One of my favorite things about Remedy’s first two Max Payne games was their winking, self-aware style. That vibe was perhaps best encapsulated by the scene in which Max has a drug hallucination and realizes that he’s the protagonist of a video game.
Rockstar’s take on the character is much more gritty and dark, and often feels weighed down by over-seriousness. But occasionally, the game will toss a nod to the series’ roots by making an absurd reference.
My favorite of these is the moment in the video above, when Max discovers a trashed, out-of-tune piano in a run-down building in Brazil. The piano could be a metaphor for Max—beat up, broken, but still playing that same old tune. I particularly love how the game’s actual soundtrack (which is astonishingly good in its own right) plays a lead-in chord to the piano solo, with Max resolving the unresolved cadence.
https://kotaku.com/max-payne-3s-astonishing-soundtrack-flattens-the-compet-5913170
And what does he choose to play? Why, what else but the classic theme from the original game.
“And, for a few seconds, came harmony. Finally.”
