Max Payne Remake
Amabella Tevebaugh
Remedy Entertainment has given an update on the development of the upcoming remakes of Max Payne 1 and 2. It has been over a year since the initial announcement of the next-gen remakes of Max Payne 1 and 2, with Remedy first announcing the project on April 6, 2022.
While this news is exciting for fans of the Max Payne franchise, it also means that the remakes may not be released for years. In addition to the aforementioned Max Payne remakes, Remedy is also working on highly anticipated sequels for Alan Wake and Control. These games are also progressing through the Stage Gate process and are also expected to be released in the coming years.
Although the news of the Max Payne remakes being in the proof-of-concept stage is exciting, it's important to remember that game development is a long and complex process. However, hopefully Remedy Entertainment's commitment to transparency and its intent to consistently produce high-quality titles results in a product that will have been worth the wait.
Just last month, Remedy shared photos of their office which now has new Max Payne 2 artwork on the walls. Due do some changes in the artwork from the original game, fans have speculated that this might be the first piece of artwork from the remakes. You can learn more about this here.
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Remedy is working with Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption company Rockstar under a new publishing agreement to remake the first two Max Payne games for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. Remedy is handling development while Rockstar is fully financing the project. The Max Payne remakes are developed on Remedy's Northlight game engine, the same engine used to develop Control and Alan Wake 2.
Max Payne 1 and 2 Remake, alongside Control 2, and Condor (a four-player co-op spin-off of Control), will advance to the next stages of development during the first half of 2024. None of the games have a release date.
Remedy Entertainment, the creators of Max Payne, are pleased to announce that they will remake the iconic Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne video games in a new development agreement with Rockstar Games.
Remedy Entertainment Plc is a globally successful video game company known for story-driven and visually stunning console and PC games such as Control, Alan Wake and Max Payne. Remedy also develops its own Northlight game engine and game development tools. Founded in 1995 and based in Finland, the company employs over 320 game industry professionals from 32 different countries. Remedy is listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland marketplace. www.remedygames.com
Rockstar Games cemented their reputation as creators of complex living worlds with the Grand Theft Auto series, one of the most successful entertainment properties of all time with over 350 million units sold-in worldwide. Through a string of critically acclaimed games including the Grand Theft Auto series, the Red Dead Redemption series, the Max Payne series, Bully, L.A. Noire, the Midnight Club series and The Warriors, Rockstar Games has helped propel interactive entertainment into the center of modern culture.
In November 2021, Microsoft announced that in celebration of 20 years of Xbox, they would be adding over 70 more games to their backwards compatibility program. Headlining these games was the Max Payne trilogy, making the games available to play on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S[1]
The franchise is notable for its use of "bullet time" in action sequences, as well as being positively received by critics.[2][3] As of 2011, the Max Payne franchise has sold over 7.5 million units.[4] The film rendition received negative reviews but was commercially successful.[5][6]
In April 2022, Remedy announced that a remake of Max Payne and Max Payne 2 is in development, in a development agreement with Rockstar Games. The two games will be released as a single title.[7]
Two years after the first game, Max Payne has rejoined the NYPD and has been cleared of the charges for his killing spree thanks to his connection to Senator Alfred Woden, the leader of a secret society called the Inner Circle. During a routine murder investigation, Max finds himself face-to-face with the fugitive Mona Sax, who reluctantly joins him in his investigation. As the two work together to uncover the truth, they begin to develop feelings for each other, and come across another major conspiracy, which this time involves Vladmir Lem, the Italian Mob, and the Inner Circle.
