
The game's storyline is also taken forward by Max’s thoughts and the next steps the player takes as Max. The progression through the game is quite linear with the level system.
In the game, the AI is dependent on pre-written commands for all the behaviour exhibited by the enemies. And, like any other game here too if Max loses health, it can be instantly replenished by taking painkillers. However, later in the game, more number of weapons become available, the player can also use dual-wielding using some weapons, but the dual-wielding increases the consumption of ammo.
The player is equipped with a 9mm pistol at the beginning of the game. Which also gives the player a chance and time to react and plan during fights. However, the player still has a chance to dodge the bullet. The gameplay is based on the use of bullet-time mechanics during firefights it means that when a bullet is fired, the gameplay becomes so slow that the shot can be seen even with the naked eyes, even though the same happens to the player's movement. The game later inspired a movie of the same name. The game uses a lot of terms from the Norse Mythology, Ragnarok myth in particular, and several names are also taken from there. The game features neco-noir type gameplay and uses comic panels with voice-over as a primary means of storytelling. The mysterious drug is called “Valkyr” when Max starts investigating the drug he gets caught in a very complex and massive conspiracy which involves some of the major players like a pharmaceutical company, crime syndicates, a secret society and the U.S.
The game is centred around a guy named Max Payne, who was a former NYPD detective he starts investigating the death of his wife and daughter, which has a connection to a drug trafficking case. Later, the game was released for other platforms like the PlayStation 3 and 4 (a PS2 emulated version), iOS and Android.
The game was also planned to be released for Dreamcast (a Sega product) but was cancelled later due to Sega's decision to discontinue the console. The game was also released for macOS later by MacSoft in North America and for the other parts of the globe by Feral Interactive. It is a third-person shooter video game first released for Microsoft Windows in July 2001, and a year later for Xbox and PlayStation 2, a tie-in was also published by Rockstar Games for Game Boy Advance. Max Payne is Published by Gathering of Developers and is developed by Remedy Entertainment.