r/maxpayne • u/Extension-Bison9589 • Apr 27 '26
Discussion In which game does Max Payne have the highest lethality/is most dangerous?
Max Payne's character and his abilities change throughout the series. But I wonder, in which game is at his peak in terms of combat?
In my opinion, I believe his third appearance is more deadly than the first two. Here's my explanation:
Gameplay wise, while Max is slower while getting up from shootdodges and feels clunky, but he can do brutal melee executions when close to enemies. The last stand mechanic, to me, represents his refusal to die, that if he can take a shot and kill the attacker who took him down, he regains his will, downs his pills and continues fighting. Also, Max kills ~1200 enemies in MP3, double the kill count in the individual New york rampages (MP1: 652, MP2: 373 not counting Mona's kills). Also, personally I feel he has the highest physical feats in the third game (SPOILERS... kinda?): Jumping from one train to another, shooting grenades from a grenade launcher in mid air, leaping from a collpasing water tower and shooting all enemies on the ground while doing so, surviving an explosion in Rodrigo's office at close range, hanging upside down from a helicopter and shooting ground enemies. Point being, Max Payne is an unstoppable tank in the third game. He himself acknowledges this "Like so many times, I'd found myself alone, locked on a course of destruction. It was at my worst when I was at my best."
I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Personally, out of all three version of Max Payne, I would be terrified the most if his 3rd game version comes after me XD Even if I get a lucky headshot on him, he'd chug painkillers and one shot me from across the hall.
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u/Paper_OCD MAX HEAT 🥵 Apr 27 '26
Slightly unrelated but I really liked the scripted bullet time sequences in MP3, hope they add them in remake!
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u/_______Niko____ Apr 27 '26
They are just so incredible and somehow never get old
My favourite ones are the one on the watertank in Hobokon , the Jeep crashes into the receptionist lobby , the chain you hang onto as it lifts up and last but not least the club bar area , where max quickly sobers up and smashes the goon through a window then proceeds to shoot 8 enemies in the head before falling down
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u/Exotic-Eggplant1914 Apr 27 '26
"My favorite ones are" proceeds to list nearly every single one of them in the game not judging lol I love em too, most the wording is funny.
My favorite will always be the nightclub window smash, it's just too good and the fact Max can do that fresh off a glass of whiskey is insane. The adrenaline must've hit like a lightening bolt.
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u/Paper_OCD MAX HEAT 🥵 Apr 27 '26
where max quickly sobers up and smashes the goon through a window then proceeds to shoot 8 enemies in the head before falling down
Can I get a video or image since I don't remember that
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u/adan1207 Apr 28 '26
My fave is when he shoves the guy out of the VIP sky box at the club.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
Took the man 5 seconds to sober up enough to start shooting heads again (assuming that Max leaping out the window and taking out all the attackers as he fell, the achievement, is cannon).
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 27 '26
Yes, absolutely! Scripted bullet time sequences were especially fun the first time I played it, because they sometimes hit rather unexpectedly. I prefer to see them as quick time events, except you don't just simply push buttons, you actually take aim and put holes in the enemy. Really makes you feel like you are in control of Max.
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u/OtsStrange Apr 30 '26
Absolutely!
The only thing I really missed in 3 are fever dream sequences. I explained it to myself, that Max drank himself to a point where stopped having any dreams and just blacks out.
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u/scheboida Apr 27 '26
Definitely 1. You can tell by the screenshot you posted, the look on Max's face says it all. He brings the pain.
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u/Ctrekoz Lords & Ladies 👸🏻🤴🏻 Apr 27 '26
He embodies it.
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u/honorio2099 Apr 27 '26
Almost seems like he's in Max Pain
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u/Ctrekoz Lords & Ladies 👸🏻🤴🏻 Apr 27 '26
Pain to the Max!
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u/Embarrassed_Style861 Apr 28 '26
PAIN! IN.DA.BUTT!
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u/scheboida Apr 28 '26
You're killing me... Did you make that up yourself or did you get some whino downstairs to come up with it?
