Max Payne (video game)

Did You Know?

• A Dreamcast version was planned but canceled due to the console's discontinuation in 2001.
• A loose film adaptation starring Mark Wahlberg as Max Payne was released in October 2008.

Plot

Max Payne, a former NYPD officer turned DEA agent, seeks vengeance after his wife Michelle and newborn daughter Rose are murdered by junkies high on the drug Valkyr. Three years later, in 2001, Max works undercover in the Punchinello Crime Family, which controls Valkyr trafficking. His DEA colleague B.B. arranges a meeting with Alex Balder, but Max becomes involved in a shootout with mobsters and Alex is killed by an unseen assassin who frames Max.

Hunted by police and mobsters, Max pursues Vinnie Gognitti to find Jack Lupino, whom he kills after interrogating Gognitti. He then encounters contract assassin Mona Sax, who drugs him with Valkyr; Max experiences a nightmare of his family's death before being captured and tortured, but escapes. Partnering with Russian mobster Vladimir Lem, Max secures weapons from a cargo ship and attempts to trap Don Angelo Punchinello, but is ambushed. After escaping, Max storms Punchinello's manor and learns the Don is a puppet in a larger conspiracy; mercenaries kill Punchinello and inject Max with a Valkyr overdose, leaving him for dead.

Development

Remedy Entertainment began developing the idea for a third-person action game in late 1996 after completing Death Rally, inspired by Loaded and the success of Tomb Raider, though they sought to avoid its camera system. Writer Sam Lake started with the archetype of a hard-boiled private eye for a deeper, more psychological story. A prototype and design document under working titles Dark Justice and Max Heat were shown to 3D Realms, leading to a development deal.

In 1999, designers traveled from Finland to New York with ex-NYPD bodyguards to research environments and take photographs. For cutscenes, comic panels with voice-overs were chosen over fully animated cinematics for cost-effectiveness and to allow player interpretation; the in-game engine was used for action sequences. Music was composed by Kärtsy Hatakka. The game used Remedy's in-house MAX-FX engine, in development since early 1997, which was also licensed to Futuremark for their 3DMark benchmark series.

Reception

Max Payne received positive reviews. AllGame praised its atmosphere, level and sound design but found the story predictable and clichéd, criticizing the graphic novel panels and mediocre dialogue, and noted a lack of replay value or multiplayer. Edge praised the bullet time integration but criticized linear level design. Graphics were praised for high-resolution textures, though character models lacked facial expressions, with IGN criticizing Max's grimace.

The PlayStation 2 version suffered from reduced detail and slowdowns, with levels broken into smaller parts due to RAM limitations, disrupting story flow; GameSpot rated it 8.0/10 compared to 9.2 for PC and Xbox versions, calling it a port of necessity. Jeff Lundrigan of Next Generation gave the PC version four stars, calling it a blast to play despite imperfections. Max Payne Mobile received generally positive reviews, with Appolicious praising the HD graphics but noting the game's age and touchscreen control issues.