Max Payne

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Max Payne
Max Payne Logo.svg
Genre(s) Third-person shooter
Developer(s) Remedy Entertainment (2001–2003; 2022–present)
Rockstar Studios (2012)
Publisher(s) Gathering of Developers (2001, PC)
Rockstar Games
Writer(s) Sam Lake (1–2)
Dan Houser (3)
Michael Unsworth (3)
Rupert Humphries (3)
Composer(s) Kärtsy Hatakka (1–2)
Kimmo Kajasto (1–2)
Perttu Kivilaakso (2)
Health (3)
Platform(s)
First release Max Payne
July 24, 2001
Latest release Max Payne 3
May 15, 2012

Max Payne is a neo-noir third-person shooter video game series developed by Remedy Entertainment (Max Payne and Max Payne 2) and Rockstar Studios (Max Payne 3). The series is named after its protagonist, Max Payne, a New York City police detective turned vigilante after his family was murdered by drug addicts. The first two installments were written by Sam Lake, while Max Payne 3 was primarily written by Rockstar Games' Dan Houser.

Contents

The first game in the series, Max Payne , was released for Windows in 2001 and for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Apple Macintosh in 2002; a different version of the game was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. A sequel, titled Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne was released for PlayStation 2, Windows, and Xbox in 2003. In 2008, a movie adaptation, loosely based on the original game, entitled Max Payne , was released, starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis in the roles of Max Payne and Mona Sax, respectively. Max Payne 3 was developed by Rockstar Studios and released for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 in 2012.

In November 2021, Microsoft announced that in celebration of 20 years of Xbox, they would be adding over 70 more games to their backwards compatibility program. Headlining these games was the Max Payne trilogy, making the games available to play on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S [1]

The franchise is notable for its use of "bullet time" in action sequences, as well as being positively received by critics. [2] [3] As of 2011, the Max Payne franchise has sold over 7.5 million units. [4] The film rendition received negative reviews but was commercially successful. [5] [6]

In April 2022, Remedy announced that remakes of Max Payne and Max Payne 2 are being developed in collaboration with Rockstar Games. The two games will be released as a single title. [7]

Games

Aggregate review scores
Game Metacritic
Max Payne (GBA) 78 [8]
(PC) 89 [9]
(PS2) 80 [10]
(Xbox) 89 [11]
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (PC) 86 [12]
(PS2) 73 [13]
(Xbox) 84 [14]
Max Payne 3 (PC) 87 [15]
(PS3) 87 [16]
(X360) 86 [17]

Max Payne

Renegade DEA agent and former NYPD officer Max Payne attempts to hunt down the ones responsible for murdering his wife and child, as well as framing him for the murder of his NYPD partner, Alex Balder. As the story unfolds, he gains a number of "allies", including Vladimir Lem (a suave, old-fashioned Russian mobster) and Mona Sax (a vigilante who is out to avenge the death of her twin sister) and uncovers a major conspiracy involving the trafficking of a narcotic called V, or Valkyr—after the mythological figures in Norse mythology—which is somehow connected to the death of Max's family.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

Two years after the first game, Max Payne has rejoined the NYPD and has been cleared of the charges for his killing spree thanks to his connection to Senator Alfred Woden, the leader of a secret society called the Inner Circle. During a routine murder investigation, Max finds himself face-to-face with the fugitive Mona Sax, who reluctantly joins him in his investigation. As the two work together to uncover the truth, they begin to develop feelings for each other, and come across another major conspiracy, which this time involves Vladimir Lem, the Italian Mob, and the Inner Circle.

Max Payne 3

Nine years after the second game, Max Payne has left New York and is working on a private security detail in São Paulo, Brazil. When the wife of his employer is kidnapped by a local street gang, Max and his old friend Raul Passos join forces in an attempt to rescue her, igniting a war that will lead them to confront a larger conspiracy. [18]

Remakes

Remedy, with funding from Rockstar who holds the rights to the series, announced plans to remake Max Payne and Max Payne 2 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S in April 2022. At the time of the announcement, the remakes were at an early development state, and no planned release date was announced. [19] It was confirmed that the two games will be released as a single title. [20]

Film adaptation

Early in 2003, it was confirmed that 20th Century Fox had bought the rights to adapt the game to film. [21] The Max Payne movie went into production in 2008 and was directed by John Moore. The movie was produced by Collision Entertainment and Firm Films in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [22] Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis [23] play the roles of Max Payne and Mona Sax respectively. [24] Beau Bridges, Chris O'Donnell, Nelly Furtado and Ludacris have roles as B.B. Hensley, Jason Colvin, Christa Balder and Jim Bravura respectively. [25] On July 10, 2008, a teaser trailer was released, featuring an instrumental version of the Marilyn Manson song, "If I Was Your Vampire". [26] The film was released to theaters in the U.S. on October 17, 2008, with a PG-13 rating. [27] While it was ranked first on its opening weekend, grossing US$18 million at the box office, [28] the film received mainly negative reviews, having a 16% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 129 reviews. [29] In June 2022, 20th Century Studios announced that a Max Payne reboot movie is in development. [30]

Characters

Note: A gray cell indicates that the character does not appear in that medium.

