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Max Payne Replay Thread - Journey through the night once more

The faces are half the fun of Max Payne 1. I am legitimately disappointed that they made Max look completely and entirely different for Max Payne 2 and 3.
 
I think in the first game, they just used friends and families of the developers for the characters. They had a bigger budget for MP2, so they could hire professional actors.
 
hey, sorry if this has already been asked but what's the consensus on the downloadable version of Max Payne 1 and 2 on the Xbox Live Marketplace? I kind of wanna replay them both but my laptop is no good
 
googoomuck22 said:
hey, sorry if this has already been asked but what's the consensus on the downloadable version of Max Payne 1 and 2 on the Xbox Live Marketplace? I kind of wanna replay them both but my laptop is no good
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Xbox versions on 360 are running as they should. I have them and they play great.

By the way, I'm in the middle of MP2 and I 'JUST' noticed after watching some episodes of ADDRESS UNKNOWN, DICK JUSTICE and especially LORDS AND LADIES that they either reflect Max's psyche or the actual current plot points of MP2. Brilliant! :D
 
So what is the concensus on mods for Max Payne 2? I'm using the latest Cinema mod, but I dont like how it ties voices to music volume :/. And some of the songs can be annoying when going into bullettime.

Either way Max Payne 2 is amazing..
 
Playing Max Payne 2 at the moment. How much better it plays compared to its predecessor is pretty astounding. It's feels more bleak than the first game though.

Also, small tidbit, but I think in Max's office I saw a newspaper clipping about a hero cop capturing a serial killer. Max caught a serial killer between MP1 and MP2 it seems. That would have been an interesting story to see.
 
I played up until Part 3, Chapter 7 putting me in the Aesir building. Most of my memories for Max Payne 1 recalls mostly taking out mobsters in a sleazy hotel, busting down a hotel door and then having to dodge a booby trapped shotgun or taking out more goons in an underground garage or fighting my way through a burning restaurant.

I completely forgot about the complete turn in the story involving secret government conspiracies and whatnot but then it's been years since I've played the first game. Once you get to that point though and are suddenly taking on mercs and commandos the gunplay intensity ramps up and is still an adrenaline rush when you're taking multiple guys out with an M4 in Bullet Time, and then chaining it together by sending more guys to an early grave and in to the air with a well place shot to a laser mine. "I was a ninja. My Kung-Fu was strong".

Story wise...I also didn't realize Alfred Woden ends becoming the only living member of the Inner Circle. I thought in Max Payne 2 it mentions more members but I guess I'll come to that myself soon.

Despite mods and all that but am I only one who randomly fires weapons while diving and then hitting the Pause button to catch it all in a beautiful freeze frame? I'm glad the same pause feature is back in Max Payne 3.
 
Simo said:
I played up until Part 3, Chapter 7 putting me in the Aesir building. Most of my memories for Max Payne 1 recalls mostly taking out mobsters in a sleazy hotel, busting down a hotel door and then having to dodge a booby trapped shotgun or taking out more goons in an underground garage or fighting my way through a burning restaurant.

I completely forgot about the complete turn in the story involving secret government conspiracies and whatnot but then it's been years since I've played the first game. Once you get to that point though and are suddenly taking on mercs and commandos the gunplay intensity ramps up and is still an adrenaline rush when you're taking multiple guys out with an M4 in Bullet Time, and then chaining it together by sending more guys to an early grave and in to the air with a well place shot to a laser mine. "I was a ninja. My Kung-Fu was strong".

Story wise...I also didn't realize Alfred Woden ends becoming the only living member of the Inner Circle. I thought in Max Payne 2 it mentions more members but I guess I'll come to that myself soon.

Despite mods and all that but am I only one who randomly fires weapons while diving and then hitting the Pause button to catch it all in a beautiful freeze frame? I'm glad the same pause feature is back in Max Payne 3.
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I do that too! All the time, it always looks awesome.

Yes, there are other Inner Circle members mentioned in MP2
 
Playing the iPhone version of Max Payne (just for fun really) and lemme tell ya, it is not as bad of a nightmare as I thought it would be IMO.

