Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

Rated M for Strong Violence,Blood,Language and Sexual Content.

Max Payne 2 The Fall Of Max Payne is the 2003 sequel to the 2001 hit game Max Payne.In my opinion Max Payne 2 is just as good as the first.I actually played this game before the original.There isn't much of an improvement in the sequel.The graphics are a tiny bit better but other than that its the same as the first.But the first one was good and so was this one.Don't be fooled by the romantic looking cover just like the first Max Payne this one has plenty of blood and violence(and the ability to kill in slow motion) but unlike the first one this one contains more profanity including some f-words.The PC version of the game is amazing.The PS2 version on the other hand is not that amazing.When I got a PS2,I got Max Payne 2.I remembered it being awesome on the PC.The PS2 version is not a very good port.The graphics are worse and the bullettime is for some reason in black and white.However, if you never played the PC version, you will like the PS2 version.I heard Max Payne 1 is good on the PS2 and I will get that one as well.Max Payne 2 is an excellent sequel despite little improvement over the first one.I recommend both!

10/10

It may deserves 10 points but I'm sorry for this. But the first game was better for this one it is clear. It continues with its own style but style of the first game was better than this. Real good story continues with better graphics, sounds and playability. I didn't gave a 10 points but I know this is a golden game. Just perfect.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003) is like a puzzle waiting to be solved. The pieces aren't in the right place, which leaves the game player to figure it out. Instead of giving us a straightforward action game, it successfully builds mystery. This "film noir love story" is a better improvement over the original, and the characters, the plot, and the setting are better this time around.

Max Payne no longer has that "constipated grin" on his face, but a face that is filled is with all the loss and anger that he once suffered in the past. By now he's a brooding cop, and he has every right to be one, since his wife and baby child were killed in the original.

The message of film noir is that there are no real heroes. Max Payne is not the typical cardboard cutout action hero. Here is a man so cheerless, that he doesn't even form a smile, and we can understand why. He also shows a "survivor's guilt." Having taken his revenge in the first game, Max is not satisfied with what he has--due to what he sees as his "crime" (surviving) going unpunished, and due to the fact that, even though he has claimed his revenge, his family is still dead, and he is still alive.

One night, Payne responds a hostage situation in a gun workshop run by men in jumpsuits. He stumbles upon Mona Sax, a femme fatale presumed dead after the events in the original. Payne learns turn too late when Mona warns him that they are both in danger. A sniper hits Max's apartment, and Mona escapes, with Payne setting out to find the person who wants him dead.

We are also introduced to several characters from the original, including Lt. Jim Bravura, Max's boss at the NYPD, and Alfred Woden, a dying senator and a member of the Inner Circle. There is even a subplot involving a Mob war between Vladimir Lem and Vinnie Gognitti (who, this time, resembles a foul-mouthed Joe Pesci character). The mob war subplot may sound unnecessary, but it's crucial to what happens in the story.

I liked the original Max Payne (2001), which was released in 2001, and I thought it was the benchmark of action-packed video games. I liked the dialogue, the intense action, the graphics, and the locations it used. But I like Max Payne 2 even more. This is a game that gives life to almost all of its characters. Like Max Payne, the characters are able to express their feelings and thoughts to each other, and there is a big surprise as Max finds out who's after him.

Max Payne series creator Sam Lakes keeps the player involved with his characters We're not just playing a typical action game where we shoot mindless bad guys, but we're learning about the characters as well. Even the villains in the game, get to share their stories.

I also liked how the characters' lip movements were convincing and how they moved along with the way they speak. They also do some convincing movements, such as ragdoll-like movements, which allow the enemy's body to move around like a limp corpse.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a great video game, but it shares the same flaws the original once had. There is a lack of character variety; a lot of the characters such as bodyguards, thugs, mobsters, and police officers look essentially the same, and once again it resembles a John Woo movie with its handgun leaps and ridiculously high body count. And the firing sounds for the weapons in the game sound unrealistic and could have been better.

