10 Video Games That Revolutionized Genres

Max Payne is the icon of action games that was brought back more times than it was really necessary with some of his outings being amazing and some tarnishing the image of the character (just don't watch the Mark Wahlberg movie and you'll be fine).

While the second entry in the series is considered by many to be the superior game of the three, Max Payne owes his cult status to the very first one, the one that stirred the entire TPS genre up when it came out. The story, the design, and the "brilliant" face animations were all mixed in a noir-flavored cocktail, perfect for any fan of action games. Being developed by Remedy Entertainment, who previously specialized in creating tech demos, Max Payne looked absolutely stunning in 2001.

The graphics, which scale pretty well even today, were paired with fast-paced gameplay that had one little feature that blew everyone's mind - the ability to slow down time itself. The feature, called 'bullet-time' by the developers, was borrowed from Hong Kong action movies of the '90s and The Matrix, which came out a couple of years before the game was released. Bullet-time was such a hit, that it instantly made the game famous. Now the once unique element has become the staple of the genre, being featured in almost every action game one way or another with only a small number of players remembering that Max Payne did it first.