Remedy Talks Max Payne 1 and Max Payne 2

We take a look back at the first two Max Payne titles with Sam Lake, the writer of both games, and Remedy studio head Matias Myllyrinne.

Ten years after the release of Max Payne, and with Max Payne 3 due in March next year, we talk to Matias Myllyrinne and Sam Lake from Remedy about the making of the first two games in the acclaimed action shooter series.

Myllyrinne, now managing director at Remedy, tells us about Max Payne's small development team and modest $3 million budget. Lake, who wrote both games and was the face model for the first Payne, tells us how those limited resources meant they had to draw on the 21-member development team, friends, and families for their cast of characters.

We hear about Max Payne's eclectic influences, from Hong Kong action movies to Norse mythology, its distinctive graphic-novel-style cutscenes, and its noir-inspired imagining of New York City.

Lake and Myllyrinne also speak on their involvement with the upcoming third Max Payne game, for which development is in the hands not of Remedy but Rockstar: "[Rockstar] were kind enough to give us builds and then ask for feedback," says Myllyrinne.

"It's been worth the wait," says Lake. "Now getting near to release, it feels like welcoming an old friend."

For more from Remedy on Max Payne 3, join us on Thursday for the second part of our interview. Till then, enjoy these gameplay clips of vintage Max Payne and Max Payne 2 action.