Max Payne | A Complete History and Retrospective

What is your favorite Max Payne game Dad? 🔫🔫🔫

And now remedy is remaking the first two games.
Lets hope they dont deviate too much (if at all) from the source material.

Nostalgia game ever...i learn bad language from this game hahaha..i still kid that time..😂😂😂😂

thank you for doing chapters!

well this didn't age well; theres a max payne remake around the corner (or remaster?).

is it just me or when your speaking about the first max payne game, your playing a song from the metal gear rising soundtrack?

I had a super hard time beating that garage level where you kill B.B. I think what eventually got me through it was just blasting “Smack my B!+ch Up” by The Prodigy

Max Payne 3 isn’t Max Payne.

“max finds Rico getting top, then kills him” -My Favorite Son 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Max Payne 2 was a step up in every direction... Except character model. I suppose the over-the-top, borderline silly expressions on Sam Lakes face may have clashed with the realistic tone that the second game was going for... But I don't care. Justice for Sam Lake as Max Payne, the people's champ.

The essence is in the title. Max Payne. These games always finish with "it was at my worst when I was at my best" sort of thing, with everyone that mattered dead and that last son of a b**ch to put a hole in. Also the drama. That last part voicemail. I don't think I've seen any other ending giving that bitter victory taste like part 2. With that said part 3 is the perfect ending and I 100% agree the character truly earned his rest.

These obligatory cuts to keep the flags off your back for the movie, objectively made it better, especially the parts involving luda.

Now, like all my loves, she is mine forever.. That line broke my heart in half as a 14 year old boy playing this game the first time

I'll start off by saying I think Rockstar is generally pretty overrated, in contrast to Remedy who I believe is severely underrated; particularly in regards to storytelling (their open worlds & technology are groundbreaking though , I can't deny the fun I had in 80 hrs of Cowboy freeroam in RDR2).There's a lot of things the 3rd game does well, the core gameplay is awesome, the intro cinematic is amazing at showing the weight of Max's trauma, and the relatively happy ending is a much deserved send off to a character who essentially spent his entire adult life in a cycle of extreme depression and violence. However, what I miss the most in that game, is the amazing, sometimes tongue in cheek & sometimes genuinely profound film noir writing of the first 2 games. Max waxing poetic and philosophical about the nature of his existence, of violence, of revenge, of love, his guilt etc.. is what made him such a unique and amazing video game protagonist to me. He wasn't just a mindless angry dude out for vengeance, his pain pushed him inwards and made him examine his own mind and the nature of the world around him. The first 2 games feel like a meta-deconstruction of these kinds of revenge & detective stories, one where the protagonist is painfully self aware of his role in a horrible cycle of corruption and violence, with no way to veer off course. He surrenders to his horrible fate despite constantly questioning it. I think this makes him incredibly relatable and human despite being an unkillable god of destruction. Even the incredibly atmospheric nightmare sequences of the first 2 games managed to make gameplay out of Max's psychology. The 3rd game tried to trade this eloquent & poetic dialogue & surreal tone for gruff, depressed, alcoholic self loathing. I think it works at times, especially when it's played for dark humour, but it also lays it on incredibly thick and feels out of sync with the more philosophical and ponderous max of the first couple games. He still is self aware of his role in his hopeless situation, but his commentary on it feels like it's written in a far more juvenile & on the nose kind of way. Also the 3rd game's plot itself, is generally weaker and devolves into a really dumb & strangely self serious 80's action movie shit show in it's last couple levels, which IMO has a lot less charm than the film noir detective vibe of the first 2 games. Almost the entire story surrounding Max in the 3rd game is loaded with forgettable & poorly written villains, side characters etc.. that I couldn't give less of a shit about. The buddy cop thing leading to the betrayal was very predictable and obvious as well.. With that said, James' vocal performance in the 3rd game is great, & definitely elevates the dialogue and ties the series together as much as it can. I don't hate it as an overall send off to the series, especially because I dig the ending they gave Max; but it in no way captures the tone, atmosphere and writing quality of the first 2 games. I get that Rockstar didn't want to copy Remedy, and decided to take it in their own direction, I just generally find that direction to be a lot less unique & interesting. It would be like if David Lynch's Twin Peaks had the 3rd season directed by Quentin Tarantino, and instead of a self aware, complex, surrealist mind fuck; it was loaded with shootouts, sex & posturing. It's a MASSIVE shift in tone and even genre that doesn't sit right with me or stick to what made Max Payne great to begin with. With all that said, it has WAY better gunplay than the first 2 lol, so for gameplay focused people, I'd understand why MP3 would be your favourite! Even with all the flaws, I think the MP trilogy is one of the more consistently high quality in gaming history. For reference, my favourite of the 3 is the 2nd, by a long shot. It's funny, romantic, incredibly dark, haunting, surreal and features one of the best endings in gaming history IMO. Gameplay wise it might be the weakest of the 3 as the gunplay boils down to enter bullet time and go fucking nuts lol but even that is great mindless fun.

You forgot to mention Nelly Furtado plays Balder's wife in the movie. Weird casting.