Nine years after the second game, Max Payne has left New York and is working on a private security detail in So Paulo, Brazil. When the wife of his employer is kidnapped by a local street gang, Max and his old friend Raul Passos join forces in an attempt to rescue her, igniting a war that will lead them to confront a larger conspiracy.[18]
Remedy, with funding from Rockstar who holds the rights to the series, announced plans to remake Max Payne and Max Payne 2 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S in April 2022. At the time of the announcement, the remakes were at an early development state, and no planned release date was announced.[19] It was confirmed that the two games will be released as a single title.[20]
Early in 2003, it was confirmed that 20th Century Fox had bought the rights to adapt the game to film.[21] The Max Payne movie went into production in 2008 and was directed by John Moore. The movie was produced by Collision Entertainment and Firm Films in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[22] Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis[23] play the roles of Max Payne and Mona Sax respectively.[24] Beau Bridges, Chris O'Donnell, Nelly Furtado and Ludacris have roles as B.B. Hensley, Jason Colvin, Christa Balder and Jim Bravura respectively.[25] On July 10, 2008, a teaser trailer was released, featuring an instrumental version of the Marilyn Manson song, "If I Was Your Vampire".[26] The film was released to theaters in the U.S. on October 17, 2008, with a PG-13 rating.[27] While it was ranked first on its opening weekend, grossing US$18 million at the box office,[28] the film received mainly negative reviews, having a 16% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 129 reviews.[29] In June 2022, 20th Century Studios announced that a Max Payne reboot movie is in development.[30]
I woke up this morning thinking about Max Payne's face. Okay, I know that's a little weird, but you've gotta hear me out on this one: Remedy Entertainment and Rockstar Games are collaborating on a remake of Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, and it's likely the former NYPD detective is going to undergo yet another facelift.
Who wore it better? My head says Gibbs, who had a face for a vigilante on the hunt for justice. My heart says Lake, whose iconic grimace has followed the writer like a specter ever since. As for McCaffrey, I think he did a fantastic job with a more grizzled, floral-shirt-wearing private contractor. The problem is, none are the right fit for Max Payne now. You've got to remember, the first two games work across non-linear timelines, jumping back and forth through events to build up backstory and tension.
Remedy and Rockstar are yet to detail much about the Max Payne remake, but I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and guess that the studios will recast the character entirely. While there's the option of de-aging Gibbs or McCaffrey (as Rockstar did, to an extent, in some Max Payne 3 scenes), keeping some degree of consistency between face textures and nostalgia, and affixing the face to somebody else's motion-captured body, this could be a bit of a missed opportunity.
As was proven by Quantum Break and Control, Remedy is arguably one of the industry leaders when it comes to motion capture and face mapping. The studio did a fantastic job capturing the likeness of Shawn Ashmore, Aidan Gillen, Patrick Heusinger, Dominic Monaghan, Lance Reddick, and other Hollywood talent in its 2016 sci-fi thriller, while Courtney Hope emerged as one of the industry's best actors after her crawl through the Oldest House in 2019.
With the Max Payne remake "currently in the concept development stage" it's likely a number of years away from release, but it might be worth preparing yourself for the inevitability of Payne wearing yet another new face.
Not that it really matters, it's still in the early stages of pre-production ("currently in the concept development stage"), so we're not gonna see hide nor hair of it for another 4-5 years. Wake me when they actually show gameplay and it's (a hilariously ugly mess that plays like a wet dog / basically a photocopy of the same game i bought 21 years ago but with more triangles and a higher pricetag / an amazing feat of action brilliance that makes me look like a huge idiot) (CIRCLE ONE)
After the debacle with the GTA remakes, I can't see this turning out very well. I haven't played them of course, because I haven't played GTA in years, aside from GTA 5, which is a mess unto it's own. But it seems like it was a piss poor cash in, where they upgraded the textures, attempted to upgrade the character models to a degree, and it just ended up a jumbled mess. And they did nothing with the coding of the game, it was just to make it prettier. So GTA 3/VC/SA still have all their flaws, and some new added flaws, and now all the textures look nice and new but the gameplay is the same, with the same flaws.
I hope they do it right, Max Payne 1 and 2 were great games. I really enjoyed Max Payne 3 when it was released, aside from the excessive, and I really mean excessive cutscenes to cover up loading time. But it was fun enough, it felt a bit sluggish, as in it didn't feel nearly as fluid as Max 1 & 2, but it was fun.
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