15 Jun 07
Max Payne Gaming
They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. I released my finger from the trigger. And then it was over.
From one landmark game, to another. Max Payne was created by Remedy Entertainment and set free into the world in July, 2001.
Unlike Doom, Max Payne is a third-person shooter, (the camera floats behind the character), and follows the escapades of Max, a fugitive undercover cop framed for the murder of his wife and daughter by some junkies high on a new designer drug called Valkyr. His investigations lead him into the seedy underbelly of New York's crime world. On the run from the mob and the police, he desperately tries to find out who was really behind the murders and why he was set up for a fall.
The game is set in New York City, gripped in the middle of a great snowstorm, (a reference to the Fimbulwinter). The snowstorm also acts as an excuse to keep the streets of the city free from crowds, which would have seriously impacted on the games processing needs, and wasn't truly available at the time the game was released.
On the surface, the game play is pretty much the same for all third-person shooters, you have a near-endless, (official death toll stood at 625), stream of bad guys, to reach your goal. However, the game is genuinely story driven, and more than just the "shoot everything" style that Doom follows. Each level of the game in linked by a graphic novel style, which sets this game apart from any others in the interweaving of the plot.
The film noir style of its graphic novel cutscenes, really set the scene for this game and boasts a full cast of mafia hitmen, underworld bosses, hired mercenaries, and gun toting pimps to blast your way though. Taking place in a selection of seedy hotels, grungy underground subway stations, a grimy river front, and other places you wouldn't take your grandmother too, (unless you are Wayne Rooney I guess), the game really sucks you in.
Max Payne is probably best known for being the first computer game to use Bullet Time gameplay; the Matrix slow-motion special effect, as well as being the first PC game with photo-digitized textures and radiosity lighting. This made the game look extremely realistic, as all the doors and walls and faces and clothing's materials were from digital photographs.
Although it is often seen as a real Matrix game, Max Payne is closer to Sin City, in a dark and sinister New York City, with a its dark and noir-style story-telling. For my money, one of the best action games of all time.
Max Payne was followed by Max Payne 2 in October 2003, and although it is an extremely worth continuation of the series, met with critical acclaim and an enthusiastic fanbase, the game had rather poor sales and the proposed third instalment was scrapped.
A possible film has been in development hell and is unlikely to see the light of day any time soon. Max Payne is still available on a variety of platforms, from PC, Mac, and Gameboy.