Max Payne

[Notgoodwithusernames]

the game constantly throws ball between a nation level conspiracy and a cop drama.

Max Payne probably has one of the most realistic depictions of the illuminati ever. Like yeah they do have a great deal of influence over New York if not the country as a whole but there nowhere close to being an all powerful shadow government. Theyre also prone to constant infighting, their leader is blackmailed because he's a complete fucking degenerate and also gets the DA's assistant killed because of his clumsy attempt at fighting back against the blackmail, and the time of the first and especially second game appear to be a dying organization

 

[Thebag$$$]

Max Payne probably has one of the most realistic depictions of the illuminati ever. Like yeah they do have a great deal of influence over New York if not the country as a whole but there nowhere close to being an all powerful shadow government. Theyre also prone to constant infighting, their leader is blackmailed because he's a complete fucking degenerate and also gets the DA's assistant killed because of his clumsy attempt at fighting back against the blackmail, and the time of the first and especially second game appear to be a dying organization

i'm not sure, i've always felt that was a weak spot in the game plot. a US senator sticking his hand so deep in the mud he goes to solve stuff personally, calling max payne in person over the phone? people in the state apparatus dealing with crazy junkie lunatics? it felt like a stretch. it should be on many, many more layers than that. maybe the game's ending should be him going for jack lupino (of course the plot being stretched then), it went instead 0 to 100 real quick.

 

[Dom Cruise]

The fucking nightmare sequences where you're navigating trails of blood while listening to Max's baby's cries still unnerve me whenever I replay the game. It's such a morbid concept that you never see in modern games either. Hell the concept of a baby getting murdered at all, complete with close-ups of its (covered-up but still) corpse is something nobody would ever do today which makes Max Payne just as powerful as it was 20 years ago.


I've been playing Alan Wake recently and what surprised me was how Lake was able to seamlessly transplant his style into a different genre. It's got similarities to Max Payne for sure, but the horror genre fits Lake's writing style like a glove. Lake's got a major talent for writing stories that appear simple on the surface, but when you start peeling back the layers you find an insane amount of depth to the characters and the world.

Oh yeah, the dead baby is horrifying, it’s a shame games are so restrained now and not able to tackle as dark subject matter as they used to be able to.

 

[Quintex96]

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

The PS2 version of the first one was decent until sometime after that rooftop chase. Motion sickness-inducing framedrops everywhere. Eventually finished it on PC.

Have yet to finish the second one.

 

[Dom Cruise]

The PS2 version of the first one was decent until sometime after that rooftop chase. Motion sickness-inducing framedrops everywhere. Eventually finished it on PC.

Have yet to finish the second one.

The PS2 version of the first one I played, although thankfully I was too young to know any better (but kind of a shame because had I waited a few months I could have played it on Xbox at least, oh well)

But I did encounter a funny glitch in the PS2 version I've never seen again in the PC version that I always found funny and that's in the scene where the diner explodes I accidently got Max Payne on top of one of the hanging lamps and when he fell onto the table, a distance of about a foot, it played "the dying from falling from a high height" animation, which was really fucking funny.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

The PS2 version of the first one was decent until sometime after that rooftop chase. Motion sickness-inducing framedrops everywhere. Eventually finished it on PC.

Have yet to finish the second one.

The PS2 version was also the one I played first and it was the game that made me realize that analog sticks are way worse than mouse when it comes to shooters. That first playthrough is so strange looking back because I remember maining the shotgun, something I haven't done since because the shotgun's a mediocre weapon, but I did it because it had a bigger spread than the pistols so it was easier for me to hit things with the analog sticks. Also for some fucking reason, the default options make it so if you're looking up or down, the game will automatically re-center your view, which made the first sections in the subway a pain until I figured out that I could turn it off.

There's also the fact that the game was programmed with one running speed, so if you tapped the analog stick ever so slightly, Max would run full-tilt in that direction. This got really irritating during that hall with the explosive lasers going up and down. The timing was insanely strict because Max goes from 0 to 100 too quickly, which felt clunky on analog sticks. It didn't help in my case that my stick would get slightly stuck in one direction (and I do mean slightly) which of course meant Max running at full speed in a direction I didn't want him to go.

