Played through the first one, like, 20 times, maybe more. Half of it - in a row. I hated Max's new face and stupidly despised the sequel for it, but came to my senses later and started despising it for replacing the revenge plot with some banal love shenanigans. Then, I came to my senses again, realizing that it was a better fit, they couldn't just repeat the same premise, after all. And the gameplay was good. As for the third one, I was a little bit irritated with how often they took control over Max away from me to show their 'cinematics', but not too much. Anyway, I got too far on Hard, and around 7 hours in, the game became unbearably painful to play. I've swallowed a lot of one-shot headshots, but I couldn't make myself swallow my pride and switch to Normal, so I just stopped playing instead. Maybe I'll go back to it one day when I'm off the cooldown. Vented for a bit, sorry. Whew! Now that everyone knows but not necessarily cares what I think about the series, I can watch the video in peace.
That feeling when you walk into a new room for the first time and immediately get shot by a new weapon you didn’t know was in the game. Yeah…you will never play max payne for the first time again.
When I first heard Max calling the sex talking line just so he can speak to someone, I literally busted in tears. He is such a tragic character. He won against the bad guys but lost himself and lost the battle with life.
I can't believe The voice of Max Payne James McCaffrey have passed away........ I feel like New Remake of Max Payne ain't going to be the same without him in it..... RIP James McCaffrey for ours childhood........ 💔
@@gordonramsay6286AI wouldn't feel very right and that would piss a lot of people off. I think them reusing voice lines from the original would be a safer route.
Why can't you believe he Passed Away Everyone Does fool. But Max will never be the same without him and a different voice actor for him. The need someone that has the same exact voice cause if they don't then it's Temu Dollar Tree Max Lame
Rest in peace James McCaffrey 💔 I’m replaying through the series and just started the first one the other day and finding this out bummed me out so bad but now I wanna play em even more.
I loved a lot of things about the video, but most of all - how you've pointed out that it's poetic, yet no words are wasted. This is the vital point and a great skill that distinguishes good writing from mere graphomania.
@jamesesparza6893 I did as well I feel the same way as you, on one hand I'm interested to see how they'd handle him getting into another mad situation but on the other hand I like where MP3 left it and don't want them to ruin it.
@bipstymcbipste5641 Yea but was still tortured either way as he lost Mona, it completed the arc from Max Payne 100% with Woden etc but still didn't resolve anything with him as a character just left us wondering what would happen to him in the future, Max Payne 3 delved into what he'd been up to after two and was pretty much a strait drunk and pill addict still, doesn't seem like he resolved much tbh or found any sort of redemtion, MP3 had him go from shooting that wise guy and escaping New York to Brazil doing the jobs for the family and dealing with the events of MP3 and the whole conspiricy events that by the end of the game he gets that redemtion for himself, he's literally been through Hell three times by that point and barely survived, Max Payne 3 having some of the series rawest events, so it felt gratifying to see him finally at peace with himself, that's my take on it anyway, I think Max had killed so many people by that point he was fed up and tired and just wanted some peace.
@@biohazarduncovered He was already tormented with the ghosts of his past at the start of The Fall of Max Payne, what Rockstar did in 3 is basically the same schtick once more for no good narrative reason, other than to do another Max Payne video game, even though it wasn't really needed. The first two games complete his story and the ending for two, while bittersweet, has hope in the end for the main character with the whole "My wife's was dead, but it was alright" line in the comic panel. Sequel's main thematic crux is making Max face his trauma, to confront him with the ghost of his wife, his child and with everything he has done since their murder to pick up the pieces of his broken life and try to continue. The whole South America venture doesn't fit the noir aesthetic, nor does it add anything worthwhile to Max as a character or the series overall. It's just indicative of problems with the industry overall, we can never leave a good IP be, even if everything is settled, because if there's a money incentive to cash in on a cult classic, the industry will take it and try to profit off of it. And that's why I'm of the opinion that the third game was never needed, doesn't have a good reason to exist and that it is obsolete and should be ignored entirely. It is a good video game when taken in a general sense, it has competent design, it is a polished experience and has high production values, but does it really bring anything truly new and worthwhile to the title character and the series overall, does it build on past themes and see them coalesce in a memorable finale that ends it? I don't think so, it simply does what 2 did, but in South America, and since people can never get enough and consider their favorite games like they do their favorite beer in bars, they think it should be on constant demand whenever they want to have another one.
Also: for context I lost my dad in like 2004 when I was 11 and when this game came out in 2012 I was barely a man who even knew how to grieve him and it was so sudden that the lyrics and his redemptive arc hit me like a ton of bricks.
@@godson200 yeah, he's killing the guy who killed someone he was supposed to protect. It's a mirror of him not being able to get revenge for his wife and daughter dying. It's a retread, but it just shows he hasn't really learned to move on.
@@Cixelated maybe yeah it is an mirror. But I kind of didn't feel max really cared about the brancos who he was supposed to defend and bodyguard. The emotion wasn't there. Yes there is a parallel to his wife but it just didn't give me the same feel. Max just didn't care. His boss died. People related to the boss who were kidnapped either died or were irrelevant(paasos gf). The emotion kind of went missing in this story And it could have been a lot better. Also when he figures out that dude is going to do organ harvesting he kills him by the end of that chapter. So that's that..but the final boss doesn't even mean that much to max. Typical of Max Payne tho. Even in the first game, Nicole Horne wasn't related at all untill the last 4-5 chapters. Max Payne always tends to have a good plotline near the starting and rather abrupt and not so linear endings with the main characters being introduced near the ending
Love how you guys also included the Max Payne movie. I feel like no one else includes alternate media (if it exists for said IP) in their game series reviews/retrospectives
I used to date a chick with the surname Payne and we would joke we would call our son Max, well 15 years later she had a baby and called him Maximilian, do not know if he has her surname tho 😅
@@augustcziesch5556 Indeed we did, what worked was going no contact as we did still have mutual feelings for each other but basicly grew apart and wanted different things in life. We have talked twice in 16 years just by bumping into each other randomly (we live in separate countries now), We just hope each other are happy and have a hug goodbye.
But legit, amazing work, and Synopsis of this legendary series. The movie... We don't talk about the movie. It's mind-blowing you've done a video on my favorite series, legacy of kain...then, one on my second favorite, max payne...now if your next video is on resident evil, you are absolutely my son without a doubt. Or stalking me... Either way, yolo amazing content, brother lol. Keep it up, and I look forward to more of your work!
10:29 you got this part wrong. He doesn't call 911, the phone rings and he answers. On the line it's Nicole Horne asking "Is this the Payne residence?". She clearly does that to ensure that he's home and ready to see what's waiting for him.
"Hey Dad. It's me, your favorite son." I always feel like he's gonna follow this up with some bad news, like someone in the family has fallen ill. Just finished Max 3. Great finale!
I love the way you articulate yourself. The way these retrospectives that integrate objectivity, visceral, thoughtful, and personal reaction and analysis that make these videos so captivating. I’m ringing the bell!!!
