Back to Dreamlist
Max Payne

Max Payne (2001)

by Remedy Entertainment, Westlake Interactive, 3D Realms, Feral Interactive, Gathering of Developers, MacSoft Games, Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive
Genres:Shooter
Themes:Action, Thriller
Game modes:Single player
Story:Max Payne is a man with nothing to lose in the violent, cold urban night. A fugitive undercover cop framed for murder, hunted by cops and the mob, Max is a man with his back against the wall, fighting a battle he cannot hope to win. Max Payne is a relentless story-driven game about a man on the edge, fighting to clear his name while struggling to uncover the truth about his slain family amongst a myriad of plot-twists and twisted thugs in the gritty bowels of New York during the century's worst blizzard. The groundbreaking original cinematic action-shooter, Max Payne introduced the concept of Bullet Time in videogames. Through its stylish slow-motion gunplay combined with a dark and twisted story, Max Payne redefined the action-shooter genre.Show more
user avatarAdded by @leloch
Vote to bring this game to GOG and help preserve it.
39 755
Trailers and screenshots
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Stories about this game (26)
What’s your memory of Max Payne?Share your favorite moments and see what others remember about this game.
user avatar@placeholder
If not sure what to write:
  • What made this game unforgettable?
  • Who did you play this game with?
  • What made it fun or challenging?
  • Why do you want this game on GOG?
user avatar
user avatar
@mkrajewJanuary 10, 2025
I was blown away by this game’s graphics. The story and bullet-time mechanics were great, but at the time, it was the most realistic-looking game I had ever played. That’s how I’ll always remember it.
user avatar
user avatar
@loganoidDecember 20, 2024
Obvioulsy the game had a great, heavy weight story like taken directly from Vertigo graphic novels. But I specifically remember two things. Bullet time shootouts... this thing just blew me away immediately and did not get boring over time. The other thing was graphics. Back then it felt almost as realistic as movie, despite the flat faces!
user avatar
user avatar
@DirtyRolandoJanuary 12, 2025
During my time in school, it was the topic! A hard game, for a mature audience, with bullet-time (like in Matrix) and a hard, dark story. There were even rumours, that the game will be not long available in my country. Of course, my mom bought the game! I especially like the noir look, the comic cutscenes, the bullet-time and the really heavy atmosphere. Max was out for revenge, he had lost everything. Max was ready to kill and to die! From my perspective now, it´s simply funny, that Sam Lake hasn´t just „played“ Max Payne. He has also involved his parents! Both are in the game. I heared, his mom is evil, in the game ;) It would be nice, if there would be a special GoG Edition: Max Payne 1 + 2 as original version, includling the remakes of both games in one big bundle.
user avatar
user avatar
@Zach826January 29, 2025
I have a specific memory of playing Max Payne on the original Xbox and there being a train level and I was really into the bullet time shooting mechanic as a kid. It was awesome to dive and activate the bullet time and try to clear the area just in bullet time. I can't remember if I ever was able to clear it or not though.
user avatar
user avatar
@OldschoolKJanuary 29, 2025
The gameplay and the bullet-time mechanic was wonderfull, as well as the storytelling. Everything about this game merges in the best possible way two medias like movies and games.
user avatar
user avatar
@Charodiy_UAJanuary 29, 2025
I understood that buying the Game in the Steam (EGS, Fanatical - Steam, Humble Bundle - Steam) store and enjoying it is better than waiting for it here (gog) for eternity. A lot of games will never be published in the gog store it is a fact! For different reasons many games will never be published in the gog store - f@ck_DRM policy (or at least gog trying to pretend DRM-free), absurd terms of cooperation that gog is pushing, support policy that is completely frustrating and disappointing, and of course non-professional personnel.
user avatar
user avatar
@DerGreifJanuary 29, 2025
I watched my brother play this game during my first state exam. Every day for two weeks I had to write 5 hour exams from 8 to 13 o'clock, would come home at 14 to my brother's and mine apartment, eat what my brother kindly prepared and then just watch him play to regenerate and relax. The dark noir atmosphere, the excellent music adding to that and the bullet time concept I first saw in action really took me in. This was punctured by some real cool self-aware humour. The memories of my loving brother taking care of me are strongly connected to this game, too, as is 9/11 which happened at the beginning of my second exam week. I always wanted to buy the game to play it myself one day, to relive those memories, but never got my hands on it.
