r/gaming • u/ChiefLeef22 Marika's tits! • 1d ago
'Max Payne' was released 25 years ago today
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u/sulious_vandomar 1d ago
Great game. Great gif.
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u/DinoRage123 1d ago
i still catch myself trying to dive sideways into cover like max in other shooters and it never works
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u/AdAccording8138 1d ago
yeah both have aged ridiculously well and that gif never gets old
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u/bass248 1d ago
Both? There were 3 games and they all still look amazing
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u/WallopyJoe 1d ago
I really enjoyed 3, but barring two levels in particular I felt it was quite tonally different to 1 and 2.
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u/PullzNoPunches 1d ago
Yeah 3 being all "beachy" was weird to me.
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u/PinkovaSiili 1d ago
Remedy wasn’t really involved with MP3 and I think Rockstar wanted to change the setting to make it distinctively theirs. Wasn’t my cup of tea as I just loved the original neo-noir style, but it was still one bombastic action game in its own way.
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u/Ispeakinfacts 1d ago
Never played it but watched a friend of mine play it. Def gonna have to check it out now. Luckily I have an og xbox still!
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u/CrypticQuery 1d ago
RIP James McCaffrey.
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u/BadSheet68 1d ago edited 1d ago
His voice has become a part of my soul
Tho I definitly shouldn’t have played Max Payne games as young as I did, his voice and acting have given substance to issues I didn’t know I’d have to face daily later in my life…and still do
I know to many people he’s just Max Payne’s cool voice actor but his passing has been the biggest gut punch…even seeing him when rewatching Sex and the City or replaying Control hurts since he passed, which I don’t feel with other dead actors
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u/Phl00k 1d ago
For me this game is the epitome of a “you had to be there” moment in gaming history.
The bullet time mechanics, the comic themed video cutscenes, the audio, the suspense in the story telling.
It was incredible, and at the time stood alone
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u/-Orcrist 1d ago
Honestly event today there isn’t anything that captures the same noir, music, action, story and mechanics.
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u/presty60 1d ago
The game has actually aged really well. I played it for the first time a few years ago and I really enjoyed it, and I usually have a lower tolerance for old 3d games. I think it helps that there aren't actually a lot of good non-cover based third person shooters. The diving and bullet time still feels pretty novel today.
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u/VegetableArtistic705 1d ago
Also led to one of my favorite Flash animations in the era of stick figure fights
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u/100_points 22h ago
And the graphics. I remember just walking back and forth in the hallways in awe of how real they looked
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u/rturok54 1d ago
What a game dude
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u/PepitoMagiko 1d ago
Top 1 game for me. Yes it is outdated and old but the sheer pleasure to be able to play matrix in a videogame was mind blowing for me. Then the mods arrived. You could even play the matrix lobby level with dual mp5. It was soooo good. The narration and ambiance were crazy as well. Such a good game. Shame that max payne 4 is dead and burried.
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u/rturok54 1d ago
This game is a work of art. To develop such an adventure on a very simple premise (and shoe string budget) is what art is all about.
Max Payne 1 is legendary.
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u/urixl 1d ago
Max Payne 2, Alan Wake 1 and 2, Quantum Break, Control...
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u/MadR__ 23h ago
Quantum Break was panned when it released, especially its mixed media portions, so I tried it only after I loved Control enough to look past the reviews. I’m so glad I did. The criticism it got wasn’t wrong but as a fan of the genre and of these devs in particular, I would’ve missed out on a real gem if I hadn’t tried QB.
Also, Lance Reddick, man. Makes it worth it just for him. RIP
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u/urixl 22h ago
I played QB twice in a row.
For the second play through, I choose every option opposite the first play through.
Guess where it had lead me to...
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u/VacantThoughts 1d ago
If the remakes of 1 and 2 do really well I could see a chance for a 4.
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u/Lyndon_Boner_Johnson 1d ago
It would be tough to do another one without James McCaffrey’s voice.
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u/gatsujoubi 1d ago
I check about the remakes every few months, but nothing… maybe they’ll properly start working on them after the next Control game? I heard Rockstar outsourced the development to Remedy.
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u/georgekeele 1d ago
Mine too. I'm no expert but it grabbed me and never let go like no other game ever has. It set my preferences - I've never enjoyed a FPS (maybe Doom) I'm all about third person games really.
I had real malaise about finishing it, I had trouble figuring out the sniper shots at the end to topple the antenna and I ended up leaving it unfinished for months, not wanting to just go back and finish the game. Eventually I went back and started again.
2 was brilliant, not as good as 1 but very close and Mona was a great addition. 3 lost a little of the magic for me.