Excellent work. Easily on par with your Legacy of Kain documentary. I think one of the best touches in Max Payne 3 is the fact that he starts the game addicted to painkillers - presumably a consequence of having to eat so many to survive the first two games. It's a really clever blending of a game mechanic and the storyline.
This, just like the LoK retrospective and history, is absolutely incredible!! I can't imagine the amount of work you put into these videos, but it is VERY much appreciated. Keep it up, man!!
If you can take the drug and not lose your shit. You feel no fear, no hesitation and no pain. If it normal takes two bullets to kill you. It now requires four bullets to kill you. If your wearing body armor you are unkillable.
one of the biggest details that alot of people miss in max payne 3 is at the very end there is no monologue, almost as if max is finally living in the present and not the past.
Amazing documentary man. I absolutely love this series, and I think its atmosphere and tone has never been matched by any other game or series since then. Max Payne 1 is one of the best games ever made no doubt, nailed it in almost all aspects for its time, and its engine was ahead of competing ones
2:06 That was something about Max Payne 3 that I really appreciated. The language barrier that they put up for max and the player (unless they happen to speak Portuguese) really gave the story some depth and it made the situation feel real a lot of games and movies just have everyone speak English or they’ll make it very obvious what is being said but Max Payne 3 leaves you in the dark just as much as Max is. It gives that fish out of water story they’re telling legitimacy
By far the best retrospective I have ever watched, all the references and quotes, all the attention to the detail, you mentioned everything that needed to be noted. It was such a great watch to tune into. This kinda content means so much to gamers like myself, so mad support for all your hard work and effects @YourFavoriteSon. One of the best stories we our blessed with in video game media but I digress. This is one incredible watch nothing but love for the Payne
i've watched the legacy of kain retrospective quite a few times - you really have something with these types of videos man, please keep your head up and keep making great content like that video and this one. i've really enjoyed your stuff!!
Max Payne 2 is my favorite for nostalgic reasons but I really liked the third as well. I thought he was going to die in the game, it made him feel irreparably broken but he found peace at the end. I thought it was a good was to finish the trilogy and I really liked the Hoboken levels. It was a nice trip down memory lane.
Hoboken was a treat, with the iconic jacket to boot. It was a nice tribute, Max Payne 3 was overall a great game with a lot of love and passion for the source material. Only issue was the classic rockstar on rails linearity that detracts.
Max payne 3 is my favorite of them all, to me it is highly underrated and overlooked, it felt like it got set up to fail coming out between Red dead and GTA V 🤦🏽♂️
I didn’t know there was a Portuguese dubbing for this game! The PS2 version gave a choice between English, French, Spanish or French. Neither the 2 or 3 got dubbed in other languages though
@@Helsinki40268 we had Portuguese subtitles for MP3, I think is for the better that 3 didn't had a Portuguese dub for the English speaking characters because a major plot point is the fact that max is like a fish out of the water there because the language barrier
Did... Did you just refference my boy Take No Prisoners?! You earned yourself a sub for that alone. That you even know that game, since it was like a late 90's sleeper. I'm proud of you, son.
MP1 might be my favorite game ever, even after 2 and 3 added so many refinements gameplay wise. I love 1's tactical edge, bits of resource management, and how random enemies react. Every single playthrough is different, and loading levels for fun and experimentation is unedningly addictive. The narrative as well. I get the flack it's nightmare trip levels get from a game design perspective but they grip and immerse me so much. I get chills every time. Overall it's narrative, despite not being as deep as 2, never ceases to blow me away. And thank you for pointing out all the Norse references, I'd never noticed it all or made the connections. This is honestly the best MP retrospective on youtube.
Thank you for making a video on this! Max Payne has held a special place in my heart and I think that you did an amazing job at covering everything. Its sad that Late Goodbye had to be copyrighted :(( The song and Poets of the Fall did an amazing job encapsulating the story. Flat out became a fan when I heard that song from them. Additionally, *big* kudos for dedicating your time to creating this video. Hopefully it gets the views it deserves! Edit: Thank you for opening my eyes to the deeper image of this series, especially with Max Payne 3 since its the only game that really gave me really complicated feelings because the different setting put me off at first. I ended up loving it eventually, and now I love it more. And yes, I concur that Max should really rest now. However, I wish they could just fix their ports because they all have problems in terms of trying to run for many people, including me. I really wanted to play Part 3 again but it sadly just broke out of nowhere for me :(( there was no fix I could find for it either
This was an amazing video and I absolutely loved watching it. A little note on the endings of 2 however, I remember hearing somewhere that the ending where Mona survived is actually Canon. I don't really know if it's true but my sappy heart likes to think it is. Max has been through enough torment he deserves some brevity in the darkness. Either way, amazing work on the video my man and copyright be damned, it was still a good watch. Addendum: When you talked about what Late Goodbye meant to you it felt similar to how I felt about the game in general. My previous girlfriend took her own life about a year ago and I've been grieving ever since. When I played Max Payne 2, however, I really felt like I could put myself into Max's shoes, and it helped me with my own demons, and the final line about Max dreaming about his wife made me cry like a baby. I had the same feeling you did, just pertaining to my girlfriend. "If Max could get over losing his family, then I could get over my girlfriend." Just a thought I wanted to share. Thanks for listening son.
YourFavoriteSon- Nice parody of the graphic novel from 'Max Payne' at 48:05-49:02. It made me laugh when this video was first posted onto RUclips in late-2021 & I still get a kick out of it, today...
I have been playing Alan Wake. Hearing you talk about Max Payne 1, I thought a bit heavy on the metaphors. And wouldn't ya know it, the Sheriff tells Alan Wake that she likes his writing, "a bit heavy on the metaphors but pretty good". And that fits so perfectly with Alan being a metaphor for the team of Remedy and the story being about writing.
Fell asleep watching a Resident Evil video. Woke up at one point and I was midway in this video (from autoplay) and it had gotten into my dreams. Ended up watching the whole video later when I woke up, despite never playing a Max Payne game. Cheers mate, enjoyed it.
That airport terminal scene with tears playing could absolutely play the way you wanted, that's how i sprint through it every playthrough lol. You just gotta zig zag around walls and break the enemies lines of sight. Tbh all of max payne 3 can be played that way.
Max Payne one’s gameplay reminds me, in some ways, of Hotline Miami. You die a lot, but eventually you figure out a plan, which enemies to kill, when to kill them and how. And everything comes together in the end.
Thank you for making this, brother. Such a heartbreaking story that deserves to be told. Max's story still breaks my heart, both inside and out. I'm almost 40 now, and I still relate to the genuine sadness he feels for personal reasons. I'ma play it again now...
I got hyped after the Kain video that you would keep up with these long, retrospectives. It’s like an event for me now and I really hope we get many more of these.
Amazing video, really enjoyed the style haha, fit the topic perfectly. I loved the Max Payne games, they were/are so good. Great work, looking forward to the next video!
