Max Payne News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Here’s a number for you: this year, I reviewed 69 games for Destructoid. Nice. It wasn’t intentional, but it almost was. I thought I was at 68, so I was trying to figure out how to fit one more in. But it turns out that OpenCritic is missing one, and poorer for it.

It’s been one of those strange, busy years where any of Polygon’s top 10 games of the year could have made the No. 1 slot. Heck, you could expand that outward to include the top 20. There was a wealth of great games throughout the year, making it impossible to keep up with everything — even here at Polygon, where many of our jobs are to keep up with video games. That’s why we’ve created this list of 10 games you might have missed, all from indie studios. They cover a bunch of different genres, from a goofy multiplayer game to an inventory management roguelike.

Alan Wake 2 and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 may not have much in common on the surface. One is a dark mystery thriller with a story that unfolds alongside its protagonists minds, while the other is a fast-paced and exhilarating action game about bright and colourful superheroes.

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James McCaffrey, the voice of Max Payne, has passed away at the age of 65.

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James McCaffrey, the voice behind the iconic Max Payne and Alan Wake 2's Alex Casey, has passed away at 65.

Max Payne and Alan Wake voice actor James McCaffrey has died after a battle with cancer, according to a TMZ report. He was 65.

The iconic voice of Max Payne, James McCaffrey, has passed away at the age of 65 because of cancer. For videogames, he was most famous for playing Max Payne across all three games but he was prevalent in a lot of big games. They include Alone in the Dark, Alan Wake, Control, and most recently in Alan Wake 2.

James McCaffrey, best known for his voice work as Max Payne, has passed away at the age of 65.

Video game actor James McCaffrey, whose roles included the iconic voice of Max Payne and Alex Casey in this year’s Alan Wake 2, has passed away.

Entourage star Kevin Dillon has given us some sad news today. James McCaffrey, known for his role as the voice of the titular character from the Max Payne series has died at 65. TMZ reports that McCaffrey passed away as a result of a battle with multiple myeloma.

James McCaffrey, the voice of Max Payne, Alex Casey in Alan Wake 2, and Zachariah Trench in Control, has sadly passed away at the age of 65 after a battle with cancer.

James McCaffrey, mostly known for his role as Max Payne, has died at the age of 65.

James McCaffrey, the actor arguably best known within the gaming community for voicing Max Payne, and more recently Alex Casey in Alan Wake 2 and its predecessor, has died at the age of 65.

James McCaffrey, actor best known to video game fans as the voice of Max Payne, among other characters, has passed away. He was 65.

James McCaffrey, the voice of Max Payne, died Sunday at 65, TMZ reports. A representative for McCaffrey told the publication that the actor, who is known for roles across Control and the Max Payne and Alan Wake franchises, died of multiple myeloma, and that he was surrounded by friends and family at the time of his death.

Max Payne actor James McCaffrey has died aged 65, according to a report by TMZ.

American actor James McCaffrey has passed away aged 65, a representative of his has confirmed to TMZ. McCaffrey, who had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, passed on Sunday, as per the report. News of his death was first shared by actor Kevin Dillon on Instagram.

Old Gods of Asgard, the fictional heavy metal band from Alan Wake 2, has entered the iTunes global top 10 album charts.

Alan Wake 2 hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on October 27, but shortly before its release, developer Remedy Entertainment revealed that it would be getting a New Game Plus mode with an alternative narrative and nightmare difficulty, amongst other things. During The Game Awards 2023 last night, Remedy, which picked up three wins during the show, revealed that «The Final Draft» update, which includes the aforementioned New Game Plus mode, goes live next week. 

While TGA 2023 undoubtedly featured many gorgeous games, Last Sentinel was easily one of the most impressive. This is the debut project of Lightspeed LA, a California-based division of Tencent's Lightspeed Studios.

If Alan Wake 2 didn’t completely melt your face, Poets of the Fall are back to finish the job.

Earlier this year, Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser set up a new transmedia company dubbed Absurd Ventures. Months after that announcement, the studio has revealed it's locked in two projects (and "universes") to release next year. 