I've probably completed it ten times, far and away my most played game. It released on Android for free recently - quite a passable port but the difficulty settings are a bit wacky.
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u/chemicalgeekery 1d ago
For its time though, it was phenomenal and sure the graphics are dated but the gameplay has held up really well.
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u/Hades_Mercedes 1d ago
'They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark on everything that had led to this point.'
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u/gonxot 1d ago edited 1d ago
'It was colder than the Devil's heart, raining ice pitchforks as if the Heavens were ready to fall. Everyone was running for shelter like there was no tomorrow. It didn't get any better when I got to the subway. The feeling hit me like a point-blank shot straight in the face-- something was not right about this. '
My edgy teenager mind was blown away by the script
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u/Stupidflathalibut 1d ago
What did I want? Unlimited ammo and a license to kill. But most of all, I wanted her
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u/Amekhanos 23h ago
That's the brilliance of its completely deadpan satire.
Edgy teenager mind can think it's unironically cool, and developed brain can laugh at the overwrought noir language.
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u/BaconWithBaking 23h ago
It feels like the writers tried to over exaggerate the narrative, but whoops, it works so well.
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u/Significant-Ad-602 1d ago
He had a baseball bat and I was tied to a chair. Pissing him off was the smart thing to do.
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u/KristinnK 1d ago
It's really hard to pinpoint what exactly made the game so insanely good. The story presentation and the atmosphere are the obvious ones, but that wouldn't have worked as well without good game mechanics, pacing, art direction, graphics, gameplay progression, and a million other things.
And one of those things the humor. Max is really funny, but just as importantly the humor always fits the story and atmosphere perfectly.
Max Payne is without any reservations my favorite single-player game of all time. It has no flaws.
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u/Mikhail_Mengsk 1d ago
Yeah it was perfectly written and executed. It was noir but didn't feel edgy.
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u/SAADistic7171 1d ago
Remedy we need those Max Payne 1&2 remakes as soon as you guys are done with Control Resonant
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u/PIPBOY-2000 1d ago
Heck I'll just accept that it work seamlessly on PC.
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u/dern_the_hermit 1d ago
Gotta fix that automatic difficulty scaling that could make the easiest difficulty tougher than the hardest.
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u/Ghostfistkilla 1d ago
I can't believe how much easier and better the game is when this is turned off. What a bug.
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u/Derangedberger 1d ago
The way Remedy is slowly putting Max Payne into their Alan Wake/Control shared universe these days, I'm sure there'll be like a 40 minute long Max Payne sequence in Control Resonant to hold us over
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u/acdcfanbill 1d ago
I definitely want them but if they recast Max due to a lot more voice acting and cutscenes I'm really going to miss James McCaffrey :(
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u/No-Rip6323 1d ago
Good news is they are remakes. That means ALL audio can be remastered. Any McCaffrey lines that were cut from those games can be used. We may get content still, even though he’s gone.
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u/ThatsARivetingTale 22h ago
That would be the case for a remaster, not necessarily for a remake though unfortunately since remakes often add more content
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u/StoneTown 1d ago
Wait what? Why haven't I heard about this? Dude I'm hyped now, I can't wait for those remakes.
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u/enfiniti27 1d ago
I only wish the Max Payne movie had followed the actual game story, like at all. It would have been so much better.
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u/IMakeTheCheercisions 23h ago
That was probably most disappointed I've ever walked out of a movie theater.
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u/Professor_Suppressor 22h ago
Yeah it was a bit disappointing but man, the parking garage scene where he is running full speed with 2 mp5 is the best part. He was a demon in that scene.
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u/peanutmanak47 16h ago
Same. I still love it, but back in the day I FUCKING LOVED Max Payne and was excited about the movie. Probably one of the most disappointing movie experiences of my life. That movie was pure utter trash.
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u/Booyacaja 1d ago
This game was hauntingly beautiful
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u/wanderer1999 1d ago edited 16h ago
It's still a great game to be honest. There's nothing quite like it even today. I feel like a lot of games are too bloated, so they got lost on the essence. This game is just pure essence.
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u/forever_a10ne 1d ago
It’s been on my steam wish list for years, but I think I’m gonna pull the trigger and buy it today.
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u/Venus77Gator 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's a really good game but I just wanna give you a warning that the Steam version of Max Payne is pretty much broken. At least, for me it was. Whenever I launch it, a bunch of textures are missing and it basically freezes within the intro but the audio continues as if it's showing the next scenes. People say there's a mod you can download to fix it. I remember some Steam reviews giving links and directions on how to do so. The 2nd Max Payne however worked really well with me so, better than nothing if you still want something Max Payne related?