Max Payne Series is truly an example that shows that video games can have a magnificent narrative; the story and progression are developed so well that this character could easily be in a top 5 best video game character of all times... Or rather, it should be; for me, and I think that most people who actually enjoy games with good narratives (who unfortunately are not too many) will agree as well, the character of Max Payne in the last game was handled in a quite disappointing way. It's very different from the previous games, and not in very positive way as you say; to make it short, it feels like he's a copy of John McClane from Die Hard, but a depressive one, like a gloomy American Hero; and that's quite the opposite from before. So yeah, the game's fun, it's pretty good on its own, but it isn't a Max Payne game for me; I stay with Max Payne 2 ending... And the easter egg from Alan Wake.
Kinda deep But did anyone else play the trilogy, and find maxes trails and issues kind of insightful? It made me feel that whatever life throws at me, I can deal with it as long as I have a good set of witty one liners haha
Super awesome video! Kind of sad you didn't touch on my favorite thing in the entirety of Max Payne 3. How there are multiple pianos scattered throughout the game and Max plays a special little tune.
I'd like to share my 2 cents about the nightmare letters at 35:37 Imo, the individual letters don't matter. The implication is what matters... Max being made aware that all the suffering he goes through is purely for the benefit of another. Reader, player or crimelord is just a detail. In all 3 games Max is set up as a fallguy. A simple means to an end, a chess piece on someone else's board. Being played... funny as hell, it is the most horrible thing i could think of. Optional MP3 deepdive (things you overlooked): For me MP3 has the most fun gameplay of the series, so I played it... alot. It took me a while to warm up to it but the more I replayed the more I noticed how deep the writing actually goes to the point where MP3 is now one of my favorite games of all time. For example: the flashbacks are not just extra backstory, they are Max's detective mode switching back on, being reminded by his current situation of something similar in his past. With many of the narration voice lines not just being throwaway one liners but creating a overarching strand throughout and are usually written in a ambiguous way. "Picking my photo from the broken pieces..." not really referring to the actual picture frame he is picking up but him trying to piece together the mystery of whats going on around him. In fact a lot is written in ways that describe the narrative figuratively and literally at the same time. Take for example even playing the Piano at different times in the game. You can take his comments about it at face value sure, but when you think about it "This was the place if not the time to play my dirge" referring to him getting back in his game full throttle and when finally reaching the string pullers and real evils in this grand scheme.. "And there it was. The soundtrack to my life." Literally! Caught in the middle of a ruthless powerplay as the fallguy so the actual monsters get away scot-free. Just like MP1&2 All that totally went over my head the first few times. I admit Rockstar could've packaged the narrative a little better but I've come to love it as a rough diamond and believe its Dan Housers best work to date. When you play it back to back you start noticing just how many red flags they show you throughout. Like Passos and Marcello just casually saying to Max he can just get new organs when they fail from drinking too much. Especially the things he says in the Panama flashback just before closing one of 'those' deals. I'm pretty sure the whole damn family is connected to organized crime. Might be the reason Marcello gets lit up like the asshole he was. Also... MP3 in general loosely mirrors the story of 1 and 2. Like you hinted at in the video, many of the characters can easily be compared to their respective counterparts. Mona Passos, partners in crime to the main players. Vlad Victor Cleaners/Crachá Preto masquerading their ascend to power. Corrupt police force B.B. Winters Becker. Serrano and Vinnie and so on. Whats also there is that the narrative changes its perspective along with Max's change. At first he describes the scheme he is in from an inside perspective aka his part in it. When he stops drinking he starts describing it from outside aka the bigger picture. Another thing you sadly haven't touched on is the dialogue he has with himself in the prison. "I felt like I was detaching, that maybe this was revenge for something else, something buried deep in the past." again reminding you of the similarity to the power struggle his wife died in, trying for justice once more. "Another dark rainy night, another police station, another futile crusade for amends. Time moves forward, and nothing changes." It's *still* about justice for his wife... for all the wifes... for the countless innocents, for the families torn apart, abducted, extorted... all for some hungry all consuming evil looming unseen in the dark somewhere following a higher agenda and everything in its way is nothing more than a worthless steppingstone. "It was at my worst when I was at my best." Now no longer hunted by his past but actually growing from it. Like he says in MP2: "Without passion you are already dead." Now he turned his ptsd into passion. When Max sees someone like Victor, he sees Thorne. In MP1 he says: "The cardinal rule in going after someone with an intention to kill was not to make it personal... which it almost always ended up being anyway." I could be talking out of my ass here but in the flashback where you're supposed to dig your own grave (Max makes comments that fit the flashback and current time if you wait a little) I can almost swear while the Mafia Boss is screaming around you can hear the baby from MP1 cry and that also stays in the combat soundtrack for that segment. On the Nexus exists a mod that translates the Portuguese, its mostly swearing but every now and then it's some interesting info. I like to think when TEARS starts playing it's his wife singing for him "You'll never wake up, Trust us now, It's time to let me go, Give up on us, Follow what you want, Give our soul away, save us once" like a plea for him to live again. And he does, he lets go of his fear, sadness and rage just enough to let Victor live. He lets go of his hate. For that he is rewarded. MP3's ending is the first proper win for Max. Before, the media would label him as a psycho killer or vigilante as he never left any witnesses or evidence to prove otherwise. This is confirmed when you enter Brewers apartment in the second flashback. This time thanks to DaSilva the media exposes Victor as the evil in all of this and finally it feels like proper justice. The sun rising at the end like in Red Dead 2 symbolizes Max finally *really* moving on. Also I think your take on the MP3 combat is funny because I have thought the same thing at first. After playing through it on all difficulties I found that the cover system only gets you so far. There are many instances in the world design that encourage you to do some crazy stuff like 'dive down a big staircase in the stadium' you'll keep slomo all the way down and as long as you land on stairs/slanted surfaces you take little to no damage at all. Or shootdodging from cover to cover as getting into the cover system from being prone is faster than just standing up. Belly sliding down the middle of the escalator at the airport to surprise attack the enemies waiting at the bottom of it. In cover blind firing then fluently transitioning into aimed fire almost always catches the enemy off guard making for an easy kill. I do not know what of these things is actually intended but once that stuff clicks you'll have way more fun with the game trust me. The gunplay in MP3 is god-tier. And who knows, Max has been drugged with Valkyr multiple times and since it was a soldier enhancement drug maybe thats how he turned luck and experience into pure skill. Dude is like a Marvel character by the end. If you actually read all this, thank you. I enjoyed the video. Just the MP3 part could've been a little more in depth :)
I say a nice little video reminder about one of my favorite games and I took note of it, soon as I remembered it was released, I went to your channel, did a quick scan of what your about and instantly subbed. Nice
I played MP 1&2 and I've seen the movie, but being reminded of them right after each other I have to wonder: how do you make a movie that bad based on Max Payne? Even if it was its own thing, it's absolutely terrible. I seriously had to look up if Uwe Boll was involved just now. Shockingly he was not.
I think when a game reflects its themes and character development in gameplay and world building over the course of 3 games is nothing short of genius. Max Payne as a series is just different, it feels special. It feels like it crosses the thin line of gaming being engineered entertainment and artistic expression, it’s fucking great!!!
Ok dude you need to do more videos when you can because this video was incredibly well articulated. Jesus man. I love this game. I have this game to this day. You speak as if you’re from this world, Max Payne. Well done sir.
