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Good action game that is very difficult. I myself am a Bond game person, but this game was very fun for me either way.
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max payne 2 is basically like the first max payne, but a little better.. the games are fun while the action lasts. the problem is, the action is CONSTANTLY interrupted with the the story line. while this is touted as a GOOD thing, really it's not.. the dialogue is pretty cool, but at the same time rather corny. max payne loves to go on and on and on with metaphors. the plot is also impossibly hard to follow. in the first game, mona sax dies. in max payne 2, she's alive. huh? in max payne 1, somewhere he falls in love with mona sax, but the story never says how or why. hell, maybe max payne 2 is set before the first game, for all i know. i can't follow this convoluted story, but i enjoy the dialogue for the most part. there's just too much of it.
the action, humor, and cool little details in the environment is where max payne truly shines. using "bullet time" (slow motion) is a fun innovative feature (before the inferior F.E.A.R. ripped it off) - also it's much more fun in a third person shooter like this than in a first person shooter like F.E.A.R. there is only one significant problem with bullet time (a carryover from max payne 1 that they really should have fixed) - when you use the "shootdodge" button, bullet time stops after you fall to the ground and get back up. a big problem when you have 4 guys shooting you at full speed from point blank range. i'm amazed they didn't fix this problem. i tried to use the "bullet time combo" with my caps lock button to fix this, but the button doesn't do anything different. oh well. nonetheless, max payne 2 is a fun game like the original, just too repetitive and bogged down by an overly complicated story line. it's a bit boring after playing through max payne 1, as it's more of the same, waiting for storylines to finish so you can get to the action.
another problem is the weapons. like max payne 1, you get a sawed-off shotgun that doesn't have any real advantage over the pump action shotgun. also like max payne 1, you get a ton of pistol ammo that you will never use, because it's completely pointless using pistols when you have far superior weapons. i love the cool high powered weapons, but what's the point of having inferior weapons if you never get to use them? the last problem is having to constantly save, and at least max payne 2 seems like an easier game with more painkillers, so you don't have to worry as much about getting blown away and playing the same part over again.
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I played the original Max Payne a long time ago. I enjoyed the gameplay, and the plot was decent, but I really didn't think enough of it to look for a sequel. When looking for a new game to play, Max Payne 2 came up, and I decided based off of the original that #2 would probably be worth its $9 pricetag.
That turned out to be an understatement. Max Payne 2 is one of the best PC games out there.
GAMEPLAY
The game is a 3rd person shooter that works really really well. Max controls great, and the bullet time is fun to play with. The Bullet time has been revamped so its available more often in this one (which makes the game a little easier), but also makes it a little more fun.
The ragdoll physics go just a little bit over the top, but only just a little. It's a nice treat when enemies are knocked back by the force of your shots, tumbling off balconies and such. Sometimes it ends up with humerous/cinematic events like shooting someone with a shotgun, having their body fly back 3 feet through an open window, hit a scaffolding on one side to use the wood planks to catapult the paint cans up in the air which land on top of the corpse just after it hits the ground. It's an added bonus when it happens in slow motion.
While it's nothing new, Max has a satisfying array of weaponry for every occasion: dual pistols, assault rifles, shotguns, a sniper rifle, etc. The molotov cocktails are fun as well.
The game can probably be beaten in about 8 hours of gameplay, but is fun enough in both gameplay and story to make a second and third run pretty good as well.
THE SOUND / GRAPHICS
The graphics on the game are pretty good and can even run well on lower end machines (by today's standards). People move lifelike (with the exception of when they're dead...but you wouldn't move lifelike then I suppose...). Facial expressions are well done and expressive. The environments look lived in, and are appropriately dark and gritty.
The voice acting is superb. There's not a single poorly done voice that I noticed, and Max's voiceovers are terrific if you like detective-style noire.
I did have some difficulty with the sound though. I did some research and found I was far from the only one, but Rockstar Games appears to be ignoring the problem. Some of the ingame dialogue will come in extremely soft, something to do with the center sound channel in stereo. I turned the subtitles on to not miss the dialogue, but because the voice acting is so good it's a shame to have to miss some of it.
CHARACTERS / STORY
This is where the game truely shines, and this is where the unexpected suprise came from. The story is simply great. Max is already a well developed character. He is more than just a macho, gun toting maniac like most games. You sympathize with him, and you're on his side. His voiceovers reveal his inner thoughts, his guilt, his conscience, his humanity. The other major characters are equally well done and complex.
The story is well done to with twists and turns and excellent pacing. It's a very mature game, though by mature I don't mean blood and boobies, I just mean complex themes and moral ambiguity... many shades of grey instead of strictly good and bad. Its dark and gritty without being rediculously so. It makes some good use of symbolism, but not in a heavy-handed manner and is overall a very satisfyinh tale from start to finish.
OVERALL
This is a great game for fans of action and old black & white detective stories. I'm glad I decided to pick this game up, and I recomend it to anyone else who has $10 and a little time to spare.
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Max Payne 2 has all of the gameplay qualities that made the original Max Payne great. It also has improved graphics and some very interesting levels (like the funhouse).
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If you liked the first one, you'll like this one. It doesnt deviate too much. The graphics are updated, there's a couple new guns, blah blah blah.
The Dead man walking levels are pretty cool and a good addition to the game. At the price that the game is now, if you're into action games, it's well worth buying.
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