Max speaks softly, but carries a BIG gun.

Who is Max Payne?

Sam: "Max Payne is a hardboiled fugitive undercover cop with nothing to lose. Nothing to lose because his family has been killed, his boss murdered, and he has been framed for the murder. He's on a crash boom bang course of revenge, and he's gonna do it with attitude, cool, and lots of guns, with a vengeance. Dig it."

A lot of emphasis is being placed on Max himself - why?

Sam: "We feel that a character based, plot-driven action is just the right way to maximise the impact value of the game experience. The plot gives reason and motive for the action, and the plot must happen to someone. The character makes it all personal, and brings tons of attitude to the mixture."

He seems very much akin to Marvel's 'The Punisher' - do you think his character is strong enough to sustain a plot-driven, character based game?

Sam: "Just watch him do it."

Where and when is the game set?

Sam: "Where? New York City as it is portrayed in crime thrillers and film noir. When? It's happening now."

Why was this location chosen?

Sam: "Present day, because it really is about time that someone made an action game with a realistic setting. Nothing pumps up the adrenaline better than a hefty dose of realism, because present day is really 'the' setting for crime and action movies. New York City for all the same reasons, and because NYC is not just a city, it's The City. Why settle for anything less?"

The press release for the game says that the "third person perspective in 3D will allow us to do a lot of new things that haven't been done in 3D action yet" -like what?

Petri: "The main issue with the third person is that finally the player is really able to see what he is doing and what is happening to him, and that's something that we're putting a lot of effort into. Also, third person means that we can do tricks with the camera (make grenade blasts throw the camera around, use the camera to peek round a corner), which adds immensely to the gaming experience."

Is the game pure shooting action, or should we expect RPG elements?

Petri: "Max Payne is hardboiled cinematic action with a strong storyline to back up and give meaning to the action."

What will separate this game from other violent shooters?

Petri: "It's a 'person action game', which in itself sets it pretty much apart already. Other cool stuff is a strong lead character with real personality, new technology (radiosity lighting etc.) that allows for realistic looking environment, cinematic gameplay, strong storyline, bad guys with character and motives, realistic weapons, you know I could really just go on and on.) The bottom line is that Max Payne will feature the most hardboiled, realistic action ever."

Will there be cut-scenes to advance the plot?

Sam: "No, something new and original instead. We'll have more than eighty hand painted comics screens in the game to advance the plot. Dark and gritty panels of realistic art just bursting with attitude. In addition the plot is going to be present in the game levels in various ways. We'll have newspapers, TV news, letters, secret files, phone-calls, dialogue, you name it."

What engine is being used for the game, and why?

Petri: "The game uses Max3D, Remedy's proprietary game engine that is surpasses anything seen before. Max3D takes all the advantages from DirectX6 and is clearly one of the most sophisticated game engines around. Max3D let's us do some totally awesome things such as full radiosity lighting, realistic particle systems and so on.

"As to why we're developing our own technology: if you're licensing you will have to operate within the boundaries of the licensed technology, and that limits the scope of your game. Also, new technology always makes a game more interesting (imagine if Unreal was done with Quake II engine)."

3D Realms is obviously keen to see Max Payne as recognisable, and indeed as merchandisable as Duke Nukem. Is this your aim?

Petri: "Yes. We've been working with Max for a pretty long time now and during that time he's grown into a real character. Obviously we look forward to working with him in the future as well."

Are any sequels / mission packs planned?

Petri: "It's much more than a one-shot game, we've been developing the character cast and the setting to be a realistic and interesting world of stories that can sustain much more than a single hit game. We intend to keep working with Max Payne's world in other products, possibly even branch out into other media, much like Duke Nukem is now doing succesfully."

Is the plot open ended, or is there a specific end result?

Sam: "There's going to be an explosive ending (that's a promise). It's really the only way to create a hard hitting plot."

What has been the most satisfying part of developing the game?

Petri: "The development in itself is very satisfying. Getting the characters to work smoothly felt good, seeing the lighting working for the first time was amazing, having guns working with the particle effects almost blew our minds ('Darn it, Henkka, you should have told us the effects would look that good!' and 'Gosh, my head just exploded' are phrases that were used when seeing the particles in the game for the first time), having the weapon system up & running was a great milestone... really it's always a great satisfaction to see something finally in the game that you've been working on for months.

The other thing is seeing the outsiders react to the game. I mean most of the time you get so blind to the stuff you're developing that it's difficult to tell whether it rocks or not... we've been looking at realistic particle effects and awesome radiosity lighting for so long that we're getting numbed by it. It's only when you show the game to someone else and get the 'holy shit - that looks friggin' amazing' reaction that really tells you where you're going."

What do you think will give gamers the most satisfaction?

Petri: "I think it will be the unique way how the game will play out. There really hasn't been a game out there that would fit you into a realistic action movie setting, and it's something that a lot of gamers are waiting for... we're confident that the cinematic gameplay that we're creating in Max will give new directions to explore to the whole 3D action game genre."

Do you think, as a Finnish developer, you have a new cultural vision to offer American gamers?

Sam: "I'm sure we'll be adding our own spices to the action game genre. Just to give you an example: winters can get pretty rough up here in Finland, so when the game hits the stores next year, it's going to be the worst winter storm in a century for New York City."

How do you react to criticism of violence in videogaming? Would you consider Max a good role model for kids?

Petri: "I draw a pretty straight parallel between action games and action movies. Sure, I wouldn't want 6 year old kids watching any of the John Woo movies, and I think people should recognize the fact that Max Payne is in the same category as any hardboiled, kick-ass action film. No, I don't think Bruce Willis plays a good role model to kids in Die Hard, and neither does Max Payne. This game is aimed for mature audience and it contains realistic violence and violent, fast action."