As a 8yr old kid in 2001 who threw a TV into a windowless storage basement at my mother's apt to play Max Payne until my eyes felt as if they were bleeding. Same with Max Payne 2 and waiting 2yrs after release of Max Payne 3 to finally get the chance to play it. I love this whole video, every bit of it was perfect for me. You took the feelings I felt about the series and put them into an explanation I understood and agreed with, thank you for the time you put into this.
Just found your channel thanks to the algorithm, love your content! I'm psyched you got picked up, gotta say tho I miss the hi dad intro x'3 I'd love to see some more of your video essay style content (like the more conceptual stuff like the anxiety vid) but honestly I just hope you are successful and happy with what you do
The hi dad will always be there in some form haha, and once I get some more time I'll probably be bringing back the video essays in some form, whether here or on patreon. Thanks for the support dad!
Late Goodbye still gives me chills. RIP James McCaffrey. Also, I can't wait for the forthcoming remakes of 1 and 2, and 3 isn't in my own head canon because of the lack of Remedy. So for me, Mona and Max are still out there in the darkest underbelly of NYC, somewhere. Surprised you didn't point out the specific line: "til in the John Mirra you stare at yourself grown old and weak", which goes directly with the ingame TV show, and Sam Lake wrote the song with Poets of the Fall, AKA the Old Gods of Asgaard.
Excellent review, son! I avoided MP3 due to reviews saying it was not a good Max Payne game. One of my biggest surprises ever happened when it became my favorite game of all time. Absolutely insane.
There is an AI upscaled texture pack for Max Payne 1 available if anyone is thinking of replaying that game, that's neat :) There are some sound issues with that game, but there's a quick patch for that too.
The “mayor” note was indeed an indicator of the target, as when Max read the note it was narrated by Nicole Horne, the primary antagonist (but we did not know who she was yet). To me, this indicated that she was indeed pulling the strings of the entire Punchinello operation.
This was enjoyable from beginning to end. I doubt there is or will be a more thoughtful and insightful video not just on Max Payne the games, but Max Payne the character. Thanks dude, it was a pleasure watching this.
Max Payne 2 already gave Max Payne the ending he deserved. The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel when you beat the game on Dead on arrival. That is the true ending. ☝🏻😎
Agreed. MP2 had a real ending "I had a dream of my wife. She was dead. But it was all right." That is the moment Max was looking for. He might not have been happy again, but he finally got over it. And then in MP3 he is completely miserable again, and his entire character is like MP2 never happened. I loved the gameplay of MP3, but the story was more of a "what if" spinoff.
That ending is so beautiful I love the part of the music theme that is playing when they are looking into each others eyes it's puts that knot in your throat depending how much special thing the game means to you
"... When Mona came into his life, he saw something. He saw the only woman that would ever fit the broken puzzle piece, that he had become. He saw someone, dysfunction, broken; just like him. He couldn't let that slip away..." 1:28:35 @YourFavoriteSon That was a damn good bit of noir dialogue bro! Found you last night, Sub'd!
What is your favorite Max Payne game Dad? 🔫🔫🔫
The Fall of Max Payne
@@learnedeldersofteemo8917 good answer 😎
I remember being completely blown away by the first one when I was a teenager, but I played 2 the most. Never played Max Payne 3
Played through the first one, like, 20 times, maybe more. Half of it - in a row. I hated Max's new face and stupidly despised the sequel for it, but came to my senses later and started despising it for replacing the revenge plot with some banal love shenanigans. Then, I came to my senses again, realizing that it was a better fit, they couldn't just repeat the same premise, after all. And the gameplay was good. As for the third one, I was a little bit irritated with how often they took control over Max away from me to show their 'cinematics', but not too much. Anyway, I got too far on Hard, and around 7 hours in, the game became unbearably painful to play. I've swallowed a lot of one-shot headshots, but I couldn't make myself swallow my pride and switch to Normal, so I just stopped playing instead. Maybe I'll go back to it one day when I'm off the cooldown. Vented for a bit, sorry. Whew! Now that everyone knows but not necessarily cares what I think about the series, I can watch the video in peace.
I gotta go with Max Payne 1. The game I think of whenever I hear pills rattle or wake up to a crying baby.
Rest in Peace, James McCaffery. A iconic performance, and a hell of a guy.
I can't believe he died it sad
Yeah hell of a guy, and hell of an actor
RIP James McCaffery.
I always loved that the difficulty spike in max Payne never came from bullet sponges but the enemies becoming better equipped and smarter
Amazing
Max payne 1 last levels are quite challenging
I wish I could play MP1 for the first time again. I blaze through Hard Boiled, side rolls are too good.
That feeling when you walk into a new room for the first time and immediately get shot by a new weapon you didn’t know was in the game. Yeah…you will never play max payne for the first time again.
@@d117z It's actually like shit your pants scary when out of nowhere you eat buckshot point blank, red flash and you're dead.
The vocalist for Poets of the Fall. Marko Saaresto is Vlad in the comic cutscenes for the first game. Him and Sam Lake are childhood friends.
Wow I didn't know that!
Thats pretty cool
When I first heard Max calling the sex talking line just so he can speak to someone, I literally busted in tears. He is such a tragic character. He won against the bad guys but lost himself and lost the battle with life.
This nigga crying over a video game character😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yeah there's even comic books about his childhood, his life as a NYPD officer, how he met Michelle, and his baby name.
@@abramsullivan7764 where can i find this?
I can't believe The voice of Max Payne James McCaffrey have passed away........ I feel like New Remake of Max Payne ain't going to be the same without him in it.....
RIP James McCaffrey for ours childhood........ 💔
@@gordonramsay6286AI wouldn't feel very right and that would piss a lot of people off. I think them reusing voice lines from the original would be a safer route.
Maybe he already recorded all the voice lines, i hope so anyway
@@Aidan-mt6cl I hope so too. He was the soul of Max imo so it just wouldn't hit the same without him for me at least. RIP James McCaffrey ❤
Why can't you believe he Passed Away Everyone Does fool. But Max will never be the same without him and a different voice actor for him. The need someone that has the same exact voice cause if they don't then it's Temu Dollar Tree Max Lame
Rest in peace James McCaffrey 💔 I’m replaying through the series and just started the first one the other day and finding this out bummed me out so bad but now I wanna play em even more.
Dude, you absolutely deserve more viewers. I appreciate the hell out of your effort here!
Thanks Dad!
Soon
Came here to say this.
Your retrospectives on this and LoK deserve a lot more attention. Very thorough and well written!
this, I'm shilling his channel online lol
True
Max Payne 2 still got one the coolest reload animations in gaming history
Very true
It’s the best max Payne
I loved a lot of things about the video, but most of all - how you've pointed out that it's poetic, yet no words are wasted. This is the vital point and a great skill that distinguishes good writing from mere graphomania.
I'm glad they gave Max a good ending, he's been through so much, to see him actually walk off into the sunset was gratifying.
i heard they may be working on a max payne 4. Not sure how I feel about that.
@jamesesparza6893 I did as well I feel the same way as you, on one hand I'm interested to see how they'd handle him getting into another mad situation but on the other hand I like where MP3 left it and don't want them to ruin it.
