I’m Having A Blast Rubbing Shoulders With Max Payne In Alan Wake 2

I didn’t register it at first. The sallow, tired-looking FBI agent accompanying player-character Saga in the opening chapter of Alan Wake 2 isn’t entirely visible through the misty windscreen of the car, but once he gets out and starts talking, the pieces quickly fall into place.

It’s Max Payne, playing the role of FBI Agent Alex Casey here in Alan Wake 2, not just in the flesh, but the voice too. As Remedy fans almost certainly know, the legendary character of Max Payne used the physical likeness of Remedy founder Sam Lake, and the voice of gruff-voiced actor James McCaffrey. It’s exactly the same deal here, except Lake’s likeness and McCaffrey’s voice combine to play a different character (though notably it’s still a worn-out gruff detective type).. Another way of looking at it, and how I like to look at it, is that Max Payne is, in this parallel universe, an actor who’s been chosen to play the role of Agent Casey.

It’s just the kind of interdimensional, multiversey weirdness that I’d expect from the modern masters of Weird, Remedy, and a quality that I’ve missed in gaming since playing Control back in 2021; the strange cross-game references, the original gunplay, the blending of live-action clips with in-game graphics, the sense that all their disparate games are connected in some way (Control and Alan Wake share the same universe officially, but Max Payne doesn’t). The Remedy calling card is a unique one, and one that’s grown on me over the years, culminating in a point where as the opening credits of Alan Wake 2 rolled, the frisson of excitement I felt made me realise that this has been one of my most anticipated games of the last couple of years.

It’s just the kind of interdimensional, multiversey weirdness that I’d expect from the modern masters of Weird.

And seeing Max Payne emerge from that car in the woods, but not as Max Payne, pretty much sums up why I love this studio. There’s a strange Twilight Zone quality to Remedy games that’s become a real happy place for me over the years.

A Fantasy Cast

It also gets you thinking, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be cool to see videogame characters play roles as different characters more often? I’m not talking just cameos, but, say, Aloy from Horizon playing Lara Croft in Tomb Raider (let’s be honest, Aloy would have Lara in a fight), Geralt in the role of Bigby Wolf in The Wolf Among Us; and I definitely see Joel from The Last of Us doing well in the role of Max Payne.

Obviously, most of the above wouldn’t happen for licensing reasons, but why shouldn’t the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony get more experimental with their own IP? I’d love to have seen the Gears of War crew in the role of some kind of mercenary faction in Starfield, or Samus Aran sans-armour play the role of a rival to Bayonetta. The possibilities for playfulness are endless, really, yet most of the time IP holders are a little too cautious or rigid about how their precious characters’ appearances.

So leave it to Remedy to do things a little differently, I s’pose. As I head into second chapter of Alan Wake 2 I look forward to continue rubbing shoulders with Max Payne in a role that, while not quite as hard-boiled as his main persona, he seems perfectly well suited for.