The more I check this game out the more I want to get it. I played a little bit of Max Payne 2 but never got too for and never even touched the first game. Chances are slim to none that I will pick em up so it would be great if anyone could kinda catch me up. From what I've played of 2, Max seems like a troubled man and has had a pretty nasty past. I do know his family was killed and I know he must of had some relationship with Mona Sax, but this is as far as my knowledge goes. If anyone could just catch me up I would be very grateful =) because this one looks damn incredible (I am a fucking sucker for Euphoria)

http://gldio.com/wrkz/max_payne/

Here are all the ''comics strips'' from the first and second game. Some little details could be missing, but It's a good start.

full disclosure: i haven't played these games in a long ass time

MAX PAYNE

guy named Max Payne was a detective, had a DEA friend, comes home and wife and baby were killed by junkies on drug called V.

a while later, now with the dea, he's working with that friend to find out about v and why the junkies were at his house.

his friend gets killed and max is framed for his murder. evading cops, dealing with junkies and mafia-men, getting help by russian Mob-boss Vladimir Lem, and meeting a contract killer called Mona Sax, Max eventually finds connections between V and the Aesir corporation (and some secret society involving the Aesir CEO and some other rich blokes).

V (or valkyrie) was a supersoldier serum that never hit off, and eventually trickled down to the streets as the drug 'V'. turns out his wife was looking into this connection and the Aesir CEO sent those junkies to kill her.

Max takes this info to his other contact in the police, B.B., but turns out B.B.'s a backstabbing bastard turncoat who killed his DEA friend, so Max kills him.

with some help from Mona Sax (who's twin sister was killed from this whole shitstorm, but who herself goes down while helping Max), Max kills the Aesir CEO and is taken in by Detective Bravura.

MAX PAYNE 2

Back as a detective, Max works with a lady detective and finds himself embroiled in an attack on Vladimir Lem by other mafia dudes from Max Payne 1, an attack which has him re-meeting a supposed to be dead Mona Sax.

Max and Mona meet up and look into what the hell is going on between these mafia dudes and why dead senators are involved, developing a relationship along the way.

following the cookie trail, things go sour and the lady detective is about to kill Mona, so Max shoots the detective.

continuing on the trail for answers, Max finds out that Vladimir is also a part of that secret society (the one the Aesir CEO was in) and is trying to take control of it. turns out the lady detective was one of his girlfriends and Vlad betrays Max. Max and Mona track down Vladimir to the secret society leader's HQ and they all fight.

Max finds out that Mona was hired to kill Max but she can't do it and Vlad shoots her and the secret society leader.

Max faces Vlad one on one and kills him. Mona dies (but if you beat the game on the hardest difficulty she survives).

~fin

and yeah, Max is pretty deeply troubled. his state of mind is represented well by the idea that "everybody I touch dies". he's an incredibly depressed man who's lost pretty much everything and probably won't ever get something like it back (anytime he comes close he loses that too). the epitome of a beat-down, nothing-to-lose good guy detective.

@Sackmanjones: To be honest, the summary in your original post is pretty much all you need to know about the story aside from the outcome of the second game (which you could probably find on youtube, but I would suggest playing the game and seeing it unfold for yourself because it's one of my favorite video game endings). There are some side characters who come into play and you learn more about the main villains' motivations as you progress, but overall they aren't of much consequence other than keeping you entertained along the way. It all boils down to Max being a cop who's had his life ruined and who constantly reminds you of that fact through the greatest video game narration of all time between blasting through thousands of thugs in slow-motion.

The gameplay of the first 2 still holds up really well and the campaigns aren't too long or daunting. Not bashing you for trying to learn more before playing the new one, but this is a series where the most important things are the gameplay, atmosphere, and great quotes; so it's best experienced first-hand. You could easily pick up both used for under 10 bucks for PS2 or Xbox and play through 'em in a week; and it would be well worth your while.

I would definately reccomend playing the first 2 games. There are a lot of secondary characters that will probably show up in the third game. They are quite short and still hold up remarkably well in terms of gameplay and graphics.

THE FLESH OF FALLEN ANGELS!!!

Also bullet time diving.

Play the damn games, together they'll take about 13-14 hours of your life and they still hold up

Yes, if you don't want to go back to the games yourself you can watch people play them on YouTube. For some linear games its almost the same experience as playing them yourself, I feel.

They were all dead....

@hoossy said:

Yes! Love this guy's story runs.

OP, I would recommend watching these run throughs of the first two games. He speeds up the gameplay, lets all dialogue and story bits play. Lets you absorb all of the important stuff in a timely manner.

Though to be honest, I'm betting that Max Payne 3's story will be mostly self contained. As long as you get the original premise (down on his luck NY cop, family murdered by drug-addled thugs) you should be good.

They really are classics, though. And fairly short actually. If you happen to be getting Max Payne 3 on PC, MP 1 and 2 come with it for free on Steam. Not a bad deal if you want to experience the first two games.