Max Payne 2 was a good ending tho. He made peace with his past
@bipstymcbipste5641 Yea but was still tortured either way as he lost Mona, it completed the arc from Max Payne 100% with Woden etc but still didn't resolve anything with him as a character just left us wondering what would happen to him in the future, Max Payne 3 delved into what he'd been up to after two and was pretty much a strait drunk and pill addict still, doesn't seem like he resolved much tbh or found any sort of redemtion, MP3 had him go from shooting that wise guy and escaping New York to Brazil doing the jobs for the family and dealing with the events of MP3 and the whole conspiricy events that by the end of the game he gets that redemtion for himself, he's literally been through Hell three times by that point and barely survived, Max Payne 3 having some of the series rawest events, so it felt gratifying to see him finally at peace with himself, that's my take on it anyway, I think Max had killed so many people by that point he was fed up and tired and just wanted some peace.
@@biohazarduncovered He was already tormented with the ghosts of his past at the start of The Fall of Max Payne, what Rockstar did in 3 is basically the same schtick once more for no good narrative reason, other than to do another Max Payne video game, even though it wasn't really needed. The first two games complete his story and the ending for two, while bittersweet, has hope in the end for the main character with the whole "My wife's was dead, but it was alright" line in the comic panel. Sequel's main thematic crux is making Max face his trauma, to confront him with the ghost of his wife, his child and with everything he has done since their murder to pick up the pieces of his broken life and try to continue. The whole South America venture doesn't fit the noir aesthetic, nor does it add anything worthwhile to Max as a character or the series overall. It's just indicative of problems with the industry overall, we can never leave a good IP be, even if everything is settled, because if there's a money incentive to cash in on a cult classic, the industry will take it and try to profit off of it. And that's why I'm of the opinion that the third game was never needed, doesn't have a good reason to exist and that it is obsolete and should be ignored entirely. It is a good video game when taken in a general sense, it has competent design, it is a polished experience and has high production values, but does it really bring anything truly new and worthwhile to the title character and the series overall, does it build on past themes and see them coalesce in a memorable finale that ends it? I don't think so, it simply does what 2 did, but in South America, and since people can never get enough and consider their favorite games like they do their favorite beer in bars, they think it should be on constant demand whenever they want to have another one.
Not gonna lie; I literally cried when TEARS came on in Max Payne 3 because I knew exactly what it meant to Max in that moment.
Also: for context I lost my dad in like 2004 when I was 11 and when this game came out in 2012 I was barely a man who even knew how to grieve him and it was so sudden that the lyrics and his redemptive arc hit me like a ton of bricks.
I thought I was the only one, lost a lot in my life at the time I played it, something just clicked the song was perfectly placed in game and in life
But did the gunfight really mean anything to him?
@@godson200 yeah, he's killing the guy who killed someone he was supposed to protect. It's a mirror of him not being able to get revenge for his wife and daughter dying. It's a retread, but it just shows he hasn't really learned to move on.
@@Cixelated maybe yeah it is an mirror. But I kind of didn't feel max really cared about the brancos who he was supposed to defend and bodyguard. The emotion wasn't there. Yes there is a parallel to his wife but it just didn't give me the same feel.
Max just didn't care. His boss died. People related to the boss who were kidnapped either died or were irrelevant(paasos gf). The emotion kind of went missing in this story
And it could have been a lot better. Also when he figures out that dude is going to do organ harvesting he kills him by the end of that chapter. So that's that..but the final boss doesn't even mean that much to max. Typical of Max Payne tho. Even in the first game, Nicole Horne wasn't related at all untill the last 4-5 chapters.
Max Payne always tends to have a good plotline near the starting and rather abrupt and not so linear endings with the main characters being introduced near the ending
Love how you guys also included the Max Payne movie. I feel like no one else includes alternate media (if it exists for said IP) in their game series reviews/retrospectives
Comprehensive is the name of the game
Civvie 11 reviewed it?
I used to date a chick with the surname Payne and we would joke we would call our son Max, well 15 years later she had a baby and called him Maximilian, do not know if he has her surname tho 😅
Lol that’s amazing
@@Ascension7707 Yeah still makes me laugh!
y’all must’ve split on good terms 🫣
@@augustcziesch5556 Indeed we did, what worked was going no contact as we did still have mutual feelings for each other but basicly grew apart and wanted different things in life. We have talked twice in 16 years just by bumping into each other randomly (we live in separate countries now), We just hope each other are happy and have a hug goodbye.
That’s a good story
RIP James McCaffrey thanks for being there as max when no one else was 💖 your legacy will live in our hearts forever as Max.
This game series has so much heart and soul that alot of games nowadays lack of. It's just non stop action, fun, and a amazing story
Max Payne was a passion project from start to finish. I really hope we go back to boundary pushing games someday, we've gotten really stagnant.
But legit, amazing work, and Synopsis of this legendary series. The movie... We don't talk about the movie. It's mind-blowing you've done a video on my favorite series, legacy of kain...then, one on my second favorite, max payne...now if your next video is on resident evil, you are absolutely my son without a doubt. Or stalking me... Either way, yolo amazing content, brother lol. Keep it up, and I look forward to more of your work!
10:29 you got this part wrong. He doesn't call 911, the phone rings and he answers. On the line it's Nicole Horne asking "Is this the Payne residence?". She clearly does that to ensure that he's home and ready to see what's waiting for him.
Max Payne 2 is 1 of my favorite games of all time... The story, the twists and turns, the emotion. Just an awesome game. Great vid!
Thanks dad!
"Hey Dad. It's me, your favorite son." I always feel like he's gonna follow this up with some bad news, like someone in the family has fallen ill.
Just finished Max 3. Great finale!
“Hey Dad, it’s me, your favorite son, uhhh mom died, I mean your first wife.”
56:05 "What has Max Payne ever done, but bring Max Pain?" would've honestly been a better line at this point
I love the way you articulate yourself. The way these retrospectives that integrate objectivity, visceral, thoughtful, and personal reaction and analysis that make these videos so captivating. I’m ringing the bell!!!
Excellent work. Easily on par with your Legacy of Kain documentary.
I think one of the best touches in Max Payne 3 is the fact that he starts the game addicted to painkillers - presumably a consequence of having to eat so many to survive the first two games. It's a really clever blending of a game mechanic and the storyline.
Good to see ya winning, son
Thanks so much!
@@YourFavoriteSon1 of course! Keep it up
The HEALTH soundtrack really adds to the cinema of the game. I'm glad you mentioned it.
This, just like the LoK retrospective and history, is absolutely incredible!! I can't imagine the amount of work you put into these videos, but it is VERY much appreciated. Keep it up, man!!
You're gonna earn yourself a LOTTA subscribers in the future if you keep steering like this...Love your analytical lens Son
Facts! Impeccible research, and great narration I must say.
Yeah definitely feel like you're at the start of a big channel to come. Makes a dad proud
If you can take the drug and not lose your shit.
You feel no fear, no hesitation and no pain.
If it normal takes two bullets to kill you.
It now requires four bullets to kill you.
