Max Payne is a series that is remembered for many reasons, some good and some bad. Many people will bring up the bullet time mechanic or the noir-style plot. However, one thing that everyone remembers is how difficult the original game was to play. There were several reasons why the original games were so difficult, and they helped cement the franchise in fans' minds. However, recent announcements have brought this factor into stark relief.
Rockstar Games and Remedy Entertainment recently announced that remakes of Max Payne and Max Payne 2 will be coming to current-gen consoles. While no further details have been announced, fans can assume that they will be more of an overhaul than Rockstar's recent Grand Theft Auto remasters. If that is the case, then the developers need to address the original game's difficulty and make it less frustrating and more accessible to modern audiences.
Max Payne's difficulty came from a variety of factors, some of which had to do with the technical limitation of the times rather than conscious choices by the developers. Max Payne is a third-person shooter that focuses on mobility rather than taking cover. Players need to be aware of their surroundings and make use of Max's agility to dodge bullets and take his opponents unawares. This is where the bullet time mechanic came into effect as a method to give players an edge. However, the sheer number of enemies and amount of damage they deal meant that one wrong move could lead to Max's death, especially as healing items were limited.
Making the game even harder were technical issues that make gameplay less smooth and seamless than the developers intended. For instance, the camera wasn't very responsive, and it could be hard to tell where the opponents were. However, the biggest issue had to do with the game's difficulty scaling mechanic. In concept, Max Payne would adjust to the player, becoming more difficult if they were doing well and easier if not.
However, this could work against the player due to a poor autosave mechanic and the potential for quick saves in bad places. Essentially, the game could suddenly jump in difficulty to the point of becoming unplayable. On top of that, there were certain issues with the design of the bullet-time mechanics and how it was filled during boss fights.
The remake will need to work on the scaling mechanic and how it affects gameplay. The concept of the game becoming harder for players who show skill is a good idea, but it means players may deliberately do worse to fix the difficulty. There is also less incentive to do well, as players will only be punished. One way to sort this would be to instead focus on the number of enemies, their armor, and ammo availability rather than how Max functions.
The game can also improve the enemy AI, meaning players would not need to rely on limited ammo and healing items in the same way. Finally, redesigning the bullet-time mechanics to be more skill-based and less of a crutch would be an overall improvement.
Max Payne is one of the classics of the third-person shooter genre, and it helped implement some of the most popular mechanics in contemporary gaming. While its difficulty is a part of that, Remedy needs to make some changes if it wants the remake to stand out and attract new players in a crowded field.