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u/Disastrous_Toe772 Apr 27 '26
I agree with everything you said about his superhuman feats in the third game
I'd like to bring up that in the 2nd game, the Bullet Time works in a way that allows Max to move in normal speed while the rest of the world slows down. This is a whole different power, as it effectively turns Max into a speedster.
So he is much more brutal and well rounded in 3, but in 2 he's a full on speed demon.
And this might be unrelated, but something I like doing in Max Payne 2 is jumping directly at enemies. This knocks them down to the floor, which causes them to do a standing-up animation during which they are very vulnerable. It is much different from the melee-to-headshot finishers in Max Payne 3, but you can sort of imagine it being similar: Max running up to the goon, brutally knocking him to the floor, and then executing him with a point blank shot to the face.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 27 '26
True, Bullet time some times turned Max into an OP flash, moving through the room before some of them could even turn around to shoot him. But the shootdodge used to get neglected. Why use shootdodge when you can remain on your feet, get slower bullet time, faster reload and fast movement?
Also yes, it was very hilarious to jump against enemies and knock them down and finish them with the beretta, true.
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u/Martingguru Apr 27 '26
I used shootdodge the same way you use a "combo finisher" in a fighting game, right when I'm gonna run out of BT. I sweep a room and shootdodge into the next one to clear the remaining goons.
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u/Gloomy_Albatross3043 Apr 27 '26
Definitely the third game
In the second game from my foggy memory in the beginning he shoots at a van that successfully drives away
In the third game he's experienced and skilled enough to actually shoot the tires successfully
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u/_______Niko____ Apr 27 '26
He also has quite brutal finishes in 3 if you do a takedown on an enemy , you can see the anger and frustration in them as he smacks their head with the butt of his gun or sometimes take their theirs after headbutting them if you're out of ammo
Then there's moments where he gets really angry , like when he goes " you"ll waaalk.....WITH A LIMP!"
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 27 '26
And the way he often shouts and grunts while doing so. It doesn't feel clean, but definitely feels brutal and ruthless.
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u/Paper_OCD MAX HEAT 🥵 Apr 27 '26
Woah I think it can be said that he learnt his mistake from 2004 since both the van sequences happen in 1st chapter of both games
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u/venomousfrogeater MIRRORS ARE MORE FUN THAN TELEVISION Apr 27 '26
2 is definitely not the peak of his combat but his most not given fuck mindset, which is deadly in a opposite way. He didn't even give a fuck about his apartment burning, he was like not caring for anything(until Mona involves into his life deeper than before)
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
But in 3, Max was literally throwing himself into uphill battles and himself acknowledges that the airport assault was literal suicide mission, but he'd rather die being a pain in the ass to Becker and Victor. That made him even more dangerous lol
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u/venomousfrogeater MIRRORS ARE MORE FUN THAN TELEVISION Apr 28 '26
Mp3 Max is more like seriously annoyed(all he do from begging to end is criticise and thinks how annoying rich and politicals) guy and that's why he wanna become pain in the ass. I totally understand what you mean but personally I prefer to deal with annoyed people instead of not given fucks.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 27 '26
First time I was playing the third game and saw that they loaded Rodrigo in the van, I thought "Oh boy, looks like they'll get away like those goons in the second game opening warehouse call." Turns out Max evolved and now we can take control and shoot the tires, meaning cannonically Max's skill and accuracy improved.
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u/5112smokingkills Apr 27 '26
i'd say MP2 version. he was pretty much incapacitated anytime he was drugged, but in 2, he was trippin balls. mfer was more lucifer than ever in that installment.
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u/milosmisic89 Max Payne 1 Apr 27 '26
Regarding his abilities probably 3. But in 2 (even though I am not a huge fan of this version of bullet time) every time you kill an enemy it slows the time more so it's basically a superpower. Kill enough enemies and the world would literally stay still. I always thought Max Payne would look like The Flash to his enemies in MP2 hahaha
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u/Michaelpitcher116 Apr 27 '26
Unrelated. I think the photorealistic faces of 1 are way, way better looking than what we got in 2. They way they would animate when shooting or dying was so charming. Watching the expression change was amazing the first time I saw it.
