Max Payne

Ah, Max Payne. Being my very first E3, I was sorely disappointed at missing all the fun from last year's expo, and, in particular, missing out on the game that had the returning FS crew talking about most: Remedy Entertainment's Max Payne (OK, they talked more about last year's Playboy party, but I'd rather not even think about missing out on that). This year I was lucky enough to catch the new presentation over at the promised-land (that would be the GOD lot to the uninformed), and all I can say is "wow." Yeah, I caught all the past screenshots, and of course I watched the teaser trailer movies several times, but none of that sufficiently prepared me for what I was about to see.

Graphic novel panels tell the story

Say hello to Mr. Beretta

Story

Max Payne follows the exploits of the title character, a good guy in a tough spot. While under deep cover in the New York mafia, he becomes a fugitive from both sides of the law when his cover gets blown, and is framed for murder. On top of having both the police and the mob after him, Max's family is killed, leaving him a desperate man with nothing to lose. Writer and game designer Sam Lake, who was giving the presentation, stressed the importance of Max Payne's character driven action, in order to build atmosphere and flesh out the world the game takes place in. Lake stated that the goal of Max Payne was to create a very personal "film noir" style action game.

Close range Ingram

Man vs Helicopter

Comic book style

This style of story telling is carried through into the game's cut scenes. The bulk of the plot in Max Payne is told through "graphic novel" comic book panels, complete with character voice-overs. The closest approximation I can think of would be some of the cut scenes from the Twisted Metal series on the PSX, only these are of much higher quality.

Backdraft

Dual Mac 10s

There is no spoon

Graphically, Max Payne is nothing short of astounding. Remedy's original "max effects" engine pushes the limits of 3D visuals further than this editor has seen before. Lake started his demonstration by showing off Max Payne's Matrix-style "bullet time," with a close up on Max himself frozen in time; gun cocked, muzzle flash exploding, and bullet mid flight, panning around this scene effortlessly, proving that, despite the exquisite level of detail, what we were seeing was all being rendered in real time.