Max Payne

Name: Max Payne

Platform: PC

Developer: Remedy Entertainment

Release Year: 2001

Basic Plot

You play as Max Payne, a DEA agent and former NYPD cop with a murdered family that broods over your head. You and your 9mm Beretta start unravelling a drug crime ring that ultimately leads you all the way up to the top.

What's its deal?

A 3^rd person shooter told as a black noir graphic novel with Matrix-style action that put the actual Matrix games to shame. This was THE action game of its time.

Gameplay

The gameplay was kept simple: over the shoulder camera, run around shoot bad guys, collect guns and ammo. The twist was that Max could go into bullet-time. Bullet-time made time slow down Matrix style giving Max the edge in gun battles. This was done so well that during bullet-time you could actually see each individual bullet flying out from the muzzle flashes of guns. The sounds of the action unfolding would be drowned out to distant echos by the thumping of a heartbeat. It was like the opening scene of the Hurt Locker but 10 years earlier. Of course the best use of the bullet-time were Max's 'shoot dodge' moves – Max diving through the air, spitting hot lead in super slow motion. Jizz. Shoot dodge moves made this game. Nothing was quite as satisfying as using a shoot dodge to jump into or out from cover. It made every gun battle in the game seem like a John Woo masterpiece. 

Remedy Entertainment also had the genius idea of adding a 360 degree camera pan (ala the 'Matrix' shot) whenever you paused the game. Hotkey that shit because you were only appreciating half of the game if you didn't regularly pause the action in the middle of a shoot out to take in the view.

With minimal puzzles or sub-quests this game was all about the shoot 'em up in the best possible way and lots of different ways. You ended up with shoot outs in apartment buildings, bars, snowy rooftops, warehouses, ships, mansions, factories, government facilities, skyscrapers and more against enemies that ranged from punk dealers and gangsters all the way through to special forces.

The story was solid. DEA agent investigates drug ring which unravels all the way up (or down) to top level government corruption which also ties in with the murder of his family. Bravo Remedy. But a standing ovation for whoever sacked up during a meeting and said “We're turning all the cut scenes into a black noir graphic novel”. What a gamble that was at the time and what a pay off. The developers nailed the black noir genre and modernised it which fueled the game's gritty, brooding crime underbelly tones. Special mention to the fantastic voice acting too which without, would have made the comic panel cut scenes cross over to cartoon tackiness.

Memorable moments

Replaying the game over and over again on harder difficulties and then replaying the best shoot outs within the game over and over again, pausing several hundred times to take in the 360 camera pan. Shooting your way out of the mansion level was a personal favourite.

Positives

• The action in this game was un-fucking-believable at the time
• This game was more Matrix than the woeful Enter the Matrix game. Even if ETM hadn't been a pile of turds I'm sure Max Payne would still have been better
• Excellent story told through a graphic novel voiced by a Bogart-esqe Max Payne
• Amazing replayability esp when you factor in the countless mods that people made for it on PC
• Good, lengthy game.
• The pause button. I used that button more than a horny 16 year old watching Basic Instinct

Negatives

• the 'dream' levels at the start of each chapter got a bit tiresome
• Everyone who was playing it giving you their 'how multiplayer would work' theory.
• Max's “I'm DEAD!” face looked a bit, um, constipated.

death face

Extra comments

This game was amazing. It was years ahead of its time and took artistic risks that paid off big.

They completely fucked up the movie they made of this game (with Mark Wahlberg). They tried to change the story. JUST USE THE STORY THAT IS ALREADY THERE. Goddammit, the comic panels from the game are LITERALLY THE STORY BOARDS you morons.