I can understand the hate against Max Payne 3, lack of puzzles and more shoot shoot, bang bang. But for what its worth, its not bad. I liked that Max Payne literally went to Hell, metaphorically and literally. between his job with Branco family, essentially failing to keep safe and being gringo in Brazil.

Sam lake banter will not be tolerated

Watched quantum break, Alan wake, and now this. Now to view the shared universe video you put together

Sam Lake is also the protagonist "Lord Valentine" in lords and ladies

Just finished Alan Wake video so this seemed the logical next step

I haven’t played the Max Payne games but I really want to. I do have a PS2 so maybe I can find a copy.

okay so random thought while playing through max payne 3. did they reuse the yacht from max payne 3 for the gta online yachts??

I remember this game so clearly because it looked SO BAD on the commercials especially his face lol. If I remember this came out right when ps2 did? Or close I think. Anyways I would have NEVER played this but my bro borrowed it from a friend and said it was good and I laughed. I think I watched a bit and was blown away.

This was right up my alley, ruthless, dark, real, the story and max’s dialogue was just encapsulating for me. It’s one of my favorite games of all time. 2 and 3 were ok but man… max payne 1 was like nothing I had ever seen at the time. This game changed gaming. Nothing I can remember was this dark.

I believe Max cutting his hair in 3 actually showed a true psychological view of his nature at this point.

It has been shown in lots of media that when someone has no control of their life at all, in any way, one of the most common things they do to gain a semblance of control, even if only ever one small portion of their lives, is to make the conscious decision to cut, or shave, their hair. Because they know this is the only true freedom of free will and control they will ever have or know.

Comment on the dialogue about how the cover system in Max Payne 3 just didn't feel like his style.

It needs to be remembered, up until the end of Max Payne 2, he had a death wish, plus he was younger, stronger, faster, had better vision, all that, and could do what he did.

In Max Payne 3, he's older, slower, probably has hurts all over his body from his younger experiences, and, while still using alcohol and pain killers to try to hold back his inner demons, he no longer possessed the killer instinct of someone with a death wish.

So, I believe the cover system makes sense for this phase of his life.

Something I didn't noticed the first time I played MP 3 was that during the cemetery flashback the soundtrack includes a baby crying in the background and that really portrait max's biggest ghost

Greatest max Payne review/analysis on this entire platform

God these games were brilliant! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!!

I never noticed until now how the soccer scene in mp3 is a rendition of money talks 🤦🏽‍♂️

Kills me why companies change the games story and what makes it great. Resident Evil is prime example. The games are awesome. Just follow them and slightly change stuff. The Last of Us is a great example of what to do. Look how awesome that series is.

Loved all these. Would like to see a remake one day.

"What the hell?!"

One of the worst retroprespectives i have ever seen. max payne 3 cover system is not meant to be used all the time if you abuse it you will get more damaged in the process of trying to kill enemies, cover mechanic is used for hiding for some seconds to see where all the enemies are and shootdodge or get out and start running and gunning try covering in higher difficultys you will get more damage than actually playing the game how its aupposed to be played go and see how good players play max payne 3 95% they dont use cover in max payne 1 and 2 you could just run horizontal and no one would hit you in max payne 3 if you do that you will get hit so what do you do you use ROLL, bullet time and shootdodge effectively if you aim quick and effectively you take no damage just because max payne 3 is harder and use cover all the time it doesn't mean its how its to be played i wonder have you ever completed any max payne on the highest difficulty? Based on your gameplay you did not especially in your max payne 3 gameplay you looked very bad i have completed the game countless time i did no damage run and i will soon do no bullet time and no shootdodge run you are a CASUAL you dont understand the gameplay you buy a game and you play the game 3 times most and just say its a masterpiece or when you are bad you say it relies on cover mechanic "dis is no de max paine ah kno" i buy the game i master the combat and then make my conclusion you constantly play different games 1 time i play 1 game multiple times I MASTER THE COMBAT I UNDERSTAND THE COMBAT unlike you who is just a casual

A casual who just ruins gaming

Max Payne Trilogy is the most unique action adventure video game series of all times💯

"Alex Woden"?

We could use a remake of the 1st and 2nd games. BUT. Those remakes would have to be 100% true to the tone of the originals or it just wouldn't be doing Max Payne justice.

Good vid. I'm proud of ya, son.

the first bullet time in games was from lag, it just wasn't intentional

I know this video is a year old, but I heard that you can get past the copyright sensors by putting a face cam in the parts you’re having trouble with. I don’t know if it’s 100% though

You missed that Woden is a version of Odin. Woden, in Asgard Mansion, etc

That max payne movie could bypass as a comedy.

That max payne movie could bypass as a comedy.

"Late Goodbye"... Max Payne 2 brought me to POTF, and I can't thank this game enough for that... And yes, this song is Max Payne...

i would like to replay MP1 and 2 with new engine (Resident Evil 4 like) on my pc now.
Also these games need to be shown to younger, newer players too! they are missing out, but i cant blame them if they dont like the xbox OG graphics.

Yo remember Kung Fu mod? Smack my b*tch up!

The deadpan voice acting from Max was perfect

michael from gta v seems to just be 1 big reference to max