Max Payne

2001

third-person shooter, neo-noir video game

Developer

Rockstar

Publisher

Gathering of Developers

Platforms

Various

Game modes

single-player video game

Released

2001-07-25

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. The game centers on former New York City Police Department (NYPD) detective Max Payne, who attempts to solve the murder of his family while investigating a mysterious new designer drug called "Valkyr". While doing so, Max becomes entangled in a large and complex conspiracy involving a major pharmaceutical company, organized crime, a secret society, and the United States Armed Forces. The game features a gritty neo-noir style and uses graphic novel panels with voice-overs as its primary means of storytelling, drawing inspiration from hard-boiled detective novels by authors like Mickey Spillane. It contains many allusions to Norse mythology, particularly the myth of Ragnarök and several names. The gameplay is heavily influenced by the Hong Kong action cinema genre, particularly the work of director John Woo, and it was one of the first games to feature the bullet time effect popularized by The Matrix (1999).

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