Absurd Ventures, the new transmedia company from Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser, has announced its debut projects.

Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser left the studio in 2020 and founded a new operation in 2021 called Absurd Ventures. It turns out that he's brought some heavyweight former Rockstars with him to the new gig: As noted by French site Begeek (via Stephen Totilo), Rockstar's former vice-president of writing Michael Unsworth joined in October as Absurd Ventures' head of story and creative management, and former writer and producer Lazlow Jones is onboard as executive producer.

Rockstar veterans Lazlow Jones and Michael Unsworth are working alongside Dan Houser at Absurd Ventures, it’s been revealed.

The Steam autumn sale has gone live, and is set to run through Nov. 28 at 1 p.m. EST. The Steam sale is always a good chance to catch up on games; with the sheer amount of new titles that are released every year, it’s impossible to play all of them. Luckily, the Steam autumn sale has deep discounts on some spectacular titles that demand your attention. If you have a little cash to drop before the holidays, you can do worse than indulging in one of these picks.

I don’t particularly blame anyone for missing Remedy Entertainment’s 2016 TV show/action game hybrid Quantum Break. There were, frankly, a dozen reasons to be perplexed by it — like the fact that it was a TV show/action game hybrid, or that it was inextricably tied up in Microsoft’s failed effort to make the Xbox One an all-in-one entertainment platform.

It’s been two weeks since Alan Wake 2, the sequel to Remedy Entertainment’s 2010 cult action-horror game, was released, and I can’t stop thinking about it. Between the introduction of protagonist and FBI profiler Saga Anderson and the mystery-board storytelling mechanics of the game’s Mind Place system (not to mention a forthcoming new game plus feature and DLC slated for next year), I’m obsessed with Remedy Entertainment’s latest game — much in the same way I was with its last new release, 2019’s Control.

After 13 long years, Alan Wake has returned and his flashlight is brighter than ever. Ilkka Villi, who stars as Alan in Alan Wake 2 and its predecessor, recently had an interview with Wassup Conversations where he discussed his experiences playing the writer.

Remedy has changed its previously free-to-play multiplayer title into a paid game.

Remedy Entertainment has announced that it will be rebooting project Vanguard to a premium game «with a strong cooperative multiplayer component», confirming it will no longer be free-to-play.

Remedy Entertainment has issued an update on one of its four in-development games, confirming it has ditched the free-to-play model in the process.

By Ash Parrish, a reporter who has covered the business, culture, and communities of video games for seven years. Previously, she worked at Kotaku.

Remedy plans to reboot its free-to-play co-op multiplayer game, codenamed Vanguard, as a premium release.

After Alan Wake 2, all eyes are on Remedy, and the studio has plenty in store. It announced today that its previously announced project with Tencent will be rebooted with a few significant changes.

Remedy has announced plans to change the direction of its multiplayer project, codenamed Vanguard.

In 2021, Remedy Entertainment announced that it had partnered with Tencent and started working on a free-to-play multiplayer title codenamed Vanguard. Earlier this year, the developer confirmed that the title, still in the proof-of-concept stage of production, required much more work before moving ahead, and now, Remedy has announced that the project is changing gears quite significantly.

Alan Wake 2 is already a scary game. Having a guy who looks and sounds like Max Payne coming at you like an aggressive red panda probably isn’t necessary. Luckily, a new update for Alan Wake 2 fixes a T-posing Alex Casey while addressing progression-halting bugs.

Two of the biggest bits of videogame news to come along this week were Nintendo's announcement of a live-action Zelda movie, and Rockstar's promise of a proper Grand Theft Auto 6 reveal in December. That might naturally lead your wandering thoughts to wonder when Take-Two Interactive will get around to making the Grand Theft Auto-based Hollywood blockbuster that's such an obvious, almost obligatory, project. 

Take-Two Interactive revealed today that Grand Theft Auto V has now sold over 190 million units as of the end of September 2023. According to the company, that brings total lifetime sales of the franchise to 410 million units. It announced this number the same day as it officially confirmed the next game in the series, the trailer for which it plans to reveal next month.

