Max Payne
FAQ by Panda V.1.0 16-08-2001
Contact: hk_panda@hotmail.com
This document Copyright 1998 Panda

This is the first time I actually make up my mind and write a FAQ for a game, 
if there is any mistake in this FAQ, please let me know. 

CONTENT

1.	THE BASIC
-- 1.1 Control
-- 1.2 Bullet time

2.	WEAPON TIPS
-- 2.1 Melee weapons
-- 2.2. Handguns
-- 2.3 Shotguns
-- 2.4 Automatic weapons
-- 2.5 Throwable weapons
-- 2.6 Sniper rifle

3.	COMBAT TIPS
-- 3.1 Use of weapons
-- 3.2 Use of bullet time
-- 3.3 Movements
-- 3.4 Others

4. WALKTHROUGH

1.	THE BASIC

1.1 Control:

This part is pretty basic, you may want to skip it.

forward - w or up arrow
backward - s or down arrow
strafe left - a or left arrow
strafe right - d or right arrow
crouch - c or right ctrl "
jump - space or right shift
shoot - left mouse click
reload - r or number pad 0

next weapon - [ or mouse wheel
previous weapon = ] or mouse wheel
select best weapon - g
melee weapons - 1
handgun weapons- 2
shotgun weapons- 3
automatic weapons - 4
throwable weapons - 5
sniper rifle - 6

use/sniper zoom - e or enter
use painkiller - tab or backspace
bullet time combo - right mouse click or left shift
bullet time only - unassigned
shoot dodge only - unassigned
pause game - p or pause

read story - F1
show objective - F2
quick save - F5
quick load - F9

Each function can be assigned into 2 different keys. All the keys can be 
reassigned except the last 4 functional keys.

- You have to hold the crouch key to remain crouched, and you can't move while 
crouching.

- Press jump and backward/strafe left or right together and Max will perform 
an escape roll. If you want to jump back/left/right, press jump then the 
directional key.

- Press the weapon keys (1-6) to select weapons of different categories. Press 
the same key again to cycle through different weapons in the same category.

- Use the "use" key to interact with the environment, many things can be played 
with in the game.

1.2 Bullet time:

The most astonishing and important feature in Max Payne is "bullet time". 
After activating bullet time, everything in the game is slowed down except 
your mouse pointer, which means you are now aiming at slow-motioned bad guys. 
Thus, aiming is much easier in bullet time. Bullet time can be activated in 
two ways.

- By moving in any direction and mouse right clicking, Max goes into a "shoot 
dodge" in slow motion. It can be used to avoid enemy fire and firing back 
at the same time. 

- By right mouse clicking when Max is standing still, you go into full bullet 
time, everything slows down until you right mouse click again to deactivate 
bullet time or after you do a shoot dodge, bullet time will automatically 
be deactivated.

Bullet time is not unlimited, the hourglass beside your health indicator shows 
how much bullet time can you use. A shoot dodge costs about 10% of the maximum 
bullet time charge, full bullet time will drain the charge continually until 
it is deactivated. The bullet time hourglass is refilled by killing enemies.

Max will perform an escape roll instead of a shoot dodge when you right mouse 
click with directional keys without any bullet time charge.

You may want to assign a key to the "bullet time only" function, which enables 
you to activate full bullet time without the need to stop, stand still then 
right mouse click so you don't make a shoot dodge instead.

2. WEAPON TIPS

There are totally 15 different weapons divided into 6 categories. Press 
"1"-"6" to select the weapon of your choice, using "[" and "]" is just way 
too slow. 

The numbers in brackets after the weapon's name indicate the amount of ammo 
it can hold. E.g. Beretta (18-162) means the Beretta holds 18 bullets in one 
clip and you can carry at most 162 Beretta bullets (including the clip inside 
the gun) in your arsenal.

For more tips about using the weapons, please refer to part 3 combat tips.

2.1 Melee weapons:

- Water pipe (unlimited)
- Baseball bat (unlimited)
You will not use them too often, because you'll have plenty of ammo for your 
firearms most of the time in the game. They are best used to break boxes and 
locks. Anyway, they are powerful weapons, both can kill a guy in 2 hits.

2.2 Handguns:

- Beretta (18-162)
It is the gun you start with, and it is satisfactorily efficient. You will 
very likely never use it again after you've got the Desert Eagle or Dual 
Berettas.

