It's time to grab your best leather jacket and leopard-print shirt, because Remedy Entertainment has announced it's remaking the first two Max Payne games for next-gen consoles and PC.
Announced via Remedy's investor website, the Finnish game developer has entered an agreement with publisher Rockstar, which still holds the copyright to the series, to remake the original Max Payne and its sequel, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.
While the project is currently in its early concept development stage, Remedy has revealed that both games will be released in a single bundle for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S.
Modernizing Max Payne
According to the announcement, Remedy will develop the games using its own proprietary Northlight game engine (the same one it used for the utterly fantastic metaphysical shooter Control), with the developer promising "AAA-game production."
Sounds like a costly endeavour. Luckily, Rockstar is more than willing to front all of the cash for the Max Payne collection's production budget, marketing and distribution costs, with Remedy set to receive royalties after the fact.
“We were thrilled when our long-time friends at Remedy approached us about remaking the original Max Payne games,” said Rockstar Games founder Sam Houser. “We are massive fans of the work the Remedy team has created over the years, and we can’t wait to play these new versions.”
Max Payne: a quick rundown
For the uninitiated, Max Payne is a hard-boiled, noir-tinged thriller about an ex-cop who sets out to avenge his murdered family. Arriving a couple of years after The Matrix, Max Payne's big claim to fame was its "bullet-time" shooting mechanic, which allowed players to dive through the air in slow-motion, shooting bad guys as Matrix-inspired bullet trails whizzed by.
Following the success of its first two Max Payne games, Remedy went on try something different, developing the Twin Peaks-inspired survival horror game Alan Wake, while Rockstar set out to make Max Payne 3 on its own.
As great as the third Max Payne game was, we're extremely excited about the prospect of the series' creators revisiting the franchise that made it famous and bringing it up to modern gameplay and graphical standards. Obviously it's too early to speculate on a release date, though we'll let you know as soon as we hear anything.