We all remember that one escort mission that made us want to pull our hair out. Maybe the target was too slow, kept failing to defend themselves, or got stuck on the geometry and started running into walls (here’s looking at you, Max Payne 2). There are exceptions to the rule — holding Yorda’s hand through Ico and getting everyone to a safe room in Left 4 Dead 2, for example — but broadly, I’ve learned to dread the appearance of an escort mission, lest it spoil the luster of an otherwise brilliant game.

Remedy Entertainment launched Alan Wake 2, its Alan Wake sequel 13 years in the making, last month to the delight of both critics and fans – you can read Game Informer's Alan Wake 2 review here. Since its October 27 release, Remedy has released three updates, including its biggest yet last week, for the game so far. And now, a fourth update is live and while it's one of the smallest yet, it fixes a few key issues.

By Darryn Bonthuys on

Remedy is known for its weird and subversive games. However, what is less acknowledged is just how frequently the studio has significantly influenced and changed the industry.

Remedy Entertainment released Alan Wake 2 last month, and it's resonated with both fans and critics alike as a longtime sequel and a new game from the creators of Control – you can read Game Informer's Alan Wake 2 review here. The studio has released two updates so far, but today's Alan Wake 2 update is easily the biggest yet and includes bug fixes, visual issue remedies, and more. 

Remedy has released an update for recently launched Alan Wake 2 that makes over 200 individual improvements and fixes to the game.

There's a new Alan Wake 2 patch for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC with over 200 fixes and an apology from Remedy about a bug it acknowledges as being particularly irritating.

2023 has been loaded with stellar games of all shapes and sizes. Alongside this year's greats like Baldur's Gate 3, Dave the Diver, and Resident Evil 4, one such game that just came out recently managed to land its way on Steam's best-reviewed games of the year. That game is Laika: Aged Through Blood, which also happens to be one of the more original takes on the popular Metroidvania sub-genre we've seen in years. Just released last month, Laika: Aged Through Blood from developer Brainwash Gang is a fast-paced and stylized ride through the post-apocalypse, starring a cast of anthropomorphic animal drifters, bandits, and vagabonds exploring the ruins of the old world. 

Last week, Remedy launched the long-awaited sequel to 2010’s Alan Wake, which continues the journey of the beleaguered author as he searches for a way out of the Dark Place.

Remedy saw a slight decrease in its overall revenue during the third quarter of 2023 (July to September 2023), its latest financial results showed.

Hot off the heels of Alan Wake 2’s success, Remedy’s future looks to be a busy and potentially fruitful one, as the developer has shared details with investors on several projects in the works at the studio, including sequels, remakes, and a new multiplayer IP, with one of the standouts being an update on the announced remakes of Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.

Last April, it was announced that Max Payne 1&2 are getting remade with help from Rockstar Games. Now, studio Remedy Entertainment has said the project is in the next stage of development.

Alan Wake 2 is Remedy's big project of the moment, but it's far from the only thing the studio is working on. Today, as part of its most recent financial report, the company shared a look at how its other projects, including a sequel to Control and remakes of the first two Max Payne games, are coming along.

Alan Wake Remastered has recouped its development and marketing costs around two years after it launched.

Remedy Entertainment released Alan Wake 2 last week, and both fans and critics alike seem to be pleased with the long-awaited sequel – you can read Game Informer's Alan Wake 2 review here. And now, just a few days later, the studio has provided some updates to some games it has in development, including Control 2 and its remakes of Max Payne 1 and 2. 

The Max Payne remakes are up next, and the Control sequel is in concept phase.

The long-awaited Alan Wake 2 is out now, and based on the consensus, is very much worth the long wait. Developer Remedy Entertainment, however, has plenty more in the pipeline. In addition to two expansions for the survival horror title that are due out next year, the developer has plenty of other projects in the pipeline as well, and one among them that may be the most prominent among them is continuing to make steady progress behind the scenes.

