Why Max Payne is one of the Greatest Gaming Trilogies Part 1: The Night the Payne Started
I love the Max Payne trilogy. Whenever I'm feeling down or in need of some excitement, I boot up the original game and weeks later find myself viewing the credits of the third game with HEALTH's brilliant "Tears" playing. For some reason, it's one of the only series I enjoy playing back to back. All three games are short but amazing third-person shooters with excellent stories, and at the center of it all is Max Payne himself, a dark, brooding vigilante, like if the Punisher had more of a conscience.
I want to explore what it is that makes these games tick, and why they stick out in my mind after so many playthroughs and so many hours poured into three short games. And what better way to start than with the original game?
I can't remember exactly when I started playing Max Payne. All I remember is seeing various YouTubers examine the game, most notably Caddicarus's (Caddicarus'?) retrospective on the game. Looking back, he was pretty inarticulate about the game and its mechanics, but back then it didn't matter. All I knew was that this game was important and I had to try it out. So I purchased it for the PS2 and beat it in about a week. I had a lot of fun, but it was obviously a scaled-down port of the original PC release in just about every aspect. Some time later, I purchased the game again on Steam, which was when the game truly came alive for me.
In order to keep my thoughts consistent and on-topic, I'm going to categorize the elements that I believe make Max Payne what is and detail what it accomplishes in each of those areas. These categories are Story and Characters, World and Details, and Gameplay. Note that I will be discussing spoilers, so if you don't want the story ruined for you, I suggest you skip down to Gameplay.
Story and Characters
Max Payne follows the titular character as he attempts to solve the mystery behind a strange new drug called Valkyr. All he knows is that the drug was involved with the murders of his wife and child and that the local mob is selling it. Max goes undercover to try and bust up the operation, but his best friend, Alex, stumbles onto something big and ends up getting murdered. Max is framed for the murder and his cover is blown, causing him to be a target of both the police and the mob. With nothing else to lose, Max enacts a one-man war against the mob in order to avenge the death of his family and destroy Valkyr.
The interesting thing about Max Payne is that, as far as the story is concerned, it's not exactly original. In fact, the game is pretty open about its classic noir influences and love of Hong-Kong action movies such as Hard Boiled. Max himself points out how cliche his story is, as the dark brooding hero out to destroy an evil empire and avenge his loved ones, as well as his constant name-dropping of actors like Humphrey Bogart and Chow Yun-fat.
What makes Max Payne unique is the distinction between plot and story. The story has been done a million times, sure, but it's how it's told that gives the game it's true power.
The opening sequence in which Max fails to save his family from killer junkies is one of the most brilliant examples of this. The whole "murdered family" trope has been done to death (no pun intended); it's a cliche in and of itself. Not to say it's a bad cliche, it's certainly one of the best ways to get the audience to sympathize with the main character, but we've seen it all before. Max Payne is able to breathe new life into this tired plot device through the power of interactivity.
This opening segment is powerful because the player is in control the entire time. This isn't just some sequence the game shows in order to establish Max as a character, no, we're here to experience it. In a way, Max's failure to rescue his family in time isn't just his; it's our failure too. And right from the outset, we sympathize with Max as a result. We want to help him since his failure is ours too. It gives his revenge more weight to it.
It also helps that the sequence is almost literally nightmarish. The fast-paced editing, the screams, the image of your dead infant daughter...yeah, it hits really hard.
Right from the get go, we want to help Max. When his revenge finally gets underway, we too feel that same righteous fury that he does. And that, I think, is a big reason why Max is so fondly remembered by gamers after all these years. The guy lost his family and we were there to witness it. Like I said, it's the difference between story and plot; the game took this familiar situation and was able to tell it in such a new and exciting way that, frankly, not a lot of games have done since.
This is also one of the aspects I love most about Max Payne; few other games can create that sense of catharsis like this one does. There is an immense sense of satisfaction that comes with helping Max dismantle the production of Valkyr. I also love his sheer unwillingness to back down. He knows he could very well die, but that never stops him. One of my favorite moments in the game comes when Max confronts Alex's murderer, who turns out to be a crooked cop called B.B. B.B. attempts to dissuade Max from continuing his suicide mission.
B.B.: "You can't win this one, Max."
Max: "No, but I can make damn sure none of you do either."
I love this exchange so much because it so perfectly conveys Max's tenaciousness. If he's going to die, at least he will die being a pain in the ass (and yes, that is a reference to the third game).
