Max Payne is then hunted by cops, and criminals behind the Valkyr drug. Things go wrong and Alex is suddenly killed, and Max is framed for his murder. After 3 years of working on the case, Max and his pal Alex go undercover to bust a Valkyr deal. Max Payne, a cop in the NYPD, returns home one day to find his wife and baby daughter murdered at the hands of drug addicts, high on a designer drug called Valkyr. Not familiar with the original Max Payne? Let me fix that for you. And a good story with clever writing at that. The influence of comics is felt throughout the games too: the story was told through comic panels with voice-over between each level. Instead, you were given super fast reflexes that let you shoot enemies before they had time to react. This trick made Max Payne stand out from other shooters: you had an unfair advantage, not in the shape of a much larger health bar.