I'm only at the part of the Ragna Rock club level and I'm just wondering if the baby sequence was tweaked for the touch screen or if any design changes are present other than the aim assist? (the one feature that saves this from being a complete and utter garbage).
 
I reinstalled the first game over Steam, but I have a weird bug. No music or voiceovers whatsoever, just in-game dialogue and sound effects. I played it before on this very laptop, so I'm confused as to what is going on.

And I realize I'm in the minority, but I vastly preferred Sam Lake as Max Payne. He just worked for me. I did like the new actress for Mona in MP2.
 
The Steam forums are a cesspool, but there are some occasional gems like that fix. I think quite a few Win 7 peeps run into that issue, I know I did.
 
Just finished Max 2! Such a blast! Can't wait for 3, I'm ready.

Oh and by the way, I didn't know that but before taking the final elevator in MP2, when you're in Woden's office, if you open up the TV, there's a news bulletin saying Bravura survived his bullet wounds and his now in stable conditions. Hope we see or hear about him in 3. :P
 
SketchTheArtist said:
Just finished Max 2! Such a blast! Can't wait for 3, I'm ready.

Oh and by the way, I didn't know that but before taking the final elevator in MP2, when you're in Woden's office, if you open up the TV, there's a news bulletin saying Bravura survived his bullet wounds and his now in stable conditions. Hope we see or hear about him in 3. :P
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Heh, I just finished 2 as well and discovered that newcast for the first time too. Feels good. :)

Another thing I never knew before is that both games actually have a slow health regen that kicks in when you're close to death.
 
Found my Max Payne 1 disc in storage, probably gonna give that a go. If I remember it's a bit longer than Max Payne 2.

Was pretty surprised to find there's still an active modding community for Max Payne 1, Ken Yueng (original creator of the Kung Fu mod) is working with some other guys on a massive Matrix mod called The Real World, they released a demo of it just last month. A shame Max Payne 2 had a lot of hard-coded stuff in the game engine and didn't allow for total conversions on the scale of the original (Katana is pretty mindblowing from a modding standpoint). The Equilibrium-inspired Hall of Mirrors was pretty impressive when I tried it back in like 2005, though I wonder if that long awaited Street Fighter mod turned out to be any good. On the other hand, I do appreciate Cinema a lot because it doesn't fudge up the spirit of the original game like so many other tweak mods did.
 
Just finished the iOS version of Max Payne (first time). Despite control issues, it was a fun ride.

Story as a bit disappointing though. I don't know why, but I always thought Max Payne had a great story and all. Not really. It's charming because of the ultra cheesy noir monologues and "cutscenes", but eh. Also, for some reason I always thought the game had supernatural elements, glad to see that was not the case.

Anyway, I'm up for part 2. Is there a version on Steam?
 
heringer said:
Just finished the iOS version of Max Payne (first time). Despite control issues, it was a fun ride.

Story as a bit disappointing though. I don't know why, but I always thought Max Payne had a great story and all. Not really. It's charming because of the ultra cheesy noir monologues and "cutscenes", but eh. Also, for some reason I always thought the game had supernatural elements, glad to see that was not the case.

Anyway, I'm up for part 2. Is there a version on Steam?
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Yep.
 
Nabs said:
I'm currently on Part 3 of MP1. Can't wait to finish it later today and get into MP2.
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I too cant wait to get back into MP2 to see if it's as good as I remember. MP1 has aged dreadfully, in my opinion. It's rank with cheap trial-and-error encounters, and I've been spoiled by modern conveniences like checkpointing.

There's nothing more infuriating than unloading two shotgun blasts to an enemy's chest, he lives, and proceeds to blast you in the face with his own shotgun.
 
I think the story in Max Payne is solid, but the atmosphere and dialogue/metaphors really sell it. It's campy, but utterly delightful.

EatChildren said:
I too cant wait to get back into MP2 to see if it's as good as I remember. MP1 has aged dreadfully, in my opinion. It's rank with cheap trial-and-error encounters, and I've been spoiled by modern conveniences like checkpointing.