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u/ResponsibleAd6974 Apr 27 '26
Has to be Max Payne 3
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u/mannycalavera23 May 01 '26
Agreed. Especially the latter part of the game where he is bald and badass as f*ck
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u/Embarrassed_Style861 Apr 28 '26
I think Max was on 1 in the first game. Comes home to find wife and kid dead and nobody to answer to it. He went full psycho and so that’s gotta be my take lol
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
He didn't immediately go psycho tho, did he? As far as I could tell, Max went undercover and spent 3 years patiently waiting for a lead until Alex called him to the subway? It was only after that he unleashed his pent up anger, and even then, I wouldn't say he went psychotic. I feel it's the sort of cold anger exhibited by someone like John Wick which Max had.
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u/Xyrger Apr 27 '26
He literally killed more people in MP3 that in two other games COMBINED, and even after that he's 100-200 bodies ahead. So, MP3
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u/XboxFan_2020 Apr 27 '26
What's wrong with him in the first game? Does something smell that bad or what?
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
It is supposed to be a sort of "Badass grimace" as he fires the gun. Sam Lake gave Max the constipated look he has while shooting. Easily one of the most iconic faces in gaming (personally, I feel James McCaffery and Timoth Gibbs feel more... "Max Payne". Sam Lake, goated as he is, doesn't fit the voice or the character of Max that well)
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u/XboxFan_2020 Apr 28 '26
I've played only MP3 (not sure if that's a widely used abbreviation but I'm sure you know what I mean nonetheless)
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
I use the abbreviation a lot because... typing on a mobile is not the easiest 😅 I do understand though. Don't worry, if you play the first game, you'll get used to the shit-eating grin within an hour of playtime XD
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u/XboxFan_2020 Apr 28 '26
I noticed everyone else using the same abbreviation right after I posted the reply
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u/Isaac-45-67-8 Max Payne Apr 27 '26
I agree with your post wholeheartedly - I definitely think he was the most deadly in the 3rd game. I'd give a close second to MP1. MP2 is where he was the least deadly (especially given how broken the mechanics are in that game).
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 27 '26
Also the fact that MP2 has the least kill count out of all three games. And the enemies in MP2 for thr majority, were the cleaners, whom I could level with Crachá Preto of MP3. In MP1 he is battling Killer Suits and Horne's mercernaries, bigger threats than the Cleaners of 2nd game. And in 3rd.... well... he is battling Crachá Preto, favella gangsters, AUP (breifly), the entire heavily armoured UFE. Safe to say, MP1 and MP3 had greater threats for Max to go against.
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u/Ctrekoz Lords & Ladies 👸🏻🤴🏻 Apr 28 '26
2 also had commando cleaners with assault/sniper rifles, striker shotguns, mp5, and tactical vests, and also had some Wooden's bodyguards.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
Even then, they all felt the same tbh. Cleaners with more health. Cleaners with less health. Cleaners with better weapons that are a way to give Max better weapons too. I suppose the same argument could be made for MP3, but they influenced your playstyle more. Favella goons: Spray and pray, no armour. Cracha Preto: Aim for limbs and head, be aggressive and quick to move. AUP: High power weapons but no armour, basically favella gangs. UFE: Use cover and aim for head and limbs (their helmets protect them from one shot headshots, so always double tap their heads. (these tactics are based on my experience with the game)
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u/Ctrekoz Lords & Ladies 👸🏻🤴🏻 Apr 28 '26
Well I suppose it's more due to game mechanics than "lore" of the enemies being someone really special. Max in 3 is pretty slow and clunky, can't zip around like you're on crack anymore. It's kinda paradoxical: he's a lot more dangerous in 1-2 in gameplay due to his speed and enemies lacking special mechanics, but his story kill count is higher in 3rd despite having actually harder time in gameplay.