If your wearing body armor you are unkillable.
It still amazes me how good max payne still looks 20 years later
one of the biggest details that alot of people miss in max payne 3 is at the very end there is no monologue, almost as if max is finally living in the present and not the past.
Amazing documentary man. I absolutely love this series, and I think its atmosphere and tone has never been matched by any other game or series since then. Max Payne 1 is one of the best games ever made no doubt, nailed it in almost all aspects for its time, and its engine was ahead of competing ones
2:06 That was something about Max Payne 3 that I really appreciated. The language barrier that they put up for max and the player (unless they happen to speak Portuguese) really gave the story some depth and it made the situation feel real a lot of games and movies just have everyone speak English or they’ll make it very obvious what is being said but Max Payne 3 leaves you in the dark just as much as Max is. It gives that fish out of water story they’re telling legitimacy
By far the best retrospective I have ever watched, all the references and quotes, all the attention to the detail, you mentioned everything that needed to be noted. It was such a great watch to tune into. This kinda content means so much to gamers like myself, so mad support for all your hard work and effects @YourFavoriteSon. One of the best stories we our blessed with in video game media but I digress. This is one incredible watch nothing but love for the Payne
Thanks dad!
@@YourFavoriteSon1 this whole project was amazing man, it deff hit hard and very relatable, so keep up the amazing vids man. :D
RUclips has recommended me a string of Max Payne retrospectives, and yours is by far the best.
i've watched the legacy of kain retrospective quite a few times - you really have something with these types of videos man, please keep your head up and keep making great content like that video and this one. i've really enjoyed your stuff!!
Seriously bro, well done on this video. I really appreciate the hard work you’ve put into this. 10/10 🙏🏾🔥
Max Payne 2 is my favorite for nostalgic reasons but I really liked the third as well. I thought he was going to die in the game, it made him feel irreparably broken but he found peace at the end. I thought it was a good was to finish the trilogy and I really liked the Hoboken levels. It was a nice trip down memory lane.
Hoboken was a treat, with the iconic jacket to boot. It was a nice tribute, Max Payne 3 was overall a great game with a lot of love and passion for the source material. Only issue was the classic rockstar on rails linearity that detracts.
Max payne 3 is my favorite of them all, to me it is highly underrated and overlooked, it felt like it got set up to fail coming out between Red dead and GTA V 🤦🏽♂️
To me the third didn’t feel like Max Payne didn’t even look like him
@@karlo9572 ironic since James McCaffrey himself portrayed Max in mocap, likeness and, of course, voice.
This is just superb, you have made me care about a series of games I had previously not really cared about. Congratulations.
Fun fact, Max Payne 1 was one of the very first games fully dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese. 2 and 3 weren't dubbed, unfortunately.
I didn’t know there was a Portuguese dubbing for this game! The PS2 version gave a choice between English, French, Spanish or French. Neither the 2 or 3 got dubbed in other languages though
Kinda ironic that three takes place in Brazil
@@Helsinki40268Exactly.
@@Helsinki40268 we had Portuguese subtitles for MP3, I think is for the better that 3 didn't had a Portuguese dub for the English speaking characters because a major plot point is the fact that max is like a fish out of the water there because the language barrier
Did... Did you just refference my boy Take No Prisoners?! You earned yourself a sub for that alone. That you even know that game, since it was like a late 90's sleeper. I'm proud of you, son.
Such an awesome video! Your going to be the next big thing in this genre. Thank you for taking the time to go back and go over such an amazing series!
MP1 might be my favorite game ever, even after 2 and 3 added so many refinements gameplay wise. I love 1's tactical edge, bits of resource management, and how random enemies react. Every single playthrough is different, and loading levels for fun and experimentation is unedningly addictive. The narrative as well. I get the flack it's nightmare trip levels get from a game design perspective but they grip and immerse me so much. I get chills every time. Overall it's narrative, despite not being as deep as 2, never ceases to blow me away.
And thank you for pointing out all the Norse references, I'd never noticed it all or made the connections. This is honestly the best MP retrospective on youtube.
Thank you for making a video on this! Max Payne has held a special place in my heart and I think that you did an amazing job at covering everything. Its sad that Late Goodbye had to be copyrighted :(( The song and Poets of the Fall did an amazing job encapsulating the story. Flat out became a fan when I heard that song from them. Additionally, *big* kudos for dedicating your time to creating this video. Hopefully it gets the views it deserves!
Edit: Thank you for opening my eyes to the deeper image of this series, especially with Max Payne 3 since its the only game that really gave me really complicated feelings because the different setting put me off at first. I ended up loving it eventually, and now I love it more. And yes, I concur that Max should really rest now. However, I wish they could just fix their ports because they all have problems in terms of trying to run for many people, including me. I really wanted to play Part 3 again but it sadly just broke out of nowhere for me :(( there was no fix I could find for it either
Man, you couldn't have picked a better series to cover. You are my favorite son after all
This was an amazing video and I absolutely loved watching it. A little note on the endings of 2 however, I remember hearing somewhere that the ending where Mona survived is actually Canon. I don't really know if it's true but my sappy heart likes to think it is. Max has been through enough torment he deserves some brevity in the darkness. Either way, amazing work on the video my man and copyright be damned, it was still a good watch.
Addendum: When you talked about what Late Goodbye meant to you it felt similar to how I felt about the game in general. My previous girlfriend took her own life about a year ago and I've been grieving ever since. When I played Max Payne 2, however, I really felt like I could put myself into Max's shoes, and it helped me with my own demons, and the final line about Max dreaming about his wife made me cry like a baby. I had the same feeling you did, just pertaining to my girlfriend. "If Max could get over losing his family, then I could get over my girlfriend." Just a thought I wanted to share. Thanks for listening son.
" "Nothing is cliche when it is happening to you." I could unpack that line for an hour." " - pure gold
Excellent work these games have always meant a lot to me and you did then justice! Looking forward to more of your content.
YourFavoriteSon- Nice parody of the graphic novel from 'Max Payne' at 48:05-49:02.
It made me laugh when this video was first posted onto RUclips in late-2021 & I still get a kick out of it, today...
"You'll walk with a limp" is great line.
I have been playing Alan Wake. Hearing you talk about Max Payne 1, I thought a bit heavy on the metaphors. And wouldn't ya know it, the Sheriff tells Alan Wake that she likes his writing, "a bit heavy on the metaphors but pretty good". And that fits so perfectly with Alan being a metaphor for the team of Remedy and the story being about writing.
Hey son! Been awhile since me and your mother have seen ya but glad you stopped by today. We love ya and keep doing what you are doing 👏 🧡
Fell asleep watching a Resident Evil video. Woke up at one point and I was midway in this video (from autoplay) and it had gotten into my dreams. Ended up watching the whole video later when I woke up, despite never playing a Max Payne game. Cheers mate, enjoyed it.
This is great, you have a new sub. I don’t know of many 20 year old games that have aged this well, in the case of the first MP.
That airport terminal scene with tears playing could absolutely play the way you wanted, that's how i sprint through it every playthrough lol.
You just gotta zig zag around walls and break the enemies lines of sight.
