Max Payne
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| Max Payne {{#if:{{{image|}}}|<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">{{{image|}}} | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Remedy Entertainment (PC), Rockstar Toronto (PS2), Rockstar Vienna (Xbox), Rockstar Leeds (GBA) MacSoft (Mac) {{#if:{{{publisher|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)<td>{{{publisher|}}} |
| Release date(s) | July 25, 2001 |
| Genre(s) | Third-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player {{#if:{{{ratings|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)<td>{{{ratings|}}} |
| Platform(s) | PC (Windows), Xbox, PS2, Game Boy Advance, Mac OS {{#if:{{{media|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Media<td>{{{media|}}} |
Max Payne is a third-person shooter computer game developed by Finnish company Remedy Entertainment, produced by 3D Realms and published by Gathering of Developers in July, 2001. Ports later in the year for the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2 were published by Rockstar Games. A Macintosh port was published in 2002 by MacSoft in North America and Feral Interactive in the rest of the World. There were plans for a Dreamcast version of Max Payne, but it was cancelled.
A sequel to the highly popular shooter quickly followed in 2003 entitled Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.
Overview
The Max Payne series has a major cinematic influence: the Hong Kong action movie genre, particularly the work of director John Woo, which features a great deal of slow-motion, nearly balletic violence. The series is also often perceived to have been greatly influenced by The Matrix, but in actuality, this is not the case. Although the first game was released two years after The Matrix came out, this is a coincidence; Max Payne was already in development long before The Matrix became a household name, and slow-motion was a major gameplay element from the beginning. While the movie certainly influenced public perception of the game, it did not have a great impact on the game itself, although calling the slow-motion effect "bullet time" was probably inspired by the term being used to describe the similar effect in The Matrix.
As a result of the popularity of The Matrix, the game designers added many references to pay homage to the movie. The detonation of the subway/bank door is similar to the cartwheeling elevator door in the movie. The "Killer Suits" (Aesir Corporation operatives) resemble the Agents; there is even a scene where they fire their pistols like Agent Smith. The start of the "Nothing to Lose" level is similar to the famous lobby shootout scene in the film.
The games' stylish cinematography and choreography is combined with heavy film noir, pulp noir, and pulp fiction influences in characters and dialogue. Rather than rendered or digitized cinematic movies for cutscenes, the story is told instead with "graphic novels" which are similar to comics and pulp fiction. Accordingly, Max Payne is rife with artistically orchestrated, often strangely graceful gunplay. The games are dark and noir-style, following Max Payne, a troubled cop with internal and external conflicts in a dark, sinister New York City.
Within the games, there are mini-plots in the form of television shows that the player can follow. Several of the shows are based on other, real-life shows.
Max Payne focused exclusively on the story and single-player experience, so it lacked multiplayer in contrast to other contemporary shooters. Most of the apparently intelligent enemy A.I. such as dropping down from the ceiling or throwing grenades was actually pre-scripted; this is noticeable if the player re-attempts the mission. As a result, Max Payne ranked low on replayability with some reviewers suggesting that there was on 10-20 hours of gameplay from it.
A MAX-FX level editor was also included.
MODS are very popular for the Max Payne franchise. The 2 most well-known are The Family, and several Kung-Fu modifications. This is because the gameplay system is perfect for creating a new storyline.
Gameplay
Image:Max Payne Demo Screenshot2.jpg The prime emphasis of the series is on shooting. Almost all of the gameplay involves utilizing bullet-time to gun down foe after foe. Levels are generally straightforward, with almost no key-hunting. However, some levels do incorporate platforming elements and puzzle solving. Ammo is in constant supply, as all enemies drop ammo when killed.
The original Max Payne at times can be a highly difficult game. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, Max is extremely fragile and dies after only 5 pistol bullets, 3 assault rifle bullets, or 1 dead-on shotgun blast. Contrary to most FPS games, most enemies are actually more durable than the player character, with later enemies being able to survive 2 or 3 times as much damage as Max. Survival is highly dependent on the use of bullet-time, but bullet-time is limited and can run out if over-used (although every enemy killed by the player earns a little more bullet-time). It can be difficult for many gamers to get through the later levels without quicksaving and quickloading multiple times. This problem was often compounded by the extremely long load times for each level.
The game's A.I. is heavily dependent on pre-scripted commands. Most of the apparently intelligent behavior exhibited by enemies, such as taking cover behind obstacles, retreating from the player, or throwing grenades, is 100% pre-scripted. Thus, when replaying a level, enemies perform exactly the same behaviors each time. The only enemies that would dodge and roll were the Mercenaries (operatives in black ski-masks) and Killer Suits.
Higher difficulty levels were extremely challenging, especially the time-limited "New York Minute" where the player had to reach checkpoints before time went out (killing enemies replenishes time) but there was no additional game content to unlock.
Bullet-time
Image:Max Payne Demo Screenshot1.jpg The gameplay of Max Payne revolves heavily around bullet-time. When triggered, bullet-time slows down the passage of time to such an extent that the movements of bullets can be seen by the naked eye - it is a form of slow motion. The player, although his movement is also slowed, is still able to aim and react in real time, providing a unique advantage over enemies. This makes avoiding being shot easier and enables Max to perform special moves, such as shootdodges where Max leaps sideways through the air while continuing to fire his weapon.
Occasionally, when the last character of a group is killed, the viewpoint switches to a third-person view of their falling body with the camera circling around it.
Max Payne (Game Boy Advance)
The Game Boy Advance version of the game was developed by Mobius Entertainment Ltd, now known as Rockstar Leeds. Since it was developed on a far less powerful platform, the GBA version differs greatly from the PC version and its Xbox and PlayStation 2 ports: instead of a 3D shooter, the game is based on sprite graphics and is shown from an isometric perspective. The gameplay features have remained mostly the same, however, and is actually almost exactly like the original, aside of the perspective change. The story also remained the same as in PC and console versions, though some levels from the original are omitted. The game even includes quite a large part of the original's graphic novel sections, complete with voice-overs.
Characters
The character of Max Payne for the first game was modeled after Sam Lake, the writer of Max Payne. It is often joked that Max had a constipated expression with his uncomfortable half grin/sneer — this joke is even mentioned in the sequel. For Max Payne 2, however, Lake declined the honor, and after extensive casting Remedy chose the actor Timothy Gibbs to be the model for Max Payne. The voice of Max Payne was played by actor James McCaffrey in both games. McCaffrey is probably best known for playing the lead role in the TV show Viper (1994-1996). Max Payne is very comparable to Film-Noir characters such as Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade (both of whom are mentioned in his game).
Plot
"A fugitive undercover cop framed for murder, and now hunted by the police and the mob. Max is a man with his back against the wall, fighting a battle he cannot hope to win. Prepare for a new breed of action game. Prepare for pain..."
After his wife and infant daughter are murdered by a group of crazed junkies, Max Payne goes undercover swearing revenge against the drug that drove people to this. But he was framed, accused of killing his long time friend and partner, Alex Balder. Wanted by the cops and with no other options available, Payne goes on a blood-soaked revenge-fueled thrill-ride through New York, working his way from lesser thugs to the bigger crime bosses to get to the top, and expose the true identity of those responsible for the viridian induced hell that is Valkyr.
Introduction
The story opens at the end, with a cutscene showing Max being spotted at the top of a skyscraper by an NYPD helicopter. However no further details are revealed, as there is only a closeup on Max, holding a sniper rifle, and he muses about how he "has to go back three years to when it all started..."
Prologue: The American Dream
It started three years ago; Max came home after a long day at work. No one answered when he came in the door of his home. Upstairs he found his wife and daughter murdered at the hands of junkies high on a new designer drug called Valkyr. He kills the junkies, but can't save his family.
Roscoe Street Station
Max joins the DEA as an undercover cop to infiltrate the Mafia and the underground world of New York. While undercover, B.B., a cop friends with both Max and Alex, calls Max and tells him Alex wants to meet at the Roscoe Street Station. Once arriving there by train, Max gets off and checks around, only to discover a worker killed in the locker room and Alex nowhere to be seen. As he continues on he learns that mobsters under Jack Lupino, a mafia captain in the Punchinello Crime Family, are attempting a bank robbery under the Roscoe Street bank through the station. While investigating the robbery, Max discovers they were after the Aesir Corporation bonds. Working his way back to the surface, Max encounters Alex. The short lived reunion is disrupted when an unknown shooter kills Alex, leaving Max at the scene to take the fall. After leaving the station, Max decides to look for Lupino at his hotel.
The Blood Veins of New York
Once at Lupino's hotel, Max find the brothers Joey and Virgilio Finito, but no Lupino. With his cover blown, Max kills them and find out through a letter addressed to them by Vinnie Gognitti that Rico Muerte, a Chicago mobster Max compares to Keyser Soze who owes the Punchinello Family is coming to New York to oversee a major Valkyr drug deal. Max guns his way to Muerte's room, only to find him not there. Progressing through the hotel Max finds Candy Dawn's room. Dawn's a hooker known for videotaping her "clients." He learns of an unknown women called by Candy as the "hag" is purchasing her "One-Eyed Alfred" tapes. Max also finds the body of a badly beaten man tied to a chair next to a Captain Baseballbat Boy comic strip in the newspaper. Continuing on, Max breaks up the drug deal and finds Muerte and Dawn not to far away. He kills them both and near the front of the hotel, Max finds a switchboard not far from counter, he hears Vinnie Gognitti talking to a dying mobster. Max sets off for a set of tenements near the hotel searching for Vinnie, hoping to find the whereabouts of Lupino.
Fear That Gives Men Wings
Once outside, a set of explosions from bombs detonates one of Lupino's buildings. Vladimir Lem, the head of the Russian Mafia and responsible for the bombings, is seen driving off in his black Mercedes-Benz. While trying to find a way in the building, a newspaper headlines his framed murder of Alex. Once inside, Max needs to shoot mobster after mobster to get to Lupino's office. A payphone rings in the hallway, and the caller mentions the police are on the way. He also mentions he'll contact Max soon. Later, while searching for a key to a locked door, Max finds a letter by Gognitti detailing a recent hit on Vlad's illegal guns, explaining the bombings. Max eventually makes it to Lupino's office to find Vinnie, resulting in a gunfight breaking out with Gognitti's men, whilst Vinnie himself escapes with a gunshot wound to his gut. Max also finds a letter addressed to Punchinello that Vinnie didn't have the courage to mail, telling Punchinello that Jack Lupino has gone crazy. Max then backtracks through all the prior buildings attempting to catch Gognitti. They eventually meet up in a deadend alley. Using force, Max is told by Vinnie that Lupino is at Ragna Rock, a gothic nightclub Lupino owns. Gognitti is left bleeding in an alley, and is assumed dead. However, he lives and becomes the new mob captain in Max Payne 2.
Ragna Rock
Once at Ragna Rock, Max has to gun his way to Lupino finding satanic and occult books and a V deal. Backstage and close to Lupino, Max finds a torn, bloody piece of paper on a couch, addressed by Don Punchinello himself, telling Lupino to shape up. Near the letter are sacrificied bodies and a list of demons written in blood by Lupino, Max assumes he is trying for the Faust deal; your soul for eternal wealth and power. Max has to kill dozens of Lupino's men before Lupino emerges, high on V exhibiting all the homicidal dementia that entails. Max finally kills him, only to find Mona Sax, Lisa Punchinello's "evil twin", an assassin telling Max he needs to go higher up, to Angelo Punchinello himself. She discloses this since she views him as a sadistic wife beater. The two share a drink, but Mona spikes his drink and Max falls unconscious, only out of fear he might kill her sister.
The Baseball Bat
While knocked out, Max experiences a nightmare about the death of his family. He wakes up only to find himself tied to a chair in the basement of Jack Lupino's hotel. Frankie "the Bat" Niagara, a mob hitman, beats Max around with a baseball bat. Leaving Max bruised and bloody, he comments he's going to go have a drink at the bar and when he returns, its "check out time." Max breaks free of the chair (saying "I felt like the chair I had broken to get free") and ponders about the recent choices he's made. He realizes what Mona said is true, that he needs to aim higher up the organized crime ladder, straight to Don Angelo Punchinello. Armed with only Niagara's bat he left behind, Max decides to play "hide and seek" with the armed mobsters guarding the hall to acquire their guns. While searching the basement, Max discovers a sewage pipe lined with all of Niagara's murders. Eventually, Max works his way around to the entrance of the hotel. The hotel had been a crime scene from Max's prior battle, but the mobsters had reclaimed it, murdering the cops on duty. Max finds Niagara at the bar like he said, and kills him.
An Offer You Can't Refuse
Leaving the hotel, it's not long before Vlad shows up, making him an offer he can't refuse. Boris Dime, a traitor of the Russians over to the Puchinello Family, has control over an incoming gun shipment on the Charon. With Punchinello in control of the shipment, it tips the odds in his favor, making things more difficult for both Vlad and Max. Vlad promises if he can overturn the shipment and kill Dime for him, he could have some of the weapons for himself and a new ally. Max agrees and heads off for the Brooklyn riverfront where the Charon is. Exploring the riverfront, Max stumbles upon a political assassination plot involving Rico Muerte, a suitcase full of cash, a sniper rifle, and an expensive piece of paper with only one word on it stating the target: "Mayor." Gunning his way past dozens of mobsters, Max boards the Charon. Killing Dime, Max is allowed access to ammo and guns. Max calls Punchinello, wanting to meet. Punchinello agrees and Vlad drops Max off at Casa di Angelo, the Don's restaurant. Once there, Max enters only to find a dark and empty restaurant. Within seconds, explosions start going off. Max narrowly escapes each one, making his way to the back of the restaurant, only to be met with more armed men. Escaping through a sewage tunnel, Max meets up with Vlad again, where they agree to go to see Punchinello at his mansion.
Angel of Death
Max enters through the basement, knowing that once on the main floors he'll engage with the murderous trio: Vince Mugnaio, Pilate Providence AKA Big Brother, and Joe "Deadpan" Salem; three notorious gangsters working directly for the Don with "rap sheets thick as phonebooks." Mysteriously, the basement was unlocked and the guards were shot dead. Max speculates Mona. Once making it to the kitchen, Max finds three tarot cards laid out on the counter. In order the cards were The Tower, representing the Punchinello Manor, The Devil, representing the Don, and Death, personified in Max. Close to Punchinello, Max finds Lisa Punchinello's body spread on bloody sheets of the bed. The phone rings in the next room. It was the same voice as before, the one heard on the payphone in the tenements. He told Max a helicopter landed on manor grounds. Killing the trio and every mobster standing in his way, Max ends up standing outside of the Don's office, listening to him plead for help to someone over the phone. Max breaks down the door, points his beretta at Punchinello's face point blank, and immediately the Don reveals he is merely a pawn in a government conspiracy. With the truth revealed, a group of men in suits armed with Colt Commandos storm the office and shoot Punchinello dead on sight. Max kills them, only to find himself outgunned and outmanned, lead by a mysterious woman, attempting to leave the manor. She injects Max with a triple-overdose of V, leaving him for dead. Just before Max slips away, he hears her say, "Take me to Cold Steel."
Take Me To Cold Steel
Another nightmare engages a drugged Max, before he wakes up lying in a pool of his own vomit. With only one lead, Cold Steel, Max sets off. At Cold Steel Foundry, an entire illegal operation had the place occupied, with dozens of truck and armed personnel on location. Once deeper into the foundry, the walkie talkie of a mecenary killed by Max mentions that an intruder has infiltrated, the operation has been comprised, and to commence Operation Dead Eyes.
Max finds an elevator which takes him down to an old military bunker beneath the foundry. Max witnesses Operation Dead Eyes being carried out with killer suits killing off a pair of mercenaries. Killing the two suits, Max recognizes the insignia on the floor. Reading Project Valhalla, with a sword over a capital V, Max notices its similar to tags around the city with a syringe replacing the sword, representing Valkyr. The Conspiracy becomes more apparent as Max goes deeper into the base. Machines processing V, data files, test subjects and lab researchers. Max finds a computer with the Project Valhalla history. Starting out as a drug to improve morale and stamina for soldiers in 1991. Four years of failed research ended government funding in 1995. Reading more, Max finds out about a data leak; a "Mrs. Payne", Max's wife, working at a front company for Project Valhalla, becomes privy to a small scrap of information, inconsequential by itself, but if revealed to or discovered by certain troublesome individuals, could spell death for the project. He learns that psychotic V test subjects were sent to the Payne address in New Jersey; the junkies who killed his wife and infant child. Max questions how his vengeance is possibly justifiable now that he knows this. Eventually, all evidence is lost in the self-detonation of the army bunker.
Backstabbing Bastard
With nowhere to go from there, Max decides to take a break at an all night diner. He then receives a call from B.B. to meet him at the Choir Communications garage. It then becomes evident to Max that B.B. set him up with the murder of Alex Balder. When they meet up, B.B. tries to talk himself out of it. With no success, a speeding car almost hits Max as he barely dodges it. B.B. escapes in a van and Max pursues him. Max runs down each level of the garage, killing every thug that gets in his way. B.B. gets out of the van on the first level of the garage and the two have a shootout. Max is victorious, and also receives another call from his mysterious "benefactor", this time identifying himself as Alfred Woden, telling Max to meet him at the Asgard Building where he will explain everything.
In The Land Of The Blind
Once Max was at the meeting place, Woden introduced the other members of a secret society he was part of called, "the Inner Circle." Nicole Horne, who headed Project Valhalla, was responsible for Valkyr. After the government funding was disconnected, Horne continued the project unauthorized. She had blackmailed the Inner Circle, explaining why she hadn't been stopped. Woden proposed if Max killed Horne, the charges against him, including the death of Alex, the damaging and destruction of the many public and private vehicles and buildings, along with his subsequent killings would all go away.
Horne's men then find the meeting place and shoot the Inner Circle members. Jumping out the first story window into the courtyard, Max has to shoot his way out to escape the building. On a security camera monitor, Max sees Woden stand up, making him the sole surviving member of the Inner Circle. In an office, Max finds what Horne had used to keep the Inner Circle silent: the homemade porn video of Alfred Woden and Candy Dawn. Horne was evidently blackmailing Woden with the threat of releasing it, perhaps controlling the Inner Circle through him. Max takes the video to blackmail Woden should he decide to go back on their deal. He also finds blueprints to the Aesir Corp. Plaza, detailing the suite and President's office, with critical areas in red. Max escapes Asgard, and spends some time mentally preparing for his final showdown before arriving at Aesir Plaza.
Nothing to Lose
Image:Payneplaza.jpg Security guards rush Max as soon as he passes the metal detectors of the Aesir Plaza entrance. Max kills his way to the first floor, where he reunites with Mona getting off an elevator. Horne gets on the intercom and tells Mona to kill Max, revealing Mona was working for Horne. Mona explains that Max is "a nice guy" and she doesn't kill nice guys. Her compassion rewards her with a bullet in the head once security rushes Max again. The elevator doors close, leaving Max to fend for himself. Having dealt with the threat, Max tries to get on the elevator, only to find Mona's body gone. He makes his way to the mainframe security system and disables it to allow himself access to where Horne is.
Pain and Suffering
Max comes face to face with Horne, only for her to escape and send her guards. Max chases after her all the way to the top of the building, where her helicopter is attempting to make a permanent get away. (In the bad ending, Max attempts to shoot the helicopter which promptly cuts him down in return with its minigun.) Max shoots the cables to a weather mast, snapping them and allowing the strong storm winds surging about them to topple the otherwise fragile tower onto Horne's helicopter even as it lifts off the helipad. Max stands at the top of the building (recall the Introduction), holding the sniper rifle, as the NYPD run out to arrest him.
Being put into a squadcar in handcuffs, Max sees Woden in the crowd of spectators, with a "grin of a winner." Max thinks, "That made two of us."
Sequels and spin-off
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
- Main article: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.
When we last saw Max Payne, he was being led away in the back of a police car, about to face charges for his two night killing spree in which he killed upwards of 600 people, even though they all had criminal records. However, Max was eventually cleared of all charges, thanks to his relationship with a very influential member of society, Senator Alfred Woden. A few years have passed, and Max has returned to work for the NYPD as a homicide detective. However, during a routine murder investigation he finds himself face-to-face with the fugitive Mona Sax, a woman he thought dead. Max and Mona team up to solve the answers to Max's past that left his wife and child dead. Between them and the answers they seek rests an army of scum and murderous thugs in New York City's underground.
Gameplay
The second game again revolves around the bullet time, but the concept is more worked out. When Max shoots his enemies, his slow motion bar will grow yellow, like an old newspaper. The yellower the bar, the slower time flows, with the exception of max, who is in "normal" slow motion. Max is quite a lot more dureable now, and except for bosses, the enemies tend to be weaker. Shootdodging becomes more and more important, although it is both a gift and a curse. Players will have the tendency of shootdodging through a door, behind which everything is collapsing, and since max takes too long getting up, the player will have no choice but to simply walk through it next time.
The A.I. is improved, and enemies will team up, or stay behind a door, waiting for you to jump through. Also, the ragdoll system is an improvement to be gasped at. A dead enemy never dies twice the same way. The game is sometimes somewhat grittier that the previous, but sometimes the opposite is the case. Since Max now has someone to talk to (Mona), the conversations are somewhat deeper than the great one-liners he utters.
Max's arsenal is expanded, except for the club weapons, such as the pipe. Max now has a secondary weapon window. this enables max to hit enemies with his weapon.
Max Payne 3
The ending to Max Payne 2 teases with a message at the end of the credits proclaiming, "Max Payne's journey into the night will continue", but the story itself seems to be over. Perhaps the reason to this is that the original development crew, Remedy Entertainment is not going to continue working with the Max Payne franchise.
Although the original creators of Max Payne have disbanded, Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games has announced there will be a sequel, but the developer so far is unknown. Take-Two recognised the flexibility of the universe, and hope to produce another game using the well-known characters in the future.
Another issue is the plot of a third game. To date, Max and Jim Bravura are the only main characters left standing at the end of Max Payne 2 (although Mona survives in the "secret" ending). Unless new characters are introduced, or a character from the original Max Payne is revealed to be alive (much like Mona and Vinnie were assumed dead until they were seen in Max Payne 2), there are not enough characters around with which to build a sensical plotline.
Max Payne: The Movie
It has also been confirmed through The Hollywood Reporter that 20th Century Fox has bought the rights to bring the game to film. There are several rumours that Clive Owen will be Max Payne. The Max Payne movie is currently slated for release in 2007, and the writing credits include Sam Lake (the writer and actor for the original Max Payne series) and Shawn Ryan, whose credits include writing for The Shield and The Unit. More information is available on IMDb. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/40714
Independent film
Although not affiliated with the official Max Payne movie, a short film based on the Max Payne IP (due to be released summer, 2006) will make an attempt to be faithful to the style of the video games.
Payne & Redemption is Part III of a series of collective shorts surrounding an original foreboding tale of love, betrayal, vengeance... and a lot of painkillers. The story focuses on the development of Max Payne's character, exploring his psyche and what drives his incessant behaviour towards pursuing what's most important to him - Justice.
Fergle Gibson, Writer & Director.
Max Payne: Payne & Redemption is directed by Fergle Gibson and stars Nigel Billing, John Mangan and Kylie Cushman.
Naming sources
Names from Norse Mythology
Most of the major characters and elements in the game (except for Max) are named for figures from Norse mythology. Although this is often seen as a nod to the Scandinavian heritage of the game's Finnish development company, Remedy Entertainment, this is something of a misconception: although Finland is often lumped together with the other Nordic countries, Finnish mythology actually differs considerably from its Norse counterpart. It's more likely that these themes were simply incorporated into the game out of appreciation for their iconic status and recognisability.
- The Valkyr drug turns its users into adrenaline-charged killers who experience hallucinatory images of death. The Valkyries of Norse mythology were warrior-women and heralds of death, amongst other occupations. Although the Valkyries were all female, the Valkyr addicts seen in the game are all male. Project Valhalla is the government-funded conspiracy that created Valkyr. In Norse mythology, Valhalla is the festhall in the afterlife to which some of those who died in honorable battle are assigned after death. The computer network in the military base is named Yggdrasil, referring to the tree that connected the nine worlds in Norse cosmology.
- The Aesir Corporation, named for the primary pantheon of Norse gods. The Aesir Corporation is based in Aesir Plaza. Aesir is the English plural for the Norse Gods. And the head of the Aesir Corporation is Nicole Horne; Horne's name might be a reference to the Giallar horn in the Ragnarok myth. The horn was sounded to announce the start of Ragnarok.
- DEA agent Alex Balder, Max's partner, was shot by an assassin. In Norse mythology, Balder (or Baldur) was killed when a sprig or arrow of mistletoe was shot or thrown into his chest. B.B., who betrayed Alex Balder, may be analogous to Loki, the god of deception who arranged Baldur's death.
