[PsychoGoatee]

So Max Payne just turned 15, one of the best games of all time, still one of my favs. I don't think narrative and gameplay have ever melded quite so smoothly as in that game, just perfect in every way.

Plus it came with a mousepad! I used that mousepad for probably close to ten years. Also I was in High School at the time so Gamestop wouldn't sell it to me and my friend, but luckily nearby that mall was a FuncoLand that did sell it to us! That guy who sold it to us is cool to the max.

The game is so good, I want to bake it into a cake and eat it! That'd be the smart thing to do. Guess I wasn't that smart.

[HulkNukem]

I was debating making a thread earlier.
This game still has some of my favorite level design/real world locations.
Even though it takes place in New York, the most tired real world location in media, it doesn't necessarily feel like it does, but instead its own dark world.
I prefer the locations from MP1 with the gameplay from MP2. MP3 had waaay too many unskippable cutscenes and constantly replaced the weapon you had equipped.
I also liked the movie.

[MetHy]

I remember enjoying Max Payne but it had very little replay value. Once you beat it twice you're pretty much done with the game.

I thought the first game had better gameplay. When playing on Hard, bullet time isn't necessary at all times, it helps in some situations, and that's what makes it fun. But in 2, the balance was such that it's like you had to use bullet time every goddamn encounter. They should have subtitled it: Bullet Time Overdose. Also, to me the narrative and tone felt forced in 2.

1 still holds up somewhat, but 2 was a pure fad product of its time. Now that the bullet time fad is long gone, it feels more old fashioned than non gimmicky games that are actually older than it.

[MusicallyInspired]

I finally bought a retail copy last year. Still haven't played it. I have played the demo years ago, though. Enjoyed it. Need to get to it sometime.

[Mr. Tibbs]

Ah, Max Payne 1, the dearest of all my Max Paynes. One of the few games that exceeded my outrageous expectations I held for the prior to release. Fantastic presentation and polished, novel mechanics. The 2001-era of 3DR was when I was the most excited about the studio. They seemed to have it all: critical acclaim, enormous sales, groundbreaking graphics, and just generally trying to do new, exciting things in the PC gaming arena. I'll never forget the final MP E3 trailer. After I played the retail version just weeks later, I was totally convinced that DNF would be the best shooter of all time.



There's a neat Retro Gamer feature on the making of Max Payne hosted over on the official 3D Realms page. I would love to see that wacky alternative universe where the game shipped as Dark Justice or Max Heat!

[Micky C]

The rain was coming down like all the angels in heaven had decided to take a piss at the same time. In a situation like mine, you can oonnllyyy think in metaphors.

I had a permanent, constipated grimace on my face. I was revenge, personified.

Those in-game 'videos' were great.

Now that I think about it, I think I might actually have played the first Max Payne on the iPad rather than the PC. Not 100% sure since it was a while ago. Definitely played the 2nd one on PC though. The physics was really good.

[MusicallyInspired]

Everything good that 3DR had they've now sold all the licenses for. All they got left that might be any good is ROTT, Blake Stone, and Bombshell. Every big hitter they got rid of. It's fascinating. Obviously it was to fund DNF for the most part, but still.

[deuxsonic]

Address Unknown was my favorite story-within-a-story.



The second game was responsible for introducing me to Poets of The Fall whom I've been crazy about ever since.

[Richard Shead]

I don't think any game has quite been able to match the sheer atmosphere of the original Max. I haven't played anything - before or since- that could compare viscerally to that feeling of running through those seedy neighborhoods, run-down buildings, etc...

[OpenMaw]

MusicallyInspired, on 24 July 2016 - 07:22 AM, said:

Everything good that 3DR had they've now sold all the licenses for. All they got left that might be any good is ROTT, Blake Stone, and Bombshell. Every big hitter they got rid of. It's fascinating. Obviously it was to fund DNF for the most part, but still.

Yeah, not exactly their smartest business plan.

[Tea Monster]

I loved the original Max Payne. It was wonderous.

Flash forward to MP 3 and it I couldn't get past the first chapter. It was just Miami Vice told via a Maltese Falcon voiceover, not a video game.

Man, what happened?

[deuxsonic]

Remedy had nothing to do with MP3. I kind of wish Sam Lake had kept playing Max in the second game because even though the first game used the developers and friends and family because of the game's budget, the actors that replaced them don't look at all like the people that played them originally so it doesn't even seem like the same characters.

[MusicallyInspired]

I enjoyed the movie.