Tbh all of max payne 3 can be played that way.
Max Payne one’s gameplay reminds me, in some ways, of Hotline Miami. You die a lot, but eventually you figure out a plan, which enemies to kill, when to kill them and how. And everything comes together in the end.
Great job son, couldn't believe this was a small channel untill i double checked. Good luck with your journey. This one was awesome
Not for long 😎
Wow! I just discovered your legacy of Kain and Max Payne video. Keep up the great job on these obscure video game retrospectives.
Thank you for making this, brother. Such a heartbreaking story that deserves to be told. Max's story still breaks my heart, both inside and out. I'm almost 40 now, and I still relate to the genuine sadness he feels for personal reasons. I'ma play it again now...
Replayed Max Payne a couple of weeks ago, It’s a very melancholic experience that deserves its flowers, It’s definitely a classic.
the legacy of kain video was superb, but a MAX PAYNE video? yeah you have earned my sub! great work man!
Amazing work that you put here. I frickin’ love MP3
I got hyped after the Kain video that you would keep up with these long, retrospectives. It’s like an event for me now and I really hope we get many more of these.
Very good stuff, just finished your LOK retro, and as a hard core fan of LOK, you did it justice my man. Keep these up !
I enjoy all of these cause I’m terrified of actually playing but want to experience the play through, the story and the retrospectives - thank youuuu
Amazing video, really enjoyed the style haha, fit the topic perfectly. I loved the Max Payne games, they were/are so good. Great work, looking forward to the next video!
It was avgn but now I fall asleep to your videos. Trust me it's a great honor
This came up so I subbed. Your take on legacy of kain was awesome. I'll watch it again, most probably another 5 times. Thanks
Just finished his lok retrospective and it was pure gold
@@martinpadilla5224 indeed, it certainly is.
Max Payne Series is truly an example that shows that video games can have a magnificent narrative; the story and progression are developed so well that this character could easily be in a top 5 best video game character of all times... Or rather, it should be; for me, and I think that most people who actually enjoy games with good narratives (who unfortunately are not too many) will agree as well, the character of Max Payne in the last game was handled in a quite disappointing way. It's very different from the previous games, and not in very positive way as you say; to make it short, it feels like he's a copy of John McClane from Die Hard, but a depressive one, like a gloomy American Hero; and that's quite the opposite from before. So yeah, the game's fun, it's pretty good on its own, but it isn't a Max Payne game for me; I stay with Max Payne 2 ending... And the easter egg from Alan Wake.
Gotta disagree I think it’s logically the most realistic progression for max. Just wish it stayed in NY. But it was still great.
@@jtsmelik1574 yeah because who wouldn’t have a bit of depression after going through everything he went through!!
I disagree. It makes sense that Max would be in the place he's in after the first two games, and it's the best in the series.
you keep putting out content like this and your bound to explode. Great video!!!
Holy shit, another banger my dude. Keep the good work
Kinda deep
But did anyone else play the trilogy, and find maxes trails and issues kind of insightful?
It made me feel that whatever life throws at me, I can deal with it as long as I have a good set of witty one liners haha
I see absolutely huge growth in the future for this channel.
cool videos dude, especially the last few, good work in general. audio balance and levels are nice, the voice work u do is solid. keep it up.
Your wrap reflected EXACTLY how I felt at the end of 3! Such a great work here!
Brilliant job on the video, throughly enjoyed the review of this classic series, keep it up 👍
Super awesome video! Kind of sad you didn't touch on my favorite thing in the entirety of Max Payne 3. How there are multiple pianos scattered throughout the game and Max plays a special little tune.
I'd like to share my 2 cents about the nightmare letters at 35:37
Imo, the individual letters don't matter. The implication is what matters... Max being made aware that all the suffering he goes through is purely for the benefit of another. Reader, player or crimelord is just a detail. In all 3 games Max is set up as a fallguy. A simple means to an end, a chess piece on someone else's board.
Being played... funny as hell, it is the most horrible thing i could think of.
Optional MP3 deepdive (things you overlooked):
For me MP3 has the most fun gameplay of the series, so I played it... alot.
It took me a while to warm up to it but the more I replayed the more I noticed how deep the writing actually goes to the point where MP3 is now one of my favorite games of all time.
For example: the flashbacks are not just extra backstory, they are Max's detective mode switching back on, being reminded by his current situation of something similar in his past.
With many of the narration voice lines not just being throwaway one liners but creating a overarching strand throughout and are usually written in a ambiguous way. "Picking my photo from the broken pieces..." not really referring to the actual picture frame he is picking up but him trying to piece together the mystery of whats going on around him. In fact a lot is written in ways that describe the narrative figuratively and literally at the same time.
Take for example even playing the Piano at different times in the game. You can take his comments about it at face value sure, but when you think about it "This was the place if not the time to play my dirge" referring to him getting back in his game full throttle and when finally reaching the string pullers and real evils in this grand scheme.. "And there it was. The soundtrack to my life." Literally! Caught in the middle of a ruthless powerplay as the fallguy so the actual monsters get away scot-free. Just like MP1&2
All that totally went over my head the first few times. I admit Rockstar could've packaged the narrative a little better but I've come to love it as a rough diamond and believe its Dan Housers best work to date.
When you play it back to back you start noticing just how many red flags they show you throughout. Like Passos and Marcello just casually saying to Max he can just get new organs when they fail from drinking too much. Especially the things he says in the Panama flashback just before closing one of 'those' deals. I'm pretty sure the whole damn family is connected to organized crime. Might be the reason Marcello gets lit up like the asshole he was.
Also... MP3 in general loosely mirrors the story of 1 and 2. Like you hinted at in the video, many of the characters can easily be compared to their respective counterparts.
Mona Passos, partners in crime to the main players. Vlad Victor Cleaners/Crachá Preto masquerading their ascend to power. Corrupt police force B.B. Winters Becker. Serrano and Vinnie and so on.
Whats also there is that the narrative changes its perspective along with Max's change. At first he describes the scheme he is in from an inside perspective aka his part in it. When he stops drinking he starts describing it from outside aka the bigger picture.
Another thing you sadly haven't touched on is the dialogue he has with himself in the prison. "I felt like I was detaching, that maybe this was revenge for something else, something buried deep in the past." again reminding you of the similarity to the power struggle his wife died in, trying for justice once more.
"Another dark rainy night, another police station, another futile crusade for amends. Time moves forward, and nothing changes." It's *still* about justice for his wife... for all the wifes... for the countless innocents, for the families torn apart, abducted, extorted... all for some hungry all consuming evil looming unseen in the dark somewhere following a higher agenda and everything in its way is nothing more than a worthless steppingstone.
"It was at my worst when I was at my best." Now no longer hunted by his past but actually growing from it. Like he says in MP2: "Without passion you are already dead."
Now he turned his ptsd into passion.
When Max sees someone like Victor, he sees Thorne.
In MP1 he says: "The cardinal rule in going after someone with an intention to kill was not to make it personal... which it almost always ended up being anyway."
