10 Great Action Video Game Franchises (That Died Too Soon)

Developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Rockstar, Max Payne is considered one of the definitive action game protagonists with his first introduction coming in 2001. As a former police detective in the NYPD, you play as Max as he aims to solve the murder of his family at the hands of a drug organization. The game is most known for its gritty reality and neo-noir style influenced by classic Hollywood crime thrillers. It was also unique for its storytelling prose, adopting a comic book voice-over format instead of traditional cutscenes. The gameplay of the Max Payne series was notable for its brutal combat and gunfights, adopting the highly popular ‘bullet-time’ slow motion technique.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne was released in 2003 to high critical praise but unfortunately sales were poor leading to Max Payne suffering an early retirement. It was not until 2012 when Rockstar took full control of the franchise, both developing and publishing, that Max Payne was given a second chance at redemption. And in some ways the reboot succeeded with a high number of sales.

Max Payne 3 switched its setting to Brazil and featured an older Max working as a private enforcer. Yet, for some reason, Max Payne has disappeared once more. Rockstar’s production schedule has slowed down over the years, with only two games, Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, being released since Max Payne 3. But there are no signs of the character returning any time soon.