Max Payne was not the first game to come out of Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment, but it became the developer’s first major success and set a standard and aesthetic style for the studio moving forward. This feature originally appeared in the February 2016 issue of Game Informer magazine.

We spoke with its writer and reluctant Max Payne model, Sam Lake, all about how the game came together. Ahead of the studio's next big story-driven third-person shooter, we're looking back at the game that put the Finnish studio on the map – Max Payne. Quantum Break, the next game from developer Remedy, is right around the corner with an April 5 release date.