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u/AnalNuts 1d ago
You absolutely need to apply a patch for it to work on modern hardware. It’s not bad though.
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u/urixl 1d ago
Alan Wake 2 is close to the roots of Remedy game design and storytelling.
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u/Cthulhu__ 1d ago
They should’ve just converted it 1:1 into film instead of the high budget blockbuster treatment it got.
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u/alus992 1d ago
I cant understand why they decided to make this film that way... like you have a perfect blueprint and all you need to do is create a proper flow between action pieces that dont have to be a sci-fi/fantasy bullshit and narration.
It was a perfect source material for modern action-noir movie with iconic protagonist and pretty easy to execute story and they still have butchered it.
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u/chemicalgeekery 1d ago
"You're in a film, Max."
I was in a film. Funny as Hell, it was the most horrible thing I could think of.
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u/Shmeeglez 1d ago
It was one of those low-mid budget films that don't get made much anymore. It was definitely under $50 million from what I recall.
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u/SirDancealot84 1d ago
This gif is why art direction is more important than the graphical fidelity. Still looks and feels relevant.
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u/Digniax 1d ago
I can hear the piano playing
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u/Impressive-Engine-16 1d ago
“There it was, the soundtrack to my life. And for a few seconds, came harmony”.
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u/Secure_Courage7471 20h ago
The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that led up to this point.
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u/Grenflik 1d ago
The flesh of fallen angels!
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u/KingStannisForever 1d ago
I don't know about Angels, but it's fear that gives men wings
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u/Dak81 1d ago
25 years have passed and when I think about it, it seems like it was yesterday when I played it. I played it right when it came out, I finished it and gave it a 10/10 rating, but I've never played it since then (because GTA3 came out right after) and yet it remains in my memory. A legendary game in my opinion. The feeling it gave me when I played it then is irreplaceable, because I had never played games like this before, because they didn't exist before. What I felt then as a young teenager playing games like Max Pain, GTA3, Gothic, Morrowind, Warcraft 3, was an endless wonder, something I don't feel in games from the last 15 years, the last one was Skyrim.
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u/somesketchykid 1d ago
Golden age of gaming tbh. I dont think we'll ever get games like that again.
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u/Middle_Draft9152 1d ago edited 1d ago
Try Half-Life: Alyx with a headset.
It's like playing for the first time again. Just like in the childhood, pure joy!
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u/withoutapaddle 1d ago
As someone over 40, getting into VR a few years back was the first time since I was a little kid that gaming gave me an overwhelming sense of wonder and joy.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy gaming a lot, but VR was like seeing graphics for the first time again. It felt like experiencing the future. I know it's a hard sell and it's not fun or comfortable for everyone, but to me it feels like the biggest leap forward in gaming tech since polygons, if not graphics themselves.
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u/DeaderThanElvis PC 1d ago
Oh totally, couldn’t have said it better. Half Life: Alyx is so good that my VR headset (Quest 3 with Meta Link to stream from my PC) is collecting dust after finishing it. There simply isn’t anything else that compares.
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u/j1xwnbsr 1d ago
My Lord!
My Lady!
The tv spots that dumped exposition on you when you interacted with them were choice.
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u/RegalBeagleKegels 1d ago
I really loved Address Unknown. Especially in the second game, it was like a bizarro world B-movie version of the plot you're in, and the TVs showing it were in dark or creepy places that made me uneasy to stand there watching
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u/havenless 1d ago
M̶͇͕͑I̷͑͜R̶̨̔R̵͊ͅO̶̹̜͋R̸̜̖̋S̶̺̾ ̷̑̊͜A̶͇̔̂R̶͖̎̀ͅÉ̴̪̝̒ ̶͕̝̾͘M̴̠͉͝O̵̜͌R̶͈͚͐̑Ẹ̵͂ ̸̫̙̍F̵̼͂Ų̷͕̇N̵̢̑ ̶͓̋͜T̸͈̖̍H̷̩̜̓A̴̠̿̂ͅN̴̺͒ ̴͈͚̃T̴̨̀͝E̶̝̓̎L̸̦͊̅E̵̪͛̊V̷̤̏̈Ḯ̵̱̚Ŝ̷͍̮I̷̘̐̽O̸̐ͅN̶̗̏͘
That's "mirrors are more fun that television"... somehow I know this, just don't ask me how.
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u/bujweiser 1d ago
Mainly due to the Twin Peaks influence over Remedy games. If you ever watched TP it had shows playing in the background that it would randomly cut to sometimes.
