay up. Not to mention that the mob family your taking the shop from won't be too happy about you nosing in on their territory, so expect lots of fights between you and the other New York families. The business takeover aspect of the game is a nice touch, however, there isn't much variety in the building interiors, as every hotel looks the same, every flower shop, every bakery, etc. Fortunately, the missions are varied enough so that you don't feel like you're doing the same thing over and over again, and the notion of taking place in some of the most famous scenes in the movie also adds to the excitement of the game.

The controls of this game are rather simple to learn and are very responsive overall, although I had some problems with a couple of actions in the game such as throwing people after grabbing them. When fighting mobsters, you can either take them on and hand-to-hand combat, which is nicely done, btw, or by using a variety of weapons from Tommy guns to Magnums to pistols to lead pipes and even a piano wire to choke out opponents from behind. The game has an auto aim feature that allows you to quickly lock on to an opponent. While combat isn't too hard, you will end up dying a lot, as oftentimes the mobsters will gang up on you and it only takes a couple of shots to put your character down. Then again, since dying really has no consequence other than costing 100 dollars for a doctor visit, it's not really a big deal. Dying in a mission also isn't consequential, as each mission has a series of checkpoints from which you can start over after being defeated.

The game allows the player to customize their character, from building their face in the beginning of the game to buying a closet full of clothes or getting one of a variety of haircuts. This is a nice touch, although there isn't a whole lot of variety of clothes to choose from. The nicer the clothes you wear, the more respect you will get. You also get respect by completing missions, shaking down business owners and taking over rackets, and even bribing cops to get you off your back. The more respect you obtain, the more ability points you get to improve your shooting and fighting skills, as well as speed, health, and street smarts. Driving in The Godfather is a mixed bag, as on one hand, its rather simple to control a car. On the other hand, it's nearly impossible to weave through traffic on the highway, so expect a lot of crashes and a lot of pedestrians being run over in the game.

The graphics in this game are solid, as everything runs smoothly and all of the characters look life like, especially Tom Hagen and Sonny Corleone. It would have helped if there were more variety in building interiors and cars, but that's a minor issue. The sound of this game is a major plus, as not only is the original Godfather theme featured in the game, but the soundtrack as a whole is both diverse and sets the tone for each game situation. The voiceovers are crystal clear, and each gun and car sounds accurate. For example, if you fire a shotgun, it sounds like a 1950s style shotgun.

Overall, unlike a lot of video games based off of movies, The Godfather is one heck of a game. Sure, it's not quite on par with the movie, but honestly very few games or movies are, and The Godfather: The Game is a great compliment to the movie and is deep enough to provide hours upon hours of gameplay. Overall, I'd give The Godfather: The Game an 8.35 out of 10. Well thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this review or this game, then share those thoughts by leaving a comment. Also, if you have an idea for a future review, then share those with me either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.

Canon Video Game Review: World Series of Poker (XBOX)

Over the past few days, I have found myself playing a lot of the 2005 game World Series of Poker for the XBOX. It is the best first-person shooting game I have ever played. Well, not really. Like you might have guessed from its name, World Series of Poker is a poker game that features the logos of the World Series of Poker and some poker professionals from the World Poker Tour. Other than Chris Ferguson, I don't know who any of the pros are, but I guess they had to be pretty successful to get into the game. Or maybe they paid somebody, what do I know? Here is the cover for the game, courtesy of amazon.com:

In World Series of Poker, the game offers four different games of poker to play. There's the most well known, Texas Hold 'Em, as well as Seven Card Stud, Omaha, and Razz. Both Seven Card Stud and Omaha also have hi-lo split versions, where the lowest and highest hands split the pot. Even though I only knew of Texas Hold 'Em when I first started playing the game, the other games are not too hard to pick up. However, the instruction book and the game itself wasn't too helpful in explaining the rules. So basically you're either left to figure it out on the fly or look up the rules somewhere on the internet. The graphics are nothing to write home about, but since it is just a poker game, graphics aren't really the most important factor. I will say that the characters look rather normal, and you can clearly see everything that is going on. The game provides commentary from poker announcer Lon McEachern, but I think he says only eight phrases throughout the game, and the commentary gets rather repetitive after the third hand or so.

The game offers a career mode where you create your own player and get 10,000 dollars each year to participate in various events, depending on the game, the type of bet (no-limit, pot limit, limit bets) and the amount of cash it takes to play each game. Of course, the big event is the World Series of Poker. Although it's a rather simple career mode, I have found it to be quite enjoyable. The game also offers different poker chips for achievements on the game, such as winning tournaments, eliminating pros in a showdown, getting certain hands and also for the amount of money you win throughout your career. You can't really do anything with the chips, so it's basically like the achievements on an XBox 360 game.

The game itself moves pretty fast, so you don't waste a lot of time watching the CPU players making their decisions, unlike the World Series of Poker game for the XBox 360, which takes forever to play just one hand. The AI players range from extremely aggressive to extremely conservative, although most of the players seem to lean towards the former. This makes things rather frustrating at times, especially when they'll go all in with a crappy hand like a 7-2 or something. Of course with my luck, they'll end up getting three more sevens or something, but I digress. I will say that they are rather predictable, so an experienced poker player will be able to pick up on each player's betting tendencies early in the game. One rather annoying thing about the game is that the CPU likes to rub it in when they win, and since most characters only have about 6 or 7 lines of dialogue, you hear the same things over and over again. One guy kept saying "Trying to knock down a dinosaur" after dang near each bet he made. Not only is it a dumb thing to say, but the constant repetition finally caused me to turn the sound down and listen to some music. Luckily, the game offers the use of custom soundtracks, so you can just listen to the music stored on your XBox is the sound gets too annoying. The game also has online play available, but since I don't feel like renewing my XBox live account, I won't be playing it online anytime soon. From what I remember, it's not too bad, but a little slow and if the host leaves the table, the game automatically ends instead of the game finding another host, which kind of sucks.

Overall, World Series of Poker is just a basic cookie-cutter poker game, but it still is quite enjoyable to play, in least in my view. There are a couple of weaknesses, but overall the game moves quickly and should provide anyone wanting to play some poker a good time. I'll give the game a 6.5 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas for future reviews, or thoughts about this and previous reviews, than feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com. Now, here's a video of a lucky poker hand for Chris Ferguson: