Genre: Third-person shooter
Year: 2001
Developed by: Remedy Entertainment
Published by: Gathering of Developers
Platforms: PC, PS2, XBOX, Mac, GBA, iOS, Android
#103
Feeling Like: *sips whiskey, looking out at snowstorm*
I stared at my screen, pounding my head to come up with something.
I’d just done the Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne post a few weeks ago, but with the headache I’ve got, it feels like a lifetime. I wince when I think about all the poor writers who actually have to do this for a living. The thought of having to pump out interesting words in varying combinations on a daily basis would drive a man to drink.
Well, in my case, drink more.
I just learned that instead of creating the environments from scratch, artists from Remedy drove to low income areas of New York to take pictures of the run down neighborhoods. Then, they’d superimpose the visuals over the existing photos to create realistic environments. It was smart of them. Even smarter to have a few bodyguards around. Telling potential thieves that they were just employees of a gaming studio would probably only make the thugs shoot faster. When a gun’s in your face, debate is not a good defense.
It worked. I felt like Max, but I could do without the dead wife and baby. And being surrounded by druggies, gangsters, criminals and corrupt cops. Isn’t that why we play anyway, to escape?
Walking over remnants of my enemies was a favorite activity of mine. The sparks and noise of gunfire were temporarily silenced, and the satisfying click of adding more ammo to my arsenal was all I needed to keep going. Was it possible for me to enter a doorway without bullet-time-matrix-jumping through it? Maybe scout out the room first, or kite them with a few shots? No chance. I couldn’t even pass the ketchup at the dinner table without moving in slow motion, like a terrible pantomime performer re-enacting what I thought Max would do in my situation.
Oh, to hear that sound again. To stampede down the carpeted stairs at the Commodore’s abode to watch him navigate his way through New York to find the culprits responsible for the death of Max’s family. He was even using the mousepad provided in the box. Remember those? Back when you actually had to go to the store on your own two legs, companies would throw in all types of schwag to lighten their load and line their pockets with our hard earned money. Bastards – they knew we couldn’t resist a complimentary poster.
Still, you gotta respect the hustle. Knowing that most of the characters in the comic-book style cutscenes were employees and not professional actors adds to the charm of Max Payne. Considering the cutting edge graphics and shooting mechanics, I guess they had to cheap out somewhere. Didn’t bother me. I’ve sat through enough student produced plays to make your skin crawl, a little amateur writing and posing isn’t going to stop me.
I’m not in the mood to justify the slayings; Max isn’t a good cop, but he’s better than most. He’s on a rampage, a vengeance trip that sees him toss aside law and order for a sawed-off shotgun. In 2001, we’d never seen an action game like this. We’d seen The Matrix two years prior, but I never played a Matrix game and at this point in my life, I doubt I ever will. I’ll have to settle for a hard-boiled revenge story that involves slowing down time and mowing down countless enemies with a neo-noire backdrop and a blizzard blanketing the city. And Max’s eloquent soliloquys.
And precision platforming. I don’t know what’s scarier, the psychotic hallucinations of your dead baby crying, or trying to avoid lava by jumping in a game that barely allows you to jump.
Or not being sure what to write about. I guess they’re all terrifying in their own way.
The 500 