[Micky C]

deuxsonic, on 24 July 2016 - 07:35 AM, said:

Address Unknown was my favorite story-within-a-story.

https://www.youtube....h?v=ZeSHjMBp-1A

The second game was responsible for introducing me to Poets of The Fall whom I've been crazy about ever since.

I'm still confused about that. Was the guy on the phone at the end actually someone else, or is he just hearing voices now? Or is it meant to be ambiguous?

[Jeff]

I had an itch to play Max Payne a week ago. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it working on Windows 10 for some reason. Works on Windows 7 though.

[deuxsonic]

Micky C, on 24 July 2016 - 08:21 PM, said:

I'm still confused about that. Was the guy on the phone at the end actually someone else, or is he just hearing voices now? Or is it meant to be ambiguous?

He is John Mirra -> john mirror -> mirror in the john -> staring at himself in the bathroom mirror. He did all those things/hears voices/is delusional because he's a paranoid schizophrenic. It just kind of ties everything together at the end or confirms what you already suspect by him admitting that they're the same person which means when he hears himself, then the things the doctors were saying were true and as is typical of schizophrenics, has delusions and thinks he's fine and that the doctors are the crazy ones (the movie A Beautiful Mind is a good example to watch of paranoid schizophrenia even though it's not entirely factually accurate in terms of what John Nash's own delusions were like.)

The interesting bit is the poem that Sam Lake wrote that encorporates a bit of this that became Poets of the Fall's first single, Late Goodbye, that you hear at the end of the game. Sam Lake plays John Mirra in the Address Unknown episodes and Marko Saaresto (lead singer for POTF) plays the doctors and also narrated the first episode of it in the first game (he also played the part of Vladimir Lem in the first game.)

[Jim]

Is there a First person Mod for Max Payne 3? I know there are mods for MP1 and MP2.

[Jblade]

Micky C, on 24 July 2016 - 08:21 PM, said:

I'm still confused about that. Was the guy on the phone at the end actually someone else, or is he just hearing voices now? Or is it meant to be ambiguous?

you're not supposed to 'get it', it's pretty much David Lynch - I get the feeling you'd fucking hate his work

[deuxsonic]

[PsychoGoatee]

I've actually been rewatching Twin Peaks recently, love that show (and Lynch in general)! Pumped for the new season on Showtime next year.

Sam Lake (of Max Payne fame) is such an excellent writer, I'd love to see him write some kind of crazy TV mini-series or something.

[Jblade]

PsychoGoatee, on 22 August 2016 - 10:47 AM, said:

I've actually been rewatching Twin Peaks recently, love that show (and Lynch in general)! Pumped for the new season on Showtime next year.

I watched it for the first time recently and really enjoyed it; I heard before that season two has a dip in quality and I do agree in some regards but still enjoyed my time with it. I also liked Fire Walk with me but I was prepared before going in so I knew what to expect.

[Jimmy]

The problem with Season 2 is half of it was meant to be a spin-off show.

I recommend scooping up Northwest Passage (the whole series cut into a 5 hour movie, focusing mostly on the Laura Palmer mystery and not much else) and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me - Teresa Banks and the Last Seven Days of Laura Palmer which is basically a fan-edit that's closer to the script with a lot of cut scenes added back in.

[PokeThePower]

deuxsonic, on 24 July 2016 - 03:16 PM, said:

Remedy had nothing to do with MP3. I kind of wish Sam Lake had kept playing Max in the second game because even though the first game used the developers and friends and family because of the game's budget, the actors that replaced them don't look at all like the people that played them originally so it doesn't even seem like the same characters.

Sam will always be the real Max.

Sam and Max.

Huh.

Jblade, on 22 August 2016 - 10:50 AM, said:

I watched it for the first time recently and really enjoyed it; I heard before that season two has a dip in quality...

Right about the point Lynch knew inside it was done for.

Even if you really "want to" you just can't pull the best stuff out of the zone unless you are totally at ease.

I give the whole crew credit for wrapping up as strongly as it did.

[Malgon]

I haven't watched Twin Peaks in quite a few years now, but I'd probably still call it my favourite show. I'll definitely be rewatching it before the new one airs next year. Can't wait!

On the topic of Max Payne, I remember getting hyped from reading all the previews (and repeatedly watching the awesome E3 trailer) for the game and then playing the demo on my dad's computer because mine was way under spec. Once I played the full version I had a great time and really enjoyed the solid gameplay and the overall presentation. It's been a couple of years or so since I last played it, so I'm probably due for another go.

Quote

...That guy who sold it to us is cool to the max.

I see what you did there.

[deuxsonic]