Speaking of Max as a character, he is also one of the most richly-written protagonists in video games. Much like the classic noir heroes of old, Max tells the story through his narration, which is often laden with metaphors and detailed imagery. You get a crystal clear sense of what's going through this guy's head, which helps us connect with him. One of my favorites is when he compares himself to Superman on kryptonite about to fall through the skylight before breaking into a militia compound.
Granted, some of the metaphors are a little overblown and cheesy. One of my least favorites is when he's tied to a chair and tortured before proceeding to break out of the chair. He states, "I felt like the chair I had just broken to get free." I dunno, that's awfully on the nose.
These metaphors help present the story as Max's personal tale. As I previously mentioned, he acknowledges that his situation is a cliche, which he then follows up with, "There were only personal apocalypses. Nothing is a cliche when it's happening to you." Which is the best way to sum up his story, as a personal apocalypse.
There are other characters in the story, such as the high-strung Vinnie Gognitti, Russian gangster Vladimir Lem, and the femme fatale Mona Sax. They don't get nearly as much attention and characterization as Max, but they really don't have to. They're presented well enough on their own, with their own agendas and personalities. Max's story only intertwines with their agendas and goals when it has to. About the only character I wish got more screentime was Mona Sax; she only shows up in a couple scenes and we're told she's a badass assassin but we don't really get to see it. Thankfully, she plays a much bigger role in the sequel.
Before we move on, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up how Max Payne presents its story. The game shows the story sequences primarily through graphic novel panels. The game was made during a time when 3D graphics were still in their infancy, and in a moment of foresight, the developers realized that using blocky, ugly characters would not have told the story the way they wanted. To circumvent this, they had the development team and some janitors they knew pose as characters for the game. They would then take photos of the models and frame them as comic book panels.
For the most part, this was a smart idea; it helps the story bits age a lot better than the in-game graphics. However, none of the models were exactly professionals; Max himself was posed by Sam Lake. As a result, there are plenty of ridiculous, goofy, and over-the-top expressions.
There are other issues with this style of storytelling; most of the comic pages consist of three vertical panels, so the structure gets repetitive very, very fast. Most of the cutscenes also play the same music. It's not bad music or anything, but having the same music track play over all the cutscenes demonstrates a lack of polish.
Right from the get go, we want to help Max. When his revenge finally gets underway, we too feel that same righteous fury that he does. And that, I think, is a big reason why Max is so fondly remembered by gamers after all these years. The guy lost his family and we were there to witness it. Like I said, it's the difference between story and plot; the game took this familiar situation and was able to tell it in such a new and exciting way that, frankly, not a lot of games have done since.
This is also one of the aspects I love most about Max Payne; few other games can create that sense of catharsis like this one does. There is an immense sense of satisfaction that comes with helping Max dismantle the production of Valkyr. I also love his sheer unwillingness to back down. He knows he could very well die, but that never stops him. One of my favorite moments in the game comes when Max confronts Alex's murderer, who turns out to be a crooked cop called B.B. B.B. attempts to dissuade Max from continuing his suicide mission.
B.B.: "You can't win this one, Max."
Max: "No, but I can make damn sure none of you do either."
I love this exchange so much because it so perfectly conveys Max's tenaciousness. If he's going to die, at least he will die being a pain in the ass (and yes, that is a reference to the third game).
Speaking of Max as a character, he is also one of the most richly-written protagonists in video games. Much like the classic noir heroes of old, Max tells the story through his narration, which is often laden with metaphors and detailed imagery. You get a crystal clear sense of what's going through this guy's head, which helps us connect with him. One of my favorites is when he compares himself to Superman on kryptonite about to fall through the skylight before breaking into a militia compound.
Granted, some of the metaphors are a little overblown and cheesy. One of my least favorites is when he's tied to a chair and tortured before proceeding to break out of the chair. He states, "I felt like the chair I had just broken to get free." I dunno, that's awfully on the nose.
These metaphors help present the story as Max's personal tale. As I previously mentioned, he acknowledges that his situation is a cliche, which he then follows up with, "There were only personal apocalypses. Nothing is a cliche when it's happening to you." Which is the best way to sum up his story, as a personal apocalypse.
There are other characters in the story, such as the high-strung Vinnie Gognitti, Russian gangster Vladimir Lem, and the femme fatale Mona Sax. They don't get nearly as much attention and characterization as Max, but they really don't have to. They're presented well enough on their own, with their own agendas and personalities. Max's story only intertwines with their agendas and goals when it has to. About the only character I wish got more screentime was Mona Sax; she only shows up in a couple scenes and we're told she's a badass assassin but we don't really get to see it. Thankfully, she plays a much bigger role in the sequel.