- The nightclub Ragna Rock is a play on the word Ragnarök, the Norse battle between the Aesir and the giants (and their allies) that results in the death of many deities and the rebirth of the world. The great snowstorm that takes place during the events of the first Max Payne is a reference to the Fimbulwinter, the epic winter that precedes Ragnarok. The blizzard and the surge of Valkyr-related incidents have convinced the apocalypse-obsessed Satanist club owner Jack Lupino that the real Ragnarok is upon them. His surname (derived from lupus, "wolf") and behavior (during one of his maniacal rants, he screams "I'm the Wolf!") may be a nod to the Fenris Wolf, which in the legend of Ragnarok battles against the Aesir on the side of the giants.
- Alfred Woden's surname is an alternate spelling of Odin, a major god of the Norse pantheon. Woden also has one eye, same as Odin who sacrificed his eye for wisdom and knowledge.
- Russian mob Boss Vladimir's name might be alluding to Saint Vladimir, who is considered a hero in Norse Saga Template:Fact.
- Max meets Woden and the Inner Circle in the Asgard Building. Asgard is the Norse realm in which the gods lived.
Other sources
- Related to Greek mythology, the name of the ship Max Payne infiltrates on Vladimir's request is Charon. Charon is the name of the ferryman of the Acheron in Greek mythology.
- Jack Lupino, during the rant on the stage, screams out the name 'Loki' among a list of Demons. Among others mentioned were Lilith, Adam's first wife in the Talmud and Midrash, Asmodeus, a demon who appears in the Book of Tobit and Cthulhu, the ancient evil god of H.P. Lovecraft fame.
- The twin sisters, Mona Sax and Lisa Punchinello, may be a reference to the painting, Mona Lisa, because of their first names.
- Don Punchinello may be named after Mr. Punch of Punch and Judy fame, who in Italian is called Pulcinello. Both are wife-beating comedic figures who turn out to be no more than puppets.
List of Max Payne weaponry
Note that some weapons in the game (namely, Berettas and Ingrams) can be dual-wielded to double the firepower at the expense of double ammo cost. Many mods for the game also include the possibility of dual-wielding other weapons, such as sawed-off shotguns and Desert Eagles.
- Lead pipe
- Baseball bat
- Beretta 92F/FS
- IMI Desert Eagle
- Pump-action shotgun
- Sawed-off shotgun
- Pancor Jackhammer
- Ingram (MAC-10)
- Colt Commando
- Hand grenade
- Molotov cocktail
- M79 grenade launcher
- Sniper Rifle
Game Trivia
- Max Payne kills literally hundreds of people. In one official count, the death toll stood at 625.
- In 2003, retired professional wrestler Maxx Payne sued the developers of the game for $10 million USD. The wrestler claimed the developers stole his stage name and the majority of his character's traits. The suit was settled out of court in 2005 for an undisclosed sum[1].
- Once the game is completed in, "Dead on Arrival," difficulty level, Max enters a hidden stage called, "The Final Challenge," which is set in the Aesir building, and has to go up against 20+ agents all armed with the Pancor Jackhammer. Once all the enemies are killed, Max finds a room with pictures on the walls of the development team and the developers logo.
- Though the game is advertised as a dark, noir-filled journey to the bowels of civilization, there is a growing crowd of players who believe that the gloomy dialogue with its over-the-top analogies is meant to be taken tongue in cheek.
- When in an elevator, if the player shoots out the speakers (ending the stereotypical elevator muzak), there is a sound bite of Max saying "Thank you." When trying to use a grand piano, Max plays the game's theme, and when using the stage microphones in Ragna Rock, Max says he's not good at karaoke.
External links
- Max Payne - Official Web site
- Template:Moby game
- Max Payne editor tutorials - Official Web site
- Max Payne 2 - Official Web site
- Max Payne Forums
- {{{2|{{{title|Max Payne}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- {{{2|{{{title|Max Payne}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- Max Payne: Payne & Redemption - The Independent Film - Official Website
- Max Payne: Payne & Redemption - The Independent Film - Wikipedia Page
- Max Payne - British Fansite
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Categories: 2001 computer and video games | Computer and video game franchises | Game Boy Advance games | Mac OS games | PlayStation 2 games | Third-person shooters | Xbox games | Windows games | Cancelled Dreamcast games | 3D Realms games | Max Payne | Fictional vigilantes | Fictional police officers | Fictional detectives | Computer and video game anti-heroes