I also think the game is also a bit too short, whereas the original was like playing a TV marathon. But what it lacks in quantity and length, it pays for with quality.

The New York settings in each level looks convincing and great. My favorite is the New York Police Department, where Payne is able to interact with other characters such as suspects and police officers. Even the streets of New York, during the mob war levels, resemble a war zone.

The narration in both the game and the graphic novel helps to not only move the story, but to provide humor or reaction to an incident. The narration by James McCaffrey (who also voices Payne) is great. Instead of sleepwalking in his dialogue like the original, he actually moves along with the words.

And fans will probably agree with me that Mona Sax is one of the most sexy 3D heroines out there. If her voice (perfectly provided by Wendy Hoopes) doesn't get to you first, her appearance certainly will. She is endowed with a high poly count and blessed with some very smooth motion-captured animations.

The beauty of the unfolding storyline of Max Payne 2 is that the player is never really sure if Mona feels the same way Max does, or if she's luring him into a trap--unless some heartless game reviewer ruins it for you. Being the highly trained killer that she is, playing as Mona is just as easy and equally lethal as when playing as Max. One wonders and hopes if their will be a spin-off to such a great series.

But will there be a "Max Payne 3?" Maybe. But to make another would seem difficult, especially after what happens in the end of this game. But Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne still remains the best in the series. This is not only an action game. It's about love, life and death in a city facing chaos.

As a sequel, it surpasses its predecessor in every way. As a video game, it surpasses the very boundaries people thought allowable, and possible. The photorealistic effects, ingenious use of lighting and incredible colour palette mixed with a thumping and brooding soundtrack (Poets of the Fall) create the world of Max Payne. It is slick but incredibly violent and woven extremely taught; the love affair between Mona and Max if anything is simply beautifully told; and the storyline itself is conceptually impressive. Max Payne 2 is a game for mature players: and it will take multiple replays to fully understand the achievement set down by Rockstar and Take 2.

What to say about Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne? Let's break it down: GAMEPLAY - Extremely Entertaining. I haven't had this much fun in a 3rd person shooter since the original Tomb Raider. The levels are fresh and challenging without being at all frustrating. You have different objectives other than just staying alive and finding the exit. The cooperation levels actually feel like your AI partner is out there watching your back (and vice versa when its your turn to provide a key game character some protection). And what can I say: bullet time still rocks! GRAPHICS - Stunning. The textures are rich and realistic...right down to the skin blemishes. The facial modeling could be a little better as eye movement doesn't follow focus like in Unreal 2. Game physics, however, is extraordinary. When characters hit the ground their limbs bounce about and give the appearances of actual weight. And the motion capture sequences for the cinematic segments are simply amazing! VOICE ACTING - Superb. If Mona Sax sounds familiar, that's Wendy Hoopes who does the voice of Jane Lane from MTV's cartoon series Daria...good to see she's expanding her voice over work into the gaming industry. But by far the most amusing voice over work here is by Fred Berman who plays the memorable role of Vinnie Gognitti--the foul-mouthed, anime loving, mobster punk who adds much needed comical relief to the story ala Joe Pesci-style. MUSIC - Wonderful. Max's theme is performed superbly on cello by Perttu Kivilaakso. The recurring variations of the song "Late Goodbye" by Poets of the Fall throughout the game adds a nice touch. SOUND FX - Awesome. Everything from simple riccochet sounds to the loudest explosions--feels like you're right in the middle of a good John Woo movie. OVERALL IMPRESSION - Best Game of 2003. For those who claim the game plays out too fast, wake up and smell the gun powder. I've finished it three different times and have noticed subtle things I've missed in each instance. Watch the different shows on the in-game television sets. Pick up that ringing phone in the second to the last dream sequence. Use that computer surveylence terminal in the hospital. Complete the game three times at the three different difficulty levels for an alternate story ending. A game like this is like watching the first Matrix movie...you simply have to play it again to fully appreciate its genius.