Before we move on, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up how Max Payne presents its story. The game shows the story sequences primarily through graphic novel panels. The game was made during a time when 3D graphics were still in their infancy, and in a moment of foresight, the developers realized that using blocky, ugly characters would not have told the story the way they wanted. To circumvent this, they had the development team and some janitors they knew pose as characters for the game. They would then take photos of the models and frame them as comic book panels.
For the most part, this was a smart idea; it helps the story bits age a lot better than the in-game graphics. However, none of the models were exactly professionals; Max himself was posed by Sam Lake. As a result, there are plenty of ridiculous, goofy, and over-the-top expressions.
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| The many faces of Max Payne |
Despite that though, I think this is a bold, unique way to tell the game's story, and it does help the game's story age better. And, as I've been emphasizing, it shows the difference between plot and story, and Max Payne's plot is absolutely incredible.
World and Detail
The Max Payne series is known for its impressive environmental detail and subtle yet amazing worldbuilding. The first two games in particular were able to cultivate a richly detailed yet dark and desolate version of New York, complimenting their noir trappings.
The first game has Max travel through seedy apartment complexes, drug dens, a nightclub, and other such unsavory locations. What I love about the game is the levels are able to convey a sense of atmosphere and realism despite the levels being largely linear. Most levels have Max travel from point A to point B without much in the way of deviating off the main path. It's impressive then that they're able to feel like real locations.
The other thing that makes Max Payne special is the interactivity with the environments. Max can interact with just about anything, from cupboards and cabinets to televisions. There isn't much to be gained from it, but it's minor details such as this that help build towards a richer, more complete world.
Occasionally, Max will point out something in the environment. Interacting with what he's looking at will cause a graphic novel sequence to play, showing Max investigating what caught his attention. These are interesting segments to be sure, and they help advance the player's understanding of what's going on, but they do carry the same issues as the other graphic novel cutscenes. Not to mention, when there's multiple things in the environment to investigate it can be a bit of a pace breaker (the room before the fight with Jack Lupino is the worst example of this).
Moving from the environment, the level of detail that went into the guns deserves to be commended. Back when Max Payne started development, it had actually caught some attention for it's realistic guns. Even today, the detail that went into them is pretty cool; weapons expel bullet shells and empty magazines remain on the ground. Everything a gun would drop in real life shows up in the game. Some sequences in the game also seem to be tailor-made to show off the realistic firing, especially in regards to the pistols. Nowadays this isn't much, but back in 2001 it was certainly a big deal.
Overall, for a game made on a low budget in the late 90s and early 2000s, the level of detail that went into the game is staggering, and it would only get bigger and better with the sequels.
Gameplay
Now we get into the true meat of the game, the way it actually plays. Max Payne is a third-person shooter, and probably the first one that's actually functional and hasn't aged like cheese. There had been third-person shooters before, but due to hardware limitations and because there wasn't a set standard yet, many of them haven't aged all that well. Take the original Tomb Raider for example; it's a fine platforming game but the shooting is unbearable.
If I can compare Max Payne to anything, it's what would happen if you took a first-person game and made it third-person. Max is controlled with the WASD keys and the mouse determines where he's facing. The controls are satisfyingly responsive; Max's movement is buttery-smooth and quick. It feels good moving him around the environment and navigating him around enemies.
Aiming can feel a little strange at first. Max's aim is dictated by a small white dot in the center of the screen, but this isn't a 1:1 representation of where the bullet will go. The dot is more of a general direction than it is an exact science. Some weapons are generally more accurate than others; the Colt Commando is far more accurate than the dual Ingrams for instance. Once you realize that the dot is more of a general trajectory, the game feels like it opens up.
Speaking of weapons, Max attains quite the arsenal over the course of the game. He starts off with a lead pipe and a Beretta, but eventually you'll be wielding grenades, a Desert Eagle, shotguns, Ingrams, a Colt Commando (an M4 machine gun, just not called an M4), a grenade launcher, and a sniper rifle. Most of these weapons are incredibly useful. About the only one I never used was the shotgun, mostly because it's a horribly inconsistent weapons; sometimes it will kill enemies in a single shot while at other times it misses completely. The grenades are useful, but they have to be selected as an individual weapon, meaning you have to put your gun away to use them, which makes them less of an option during particularly difficult gunfights.
