10 Intense Shifts In Gameplay That Came Out Of Nowhere

Though the original Max Payne has a pervasively ominous and foreboding atmosphere throughout, the gameplay is focused strictly on the titular vengeful detective mowing down literally hundreds of anonymous mooks in eye-wateringly beautiful "bullet time" slow-motion.

And then there's those damn nightmare sequences.

The bane of every Max Payne fan's existence, these interstitial levels force the player to traipse through a blood-stained maze in the visage of Max's home where his wife and baby daughter were murdered.

Max is taunted by surreal visions of that night, including the pained screams of his dying family, but worst of all, the player is also made to partake in some frustratingly imprecise platforming nonsense, leaping between thin bloodtrails in an all-black expanse before they can make their way out.

It's fiddly and annoying - everything the otherwise drum-tight shooting gameplay absolutely isn't. Whether you can appreciate its unexpected shift in mood and gameplay or not, though, it's completely unforgettable.