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Max Payne is in a world of hurt. As an undercover DEA operative in New York City, he's not in the easiest of professions. Three years ago his wife and child were brutally murdered by the New York Mafia, and he now finds himself under cover and up to his neck in the biggest organized crime family in the city. It seems that there is a new, deadly drug on the streets, Valkyr, and Max is getting close to the source. But just as he gets onto something big, his superior officer is killed, and the murder is pinned on Max. This of course hits all of the local papers, blowing his cover in the mob. Quickly he finds himself being chased by the cops and the Mafia. Welcome to the world of Max Payne.

Max Payne is being developed by Remedy Entertainment in Helsinki, Finland, under the watchful eye of the game's publisher, Gathering of Developers (G.O.D.). Remedy isn't very well known (the company's biggest hit to date was the driving title Death Rally, a lackluster seller), but with G.O.D.'s help, the company hopes to hit the big time with Max Payne.

In the Gritty Underworld
Max's trials will take place in areas ranging from down-and-dirty industrial settings all the way to palatial, upscale havens where the "real evil dwells," according to Max Payne's game designer Sam Lake.

Some of the game's interiors sport amazing detail. The designers have created realistic environments that are unmatched by anything else we've seen. It's one thing to conjure up alien environments, but quite another to accurately and believably render the real world.

The game will use dynamic radiosity lighting to ensure that the environments are as believable as possible. Realism and beauty do have their price, of course. Max Payne will be 3D-accelerated only (supporting Direct3D along with native support for many 3D cards); there will be no software rendering for the Luddites among us.

For that extra sense of realism, the Remedy team is sending a group of artists, armed with cameras, into the streets of New York City to gather scenes that will be incorporated into the game's environments. The designers intend to take the real-world New York City scenes down a notch into the gritty underworld of film noir - and just when New York's image was starting to improve. Rudy Giuliani won't be pleased.

Next: A closer look at Max