Following the brilliant release of Alan Wake 2, Remedy is hard at work to bring back its iconic Max Payne duology to modern gamers. While we hope the game returns with some major changes, some fans of the series will likely be hoping for a straight one-to-one return, like a Halo Anniversary or Gears of War Ultimate Edition affair.
However, no matter what direction Remedy chooses to go with its Max Payne remakes, I have one key hope for the new games: an absolutely diabolical level of destruction physics.
Max Payne Remake needs hella destruction
When the original Max Payne released in 2001, Remedy’s action game was the perfect adaptation of John Woo-like action. In fact, Woo’s very own video game take The Stranglehold couldn’t hold a candle to Remedy’s flow. Combined with Matrix-esque Bullet Time, skirmishes would result in slow motion scenes of debris flying everywhere as bullets peppered into enemies.
Nowadays, the destruction of Rermedy’s games is very quaint. Stacks of paper that once felt like they were filling the screen are obviously only low quantities of quite low-quality effects. Back in 2001, this attention to detail was immense, and it only proves why the upcoming remake should go much harder on the elements of destruction that were only minor in the original.
Just like the jump from the original Gears of War to Gears of War 2, Max Payne Remake should completely fill the environment with destructible debris. The small stacks of paper should become desks covered with folders and more, bullets should smash apart tiles in the game’s iconic subway station, doors in the game’s sketchy apartment buildings should be blasted apart as Max unloads shotgun shells at hiding foes.
Remedy has already proven it can deliver phenomenal destruction for its action games. Quantum Break and Control, the latter far more than the former, both feature brilliant destruction. Nothing is more satisfying in control than launching an explosive across the room, causing everything to explode in a satisfying bubble of decimation.
While we have no additional information on Max Payne Remake, it does feel that Remedy will absolutely have a focus on destruction for the new games. While the Finnish studio isn’t known for its destruction in the same way as Just Cause’s Avalanche Studios, it has been a focus of its games for over a decade now.
Whatever becomes of the upcoming remakes, I’m excited nonetheless. However, bringing back the thrilling third-person action of Max Payne just works phenomenally well with additional destruction physics. After all, it worked well with Max Payne 3–even if some people didn’t like the direction of the game’s story, its gameplay was rock solid.
There’s currently no release date for Remedy’s Max Payne Remake, but it can’t come soon enough.
