And it was their take on this idea, which was wonderful, I felt. And it, to me, I mean, it most certainly looked like a Rockstar game. "Rockstar guys, Dan Houser and the others, they reached out to us at a certain point in development (of Max Payne 3), and asked if we would be interested to play it through and give notes, which was really awesome and really nice from them. While Lake borrows his inspirations from Norse mythology and Hong Kong films, Dan Houser of Rockstar's style is more reminiscent of the works of Michael Mann, as well as taking a healthy dose of inspiration from Tony Scott's adaptation of the A. In 2012, Rockstar Games released Max Payne 3, which, though somewhat divisive to fans who wanted another game set in the perpetual night of New York City, proved that Max is one of the greatest characters in gaming, with another award-worthy performance from James McCaffrey bolstering a story which feels different from Sam Lake's work on the series. Sam Lake On Rockstar's Take on Max Payne 3
They sold the rights to the series in exchange for being allowed to say goodbye to Max on their own terms. Remedy was given the opportunity and creative freedom to conclude their story as they saw fit. Looking at the story of The Fall of Max Payne, it's an interesting case, since nearly every single character in the whole series is dead by the end of the game, save for Max himself (and Lieutenant Jim Bravura, though he dies several years later, as depicted in the Max Payne 3 tie-in comic). Remedy was never going to develop Max Payne 3, even if the first sequel had been a massive success. So, from a creator's perspective, that was a really nice way to go." And you could kind of go through that emotional process while working on it, saying goodbye. But at the same time, that was all with the understanding that this will be the final Max Payne game for us. Making a sequel is great fun in many ways. It was wonderful to create that, and to take certain ideas from the first one and. We have a lot of passion towards Max Payne. So, ya know, with that understanding, it was a nice situation. "After the first game came out, the IP rights were sold to Take-Two and Rockstar, and part of that deal was an agreement that we would create the sequel. However, this isn't entirely true, and a long rest for Max Payne may have always been in the cards from the start. Unfortunately, the game didn't sell nearly as well as the original, which many fans believe led to the franchise being laid to rest for nearly a decade. Naturally, following the game's success, audiences – and Take-Two – were clamoring for a sequel.įor many fans, Max Payne 2 is even better than its predecessor, with a more intimate story and vastly superior graphics, with the action-packed gameplay now supporting advanced ragdoll physics and other high-tech bells and whistles. Max Payne was defined by its film noir storytelling, John Woo-influenced double-fisted gunplay, and outstanding voice acting from star James McCaffrey, to say nothing of the hard boiled story written by Sam Lake, who also served as the physical character model for the title character. Back in 2001, it was Take-Two Interactive which helped put the original Max Payne on shelves and contributed to the game's considerable commercial success. Remedy has always been an independent studio, though have certainly had partnerships with various high-profile companies, from Microsoft to most recently, 505 Games - the publisher behind Control.