Max Payne Mobile

"Max Payne Mobile" is an arcade game with a highly-rated storyline, offering a relentless and atmospheric experience of a fugitive cop seeking to clear his name. It boasts splendid game mechanics, including signature bullet time gunplay, sharp HD graphics, and touch-screen gameplay tailored for mobile devices. Compatible with various iOS devices, it features retina-supported resolution and high-resolution textures.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 6,291 reviews

graphics232 positive mentions

stability50 negative mentions

graphics
378 mentions
61 % positive mentions
34 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising the improvements over the original PS2 version and noting that they look good for a mobile port. While some players appreciate the nostalgic feel and the overall quality, others criticize the graphics as outdated or lacking polish compared to modern standards. Overall, the visuals are generally considered decent, especially for a game of its age, but there is a desire for further enhancements and updates to fully utilize current mobile technology.
- “Graphics are top notch.”
- “The graphics are beautiful, the controls are superb.”
- “Great graphics and gameplay...possibly even cleaner than when I played it on the original Xbox and PS2.”
- “If you can get past the extremely bland graphics and dated gameplay and channel your inner nostalgia of the first time you played this game back in its PS2 days, there is fun to be had.”
- “The graphics are terrible for this day and age.”
- “The only thing I find disappointing are the graphics; I was expecting visuals from the PC version but unfortunately, it looks like a slightly better version of the PS2/Xbox version.”
story
304 mentions
64 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
2 % negative mentions
The game's story is widely praised for its engaging narrative, rich character development, and incorporation of noir elements, making it feel cinematic and immersive. Players appreciate the dark and gritty themes, often highlighting the emotional depth and suspenseful twists that keep them invested throughout the gameplay. However, some users noted issues with mission progression and controls that occasionally detracted from the overall experience.
- “The story is dark and gritty, the voice acting is iconic, and the bullet time is unbelievably satisfying.”
- “Max Payne has always been the best storyline action game I've played.”
- “The storyline is brilliantly executed in the noir style and the characters are engaging.”
- “The storyline is boring as hell... I haven't even gotten to chapter 2 and I'm seriously considering uninstalling.”
- “I could cope with the hammy story and nonsense comic book dialogue, but when I hit the dream level I got bored, endless passageways with absolutely nothing to do.”
- “The story was so sad and depressing that even I felt a bit depressed.”
gameplay
158 mentions
66 % positive mentions
32 % neutral mentions
2 % negative mentions
Gameplay reviews highlight a mix of experiences, with many praising the nostalgic feel and engaging story, while others criticize the controls, particularly on touchscreens. Customization options for controls enhance the experience for some players, but issues like awkward aiming and unresponsive weapon swapping detract from the overall enjoyment. Despite these challenges, many users find the gameplay enjoyable and smooth, especially when using external controllers, making it a solid port of the classic title.
- “Great gameplay and easy to use controls.”
- “The gameplay is simply awesome!”
- “Excellent gameplay, great in-game control.”
- “Controls are frustrating: movement is very hard to maintain straight, the fire and button controls should be available for both hands, getting stuck on the fire button quickly leaves you with empty clips, gameplay implies heavy usage of quicksave so it should be available on the HUD.”
- “This is a painfully tedious port; the controls for swapping weapons, either by swiping the weapon icon or going through the weapon menu, are unresponsive. The auto-aim, which is necessary to hit anything, ignores enemies right in front of you to shoot someone in the background, which can get you killed. The lighting often obscures important parts of the environment, the AI is brain-dead, the gameplay is repetitive, and what really frustrated me was the trial-and-error instant death.”
- “Gameplay problems: this is just awkward to play. It's about as good as you could get it, given its touch-only controls, but this isn't really very fun to play.”
stability
98 mentions
47 % positive mentions
2 % neutral mentions
51 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with many users reporting occasional glitches, sound issues, and freezing during gameplay, particularly on certain devices. While some players experienced smooth performance with no significant problems, others faced frustrating bugs that hindered progress, especially during critical moments. Overall, the game's stability appears inconsistent, varying widely across different devices and user experiences.
- “The game looks great, runs great, and is pretty easy to control.”
- “Completely solid, no glitches.”
- “Absolutely amazing agility for a phone game... good graphics and smooth gameplay... no glitches yet, very good buy.”
- “Did have several glitches happen that would not allow me to continue, but thanks to lots of saving, I loaded up a previous save and went right past the problem areas.”
- “I bought this game ages ago and have only got round to playing it recently. I was in the middle of the first chapter on the 6th mission and I jumped from the rooftop into the building to chase after the guy I'm meant to kill. After the cutscene, the game glitches, leaving a scene of the door you are just about to enter. The game then freezes.”
- “Unfortunately, it's too buggy and the screen keeps stuttering and then goes black, and I have to quit out.”
optimization
50 mentions
74 % positive mentions
20 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization varies significantly across devices, with many users reporting smooth performance and great graphics, particularly on newer models like the Nvidia Shield and Samsung Galaxy series. However, some players experienced issues with touch screen controls and occasional bugs, indicating that while the game is well-optimized for many devices, it may not perform equally well on all. Customization options for controls were also noted as a potential area for improvement.