- Dual Berettas (36-162)
Once you get a second Beretta, you can use Dual Berettas. With two guns firing 
at the same time, you are doing double damage, but more importantly, they 
provide some suppression fire.

- Desert Eagle (12-48)
The Desert Eagle fires a bit slower than the Beretta but with much more power. 
A drawback of the Desert Eagle is the small amount of Desert Eagle ammo you 
can carry. You will always need to find replenishment for it if you use it 
a lot.

2.3 Shotguns:

- Pump-Action Shotgun (7-80)
With the Pump-Action Shotgun, you can kill a guy in close range in one shot. 
It is useful in almost every situation, especially in close quarter combat, 
but it needs quite some time to load between every shot. It shares ammo with 
the Sawed-Off Shotgun.

- Sawed-Off Shotgun (2-80)
It can fire 2 shots successively, but after that, you need to reload, which 
can be quite a trouble when you are facing a group of bad guys. The good thing 
is, you can quickly send a guy a second shot in "bullet time" if the first 
one fails to kill. It shares ammo with the Pump-Action Shotgun.

- Jackhammer (20-110)
The Jackhammer is the combination of the good things the other two shotguns 
have, large ammo limit with auto reloading, meaning that you can fire 12 
successive shots. Too bad you only get it fairly late in the game.

2.4 Automatic weapons:

- Ingram (50-300)
The Ingram fires so quickly that you will empty the 50 shots in seconds. The 
ammo is not deadly, but the speed is. When the enemy is getting hit, he can't 
fire back, it is like having suppression fire covering in combat.

- Dual Ingrams (100-300)
Just like the relation between the Beretta and Dual Berettas, Dual Ingrams 
doubles the damage of the Ingram and it is the best weapon for suppression 
fire in the game. Just point the guns at the unlucky target and watch taking 
dozens of bullets before he dies...

- Colt Commando (30-150)
Another good-for-everything weapon in the game, it has both the firing speed 
and firepower you need to take on the toughest guy. Use it any way you like, 
just keep in mind that the 150 bullets is not that many, always look for 
replenishment.

2.5 Throwable weapons:

- Grenade (1-10)
It is best used when you are facing enemies who are taking cover behind boxes, 
tables or the bar, or firing at you from inside a room. Just remember to aim 
above the guy and remember that the grenade will bounce a bit after hitting 
things. You cannot use it with "shoot dodge".

- Molotov Cocktail (1-5 < - I'm not too sure about this)
A petrol bomb that spreads into flame upon hitting anything. You can't kill 
a group of people, which you can with a grenade, with it, but it is also unlikely 
you'll burn yourself with it. You cannot use it with "shoot dodge".

- M79 (1-10)
It is not really "throwable", but the M79 grenade launcher is extremely useful 
when you need to handle a group of bad guys who are positioned close to each 
others. The grenade fired will explode upon contact and blow things up like 
a hand grenade. You can shoot dodge using the M79, making it easier for you 
to aim, and less likely to get hit compared with using the hand grenade, it 
also has a longer range. The only drawback is that the grenade doesn't travel 
in a parabola like the hand grenade, so you can't kill people behind a wall 
with it.

2.6 Sniper rifle:

- Sniper Rifle (5-20)
Press "E" when equipped with the Sniper Rifle to active "Sniper Zoom", which 
is about a 2x zoom I think. Needless to say, the Sniper Rifle is best used 
to take care of enemies in long range. Aim for any part of the target's body 
and you can kill him with one shot most of the time, not including bosses. 


3. COMBAT TIPS:

Gun fighting is almost the only thing you'll do in the game, but that doesn't 
mean it would be boring, because of the bullet time function, you can enjoy 
performing cinematic shoot dodge and watch bullets flying around in Matrix 
style. I'm now going to share some of my experience about combating in the 
game with you, hope that helps you playing and enjoying the game.

3.1 Use of weapons:

- Always reload! Since it won't waste the remaining bullets in the half-emptied 
clip when you reload before using up a whole clip, always reload when you 
have time. Reloading in the heat of a battle is pretty dangerous.

- Try to make headshots! Not only do headshots save you ammo, they save you 
time. Dropping enemy fast means safety for you. Shooting a guy at the head 
or somewhere near the neck will most likely kill he in one shot. Or if you're 
close enough, one shotgun shot will also kill, and that doesn't really need 
to be at the head.

