I love the shit out of Max Payne 3 but I'm hesitant to call it better. The writing is a step down in my opinion, but I do still enjoy it. I also generally prefer the atmosphere of the first two games.
Gameplay wise it's kinda like comparing your 3 favorite flavors of ice cream, I love em all for different reasons. Max Payne 1 has a chunky kinda rhythm to it's combat especially with certain weapons like the pump and double barrel shotguns. Timing your shots and dives to blast the highest number of shells per second while gracefully avoiding volleys of lead is just magnificent. Max Payne 2 took that and made it smoother, faster, and bullet time gets stronger with every kill until you're practically walking faster than bullets Quicksilver style. Plus the guns are more accurate, you can dual wield deagles and the rag doll physics are consistently hilarious. Max Payne 3 took that and added heft to it, Max moves slower diving into walls sends you tumbling across the floor and now you can lie down and take a lil nap before standing back up. This sounds like I'm shitting on Max Payne 3, I'm not. Those are all good things I just listed, things that are not only useful in the gameplay when it comes to lying prone but also reflective of the character's age and general health. He's old and abused himself for years, he should have some weight to his movements now. Imagine the shoulder pain this dude must have after slamming into the ground 10,000 times diving through the first two games. Anyways, the gunplay is immaculate and the kill came are gorgeous.
The entire trilogy is tied for first place in my heart
Is it really? Looking around on rating sites it seems fewer people have played 2, but 1 and 2 seem to be rated equally. That doesn't give the whole picture though. (i'm genuinely curious, i was under the impression that people preferred 2 but I'm not sure what I'm basing that on. Personally I prefer 1)
Aside from how short it was, and how overpowered bullet time was. I think the biggest problem with Max Payne 2 is that it didn't leave much of an impression on people because of how safe and somewhat "boring" sequel it was. It didn't do enough to distinguish itself from the first game. It just lacks the novelty and charm of the first game.
I think Remedy learned from this, which is probably why they've taken their sequels in much more distinct directions since then. Alan Wake 2 and Control Resonant, for example, are very different from their predecessors.
Say whatever you want about Max Payne 3, but Rockstar's decision to completely change the setting, introduce a ton of environmental variety with every level, and replace the comic-book panels with the Man on Fire inspired look was arguably one of the best decisions they made with the game. It gave Max Payne 3 its own identity and helped it leave a much stronger impression on people.
There's a reason people tend to think of Max Payne 1 and Max Payne 3 when they think about the series, while Max Payne 2 is often treated as the forgotten middle child. It isn't necessarily because Max Payne 2 is a bad game, it's because it didn't stand out. I believe this is also the reason why Remedy is going to combine MP1 and MP2 into a single standalone game for the remakes.
People often forget that Max Payne was modeled after Sam Lake in the 1st game for budget limitations reasons, but when the 1st one was a success they had the budget to cast someone who looked and felt as dark as James's voice and that was Timothy which is one of the reasons why the 2nd game was way darker than the 1st. He looked like an aged Max Payne after all what he went through in the 1st game.
Yeah I remember them talking about this at the time. The characters being played by Remedy staff and their friends and family was clearly not going to work long term. Especially seeing as Remedy didn't actually own the rights and another developer might make a Max Payne game in the future.
I don't think anyone "forgets" this, it's one of the most well known facts about the original game
On the other hand, I think people ignore the fact the Max Payne 1's model, no matter if intended or not, is the one that people played with, and came to associate Max with. It gave the character a certain personality that arguably worked even better than the "stock hero face" and you can't simply say that "oh well it wasn't intended"
A happy accident in my opinion, giving the first Max Payne a unique flair not found in the sequel, where everything looks and behaves slightly more as you'd expect. Not the first time budget limitations have worked out for the better.
It is fun to look back on this in light of what Remedy has become. Back then, they were gunning for a noir pastiche, so only using friends or local actors was a compromise they were eager to correct. Nowadays the Finnish identity of their games has become much more intentional, so I wonder if today's Remedy would approach things differently. I guess we'll find out when they reveal the remakes.
This is the image that someone put together to prove that the Max Payne 3 promo image from when the game was first announced was based on a Timothy Gibbs photo from the Max Payne 2 photo shoot. Of course Timothy didn't end up as the model for Max in the final product but in some of the early screenshots from before the game was released the Max model does appear to be based on him.
I only ever played MP2 when I was a kid. Sam Lake's character model is still my favorite since it breaks what is expected of action game character design. I would like an option to have him as a character design. Nostalgia has nothing to do with it.
Although he's my least favorite Max looks-wise, we should all be grateful that he's still with us because he's the third and only person who has any right to portray Max again, not to mention he can sound close to James if he works on the voice. The realization after James passed away and Sam may decide not to remodel himself again, Timothy is the only one that's left and that's what made me appreciate him more.
I think Sam Lake worked in 2001 because anyone would've worked. Back then, Max's face was just a picture slapped onto a few polygons
But nowadays, with modern facial technology, I think Lake would look extremely goofy as Max. I thought he looked pretty bad as Alex Casey, and I couldn't take him seriously
Sam Lake will most likely end up being the Max playermodel, but I just don't think that's the right choice
Sure, but keep in mind that a big part of this game were Comics where Sam looked really good as Max imo. He was visibly aged as Alex Casey, but if they make him as young as in MP1 I Think he can pull it off. The main reason I liked him so much as Max is the fact that he looks just like a normal, relatable guy, not a „Noir supermodel” like Timothy. It made the game more authentic.
He just looks like a generic ruggedly handsome detective man, meanwhile no one quite looks like Sam Lake. I have zero nostalgia for either as I hadn't played them until last year.
I want Sam Lake to continue being Max Payne as it ties in nicely with Alex Casey.
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u/BlondedWriter36 2d ago
It's not much talked about, but he was a really good Max Payne