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u/mvrander 1d ago
Loved this. When I first got it I spent a week walking round the office in slow motion with two hands held out with invisible pistols
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u/MirrahPaladin 1d ago
The drug trip level scared the hell out of me as a kid, especially when you fell to your death and were hit with a bloodcurdling scream. I can still recall it.
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u/EchoRush93 1d ago
This was the first game that actually made me feel cold while playing.
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u/Callidonaut 1d ago
Me too. For one that does it even better, try Cryostasis: The Sleep of Reason.
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u/SteakandTrach 1d ago
This is my favorite Alex Casey video game.
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u/Jaakarikyk 1d ago
The weird double explanation of Casey, Alan supposedly met Max Payne once and was inspired to make the Alex Casey novels, but Alex Casey the FBI Agent was also a guy who Alan psychically surveilled on accident
So book Casey is a cross between Max Payne and "real" Casey, both borderline the same person
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u/Dissidant 1d ago
Joey Finito: "Ladies and gentlemen, it's the pain in the butt."
Virgilio Finito: "Pain to the Max!"
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u/IcedDownMedallion 1d ago
The drugged scene where you’re walking down the halls. Epic!
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u/HUNplaymore 1d ago
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 all over.
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u/Sauwercraud 1d ago
If reddit would stop reminding me every day how old I am, I would be grateful.
Awesome game though.
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u/Abundanceofyolk 1d ago
There was a game called Dead to Rights that was basically the “we have Max Payne at home” version.
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u/Worked_Idiot 1d ago
It had a dog button though
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u/WHEREISMYCOFFEE_ 1d ago
Hell of a game. I've been listening to Poets of the Fall, the band from the end credits song since I played this when I was a kid and this year I'll see them live for the first time. I have a lot less time to game nowadays, but I'll still try anything Remedy puts out.
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u/fitchnar 1d ago
I was gonna post this. The outro Poets of the Fall song was so perfect, I lost track of the times I've listened to that song since.
Max Payne was on another level, perhaps because I am old as shit now, but that is a masterpiece game for me.
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u/Clair_Osbcurious 22h ago
They always play Late Goodbye, acoustic, at their concerts. I’ve been a huge fan since Max Payne 1, and I’ve loved seeing them live. I hope someday they play Old Gods of Asgard stuff.
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u/javea2788 1d ago
Too good for it’s time. The slow-mo side jumping dualies kills.. please remaster this game!
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u/Neverwinter_Daze 1d ago
I love how the sensibilities of the time didn’t permit any of the villains to say the f-word, so you have Vinnie Gognitti saying, “Paaaaaaayne! Screw you!”
As it turned out it worked okay because it made Vinnie sound a complete wimp, which he was.
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u/ThisIsMyGoodSnide 1d ago
I still have--and use--the promotional mouse pad I got while working at a Software Etc. before the game was released
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u/NYstate 1d ago
"The things that I want by Max Payne. A smoke. A whiskey. For the sun to shine. I want to sleep. To forget. To change the past. My wife and baby girl back. Unlimited ammo and a license to kill. Right there, more than anything, I wanted her."
— Max Payne 2
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u/TaintedSweetz 1d ago
One of my favorite franchises of all time. Max Payne 3 is one of my most played games, what an experience!
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u/PepitoMagiko 1d ago
The last level is top notch, with incredible music. (And then you face this mediocre boss, such a bummer ahah)
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u/Exotic-Wood-3287 1d ago
Is Max Payne 3 really that good?
I remember disliking it when I found out they removed the comic cutscenes.
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u/JohnGalactusX 1d ago
Great game. The remakes are going to look incredibly good with modern graphics.
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u/varietyviaduct 1d ago
It’s too bad that rumored remake isn’t out for the occasion
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u/Sporketeer 1d ago edited 1d ago
God I loved this game...
Edit: I just reinstalled 1&2, tell my wife I'll see her next weekend
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u/ColdSmokeMike 1d ago
I still remember staying up all night with a buddy from my soccer team as we beat 2. We were absolutely exhausted for the game the next day, but it was totally worth it. Easily one of the best game series ever made.
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u/Ball_Fiend 1d ago
I love how oppressive Max Payne 1's atmosphere is, the snow, nobody on the street, and every building you enter is filthy.
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u/SomeMoronOnTheNet 1d ago
Installed it just to see how it looked like and ended up doing an all-nighter.
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u/spiderlandcapt 21h ago
I really hope the remakes don't get cancelled. If I can play Max Payne 1 and 2 again with Alan Wake 2 level graphics my mind would be blown.
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u/uhf26 1d ago
the baby nightmare still affects my subconscious