CharacterGamesFilm
Max Payne Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Max Payne 3 Max Payne
2001200320122008
Cast
Max Payne James McCaffrey Mark Wahlberg
Mona Sax Julia Murney Wendy Hoopes Mila Kunis
Vladimir Lem Dominic Hawksley Jonathan Davis 
Senator Alfred WodenJohn Randolph JonesJohn BradenJohn Randolph Jones 
Vinnie GognittiJoe DalloFred Berman 
Lt. Jim BravuraPeter AppelVince Viverito  Ludacris
Nicole Horne Jane Gennaro Kate Burton
Michelle Payne Haviland Morris Character is silent Marianthi Evans
Alex Balder Chris Philips   Donal Logue
B.B. HensleyAdam Grupper  Beau Bridges
Don Angelo PunchinelloJoe Ragno Joe Ragno 
Jack LupinoJeff Gurner Jeff Gurner Amaury Nolasco
Joey & Virgilio FinitoTye Reign 
Rico Muerte Joe Maruzzo  
Candy DawnJoanie Ellen 
Frankie "The Bat" NiagaraBruce Kronenberg 
Boris DimePeter Appel 
Vince MugnaioCharacter is silent 
Pilate "Big Brother" ProvidenceCharacter is silent 
Joe "Deadpan" SalemCharacter is silent 
Lisa Punchinello / Natasha SaxCharacter is silent  Olga Kurylenko
Det. Valerie Winterson Jennifer Server 
Kaufman Gregory Sims 
Mike "The Cowboy" Gary Yudman 
Annie Finn Kimberly Howard 
Senator Sebastian Gates Character is silent 
Corcoran Character is silent 
Raul Passos  Julian Dean  
Rodrigo Branco Frank Rodriguez 
Victor Branco Robert Montano 
Marcelo Branco Dillon Porter 
Fabiana Branco  Benedita Aires Pereira  
Giovanna Taveres  Shirley Rumierk  
Wilson Da Silva Stephen Girasuolo 
Serrano  Babs Olusanmokun  
Armando Becker Bira Castro 
Álvaro Neves Gil Cardoso 
Bachmeyer Gilberto Romagnolo 
Milo Rego Daniel Bittencourt 
Anthony DeMarco Ray Iannicelli 
Tony DeMarco Charlie Semine 
Arthur Fischer Marconi de Morais 
Anders Detling  Wayne Duvall  
Jason Colvin  Chris O'Donnell
Christa Balder  Nelly Furtado
Owen Green  Joel Gordon
Lincoln DeNeuf  Jamie Hector
Tattoo Artist  Stephen R. Hart

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Max Payne is a 2001 third-person shooter game developed by Remedy Entertainment. It was originally released for Windows by Gathering of Developers in July 2001, and was later ported by Rockstar Games to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in December 2001, and by MacSoft and Feral Interactive to Mac OS X in July 2002. A version of the game for the Game Boy Advance, featuring an isometric perspective but retaining most of the original's gameplay elements, was released by Rockstar in December 2003, and an enhanced port for mobile devices was published in 2012 to coincide with the release of Rockstar's Max Payne 3. A Dreamcast version of the game was also planned, but was canceled due to the discontinuation of the console in 2001. Max Payne was also made available on Xbox 360 as part of Xbox Originals program in 2009, on PlayStation 3 as a PS2 Classic in 2012, on PlayStation 4 in 2016, and on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in 2021, due to the consoles' respective backward compatibility and emulation features.

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References

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  3. ↑ "Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne on Metacritic". Metacritic. Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved November 29, 2008.
  4. ↑ Orland, Kyle (September 14, 2011). "Grand Theft Auto IV Passes 22M Shipped, Franchise Above 114M". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Film: Max Payne on Metacritic". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 4, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2008.
  6. ↑ Hilliard, Kyle (November 27, 2015). "Remedy Reflects On The Disappointing 2008 Max Payne Film". Game Informer . Archived from the original on November 29, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Remedy Entertainment Enters Agreement with Rockstar Games for New Max Payne 1&2 Project". Remedy Entertainment. April 6, 2022. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
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  10. ↑ "Max Payne Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on August 31, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Max Payne Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 24, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on January 15, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Max Payne 3 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 7, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Max Payne 3 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 31, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Max Payne 3 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 22, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Max Payne 3 Announced!". RockstarWatch.net. March 23, 2009. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  19. ↑ Mackovech, Sam (April 6, 2022). "Rockstar, Remedy shake hands on new Max Payne 1+2 remaster series". Ars Technica . Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  20. ↑ Peters, Jay (April 6, 2022). "Max Payne remakes are on the way". The Verge. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  21. ↑ IGN Filmforce (June 27, 2005). "Max Payne Movie". IGN. Archived from the original on October 23, 2007. Retrieved June 24, 2007.
  22. ↑ "Max Payne Movie Update". IGN. October 31, 2007. Archived from the original on November 3, 2007. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
  23. ↑ Fleming, Michael (March 9, 2008). "Killer role for Kunis in 'Max Payne". Variety. Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
  24. ↑ Fleming, Michael (November 8, 2007). "Mark Wahlberg to star in 'Max'". Variety. Archived from the original on November 9, 2007. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
  25. ↑ "Max Payne (2008) – Cast and Credits – Yahoo! Movies". Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
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  27. ↑ GamePro , Issue #234, March 2008. pg. 30
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  29. ↑ Max Payne Movie Reviews Archived August 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine . Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on April 30, 2011.
  30. ↑ Williams, Caleb (June 16, 2022). "20th Century Studios Puts A 'Max Payne' Reboot Project Into Early Development". Knightedge Media. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
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