- The Pump-Action Shotgun is a versatile weapon, you can even use it in long 
range, but using it with shoot dodge tends to be risky. Because of the large 
amount of time it takes for the shell to load between each shot, you can fire 
at most two shots during a shoot dodge, one as soon as you jump and one after 
you've landed. However, you don't have much time to aim the first shot this 
way. So usually, you shoot only once with it during a shoot dodge. If that 
one shot hits, it will often kill. But if it misses, you are lying right in 
front of the enemy. Using the Sawed-Off Shotgun will give you a second chance 
during a shoot dodge.

- Suppression fire is deadly! In group fights, suppression fire means gunfire 
that keeps the enemy busy taking cover instead of busy firing, so other team 
members can move from one cover to another without worrying about getting 
hit. In Max Payne, I mean gunfire that keeps the enemy busying making the 
"I'm hit!" pose instead of returning fire.

The Dual Ingrams are perfect at suppression fire, and even a single Ingram, 
the Colt Commando and Dual Berettas are good choices, provided that the bullets 
are hitting instead of missing the target. The Dual Ingrams is fast enough 
to keep even bosses from recovering from hits. Combined with bullet time, 
you can really keep hitting a guy until he's dead without much trouble. Just 
beware of any other enemies around when you're forced on one guy.

3.2 Use of bullet time:

- How to use shoot dodge efficiently? Keep in mind that after doing a shoot 
dodge, Max need some time to get up from the dive, and that's when he is the 
most vulnerable because he's a non-moving target.
    
It is the best if you can shoot dodge from one cove to another, but you don't 
always get that chance. You should avoid shoot dodging into an open space 
when there are more than one enemy, because even you can kill the one before 
you, there will be others shooting at you when you're getting up.
Try to shoot dodge only when you can dive for some cover.

3.3 Movements:

- Take cover! Yes it is not Rainbow 6 but taking cover still helps in Max 
Payne, don't you see how the bad guys run for cover during a fight? Sometimes 
crouching behind a box provides you with just the little protection you need 
when you're reloading you gun and getting ready for the next shoot dodge. 

It is especially important to take some cover late in the game, when you are 
facing groups of bad guys with colt commandos. Even bullet time can't   save 
you when the enemies are firing at you from different directions. That's when 
you should take cover and get them one by one.

- Don't just rush into rooms! It is especially often late in the game that 
enemies are waiting behind doors. If you rush into a room, you'll often get 
bullets right in your face. Instead, just open the door and move away, see 
if anyone is inside the room. Even there is no gunfire, that doesn't mean 
there is no one inside. The enemies are clever enough to wait until you enter 
the room before firing. To play it the safest way, move a bit into the room 
then quickly walk/roll back, very often you will then hear them firing, and 
if you're luckily enough, some of them may come out of the room trying to 
get you. You, of course, are just waiting to shoot them right in the face...

If the enemies inside a room don't come out, you may try to throw grenades 
inside. Shoot dodging into a room is kinda foolish, you will get shot to death 
before you land way too often. Try to lure the enemies to fire once before 
you actually enter a room, then activate bullet time so you can handle each 
of the enemies with the greatest efficiency.

3.4 Others:

- About one five of Max's life will be slowly replenished by itself when the 
health indicator is all red but Max doesn't die.

- The quick save/load function is so convenient that you should always use 
it. Sometimes it's just all about luck getting hit or not, it may not have 
to do with your skill. Quick save before entering a room, opening a door or 
making a jump, it doesn't hurt quick loading a lot, because Max dies as easy 
as the enemies, especially late in the game, very often you either don't get 
hit or you take one shot and die. It's not "you're so tough but you still 
need to use the load/save trick?"

Anyway, play the 3rd difficulty level will limit the number of saves you can 
make in a chapter, that's some challenge don't you think? 

4.	WALKTHROUGH

Max Payne has a good story with twists and turns, but the game itself is not 
filled with puzzles and riddles. The maps are not hard to navigate, paths 
are easy to find and the few puzzles are not meant to be tricky at all. You 
can definitely finish the game no sweat without this so called walkthrough. 
But since I like the game a lot, I just want to write about it.

The walkthrough shall be added soon.