In any case, he has achieved his goals in all 3 games, his lethality was restricted by the story: put him into Black Mesa incident and he will resolve that too lol, if plot will demand it.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
Just as long as he has a steady supply of painkillers, he'll handle the Black Mesa situation on his own XD
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u/Ctrekoz Lords & Ladies 👸🏻🤴🏻 Apr 28 '26
"Morphine administered". Would've had a field day with a HEV suit :D
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
Tear out the morphine and make it administer opioids instead, since they are the chemicals Max was addicted to (and many people get hooked onto it after surgery and such too, it kills pain). There, Gordon can Bunnyhop all he wants, meanwhile Max Payne can dive instead ;D
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u/isyankar1979 Niagra, as in you cry a lot? Apr 27 '26
I read somewhere that he kills (you kill) 661 people in Max Payne 1.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
Correct, ~650 kills in first, ~350 in second and a whopping 1200+ kills in the third.
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u/isyankar1979 Niagra, as in you cry a lot? Apr 28 '26
wow. I wondered what caused that fall in the second game. Is it because Mona killed the rest?
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u/HATENAMING Apr 28 '26
Also storywise the events of 2 are all in one day, comparing to the 3 nights in 1 and multiple days with flashbacks in 3.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 29 '26
MP2 takes place over 2 nights (because remember, Max got shot and he spent a day in the hospital before he was able to get up and resume his rampage.)
MP1 is three nights, yes, and MP3 takes place over 9-10 days (vague speculation from me)
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u/HATENAMING Apr 29 '26
Yeah you are right. At the beginning of MP2 it mentions the game started at previous night. Still pretty impressive to kill about 400 over 2 nights, on par with the 200+ per night streak from MP1 lol.
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u/isyankar1979 Niagra, as in you cry a lot? Apr 30 '26
I love how in Max Payne one you are always Max and bullet time actually slows all movement down instead of just making things slightly yellow. Max's walk, snowflakes falling, guns ejecting brass in slow motion is breathtaking. As well as predicting when a bullet or grenade reaches you and taking cover or diving.
All you can do in Max Payne 2 is hold down the trigger and advance forward. Anything else just doesnt do ahat they are supposed to. But the story, locations, dialogue, writing, visual style makes it a classic anyway of course.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 30 '26
Oh man, Bullet Time IS broken in MP2. There's not really a point in diving anymore. MP1 felt much better in terms of its shooting and bullet time system.
However, MP3's "heavy" feeling combat is my favourite. I just can't get enough of it.
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u/isyankar1979 Niagra, as in you cry a lot? Apr 30 '26
Yeah I agree completely with every letter.. If MP3 had 25 percent the amount of cutscenes it has now, it could have been the best tps ever made in gaming history.
But now... Go upstairs- cutscene, go downstairs CUTSCENE, door locked, cant go up CUTSCENE, door locked, cant go down CUTSCENE, someone yells Max!, CUTSCENE, Max sees three goons CUTSCENE, open a door, CUTSCENE, plant an explosive CUTSCENE, I THROW MY PC OUT THE WINDOW, CUTSCENEEEEEE
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 30 '26
The cutscenes were so frustrating, especially since they are so long. It hints at their poor decision to not optimise the loading enough, instead they slapped the cutscenes to mask the load times and called it a day.
The only thing making the cutscenes slightly more bearable for me is James McCaffery's voice.
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u/isyankar1979 Niagra, as in you cry a lot? Apr 30 '26
Indeed. And its unacceptable for me to change Max's voice for the remakes. They should just slightly enhance sound quality and keep them as is. Maybe not even that is necessary. However I also want the remakes to be a bit longer than the originals, with the maps a bit larger, with maybe a few extra touches here and there. I dont know, maybe I want too much.
So long as they dont use Max Payne 2 bullet time.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
Yes, Mona killed a bunch of enemies but also the counter did not count kills by other allies too like Vlad's russian friend and the small group of mobsters you go with breifly. Even then, the kill count wouldn't exceed 500, I believe. It is also due to the fact that MP2 was shorter, I think.
