Max Payne

Max Payne is a Remedy game, released about 10 years before Alan Wake. By playing this, I can better understand how Remedy thinks and designs their games, as I can draw lines between them. (Except Death Rally, because that was made with a very different design philosophy.) Both are all designed around people with metaphorical names. "A. Wake" deals with nightmares, and Max Payne has a lot of pain.

Screenshot of Max Payne having thrown a molotov cocktail at some mobsters.

Gameplay revolves around third person combat with a variety of weapons (mostly guns). Environments stick to hotels, factories, warehouses, offices, parking garages, and other confined spaces. Since this game was developed when everyone was fawning over The Matrix, Remedy decided to make bullet time the novelty feature of Max Payne. Using bullet time drains a meter, but killing enemies recharges it. If you are severely injured (but not dead), you regenerate health up to 20%. In keeping with the game's theme, instead of health packs, Max uses painkillers.

The writing seems pretty good. During cutscenes and at random points, Max says some gritty lines with rich metaphors, like he's in a detective drama. I'm particularly liking the extra detail that goes into the cutscenes, which are comics. Growing up, I had two Dick Tracy comics with cassettes (like an audiobook with a comic strip), and these cutscenes are reminiscent of those, and I liked these. Near the middle, I particularly enjoyed how the fourth wall broke.

Screenshot of Max Payne finishing off a mobster falling off a fire escape.

Max Payne (the person) is an NYPD detective, whose wife and daughter were murdered by drug addicts, thus setting a heavy film noir atmosphere. Three years later, he finally has a lead. He goes out in the middle of a blizzard to go to some very dark places. Max gets involved the local gang war, killing lots of mobsters, and uncovering a government conspiracy. Occasional dream sequences suggest Max was the one that killed his wife, but I wasn't clear on why he was having these (as he wasn't there to stop things). I guess that was the guilt? The story was great, although there weren't any Shadowrun-grade twists.

During my 12 hour playthrough, I noticed some notable difficulty spikes. There's one level where you need to run through a burning and exploding building (keep running, and jump over tables). Near the end, you're invading a skyscraper and you need to get past three guys with rocket launchers (sniper rifle zoom and bullet time). I looked up some guides to get past them.

This game is good, and I recommend that any semi-serious gamer worth anything should play it. I'm looking forward to the sequels.

Since you've made it this far, you might be interested in reading:

Screenshot of Max Payne 2, showing Max shooting mobsters — Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

In the hallmark of a decent sequel, Max Payne 2 continues the story of a betrayed police detective. Max seems to have gotten over his wife and daughter, and is going after the mobs that are making his life a living hell. Like the first game, the game takes place in New York City, but does not take place in a blizzard. Instead, it's raining the entire time, in true film-noir style.

Screenshot of bullet time in Max Payne 3 — Max Payne 3

Max Payne 3 was not developed by Remedy, but by a division of Rockstar (the Grand Theft Auto people). Years after closing the book on how he and his family were screwed, Max Payne gets hired as private security for a rich business owner in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Oh, except he had other run-ins before, which some levels flash back to. (Ugh, couldn't we have started from there?)

Screenshot of Dead Space 3 combat — Dead Space 3

I kinda knew that Dead Space 3 wouldn't totally disgust me like the last 2. It has far more of an action game vibe going on instead of a horror one. While almost none of the puzzles in this game revolve around broken equipment, there's still too much snot on the walls. It's pretty clear that these alien marker things don't make good things happen, but religious zealot cultists don't see it that way. We once again join Issac Clarke in his grim dark future.

Screenshot of Papers, Please, showing a multitude of documents and a man with killer sideburns — Papers, Please

Papers, Please is a bureaucrat simulator where you man a border checkpoint in a fictional totalitarian country during the late cold war. Gameplay mostly involves examining people's passports and other entry documents and calling 'gotcha' on them. Otherwise, you let them through if you can't find anything or you're lazy.

Screenshot of World of Goo 2, showing two sprayers fueling an airship. — World of Goo 2

World of Goo 2 is another sequel to a game that I don't think needed one. However, given the amount of time since the original, I'll let this one slide. I haven't played through the original for several years, so any references to it are from my own memory, and may not be accurate.

Screenshot of High On Life, showing all guns in the last bossfight with Nipulon. — High On Life

It's been a while since I played a silly game, so here we go. Some time ago, I happened across a Humble Bundle that had High On Life. I remember hearing about this, so I got it. A friend of mine is into Rick and Morty, and this game was made in part by the guy behind that show.