Remedy Entertainment is one of the busier studios in the industry right now, and even though Alan Wake 2 is now out of the way, the developer still has a number of projects currently in various stages of development. In a recent quarterly fiscal report, the studio has provided an update on how several of them are progressing behind the scenes.

Last April, it was announced that Max Payne 1&2 are getting remade with help from Rockstar Games. Now, studio Remedy Entertainment has said the project is in the next stage of development.

Remedy Entertainment has provided development updates on a number of its upcoming games, includingControl 2 and the Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake.

Remedy has issued an update on all its in-development games while stressing it’s too early to comment on sales of the recently released Alan Wake 2.

Alan Wake 2 finally crawled out of the ocean after being stuck in a 13-year-long limbo, and developer Remedy Entertainment is now shifting its focus to its other projects: Control’s sequel, the Max Payne remakes, and other oddball games.

Fresh from the release of Alan Wake 2 - and apparently with a view to driving me nuts, because I haven't had a chance to play Alan Wake 2 yet - Remedy have shared some titbits about future projects. These include the modestly-known about Control 2, a sequel to the paranormal Brutalist telekinet 'em up that is seeing "good progress", and the forthcoming remakes of Max Payne 1 and 2, on which Remedy are collaborating with GTA and Max Payne 3 developer Rockstar.

Developer Remedy has shared more news about several of its upcoming releases.

This morning, Remedy Entertainment shared its half-year report with investors. The Finnish studio proudly noted the excellent reception to Alan Wake 2's release, though it also said it's too early to discuss sales.

Remedy has provided an update on its several upcoming titles, including Control 2 and the Max Payne remake.

If you're a fan of games such as Alan Wake, Control, and Quantum Break, you'll know that developer Remedy Entertainment has some pretty far-reaching narrative plans to tie all of its work into the same universe. Quantum Break is the exception, as its status as an Xbox exclusive and semi TV series has made it difficult for Remedy to merge it with the overall narrative, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a few easter eggs of its own.

Sam Lake, creative director of Remedy Entertainment, has infused his impressive writing chops into all of his games, all of which are imbued with a filmic quality.

Last Thursday, UL Solutions celebrated the 25th birthday of 3DMark, the evergreen game graphics benchmarking tool. Since the early days of DirectX 6, there's been a version of the tool, showing off the latest graphics features and technology, and although it's not quite as ubiquitous as it was, you can't deny that two-and-a-half decades is an impressive run for a piece of software.

Sami Antero Järvi, known to most by the pen name Sam Lake, has been at Remedy Entertainment for his entire career. He has been writing Remedy games ever since 1996's Death Rally, though it was when his face was used for the protagonist of Max Payne that he really became famous.

Remedy creative director Sam Lake has said that he’d like to make a “crazy, huge-budget, dark gothic fantasy” game.

Alan Wake 2 creator, Sam Lake, has revealed that he's always wanted to tell a «crazy, huge budget, dark gothic fantasy».

Remedy made sure to remember two dearly departed collaborators in the credits of Alan Wake 2.

Horror drowns in symmetry: evil twins, two souls occupying one body, light and dark creating shadow, the Other Side, the Dark Place, the Upside Down. It is part of the cascading telemetry of fear utilized by our best horror artists, weaving nightmares out of pleasant dreams, whittling hell from the bones of our heavens.

The studio has said it plans to release games at a faster pace going forward, and it sure does look like it.

Alan Wake is the cornerstone upon which Remedy Entertainment’s magnum opus rests. This magnum opus is, however, not any specific game, but their interrelationship, resulting in the creation of the Remedy Connected Universe. And, though Control established RCU in concrete terms, understanding how it all began is crucial.

There’s nothing like a developer that’s fully in its stride.

This isn't a Mega-Scoop for the Ages, but it's a fun little story. Tucked away in one dark corner of Remedy's latest horror extravaganza Alan Wake 2 you'll find an arcade cabinet machine dedicated to the very first game the Finnish developer ever made.