user avatar
user avatar
@vamargo22January 29, 2025
I was a teenager when this game came to my hands, so the spectacular cinematics and the bullet-time just amazed me. That was one of the titles that made me fall in love with videogames.
user avatar
user avatar
@telepath.January 29, 2025
I don't have to explain the greatness of this game. Max Payne was ahead of its time, and now still holds up very well. Sadly, this game isn't playable on modern pc unless you install a bunch of patches, even for that one version sold on an steam. So i think it deserves a well done update and fix, in order that everyone can have easy access to it.
user avatar
user avatar
@M3RKABNORMALJanuary 29, 2025
Yes the game is on pc, such as steam, but it is barely playable without workarounds. I’d hope that GOG would be able to make the game absolutely perfect for modern PCs. Hoping rockstar are smart enough to allow this game on GOG and the eventual Max Payne remakes
Those games also need your vote!
Freelancer
FreelancerEight hundred years prior to the start of our story, bitter conflict divided all of mankind. A handful of colonists struck out on their own to begin anew - far away from the Earth and its turmoil. Several ships were launched with enough equipment and supplies to give the hundreds onboard a fighting chance - but since the area around far-off Sirius had never been surveyed, no one really knew what to expect. What they found was a new frontier of free-flowing natural resources, unexplored territories, great wonders and lurking dangers. Each ship, representing the clusters of people and their earthly place of origin, settled into different parts of the galaxy pre-selected by their ship-board computer to give them the best chance of survival. Life was hard in the beginning, but over the 800 years the different colonies prospered and expanded their territories, claiming more and more systems for their own. Survival and propagation eventually led to growth and profit as each of the colonies developed specialties and fostered commerce. As the colonies grew and time passed their connections with their roots on Earth dwindled and they lost their memories of the conflicts of the past. Soon their attention was dominated by new, more immediate conflicts. Feelings of lost ancestral connection spurred anachronism in the look of the great cities, and created a somewhat distorted image of each colony's cultural heritage. In the ever-expanding outer edge of the territories, frontier lawlessness prevailed. The Houses: Each shipboard colony that left Earth carried some memory of its origins in its name. The Liberty carried Americans, The Bretonia flew from The United Kingdom and surrounding territory, The Kusari from Asia, and the Rheinland launched with Germanic cargo. As each ship settled and colonies began to expand, they knew little about each other and their advancing development. Finally, little by little, the individual colonies found each other and began to set up trade routes to link their systems for commerce and solidarity. Today, with each colony firmly rooted in its respective corner of the galaxy, the colonies rely heavily on each other for trade and industry but also compete for resources and new territories in the Border Worlds. The colonies mandate member governments in "The New Alliance" within the Sirius sector. To control conflicts, each colony has forged alliances and treaties with others as they have grown. Competition remains fierce, however. Struggles rage for supremacy in business, commerce, resources, power and control. There can be tenuous peace between colonies' political agendas, but the grabs for holdings constantly unsettle the volatile frontier.
Our Pick
Top
Science fiction
Sandbox
Our Pick
Top
Science fiction
Sandbox
47 930
The Operative: No One Lives Forever
The Operative: No One Lives ForeverNo One Lives Forever is to be a fast-paced, story-driven first-person shooter that delivers over-the-top action, outrageous villains, and wry humor in the tradition of the great 1960's Bond films. You play Cate Archer an undercover operative for MI-Zero. Your mission is to arrange for the defection of a prominent East German biophysicist that goes by the name of Otto Dentz. However things go wrong when a terrorist group known as the HARM abducts Dentz during a flight to England. Assume the role of Cate Archer, an operative working for UNITY, a secret organization fighting to free the world from the clutches of H.A.R.M.. From tense subterfuge to in-your-face combat, No One Lives Forever ups the ante with 1960's-influenced spy action, vivid international locates, and deadly arch villains.
