Rockstar

Vice City, the sequel to last years seminal Grand Theft Auto III (GTA3), gives players rational, legal means to act out their bloodlust. All that stuff about being your own character in these games is bull. The game is specifically designed to enact violence.

Looking at Max Payne, Im going to have to agree with nearly every point James made in his review, especially his view that the game falls short of being an "amazing, breakthrough" title. Is Bullet Time cool? Hell yes. Is it enough to carry an entire game? Hell no.

Game Description: Like Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto III, State of Emergency offers the player virtually unlimited scope for mayhem, and huge, sprawling urban environments to explore through missions or nonlinear action. But this time the level of chaos has been upped considerably, as the game offers the potential for hundreds of rioters to be onscreen at once, each with his or her own AI, set of motivations, and loyalties. The environments are intricately interactive; almost any object (including body parts) can be picked up and used as a weapon.

Given Rockstar's recent list of titles (Grand Theft Auto III, Max Payne and Smuggler's Run 2) and its latest PlayStation 2 venture, State Of Emergency, the company could be accused of poisoning the minds of young generations with videogames focusing on criminal and deviant behavior. While it may not be subject to legal "bad tendency," State Of Emergency outlines another kind of bad tendency among game developers: the tendency to stick over-the-top violence into videogames, for lack of more creative concepts.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood and Gore, Violence

My first impressions of State Of Emergency were favorable. At the time, I was still being amazed with everything Grand Theft Auto III (GTA3) had to offer and the idea of a game similar (or so I thought) to Rockstars crime simulator in which the main theme would revolve around riots rather than car thefts seemed promising and original. Unfortunately, one problem in particular brought all my positive expectations to an abrupt end: having actually played the game.

Game Description: Max Payne is a stylish, urban, revenge-driven action game based in New York City's grimy underground. A groundbreaking rendering engine allows for heart-stopping, photorealistic visuals and breathtaking movie-quality effects as Max Payne fights his way to uncover the truth. The game combines elements from Hollywood action thrillers with the latest in video game technology to deliver a highly original gameplay experience.

Max Payne is certainly not a first-person shooter, but there are several things that make it a rather "distanced" third person shooter.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Violence

Game Description: You've been betrayed and left for dead. Now you're taking revenge, unless the city gets you first. Mob bosses need a favor, crooked cops need help, and street gangs want you dead. You'll have to rob, steal, and kill just to stay out of serious trouble. Anything can happen out here. Grand Theft Auto III features a fully 3D living city, a combination of narrative-driven and nonlinear gameplay, and a completely open environment.