Max Payne 3 Originally Included Co-Op Multiplayer Campaign Mode

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According to someone familiar with Max Payne 3's development, the title originally featured a cooperative campaign mode starring Max and one of his old cop buddies. Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive purchased Max Payne's IP rights from Remedy Entertainment and Apogee for a sum of $34 million in 2002. In announcing the news, Take-Two confirmed that Rockstar would develop a third game in conjunction with Remedy, the franchise's creator. A teaser image from several years later promised a winter 2009 release date, yet players wouldn't revisit Max's gritty world until May 2012.

While the tone and other touchstones remained familiar, Max Payne 3 marked quite the visual departure for the series. Instead of exploring the noir-styled New York City underbelly carefully crafted by Remedy, the third installment dropped the former NYPD officer in Sāo Paolo, Brazil for a rescue mission. Colorful environments and stunning backdrops had suddenly become the name of the game for dark and gritty Max Payne. And though it reviewed well and received post-launch DLC, very little suggests Rockstar Games will revisit Max Payne in the future.

Related: Max Payne Definitive Edition Rumors Spread After Original Games Vanish

Speaking to USA Today, a source familiar with Rockstar's work on Max Payne 3 divulged that the London studio spent a year producing a cooperative prologue campaign. The co-op mode would've allowed two players to assume the role of Max and an old cop partner as they opened fire on enemies across modified single-player maps. Apparently, the prologue's narrative followed Max after his departure from the department, its setting beginning in New York and eventually taking the ex-NYPD officers to a security consultancy