I could be talking out of my ass here but in the flashback where you're supposed to dig your own grave (Max makes comments that fit the flashback and current time if you wait a little) I can almost swear while the Mafia Boss is screaming around you can hear the baby from MP1 cry and that also stays in the combat soundtrack for that segment.
On the Nexus exists a mod that translates the Portuguese, its mostly swearing but every now and then it's some interesting info.
I like to think when TEARS starts playing it's his wife singing for him "You'll never wake up, Trust us now, It's time to let me go, Give up on us, Follow what you want, Give our soul away, save us once" like a plea for him to live again.
And he does, he lets go of his fear, sadness and rage just enough to let Victor live. He lets go of his hate. For that he is rewarded.
MP3's ending is the first proper win for Max. Before, the media would label him as a psycho killer or vigilante as he never left any witnesses or evidence to prove otherwise. This is confirmed when you enter Brewers apartment in the second flashback.
This time thanks to DaSilva the media exposes Victor as the evil in all of this and finally it feels like proper justice. The sun rising at the end like in Red Dead 2 symbolizes Max finally *really* moving on.
Also I think your take on the MP3 combat is funny because I have thought the same thing at first.
After playing through it on all difficulties I found that the cover system only gets you so far. There are many instances in the world design that encourage you to do some crazy stuff like 'dive down a big staircase in the stadium' you'll keep slomo all the way down and as long as you land on stairs/slanted surfaces you take little to no damage at all.
Or shootdodging from cover to cover as getting into the cover system from being prone is faster than just standing up.
Belly sliding down the middle of the escalator at the airport to surprise attack the enemies waiting at the bottom of it.
In cover blind firing then fluently transitioning into aimed fire almost always catches the enemy off guard making for an easy kill.
I do not know what of these things is actually intended but once that stuff clicks you'll have way more fun with the game trust me. The gunplay in MP3 is god-tier.
And who knows, Max has been drugged with Valkyr multiple times and since it was a soldier enhancement drug maybe thats how he turned luck and experience into pure skill.
Dude is like a Marvel character by the end.
If you actually read all this, thank you. I enjoyed the video.
Just the MP3 part could've been a little more in depth :)
I say a nice little video reminder about one of my favorite games and I took note of it, soon as I remembered it was released, I went to your channel, did a quick scan of what your about and instantly subbed. Nice
I played MP 1&2 and I've seen the movie, but being reminded of them right after each other I have to wonder: how do you make a movie that bad based on Max Payne? Even if it was its own thing, it's absolutely terrible. I seriously had to look up if Uwe Boll was involved just now. Shockingly he was not.
A surprisingly faithful adaptation from Uwe Bill was his Postal (2007) movie
I love Max Payne and this guys commentary so much, Im on my 5th rewatch of this and it still punches like a boxer in his prime.
I think when a game reflects its themes and character development in gameplay and world building over the course of 3 games is nothing short of genius.
Max Payne as a series is just different, it feels special. It feels like it crosses the thin line of gaming being engineered entertainment and artistic expression, it’s fucking great!!!
Couldn't agree more dad!
Ok dude you need to do more videos when you can because this video was incredibly well articulated. Jesus man. I love this game. I have this game to this day. You speak as if you’re from this world, Max Payne. Well done sir.
Thanks! Next one is on the way.
@@YourFavoriteSon1 well sir you earned yourself another subscriber. Thank you.
R.I.P JAMES MCCAFFREY AKA MAX PAYNE
As a 8yr old kid in 2001 who threw a TV into a windowless storage basement at my mother's apt to play Max Payne until my eyes felt as if they were bleeding. Same with Max Payne 2 and waiting 2yrs after release of Max Payne 3 to finally get the chance to play it. I love this whole video, every bit of it was perfect for me. You took the feelings I felt about the series and put them into an explanation I understood and agreed with, thank you for the time you put into this.
Nice
Just found your channel thanks to the algorithm, love your content! I'm psyched you got picked up, gotta say tho I miss the hi dad intro x'3 I'd love to see some more of your video essay style content (like the more conceptual stuff like the anxiety vid) but honestly I just hope you are successful and happy with what you do
The hi dad will always be there in some form haha, and once I get some more time I'll probably be bringing back the video essays in some form, whether here or on patreon. Thanks for the support dad!
Late Goodbye still gives me chills. RIP James McCaffrey. Also, I can't wait for the forthcoming remakes of 1 and 2, and 3 isn't in my own head canon because of the lack of Remedy. So for me, Mona and Max are still out there in the darkest underbelly of NYC, somewhere.
Surprised you didn't point out the specific line: "til in the John Mirra you stare at yourself grown old and weak", which goes directly with the ingame TV show, and Sam Lake wrote the song with Poets of the Fall, AKA the Old Gods of Asgaard.
I love that song tears. I actually play that whole part mostly in infinite bullet time while gunning down everyone. Lol. It's just cinematic lol
Excellent review, son!
I avoided MP3 due to reviews saying it was not a good Max Payne game. One of my biggest surprises ever happened when it became my favorite game of all time.
Absolutely insane.
There is an AI upscaled texture pack for Max Payne 1 available if anyone is thinking of replaying that game, that's neat :) There are some sound issues with that game, but there's a quick patch for that too.
The “mayor” note was indeed an indicator of the target, as when Max read the note it was narrated by Nicole Horne, the primary antagonist (but we did not know who she was yet). To me, this indicated that she was indeed pulling the strings of the entire Punchinello operation.
RIP James McCaffery
Got all the way though a couple of videos, your work is awesome, keep it up dude!
Son, we're proud of you. Stay awesome, and keep doing what you're doing.
Cheers!
This was enjoyable from beginning to end. I doubt there is or will be a more thoughtful and insightful video not just on Max Payne the games, but Max Payne the character. Thanks dude, it was a pleasure watching this.
Max Payne 2 already gave Max Payne the ending he deserved.
The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel when you beat the game on Dead on arrival.
That is the true ending.
☝🏻😎
When mona survives you feel complete happiness for the first time in the game.
Agreed. MP2 had a real ending "I had a dream of my wife. She was dead. But it was all right." That is the moment Max was looking for. He might not have been happy again, but he finally got over it. And then in MP3 he is completely miserable again, and his entire character is like MP2 never happened. I loved the gameplay of MP3, but the story was more of a "what if" spinoff.
That ending is so beautiful I love the part of the music theme that is playing when they are looking into each others eyes it's puts that knot in your throat depending how much special thing the game means to you
Max payne 3 was just a dream
Gotta say, I agree. After 2, his story was done. His arc was done.
Hey, Son. Really glad I found your channel. It's been fun to watch all the stuff. This was good. Keep it up.
-Dad
Goddamn beautiful. Thank you for your hard work on this magnificent series!
"... When Mona came into his life, he saw something. He saw the only woman that would ever fit the broken puzzle piece, that he had become. He saw someone, dysfunction, broken; just like him. He couldn't let that slip away..."
1:28:35
@YourFavoriteSon That was a damn good bit of noir dialogue bro! Found you last night, Sub'd!
Rip 🙏🏽 James McCaffrey
My dude, your channel its the best,hands down. I hope you continue growing you deserve it
Another banger. Good job son. Proud of you.