Back in 2001, gamers were enjoying a generation of titles that were fun, challenging, and wholesome to an extent. We had access to games like Halo, Super Smash Bros., and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 that were making their mark in the industry. There was a demand for great games, and studios were ready to deliver.
However, there was something that developers were still trying their hand at – dark, gripping psychological games that challenged the way players experienced new settings. GTA III and Silent Hill 2 had an ominous presence in their worlds, but they weren’t exactly diving into the broken psyches of their protagonists. Rather, they were letting players explore a world filled with questions of morality and despair.
And then, Remedy Entertainment brought us a game that made us re-think our protagonists. We got a hero who was broken beyond empathy and was vengeance-driven in harsh ways.
The origin of Max Payne
The premise of Max Payne is simple – a hardened cop named Max Payne embarks on a brutal quest for vengeance as an apocalyptic blizzard covers New York City in snow. What unfolds in his story, however, couldn’t be complex enough.
When Max returns home one day, he discovers that his wife and newborn daughter have been murdered by drug addicts high on the new designer drug Valkyr. Three years later, he is working for the DEA undercover in the city’s largest Valkyr trafficker, the Punchinello crime family. After being falsely accused of killing a fellow DEA agent, Payne soon finds himself on the run from the NYPD, the mob, and the evil Inner Circle. Fortunately, he’s skilled with a firearm.
While the narrative of a cop on the verge of vengeance may not seem like something out of the blue, Max Payne’s gameplay gives players a chance to be the hardcore killer he has come to be. Whether it’s early 90’s noir films or something like The Matrix, Max Payne isn’t afraid to show off its influences. However, that adds to its endearing charm. It’s a letter of love to the classics that honors them rather than simply mimicing the hero’s journey.
Throughout the game, you get to live through Max’s pain and guilt. The meticulously crafted comic panels and rich voice-over work add to the game’s theme. You witness Max’s narrative influenced by an overarching world of crime within the different stories that shape his journey.
James McCaffrey, who portrays Max so masterfully, gives his words a whiskey-soaked gravitas. He is the stereotypical loner cop, doubling down on film noir clichés with a knowing dash of sarcasm in his metaphor-heavy dialogue.
Charmingly eerie game design
Almost mythological, or like a nightmare coming to life in Max’s shattered mind, is the depiction of New York City. The game has a somewhat dreamlike atmosphere because of the constant snowfall and deserted streets. There are multiple references to Ragnarok, the Norse catastrophe, and you truly get the sense that the world is ending.
Max Payne’s storytelling makes use of some well-versed creative freedom. A haunting melody that plays through its theme music, graphics, and artwork makes the game stand out in its original art direction. However, the Bullet Time mechanic is what takes the limelight.
During a prominent gameplay sequence, you can launch Max into a graceful slow-motion dive while in combat, which makes for some incredibly chaotic, cinematic, and bloody firefights. This is completely under the player’s control, so you don’t have to wait for a cutscene to make it happen.
It is incredibly thrilling to dive into a room and shoot down a whole squad of armed bad guys while Molotov cocktails explode theatrically all around you. Nearly 20 years later, it still looks impossibly cool.
Bullet Time is a resource in Max Payne, and managing it is key to surviving its many challenging encounters. A regular enemy can obliterate your health bar with one carefully placed shotgun blast, so you have to think before you shoot.
However, not everything aligns with your concretely dark plans. If you fail to execute a proper Bullet Time sequence (due to zero reload time), you take a bullet to the face and end up in an awkward position with several guns facing you head-on.
Remaking the masterpiece
Max Payne’s journey found its footing with many games through the course of narration back in 2001. The game saw two sequels that carried Max’s narrative forward, and both these games were well-received by critics.
Recent news from Remedy Entertainment has our love for the franchise rekindled. The studio has given an update on the progress of the planned Max Payne 1 and 2 remakes. Remedy first announced the next-generation remakes on April 6, 2022, so it has been more than a year since. According to the studio, the proof-of-concept phase is anticipated to last 3 to 6 months, with production readiness coming after. The time required for this stage can be the same. The game is scheduled to enter full production in April 2024, assuming the current and following stages each take six months.
Remedy mentioned in the review that the project’s small team is concentrating on the essential gameplay elements that made the original Max Payne games so amazing. Throughout 2023, the remakes are anticipated to advance, and the small team will gradually grow in size. It will take between one and two years to complete the production, plus another six months or so for polish.
While we can’t wait to get a first look at how the remaster would look like, we also appreciate the time taken by Remedy to polish a beloved franchise. A retelling of a dashing psychological game is just what we need, and we are willing to wait.