I somehow managed to beat it and at the time I thought it was good, but shortly after I got the PC version and never looked back.

 

[Foltest]

I remember playing through Max Payne 2 on ps2, and it was so chuggy.

 

[Notgoodwithusernames]

I have the first game on steam (I played the first one on ps4 and the second on ps2) but I heard its hard to get running

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

I have the first game on steam (I played the first one on ps4 and the second on ps2) but I heard its hard to get running

Just reinstalled it to see if you're right. The game booted up fine and it's running at 700+ fps. Only thing not working is the audio. There's a guide on how to fix any issues that pop up on Windows 10. Running 1909. Some new bugs may pop up on newer versions.
The guide
Had no audio issues on Windows 7. Strange.

Update: Cutscenes are silent so far. Gameplay still has audio. Set the compatibility mode to Windows 7 just in case.

 

[Dom Cruise]

They really need an updated re-release on GOG.

 

[Devilish Jack o Lantern]

I recently finished the Max Payne trilogy on PC. I have to say the game has aged like fine wine , the story and it’s writing is some of the most phenomenal works of art I’ve ever encountered that it inspired me to buy all of the Remedy games and play them all for the story alone . The gameplay is the most fun I’ve had all year so far . I felt like in an action movie and made me giddy every time I decimated a room full of mobsters down. I will say a big disappointment has to be 3 it just felt too...GTA for my taste ( writing wise ) but still solid trilogy .

 

[Dom Cruise]

The PS2 version was also the one I played first and it was the game that made me realize that analog sticks are way worse than mouse when it comes to shooters. That first playthrough is so strange looking back because I remember maining the shotgun, something I haven't done since because the shotgun's a mediocre weapon, but I did it because it had a bigger spread than the pistols so it was easier for me to hit things with the analog sticks. Also for some fucking reason, the default options make it so if you're looking up or down, the game will automatically re-center your view, which made the first sections in the subway a pain until I figured out that I could turn it off.

There's also the fact that the game was programmed with one running speed, so if you tapped the analog stick ever so slightly, Max would run full-tilt in that direction. This got really irritating during that hall with the explosive lasers going up and down. The timing was insanely strict because Max goes from 0 to 100 too quickly, which felt clunky on analog sticks. It didn't help in my case that my stick would get slightly stuck in one direction (and I do mean slightly) which of course meant Max running at full speed in a direction I didn't want him to go.

I somehow managed to beat it and at the time I thought it was good, but shortly after I got the PC version and never looked back.

The nightmare sequence where you're walking on those blood trails and can off into the void were also a... well, nightmare with analog sticks.

I recently finished the Max Payne trilogy on PC. I have to say the game has aged like fine wine , the story and it’s writing is some of the most phenomenal works of art I’ve ever encountered that it inspired me to buy all of the Remedy games and play them all for the story alone . The gameplay is the most fun I’ve had all year so far . I felt like in an action movie and made me giddy every time I decimated a room full of mobsters down. I will say a big disappointment has to be 3 it just felt too...GTA for my taste ( writing wise ) but still solid trilogy .

Sam Lake is one of the best writers in the business and Max Payne 1 is one of the best written games ever made.

What's always struck me is how unique the tone of Max Payne 1 is, it walks a very fine line where it's almost a parody, lines like "the sun went down with practiced bravado" are definitely meant to be somewhat tongue in cheek, it's a Finnish pastiche of American hard boiled fiction, but then you have lines like "the fear that gives men wings" which are just flat out brilliant and memorable, like my favorite, "funny as hell, it was the most horrible thing I could think of" which I still don't really understand the meaning of and yet it makes perfect sense at the same time.

So while there are mild parody vibes it's also serious at the same time, I've just never seen anything that's quite like it elsewhere, I also like how creepy the game is, you have the nightmare sequences obviously but the whole game has a creepy vibe to it even though it's not meant to be a horror game.

