A Bit Closer to Heaven

"The queen of the underworld who had tried to lift herself a bit closer to heaven with her drug money. No begging, no bribes, she knew better — honor among killers, "We who are about to die". Both of us knew how this would end. In pain and suffering."

―Max Payne^[1]

A Bit Closer to Heaven is the third and final part of Max Payne. It is the second-longest part in Max Payne, with eight chapters and one prologue, and it takes place over the course of several hours on the final night of Max Payne's revenge on those responsible for his family and partner's deaths. The third part has many revelations, with Max learning the truth about Valkyr, the Inner Circle, and the Aesir Corporation's involvement in his family and partner's deaths.

Plot Summary[]

Max Payne, given an overdose of Valkyr by Nicole Horne, lost consciousness for many hours until he was able to overcome the hallucinatory effects of the drug. Going off of the only clue he had, Cold Steel, he made his way to the steel foundry outside of town. Inside, Max engaged numerous mercenaries as he searched for Horne or the reason for her being there. Once those responsible for guarding the Cold Steel complex realized it had been compromised, "Operation: Dead Eyes" was put into effect. Max descended below the foundry down into an underground bunker, where he discovered the source of Valkyr and found revealing information on his wife and daughter's murders. The final stage of "Operation: Dead Eyes" - the self-destruction of the Cold Steel facility - was triggered while Max was still in the bunker, giving him little time to escape the bunker and the foundry, but he was able to do so before the complex was destroyed. While no other clues left to follow, Max made his way to an all-night diner.

At the diner, Max got a message to meet one of his DEA contacts, B.B., to meet him at the Choir Communications Garage. Max quickly learned that B.B. had murdered Alex Balder and framed Max for it, and he had set up their meeting in order for B.B.'s men to take Max out as B.B. made his escape. B.B. was unable to escape from the parking garage, due to his getaway car colliding with a civilian vehicle attempting to park in the garage. B.B. escaped the wreck but was taken out by Max along with the rest of the corrupt DEA agent's men. Max then answered a nearby ringing telephone and was told to meet the caller, a man named Alfred Woden, at the Asgard Building.

Max met up with Woden at the Asgard Building, who explained to Payne that he was a member of a secret society known as the Inner Circle. Max also met several other members of the Inner Circle, and they offered Max their assistance in taking down Nicole Horne, the woman who ran the Aesir Corporation, was responsible for producing Valkyr, and ordered the deaths of Max's wife and daughter. During Max's meeting with the Inner Circle, armed gunmen stormed the conference room they were in and killed everyone but Max and Woden. Payne jumped out of a nearby window into an enclosed courtyard and then went back inside, working his way through the building and taking out numerous would-be assassins, attempting to find a way out. When was finally able to escape the building, he eventually made his way to the Aesir Headquarters building.

Upon arriving at the headquarters, Max was swarmed by the building's heavily-armed security guards. Getting past them and once he made it to the upper floors, Max ran into Mona Sax, who was hired by Nicole Horne to kill both Don Punchinello and Max, but Mona explained that she had no intention to kill him. She was shot by one of Horne's hired men soon after, and she disappeared behind closing elevator doors. When the elevator came back it was empty, so Max continued working his way up to the penthouse floors to where Horne was. After bypassing the building security systems, guards, and an attack helicopter, Max finally confronted Nicole Horne in her penthouse, but she was able to make it up to the roof of the headquarters and onto an awaiting helicopter. The helicopter, however, was unable to immediately take off, which prompted Max to shoot the guy-wires that held the building's radio mast in place, which caused it to fall on top of the helicopter, killing Horne and the pilot. Max surrendered to the police, as he had exacted his revenge on those who had framed him and killed his family and partner.