A Bit Closer to Heaven

[Dennis Robert Redmond]

Finally played all the way through Max Payne. Holy Finnish Sauna Serfs,
Batman -- I'm still rubbing my jaw where it, like, hit the floor (over and
over and over again). Just stunning -- my pick for the Game of 2001.
Finnish game firm Remedy does for the 3rd person shooter what Nokia did
for cellphones. It's the first videogame to integrate video techniques
directly into game design -- it looks, and feels, like a John Woo
blockbuster. The quotations from mass culture, Norse mythology, US comix,
and much else besides run fast and furious -- one long rocket sled of a
ride. And the ghosts of the Twin Towers are everywhere (watch for the
night scene close to the end). One of the first classics of 21st century
culture, coming to you live from the crime scene of Remedy in Helsinki
(www.remedy.fi).

-- Dennis