Mona Sax - Reception

Reception

The video game version character was critically acclaimed for being one of "relatively complex, non-stereotypical female game characters." In 2007, she was included by Tom's Games among the 50 greatest female characters in video game history, described as "a stone-cold killer who's incredibly tempting but not entirely trustworthy, the perfect female accomplice to Max Payne." In 2008, PC Games Hardware listed her as one of the most important female characters in video games. In 2011, the affair between Max and Mona was ranked as the tenth top video game romance by Joystick Division and as the sixth most disastrous game romance by GamesRadar. In 2012, David Sanchez of GameZone proposed a "a spin-off starring one of the sexiest femme fatales in all of gaming, Mona Sax": "The fact of the matter is that Mona Sax is one hell of a character — one that hasn't starred in her very own game, but one that could very well do so and deliver an unforgettable experience."

Much of positive reception came from her sex appeal, among other reasons. In 2004, TeamXbox ranked her as the tenth top "Xbox babe", stating that this "no princess waiting to be saved" had replaced their "bad girl" type "childhood crush on G.I. Joe’s Baroness." In 2006, the Polish edition of GameStar chose her to compete in the poll for the title of "Miss of the Video Game World", in which she placed 17th. In 2009, MSN included her on the list of gaming's 12 "hottest babes" and wrote "smart, sexy and dangerous" Mona was "remarkably presented in the game, being given the cold feel of a hired gun, with no regret or remorse." She was also included on the list of nine "sexiest babes" of action games by The Times of India, with a comment that she "fits in perfectly in the dark world of Max Payne". The sex scene between Max and Mona, described as "actually one of the most fitting ever seen in a video game", was ranked as the fifth top sexy moment in gaming by Games.net in 2007.

There was, however, also some negative reception. In 2003, The Village Voice called her "a woman carrying more emotional baggage than Witherspoon's Elle Woods has pink Gucci suitcases" and stated, "And Max's love interest? A contract killer who survived being shot in the head, and who you also play: Mona Sax. Who wrote this crap, Ed Wood?" In 2006, GamesRadar ranked a cheat to undress Mona nude for her gameplay sections in Max Payne 2 as the fourth rudest cheat in video games.