I remember being quite excited before the release of Max Payne. What they promised, and I believe mostly did, was this: textures based on photographs, not drawn

I remember being quite excited before the release of Max Payne. What they promised, and I believe mostly did, was this: textures based on photographs, not drawn, and an engine with lighting realistic enough to make it look good. That was a small revolution at the time. The company employed a lot of demoscene people, see... The game was good, but it's not really among my all-time favorites tbh. Still good enough to finish it in just a few days for me as well, at least.