There's nothing more infuriating than unloading two shotgun blasts to an enemy's chest, he lives, and proceeds to blast you in the face with his own shotgun.
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It's called teaching you a lesson for getting too close to a shotgun lololol.

I haven't had any issues with it's age because I go back to the era of quicksave games quite often.
 
Back when MP1 came out, one of the dream sequences gave me the idea that there was going to be this twist where Max was the one who had killed his family because of someone drugging him.
Think I'll replay it to see what ever gave me that idea.
 
Hard to believe it's been 9 years since MP2 already. Best love story ever told in a game. Even though MP3 looks completely different, and it's no longer made by remedy, I'm completely hyped for it. Perhaps the atmosphere won't be as good, but the gameplay looks to be even better.
 
Stallion Free said:
"So what do you call your gun?"

"...Dick Justice"

"I rest my case"

God like.



Solo Ingram-Mac 4 life.... or uh till you get the Colt Commando.

Weapon balance in Max Payne 1 is brilliant.
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That had me rolling. Then you've got the 2 goons talking about movie endings and spoiling The Usual Suspects and SE7EN.

Fun fact: Max Payne was originally titled Dick Justice when development first began in 1996.
 
Simo said:
That had me rolling. Then you've got the 2 goons talking about movie endings and spoiling The Usual Suspects and SE7EN.

Fun fact: Max Payne was originally titled Dick Justice when development first began in 1996.
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The Dick Justice TV show in MP2 is amazing as well. Poor Max gets trolled by it.
 
Tempted to pre-order on Steam as you'll get the first two games for free, but on the other hand... I would love to have a physical box.. Dilemma's, dilemma's..
 
I played more of 2 earlier and I'm still not digging it. The atmosphere is still pretty great, but the gunplay just lacks something in the modern age, I feel. Doesn't feel nearly as satisfying.

Don't think I'll play any more because it's ruining my memories a fair bit. It's got me excited to see how 3 will be though if it's updated in all the right ways.
 
EatChildren said:
I too cant wait to get back into MP2 to see if it's as good as I remember. MP1 has aged dreadfully, in my opinion. It's rank with cheap trial-and-error encounters, and I've been spoiled by modern conveniences like checkpointing.

There's nothing more infuriating than unloading two shotgun blasts to an enemy's chest, he lives, and proceeds to blast you in the face with his own shotgun.
Click to expand...

It is not trial and error, it is called not being bad at the game. My main problem with Max Payne 2 was pretty much all the changes made the game easier in the worst way possible. Why does Max's bullet time meter recharge automatically? What sense does that make? After dropping like three enemies in slowmo the enemies are barely able to shoot anymore? The problem is that Max Payne just got it right the first time so they decided to make the second game different just for the sake of it. Max Payne 2 probably had a bit more variety going on but the balance wasn't as fine as the first game.

Edit: Not to shit on it too much, they are both phenomenal. Replayed both of them last year sometime, still pretty top tier tps games.
 
MTMBStudios said:
It is not trial and error, it is called not being bad at the game.
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Max Payne has numerous encounters that involve AI placed in ambush positions, often at a clear player disadvantage. A shotgun wielding thug at point black range around the next corner, as his pistol wielding friends stand opposite. A guy unloading an entire uzi clip in your face as he is scripted to sprint around a corner just as you approach it. Bullet sponge 'boss' characters that at first glance appear to function no differently from any other enemy.

In the grand scheme of things I don't really care, because Max Payne does emphasise skill based play. But the game isn't without archaic trimmings common with games of its era. Sometimes encounters punish you for no other reason than just because, where winning is often a consequence not of instant, reactive play, but knowing what triggers an enemy spawn, where they're hiding, and who to prioritise in a group fight.

That's how I see it anyway. Maybe I've just grown shit at these games over the years.
 
Stallion Free said:
That's what you get for not playing enough old-school shooters in recent years. I play 4-5 every year minimum so I stay on my toes.
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I don't really play modern shooters, mostly old school ones. I bought BFE for a reason :P.
 
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