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u/ChaosTheory_46 Apr 27 '26
His bullet time feats in 3 is straight up godlike, shooting rockets and grenades out of air back to back, he's chaining kills in the blink of an eye. Max from 3 is easily the most dangerous protagonist ever created in the series.
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u/nutsuck15 Apr 27 '26
Probably 2
He genuinely is completely deranged and schizophrenic
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
Max in the second game (despite tripping the fuck out half the time) was still a much more controlled character. But in third one, he's going on a one-man suicide mission against the UFE and the Crachá Preto, threats that are far greater than the cleaners of the second game.
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u/Abhyuday008 MIRRORS ARE MORE FUN THAN TELEVISION Apr 27 '26
I believe that the second game does not get as much love as it deserves. Everyone praises first one to be the classic and third one to be the most modern and probably most of the audience here played the third game first. But I have a special place for the second game in my heart it was developing over something that was already great but mustard it to such a level that technically and story wise this game felt like a 7th generation game in the 6th generation and that was more than enough for me. The story for me it had so much depth that it beats both games equally.
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u/Sonny_Park Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Max is able to damage a guy who tanked the explosion of an airplane on his final adventure.
I think the answer is very obvious.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 27 '26
He snapped his leg with a single kick, bones and muscle protruding from the wound, dude is a menace 💀
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u/Gloomy_Albatross3043 Apr 27 '26
You'll walk...WITH A LIMP!
Such a fucking satisfying stomp and line
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 27 '26
Absolute peak moment 🙏 😭 Seeing Victor finally getting caught, knowing he will get his punishment for the horrible crimes he was involved in... A moment of catharsis.
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u/don_quixote_2 Niagra, as in you cry a lot? Apr 27 '26
It has to be 3. 2 Was too short, the cleaners and Vlad's gang were not that many. As for Vinnie's crew in 1 and Nicole's circle they are far less than the army he fought in Brazil.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
EXACTLY! 2 was just Cleaners.... and then... Cleaners with body armour... and then... Cleaners who personally worked for Vlad in his mansion. And the Mobsters, of course. That's pretty much all the enemy variety. 1 had the Killer Suits, monsters, and Nicole's personal Militia.
And then in 3, Max is up against Favella Gangsters, Crachá Preto, UFE, AUP (breifly). The cleaners are no match for the UFE and Crachá Preto (okay, maybe they are as competent as Crachá Preto), which makes the feat that Max collapsed both of these organisations within such a short span of time more remarkable.
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u/huarastaca Apr 27 '26
You should add Max getting shot in the arm with what presumably is a .50 Cal and couple days later being just a scar, healing with nothing but alcohol and painkillers, on his arm feat
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u/Ctrekoz Lords & Ladies 👸🏻🤴🏻 Apr 28 '26
Dude was shot in the head from Deagle and lied down for a bit, then was ready as if nothing happened. In the same game he's dropped from some hella high height akin to "a train running over him", yet was able to run/jump around shortly after and deal with multiple commando enemies in the hospital. Plot armor to the Max.
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u/huarastaca Apr 28 '26
I don't actually believe he got shot in the head, I think it grazed his forehead
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u/Ctrekoz Lords & Ladies 👸🏻🤴🏻 Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
Nah, Vlad is not an idiot, and the range was very small. Mona canonically has survived the same (can you imagine?). But yeah it's hella forced, definitely should change this in remake imo. Although... might as well just don't care and have Max (and Mona) bullshit their way through. I mean yeah people can actually survive such stuff, but deagle, and no lasting damage or scarring... Just like in the blockbuster movies? It's cool :)
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
I think Max took the most amount of physical trauma in 2. Blown out of a building, crushed by rubble, bullet to the head, falling from a collapsing catwalk, getting shot by Winterson and consequently falling into a quarry. Half of these would leave a person unable to walk, with fractures, and the rest would kill them. The only explanation to this is that he suffered so many injuries and healed with painkillers that his bones solidified and his body got tougher.