Our Pick
Top
Action
Comedy
Stealth
Our Pick
Top
Action
Comedy
Stealth
47 476
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s WayA year after the first No One Lives Forever, tensions are rising between United States and Soviet Union over the tiny, but strategic Isle of Khios. Jones, now the sole Commander of U.N.I.T.Y. (after Smithy was discovered to be a H.A.R.M. spy in the first No One Lives Forever), is taking a vacation and leaves Temporary Director Lawrie in charge. The sequel to the award-winning No One Lives Forever returns you to a world of espionage, intrigue, and dry humor. In her second adventure, British UNITY operative Cate Archer must investigate a super-secret Soviet project that, if successful, could bring about the third world war.
Top
Action
Fantasy
Historical
Comedy
Stealth
Top
Action
Fantasy
Historical
Comedy
Stealth
39 266
Aliens versus Predator 2
Aliens versus Predator 2The sequel to one of the most frightening games ever made, Aliens vs. Predator 2 takes you to Planet LV1201, where three diverse and bloodthirsty species battle for survival. The story-driven plot weaves together the fates of all three races, while the action is as heart-stopping as the blockbuster films on which it is based. Choose to play as Alien, Predator, or Marine as you use your physical prowess, killer instincts, or superior firepower to stay alive.
Action
Horror
Science fiction
Stealth
Survival
Action
Horror
Science fiction
Stealth
Survival
23 349
Resident Evil Code: Veronica X
Resident Evil Code: Veronica XExperience another terrifying chapter in the Resident Evil series with Resident Evil: Code Veronica X. After narrowly surviving the horrific onslaught in Raccoon City, Claire Redfield now seeks clues in search of her missing brother, Chris. Join Claire as she uncovers the insidious activities of the Umbrella Corporation. Avoid or eliminate flesh-eating zombies and horrific beasts. Use a variety weapons, items, and clues scattered around Raccoon City to help you survive the nightmare and make sure the virus doesn't spread any farther.
Our Pick
Action
Horror
Survival
Our Pick
Action
Horror
Survival
22 951
Prey
PreyPrey tells the story of Tommy, a Cherokee garage mechanic stuck on a reservation going nowhere. Abducted along with his people to a menacing mothership orbiting Earth, he sets out to save himself and his girlfriend and eventually his planet.
New
Action
Science fiction
New
Action
Science fiction
21 626
DOOM
DOOMDOOM, the brutally fun and challenging modern-day shooter, can now be taken anywhere with Nintendo Switch! Relentless demons, impossibly destructive guns, and fast, fluid movement provide the foundation for intense, first-person combat – whether you’re obliterating demon hordes through the depths of Hell in the single-player campaign, or competing against your friends in numerous multiplayer modes. DOOM for Nintendo Switch also includes all the game's multiplayer DLC and Arcade Mode.
New
Action
Horror
Science fiction
Survival
New
Action
Horror
Science fiction
Survival
21 136
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max PayneMax Payne 2 is a third-person shooter, in which the player assumes the role of Max Payne, but also plays as Mona Sax in a few levels. Initially, the player's weapon is a 9mm pistol. As they progress, players access other weapons including other handguns, shotguns, submachine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and hand-thrown weapons. To move the game along, the player is told what the next objective is through Max's internal monologue, in which Max iterates what his next steps should be.
Action
Thriller
Action
Thriller
20 317
Oni
OniAn intense action anime thriller comes to life in Oni. As an elite member of the tech crimes task force, Konoko is an agent on a mission to fight the evil Syndicate. But things are not always as they seem... Konoko is haunted by unknown demons of her past, and the truth threatens to send her over the edge.
Action
Science fiction
Action
Science fiction
19 596
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat EvolvedBent on Humankind's extermination, a powerful fellowship of alien races known as the Covenant is wiping out Earth's fledgling interstellar empire. Climb into the boots of Master Chief, a biologically altered super-soldier, as you and the other surviving defenders of a devastated colony-world make a desperate attempt to lure the alien fleet away from earth. Shot down and marooned on the ancient ring-world Halo, you begin a guerilla-war against the Covenant. Fight for humanity against an alien onslaught as you race to uncover the mysteries of Halo.
Action
Warfare
Science fiction
Action
Warfare
Science fiction
17 711