In order to regain health, Max must take painkillers. The player can hold up to 8 of them, but they don't heal Max by a whole lot and they don't work instantly. This makes using them in the middle of a gunfight not very useful since Max won't instantly gain back the health he lost. The game is overall pretty generous with painkillers; I've almost never had any lower than 3 or 4 painkillers at a time, and even during my first run of the game I never ran out.
Perhaps the most important ability Max has, and the single most important contribution the game as a whole has to the gaming industry at large would be bullet time (or slow-motion in laymen's terms). Max has two ways of manipulating bullet time. The first is by simply activating it, which has the world slow down. Max moves just as slow, but he can still fire at regular speed. Furthermore, enemy bullets are visible and can be more easily avoided when bullet time is activated.
The second, and probably more famous way is the shoot dodge. By pressing the shift key, Max will leap in any direction and can fire mid-dodge. The shoot dodge itself lasts about 5 seconds, but when Max hits the ground he will be vulnerable for a second or two, which is the difference between life and death in Max Payne. The shoot dodge is an invaluable move; it allows Max to avoid incoming bullets while stylishly returning fire. Max also cannot die during a shoot dodge; he can still take damage, but he won't die, and as a result the shoot dodge can be incredibly useful when trying to take out an enemy or two on really low health.
Both abilities consume Max's adrenaline meter. When the meter runs out, Max can't use bullet time until he gets the meter back up. He can refill it be killing enemies, and headshots add a little more. I don't think I've ever run out of adrenaline in all the time I've played the game, so it's not something I really focus on when I'm playing.
What makes the bullet time in Max Payne unique in comparison to almost every game that has utilized it since is that it is integral to Max Payne as a whole. It is practically impossible to complete the game without using bullet time, and a lot of that has to do with the game's tremendous difficulty. Max Payne is a brutally tough game, and bullet time serves as a tool rather than a crutch. It never feels like you're cheesing your way through the game because even with bullet time you can still die very easily.
I'm not kidding, Max Payne is insanely tough. For a guy named Max Payne, he sure can't take a lot of it; most of the time it only takes one well-aimed shotgun blast to kill him. The game supposedly has a dynamic difficulty system that adapts to the way the game is playing, but in reality this just means the game will ramp up to where it's almost impossible until you die a few times and the game readjusts to it. It's not uncommon to walk into a room and die instantly before you even know who's in the room.
And I love it for that.
The way I play Max Payne is that I quicksave roughly every 4 feet and after every gunfight. What ends up happening is that I'll quicksave before entering a room, die, slam the reload key, and run right back into it. This gives the game a frenetic pace similar to that of Hotline Miami. I enter a trance where I find myself repeatedly running back into the room, trying different things to kill everything in the room while taking as little damage as possible. It gets to a point where I'm not frustrated, just really, really determined. I will get through this room and I will take as little damage.
The added difficulty helps create a tense and foreboding atmosphere. Death awaits around every corner in the form of some dude with a sawed-off shotgun. The game repeatedly emphasizes how much of a suicide mission Max's quest is, and the game pays off on that by being insanely difficult. I've played the game way more times than I can count and it still provides a challenge.
There are a couple sequences that don't entirely work though. The level where Max has to sneak past some guards, armed with nothing from a baseball bat is the worst offender. The game is simply not built for stealth, and yet the game forces it upon you. I've played the game enough to where this segment is no longer an issue, but even so it's the single worst moment in the entire game due to how much it doesn't work with the game design, as well as the fact that it's intensely frustrating the first time through.
The dock level is also probably my least favorite segment in the game. The environments are just dull and the enemies here are way more difficult than any other section, primarily because most of them are armed with shotguns and can hit you a mile away. The difficulty just unfairly spikes here, though thankfully it evens out afterwards, especially since you get the Colt Commando, arguably the best weapon in the game, once you complete it.
The final level is something I want to talk about for a minute because it is probably my favorite final level in the series. I love how the game builds to it; Max spends the entire game trying to figure out who is behind Valkyr, and once he does he immediately goes to the Aesir building. This entire level is heart-pounding. This is it; Max is about to have his revenge. The emotions run high for me every time I go through with it. The passage of time and the repeated playthroughs haven't done anything to diminish the effect it has on me.
I adore the ending to Max Payne, not only because it helps wrap up the story but because the gameplay builds up to a satisfying conclusion as well. It's one of my favorite final levels, period. It's up there with the likes of the original God of War and Metal Gear Solid.
