Max Payne: Remedy Announces a Remake of the First Two Games on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC

The Max Payne video game series constitutes an already critically acclaimed franchise that will now be brought back to life, thanks to a renewed partnership that promises to deliver a truly high-quality interactive experience. In fact, Remedy Entertainment will be working once again with Rockstar Games on the remake of the first and second games in the series, Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.

Well then, how about we take a look at the info regarding the upcoming Max Payne Remake?

What we know about Max Payne Remake so far

On April 6 this year, an explosive Twitter announcement hit the gaming community: Remedy Entertainment is busy with the development of Max Payne Remake, a game that will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. It’s a modern revisitation that will merge the first two chapters of the saga, Max Payne, released in 2001, and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, released in 2003.

The two original games will be rebuilt from scratch with the Northlight Engine, Remedy’s own multi-platform engine that first appeared in the 2016 game Quantum Break. Rockstar Games will take part in the Max Payne Remake development process as the game’s publisher, a role the company always fulfilled when partnering with Remedy over the franchise.

The development studio has made it known that the project will be fully financed by Rockstar, and that the budget will be in line with that of your typical Triple-A production. Remedy will have access to the royalties once Rockstar will get a return on the investment.

A brief overview of the first Max Payne game and its success

A third-person shooter, the first Max Payne is immersed in a neo-noir atmosphere primarily inspired by detective novels. The story revolves around the titular Max Payne, an ex-NYPD officer who’s on his way to solve the mystery around his own family’s murder. This tragic event seems to be linked to a new, dangerous drug, the Valkyr, and Max will need to make use of his experience as a detective to uncover the truth about a sinister conspiracy involving organized crime, a sketchy pharmaceutical company and a secret society.

The game was a huge success, bringing Remedy Entertainment into the spotlight. It won a great deal of awards from magazines, websites and organisations, including BAFTA‘s “Best PC Game of 2001”, IGN‘s “Readers Choice Action Game of the Year and GameSpot‘s “Best of E3 2000”.

In conclusion

It will certainly be a blast to play the Max Payne saga on next-gen hardware, but many fans of the original are probably worried about the artistic and narrative liberties that the development team could eventually take while working on the project. The prospect of getting a butchered, unfaithful story is a threat that’s always present in regards to remakes, and that’s why these revisitations are so divisive within the gaming community.

But maybe we’ve got nothing to fear about, since the original duo Remedy-Rockstar itself is handling the game: let’s just hope they’re handling it well!