- “Perfect port in terms of performance.”
- “Everything you loved about the original is here, along with some great mobile optimizations.”
- “Great performance, great visuals, and added content makes the game perfect for Max Payne fans.”
- “Of course, the controls for the game aren't exactly optimized for touch screens since it was clearly designed with a mouse and keyboard in mind.”
- “I have a brand new Samsung Tab A 2017; it will not allow me to install any Rockstar games, and this game is the only one to say it may not be optimized for your device.”
- “Unfortunately, it's too buggy and the screen keeps stuttering and then goes black, and I have to quit out.”
music
21 mentions
43 % positive mentions
43 % neutral mentions
14 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising the soundtrack as one of the best they've ever heard, enhancing the overall experience, while others note issues such as looping tracks and audio lag. Despite these criticisms, many players appreciate the atmospheric quality of the music, which complements the gameplay and story effectively. However, technical problems, particularly on mobile devices, have led to frustration regarding sound playback and compatibility.
- “Background music, gameplay, and the story all superb.”
- “Very good, love the story; the soundtrack is great, one of the best I've ever heard. Even if I completely finished the game, I keep on coming back. Love it!”
- “The soundtrack is still as amazing as it was on the consoles.”
- “The soundtrack continues but you can't get to the gameplay.”
- “But the audio is constantly lagging and the music is skipping.”
- “Can't play music and will no longer read my SD card.”
humor
10 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in this classic game is widely praised, with many users highlighting its witty storytelling and memorable character expressions, particularly Max's face, which remains a source of laughter. Players find the gameplay amusing, especially the quirky controls and the juxtaposition of old graphics on modern devices, contributing to an overall lighthearted and entertaining experience.
- “One of the best classic games with an incredible story packed with humor, style, and bravado.”
- “Max's face is still hilarious to this day.”
- “Funny as hell, it was the most wonderful thing I can think of.”
atmosphere
9 mentions
89 % positive mentions
11 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its beautiful graphics, compelling storyline, and immersive settings, particularly the noir-inspired environment. Players appreciate the combination of excellent storytelling, character development, and engaging gameplay elements, which together create a memorable and atmospheric experience. Overall, the game's atmosphere is considered one of its standout features, enhancing the overall enjoyment and nostalgia for players.
- “Max Payne is a legend, the atmosphere and story are excellent.”
- “The atmosphere, the story, the characters... everything holds up.”
- “Very slick, atmospheric, compelling storyline.”
monetization
5 mentions
60 % positive mentions
20 % neutral mentions
20 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the game's monetization model, highlighting the absence of in-app purchases and microtransactions, which allows for an uninterrupted gaming experience. The focus on delivering a complete game without additional costs has been well-received, contributing to overall satisfaction with the gameplay and graphics.
- “Best of all... no microtransactions :)”
- “I'm very happy to play this game without any scammish DLC and in-app purchases nonsense.”
- “An engaging story, challenging gameplay, good graphics, multitude of graphics settings players can adjust to their preference, playable offline and no in-app purchases.”
- “I'm very happy to play this game without any scammy DLC and in-app purchase nonsense.”
grinding
4 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be frustratingly tedious, with unresponsive controls and a repetitive gameplay loop that often leads to trial-and-error deaths. Issues like poor AI, problematic auto-aim, and environmental lighting further exacerbate the grind, making the experience feel laborious and unenjoyable at times. While some appreciate the challenge, many feel that the overall execution detracts from the game's potential.
- “This is a painfully tedious port. The controls for swapping weapons, either by swiping the weapon icon or by going through the weapon menu, are unresponsive. The auto-aim, which is necessary to hit anything, ignores enemies right in front of you to shoot someone in the background, which will get you killed. The lighting of the game often obscures important parts of the environment, the AI is brain-dead, and the gameplay is repetitive. But what really pissed me off was the trial and error insta-death.”
- “It is just super tedious having to repeatedly start a 4-hour download.”
- “Controls are a little hard to master and the frame rate in later missions can be tedious.”
emotional
4 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players find the game to be highly emotional, with a solid and engaging story that resonates deeply. Despite some technical issues with controls, the overall experience is described as exciting and worth the investment, particularly on the Xperia Play.
- “A fantastic game and plays really well on the Xperia Play. I never played this game before, and this is as good a chance as any. The graphics are crisp, the gameplay is exciting, and the story is solid and emotional. I'm playing through part 2 and have so far not encountered any technical issues; worth the money!”
- “This is a really nice and emotional game.”
- “Very emotional game.”
replayability
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players highlight the game's engaging story and extensive gameplay, noting that it offers significant replay value, making it enjoyable to revisit. The combination of compelling narrative and solid gameplay mechanics contributes to its appeal for multiple playthroughs.
- “Not only does it have an amazing story and hours of gameplay, but it also has great replay value!”
- “Awesome shooter with fantastic replay value.”