Overall, Max Payne is a thrilling third-person shooter. Some aspects are a little aged, but if you're willing to accept the game's difficulty, then you'll experience a fun, if maddening noir action game you can't get anywhere else...
Besides the sequel of course. But we'll get to that eventually.
You can purchase May Payne on Steam and the PlayStation Network, but I highly encourage you get the PC version. It feels, looks, and plays so much better than the console ports. You will have to do a bit of fiddling around to get it working properly, since the sound bugs out on modern systems, but there's a useful fanmade sound patch that will get the game working perfectly.
The Max Payne series is known for its impressive environmental detail and subtle yet amazing worldbuilding. The first two games in particular were able to cultivate a richly detailed yet dark and desolate version of New York, complimenting their noir trappings.
The first game has Max travel through seedy apartment complexes, drug dens, a nightclub, and other such unsavory locations. What I love about the game is the levels are able to convey a sense of atmosphere and realism despite the levels being largely linear. Most levels have Max travel from point A to point B without much in the way of deviating off the main path. It's impressive then that they're able to feel like real locations.
The other thing that makes Max Payne special is the interactivity with the environments. Max can interact with just about anything, from cupboards and cabinets to televisions. There isn't much to be gained from it, but it's minor details such as this that help build towards a richer, more complete world.
Occasionally, Max will point out something in the environment. Interacting with what he's looking at will cause a graphic novel sequence to play, showing Max investigating what caught his attention. These are interesting segments to be sure, and they help advance the player's understanding of what's going on, but they do carry the same issues as the other graphic novel cutscenes. Not to mention, when there's multiple things in the environment to investigate it can be a bit of a pace breaker (the room before the fight with Jack Lupino is the worst example of this).
Moving from the environment, the level of detail that went into the guns deserves to be commended. Back when Max Payne started development, it had actually caught some attention for it's realistic guns. Even today, the detail that went into them is pretty cool; weapons expel bullet shells and empty magazines remain on the ground. Everything a gun would drop in real life shows up in the game. Some sequences in the game also seem to be tailor-made to show off the realistic firing, especially in regards to the pistols. Nowadays this isn't much, but back in 2001 it was certainly a big deal.
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| Dumb face aside, that is one finely detailed gun. |
Overall, for a game made on a low budget in the late 90s and early 2000s, the level of detail that went into the game is staggering, and it would only get bigger and better with the sequels.
Gameplay
Now we get into the true meat of the game, the way it actually plays. Max Payne is a third-person shooter, and probably the first one that's actually functional and hasn't aged like cheese. There had been third-person shooters before, but due to hardware limitations and because there wasn't a set standard yet, many of them haven't aged all that well. Take the original Tomb Raider for example; it's a fine platforming game but the shooting is unbearable.
If I can compare Max Payne to anything, it's what would happen if you took a first-person game and made it third-person. Max is controlled with the WASD keys and the mouse determines where he's facing. The controls are satisfyingly responsive; Max's movement is buttery-smooth and quick. It feels good moving him around the environment and navigating him around enemies.
Aiming can feel a little strange at first. Max's aim is dictated by a small white dot in the center of the screen, but this isn't a 1:1 representation of where the bullet will go. The dot is more of a general direction than it is an exact science. Some weapons are generally more accurate than others; the Colt Commando is far more accurate than the dual Ingrams for instance. Once you realize that the dot is more of a general trajectory, the game feels like it opens up.
Speaking of weapons, Max attains quite the arsenal over the course of the game. He starts off with a lead pipe and a Beretta, but eventually you'll be wielding grenades, a Desert Eagle, shotguns, Ingrams, a Colt Commando (an M4 machine gun, just not called an M4), a grenade launcher, and a sniper rifle. Most of these weapons are incredibly useful. About the only one I never used was the shotgun, mostly because it's a horribly inconsistent weapons; sometimes it will kill enemies in a single shot while at other times it misses completely. The grenades are useful, but they have to be selected as an individual weapon, meaning you have to put your gun away to use them, which makes them less of an option during particularly difficult gunfights.
In order to regain health, Max must take painkillers. The player can hold up to 8 of them, but they don't heal Max by a whole lot and they don't work instantly. This makes using them in the middle of a gunfight not very useful since Max won't instantly gain back the health he lost. The game is overall pretty generous with painkillers; I've almost never had any lower than 3 or 4 painkillers at a time, and even during my first run of the game I never ran out.
