25 Best Video Games Of The 2000s

20. Max Payne

The movie world can debate whether bullet time originated in The Matrix or that slow-mo park scene in the first Blade, but gamers know it's Remedy's Max Payne who arrived, leapt to the side with twin pistols in each hand, and fired his way into the history books.

Developed in tandem between Remedy and with help from the always-reliable Rockstar, it resulted in both a character and world that were positively dripping with film noir-tributes, something that thanks to it being gaming's first foray into such a hyper-stylised shooter, became the forebear for every slow-mo blaster since.

All that's without saying just how incredibly satisfying it was to enter into a room of gangsters, dodge hundreds of bullets in one epic motion whilst filling them all with led, the graceful animation dropping all bodies in unison until only you emerge victorious.