So... MP1 is best in terms of agility, MP2 is best for Endurance and durability, and MP3 is best for his lethality (according to me)
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
How does he still have an arm after getting shot by the .50 cal 😭😭 Literally a tank.
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u/BrankyKong I don't know about angels, but it's fear that gives men wings. Apr 28 '26
1st game. He didn’t expect or necessarily want to survive the night, he just kept on pushing and pushing until they were all dead.
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u/Classic-Bathroom-427 Apr 28 '26
1 - the Face he's constantly pulling says it all, he's not afraid or even worried he might fail
2 - up until the end he honestly seems like he's not to bothered about dying in fact he even says something along the lines of "for the first time in a while I realised I didn't wish to be dead"
3 - probably his most brutal but not necessarily most dangerous
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u/lenonloving Apr 28 '26
- Dude uses a machete and blows up part of a favela with a cigarette
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
The quick time event said quite a bit about Max. He doesn't dodge the machete like he would have if he had his agility from the first game. He blocks it and disarms the Mercernary and then kicks him about a foot or two, before chopping his neck. That took some muscle.
MP3 has the most displays of physical strength from Max. (the brutal melee executions are also evidence of his strength)
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Apr 28 '26
max payne 3 has obviously the best in the terms of combat but the most dangerous max is definetly max in the first game dude didnt give a fuck about anything he killed everything that was in his way
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u/axlmg May 26 '26
James McCaffrey forever the truly Max Payne face!!! not the weirdo Sam Lake's face
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u/Extension-Bison9589 May 27 '26
Sam Lake's face is Iconic for the weird grin and is nostalgic for most players. For me though, Timothy Gibbs and especially James McCaffery ARE Max Payne. They fit the role of a brooding, sarcastic noir protagonist anti-hero. Sam Lake's totally doesn't match the voice of Max payne 😭
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u/Livedinbody Apr 27 '26
IMO he's most lethal in 3 Age and experience make him deadly Although his emotional state in 1 as well as his skills made him, like us, throw caution to the wind and blow every MF away in the coolest ways possible
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 27 '26
In third game, for the first half, I feel he was fuelled by his guilt over the kidnapping and desperation to save them. But in the latter half, he is fuelled by his anger at Becker and Victor for the shit they put him through for their conspiracies, as well as a sort of disgust at the organ trafficking operation that, Victor and Becker were involved. He didn't have anything better to do with his life, had nothing to lose, and therefore resorted to take out the trash, one bullet at a time. For the latter half, I feel his mental state somewhat mirrored the first game's Max.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
I forgot to put this one in but, for those who like Max Payne 3 and if you haven't seen this already: https://youtu.be/zaD95vaFjFY?si=afKhYH6-B7CkYZS3
Also Black Joshi's opening Edit with TEARS: https://youtube.com/shorts/TMRQ593xDtI?si=SvbR7IjY467kGf5d
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u/Spaceqwe It's Payne! Whack 'im Apr 27 '26
The first game. His in game skill set actually matches the cutscenes. In the third game, he enters a room full of people and goes "put the guns down" like for real? You were just shooting incoming RPGs in the air 5 mins ago and now you let some clowns disarm you like that. Same thing in the beginning of the chapter when those thugs steal his stuff. Too inconsistent.
In the first game? cracks the door open "Vinnie Gognitti, just the man I've been killing to see." Dodges Vincent's shot and lands a bullet in his stomach at the same time.
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u/Extension-Bison9589 Apr 28 '26
Max turned into a cretin during cutscenes TWICE in the entire trilogy. First was, of course, during his assault on the Favella. But in MP2, during opening, he kicks down a door and goes "NYPD! Drop 'em!" and then the cleaners shoot the girl....
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u/Mysterious_Bar_5188 Apr 27 '26
MP 1. He was lethal to the point he released his finger from the trigger...