Perhaps the most important ability Max has, and the single most important contribution the game as a whole has to the gaming industry at large would be bullet time (or slow-motion in laymen's terms). Max has two ways of manipulating bullet time. The first is by simply activating it, which has the world slow down. Max moves just as slow, but he can still fire at regular speed. Furthermore, enemy bullets are visible and can be more easily avoided when bullet time is activated.
The second, and probably more famous way is the shoot dodge. By pressing the shift key, Max will leap in any direction and can fire mid-dodge. The shoot dodge itself lasts about 5 seconds, but when Max hits the ground he will be vulnerable for a second or two, which is the difference between life and death in Max Payne. The shoot dodge is an invaluable move; it allows Max to avoid incoming bullets while stylishly returning fire. Max also cannot die during a shoot dodge; he can still take damage, but he won't die, and as a result the shoot dodge can be incredibly useful when trying to take out an enemy or two on really low health.
Both abilities consume Max's adrenaline meter. When the meter runs out, Max can't use bullet time until he gets the meter back up. He can refill it be killing enemies, and headshots add a little more. I don't think I've ever run out of adrenaline in all the time I've played the game, so it's not something I really focus on when I'm playing.
What makes the bullet time in Max Payne unique in comparison to almost every game that has utilized it since is that it is integral to Max Payne as a whole. It is practically impossible to complete the game without using bullet time, and a lot of that has to do with the game's tremendous difficulty. Max Payne is a brutally tough game, and bullet time serves as a tool rather than a crutch. It never feels like you're cheesing your way through the game because even with bullet time you can still die very easily.
I'm not kidding, Max Payne is insanely tough. For a guy named Max Payne, he sure can't take a lot of it; most of the time it only takes one well-aimed shotgun blast to kill him. The game supposedly has a dynamic difficulty system that adapts to the way the game is playing, but in reality this just means the game will ramp up to where it's almost impossible until you die a few times and the game readjusts to it. It's not uncommon to walk into a room and die instantly before you even know who's in the room.
And I love it for that.
The way I play Max Payne is that I quicksave roughly every 4 feet and after every gunfight. What ends up happening is that I'll quicksave before entering a room, die, slam the reload key, and run right back into it. This gives the game a frenetic pace similar to that of Hotline Miami. I enter a trance where I find myself repeatedly running back into the room, trying different things to kill everything in the room while taking as little damage as possible. It gets to a point where I'm not frustrated, just really, really determined. I will get through this room and I will take as little damage.
The added difficulty helps create a tense and foreboding atmosphere. Death awaits around every corner in the form of some dude with a sawed-off shotgun. The game repeatedly emphasizes how much of a suicide mission Max's quest is, and the game pays off on that by being insanely difficult. I've played the game way more times than I can count and it still provides a challenge.
There are a couple sequences that don't entirely work though. The level where Max has to sneak past some guards, armed with nothing from a baseball bat is the worst offender. The game is simply not built for stealth, and yet the game forces it upon you. I've played the game enough to where this segment is no longer an issue, but even so it's the single worst moment in the entire game due to how much it doesn't work with the game design, as well as the fact that it's intensely frustrating the first time through.
The dock level is also probably my least favorite segment in the game. The environments are just dull and the enemies here are way more difficult than any other section, primarily because most of them are armed with shotguns and can hit you a mile away. The difficulty just unfairly spikes here, though thankfully it evens out afterwards, especially since you get the Colt Commando, arguably the best weapon in the game, once you complete it.
The final level is something I want to talk about for a minute because it is probably my favorite final level in the series. I love how the game builds to it; Max spends the entire game trying to figure out who is behind Valkyr, and once he does he immediately goes to the Aesir building. This entire level is heart-pounding. This is it; Max is about to have his revenge. The emotions run high for me every time I go through with it. The passage of time and the repeated playthroughs haven't done anything to diminish the effect it has on me.
I adore the ending to Max Payne, not only because it helps wrap up the story but because the gameplay builds up to a satisfying conclusion as well. It's one of my favorite final levels, period. It's up there with the likes of the original God of War and Metal Gear Solid.
Overall, Max Payne is a thrilling third-person shooter. Some aspects are a little aged, but if you're willing to accept the game's difficulty, then you'll experience a fun, if maddening noir action game you can't get anywhere else...
Besides the sequel of course. But we'll get to that eventually.
You can purchase May Payne on Steam and the PlayStation Network, but I highly encourage you get the PC version. It feels, looks, and plays so much better than the console ports. You will have to do a bit of fiddling around to get it working properly, since the sound bugs out on modern systems, but there's a useful fanmade sound patch that will get the game working perfectly.
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