Max Payne (2001)
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4.09 from 3126 ratings
7186 members have it in their collection · 92 playing now · 1781 backlogged · 590 wish listed
How long? Main story 9h · with extras 8h · 100% 12h (from 46 logged playthroughs)
Max Payne is a man with nothing to lose in the violent, cold urban night. A fugitive undercover cop framed for murder, hunted by cops and the mob, Max is a man with his back against the wall, fighting a battle he cannot hope to win. Max Payne is a relentless story-driven game about a man on the edge, fighting …
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Max Payne is a man with nothing to lose in the violent, cold urban night. A fugitive undercover cop framed for murder, hunted by cops and the mob, Max is a man with his back against the wall, fighting a battle he cannot hope to win. Max Payne is a relentless story-driven game about a man on the edge, fighting to clear his name while struggling to uncover the truth about his slain family amongst a myriad of plot-twists and twisted thugs in the gritty bowels of New York during the century's worst blizzard.
The groundbreaking original cinematic action-shooter, Max Payne introduced the concept of Bullet Time in videogames. Through its stylish slow-motion gunplay combined with a dark and twisted story, Max Payne redefined the action-shooter genre.
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Details
- Developers
- Remedy Entertainment
- Publishers
- 3D Realms, Feral Interactive, Gathering of Developers, MacSoft Games, Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive
- Genres
- Shooter
- Themes
- Action, Thriller
- Franchises
- Max Payne
- Series
- Max Payne
- Steam
- View on Steam
Release dates
- Jul 23, 2001 (Full Release) (North_America) PC (Microsoft Windows)
- Jul 27, 2001 (Full Release) (Europe) PC (Microsoft Windows)
- Dec 06, 2001 (Full Release) (North_America) PlayStation 2
- Dec 17, 2001 (Full Release) (North_America) Xbox
- Jan 11, 2002 (Full Release) (Europe) PlayStation 2
- Mar 14, 2002 (Full Release) (Europe) Xbox
- Jul 16, 2002 (Full Release) (Worldwide) Mac
- May 22, 2003 (Full Release) (Japan) PlayStation 2
- Apr 27, 2009 (Digital Compatibility Release) (North_America) Xbox 360
- Apr 27, 2009 (Digital Compatibility Release) (Europe) Xbox 360
- Apr 12, 2012 (Full Release) (Worldwide) iOS
- Jun 14, 2012 (Full Release) (Worldwide) Android
- May 01, 2013 (Digital Compatibility Release) (North_America) PlayStation 3
- May 02, 2013 (Digital Compatibility Release) (Europe) PlayStation 3
- Apr 22, 2016 (Full Release) (North_America) PlayStation 4
- Apr 22, 2016 (Full Release) (Europe) PlayStation 4
- Nov 15, 2021 (Digital Compatibility Release) (Worldwide) Xbox One
Also available on
- Max Payne (2003) · GBA
Related
Bundled in
- Max Payne Bundle (Jan 2008) · PC
Remakes
- Max Payne · PC, PS5, XSX
Featured in lists
Rating distribution
5 stars
1148
4 stars
1248
3 stars
609
2 stars
101
1 star
20
Community All Reviews Statuses
Status killerstar Sep 16, 2018
It takes a exceptional game to hold up after 17 years and 3 generation of consoles.
Status NotRegret Jun 4, 2018
If you like shooters at all, this is a must play
It only occurred to me how good this game is until after some time had passed and I got to look at the game's sequel (which is still a fantastic game, just not as fantastic as this).
What really nailed it home for me is this question: in the …
If you like shooters at all, this is a must play
It only occurred to me how good this game is until after some time had passed and I got to look at the game's sequel (which is still a fantastic game, just not as fantastic as this).
What really nailed it home for me is this question: in the history of shooting games? What game had a cooler character? None. None at all.
Max has a personality. He suffers (big time), and while the game is an early example of cinematic approaches to shooting games, no game yet has had a more fleshed out and interesting character. It's like comparing a really good movie's writing to a video game, the feeling of cinema in this shooter makes all other attempts seem feeble and trivial.
Max Payne, one of New York's finest with the biggest mobster body count in history, comes home to find his wife and infant daughter murdered by junkies high on some new designer drug. While investigating the case his partner is shot in the back and Max is framed for it. With nothing left to lose Max Payne's sets out, during the worst winter a century, on a quest for revenge that starts with mobsters, drug pushers, and eventually moves up to uncovers a huge conspiracy. The narration manages to be most dreadful dark and silly without either getting boring or cringey.
To nail home just how cool the writing is here's a sample.
The factory went up in a firey inferno behind me. All my leads were dead, turned to smoke and dust. I had lost my way. I hadn't slept in a million years. I felt thin as death. I'd been living on an endless supply of week-old doughnuts. They were fuel for this crazy furnace inside my head. I couldn't remember when I had last seen the sun. I was on a permanent graveyard shift.
Every line is consistently this cool. Visual Novels do not have prose this good and those games are nothing BUT writing. And the writing is never disconnected from what you actually do in the levels. It's a revenge story, which means that a lot of mobsters are going to get riddled with bullets, and boy do you have plenty of motivation to do it (not just from the story either!).
It's one of the few games where the most cinematic way of playing is also the most effective. The bullet-time stuff is awesome and as you get better at the game you will find yourself playing less offensive, with less reliance on cover or slow approaches. There's also a big incentive to get good. Bullet-time isn't a crutch, enemies are aggressive enough so you need it, and the resource is scarce enough so you'll want to kill as many enemies as you can in it's brief duration (especially when doing the 'shoot dodge').
The game is also pretty tough by shooting standards. If you don't save scum you'll find yourself constantly dying on stages and needing to develop a tactic for every room. And there's plenty of room for different shooting tactics: popping out of cover or going in guns blazing both work in almost any situation. You've got around a dozen guns which all have their uses giving you plenty of options. It sure puts to shame other shooters where 90% of the shooting is just using different AR/SMG, differentiated only by minor trade offs in accuracy/fire speed, and hardly ever touch the pistol of shotgun. You might use 3+ weapons in a single shoot out, in fact you'll HAVE to master them all since you don't have enough ammo to only stick to one or two. The gun effects are also very well done, they feel good to shot with and there's lots of nice detail like how magazines remain on the ground after a reload. Enemies also fly back dramatically when shot and have great little quotes while fighting and dying which adds just yet more style points. And the game is a string of these fantastic shoot-outs without bogging you down with an infinitude of cutscenes, annoying scenario, or having you run around grabbing petty collectibles.
It's where the old arcadey shooters like Duke Nukem eclipse with the cinematic approach of the new school shooters. Bringing the best of both without the weaknesses of either.
If there's one fault this doesn't do fantastic it's the environments. They are not bad and there is plenty of variety but they lack detail (even by the standards of early 3D environments). If this game had a remaster that addressed that it would easily be the best shooter ever made. As it stands now it's only top 10 or so =p