Max Payne is an addictive game, that has action bordering on insanity.  I must admit, when I busted out the bullet-time and took down 4 guys in a matter of seconds, it was the most fun I had had in quite a long time, in terms of computer games that is.  This ultra-stylish game begins with a gruesome murder, and then snowballs into a one man versus all killing rampage.  Slow-motion deaths, bullet-time, multitudes of weapons, gigantic explosions, and just about everything else is thrown into the mix.  I have a few problems with this game, first of all the stupid just plain embarassing dialogue.  "I don't know about angels, but it's fear that gives men wings" is typical of the tripe that max spews.  This all might be a huge joke, or just the game designers trying to stay within the conventions of film-noir with the constant voiceover, but I didn't find it funny.  The other problem is the wasted characters and simplistic plot.  A revenge plot is a simplistic plot to be sure, and I was embroiled throughout most of the gameplay, it's just when it's all done, the plot should have been a little more fleshed out.  The other thing that made me mad, (spoiler ahead) was the complete waste of a female character.  She shows up about midway through, and I thought she could be a nice counterpoint to Max.  Instead you never see her again, until she is murdered near the end.  I was more than a little peeved.  Anyway, it is definitely better than the crop of mediocrity currently occupying the online landscape.  It is short, but it is a game that has quite a lot of replay value due its numerous cool set-pieces.  All in all, a worthwhile buy and one that will satisfy despite its flaws.