I'm Climbing Up Those Walls Again

I thought it might be interesting to analyze our typical PC game heroes, and so I've decided to start with Max Payne, as he's one of the more complex examples.

As their cheesy title implies, Max Payne games might not take themselves completely seriously. Max is known for using far too many metaphors to convey the gravity of a given situation: "Winterson was a ghost, her presence only felt by the chill of the air like the cold hands of a widow shivering in the rain."

Sure, Max spouts off horrible teenage-angst poetry like it's his job, but you can't help understanding his pain. Maybe I can justify this a little more if I give you his back-story.

Max was your every day New York cop, until one day, his wife discovered some information on a very powerful lady and her involvement in the designer drug "V". Max came home from work just in time to find several junkies hopped on V slaying his wife and baby daughter. After the incident, Payne immediately transferred to the DEA and dedicated himself to hunting down those responsible. Soon enough he got too close, and so the mafia behind the drug attempted to frame him for murder. One cold, stormy night, Max Payne racked up the biggest mobster headcount known to date. He shot his way through to the answers he needed: the woman behind V was a member of an 'inner circle' of wealthy and powerful people, compliments of Alfred Woden, a fellow inner circle member.

With half of New York's finest on his tail and with the help of an assassin with her own agenda, Mona Sax, Payne fought his way to the top of the woman's skyscraper, and exacted his revenge. During the final fire-fight, Mona took a bullet to the head, and disappeared behind some elevator doors, and was presumed dead.

In Max Payne 2, we find him back on the force, thanks to some effort from the Senator Alfred Woden, who made Max into a hero. Soon enough, a sighting of Mona indicates to Max that the story isn't over. In his own words: "I lied to myself that it was over, it wasn't over. My loved ones were still dead. I was still alive."

This is all a little melodramatic, but think about how it contrasts with you stereotypical PC shooter hero. Max Payne 2 is full of senseless violence, except behind the wheel of Max, you feel like you are living out this man's nightmare. The title of this post "Waking up from the American Dream" is taken from the third chapter, when Max is again plummeting down into the depths.



Payne's tale is grittier than normal. He doesn't treat his wounds with medical packs, he just pops painkillers, as though his relief can only be temporary. During the game, he is sent to the brink of death twice, and returns with wounds that would hospitalize any normal man, to continue fighting until his cause is finished.

You know early on that the fight can never be won, but you know Max would fight it anyway, and so you elect to join him. Right before the final spurt of violence at the end of the game, Max recalls that "old familiar feeling." He might not the most glamorous of computer game heroes, but he certainly knows how to pull a player along his own journey.

At the end of Max Payne 1, you felt as if revenge was all it was ever about, but by the end of Max Payne 2 he develops in a significant way. As the graphic at the top suggests, Mona becomes a love interest, yet Max cannot let go of his dead wife and child. Add mobsters to the equation, and you have a rollercoaster of a romantic John-woo style noir thriller.

For a taste of the Max Payne experience here is a link to a trailer of the latest game:

Watch the trailer labeled "Full trailer"