I also like how many layers the story has, it took me a long time to pick up on all the Norse mythology references for example.

EDIT: I see I've repeated myself a few times in this post, oh well.

 

[ZMOT]

I recently finished the Max Payne trilogy on PC. I have to say the game has aged like fine wine , the story and it’s writing is some of the most phenomenal works of art I’ve ever encountered that it inspired me to buy all of the Remedy games and play them all for the story alone . The gameplay is the most fun I’ve had all year so far . I felt like in an action movie and made me giddy every time I decimated a room full of mobsters down. I will say a big disappointment has to be 3 it just felt too...GTA for my taste ( writing wise ) but still solid trilogy .

recently finished quantum break in preparation for control, and while a product of microsofts stupid TVTVTV phase still holds up. probably the best non-linear linear shooter out there (combat feels a bit rough around the edges till you get the hang of it, but for the most part still fun). some great setpieces, but I can see people having an issue with it's visual clutter.

word of warning tho, microsoft being the little bitches they are hold the dx12 version hostage to their own store, and all the episodes have to be streamed unlike xbox where you can download them beforehand.

also, play alan wake if you haven't yet (preferably before QB)

Sam Lake is one of the best writers in the business and Max Payne 1 is one of the best written games ever made.

I enjoyed AW even more than MP1, take that as you will.

and since no one has posted it yet:

 

[Kornheiser]

Is this the Payne residence ?

 

[Devilish Jack o Lantern]

word of warning tho, microsoft being the little bitches they are hold the dx12 version hostage to their own store, and all the episodes have to be streamed unlike xbox where you can download them beforehand.

also, play alan wake if you haven't yet (preferably before QB)

already done friend ! Alan wake was fascinating but after a while it just felt like a marathon.. I started playing QB I'm actually excited to know more of it . I really like the Tv show Video game hybrid

 

[Devilish Jack o Lantern]

I held out playing 3 for a long time because I just didn't want to see Remedy's baby in the hands of someone else. It felt... gross, and that's coming from someone who loves Rockstar.

When I finally did play it, I was incredibly impressed by what Rockstar did with the series. They did a great job paying tribute to the series up until that point, but they also rightly took the series in a bold, neo-noir direction that was entirely their own. Aside from perhaps too many cutscenes (every time you walk through a door it seems like you lose control for an establishing cutscene), I can only complain that Rockstar hasnt given us Max Payne 4 yet.

the writing could use work tho " like Baghdad with g-strings" ain't exactly the most Max Payne line

 

[X Pac Heat]

I always see people bring up how Max Payne 3 was a "bomb" compared to most Rockstar titles, but I'm still dead certain it was a response to LA Noire more than anything else.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

already done friend ! Alan wake was fascinating but after a while it just felt like a marathon.. I started playing QB I'm actually excited to know more of it . I really like the Tv show Video game hybrid

Have you played AW: American Nightmare? That one was actually fun. American Nightmare is like the negative of regular Alan Wake, it's strong where AW was weak and vice versa, so it plays better and is way more fun but the story, setting and characters aren't as fleshed out.

The pessimistic and sarcastic soul of the north is a perfect fit for writing something pulpy like Max Payne.

 

[Dom Cruise]

Max Payne probably has one of the most realistic depictions of the illuminati ever. Like yeah they do have a great deal of influence over New York if not the country as a whole but there nowhere close to being an all powerful shadow government. Theyre also prone to constant infighting, their leader is blackmailed because he's a complete fucking degenerate and also gets the DA's assistant killed because of his clumsy attempt at fighting back against the blackmail, and the time of the first and especially second game appear to be a dying organization

From what I understand The Inner Circle did have national power, but they were fading and being replaced by a corporate conspiracy in the form of the Aesir corp (who, remember, are said to have plans for world domination)

It was contrasting the more old school Illuminati secret societies with more modern corporate conspiracies, which what's funny is that's probably reflective of real life lol.

the writing could use work tho " like Baghdad with g-strings" ain't exactly the most Max Payne line

" like Baghdad with g-strings" is a pretty good line though.