Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

List Price: $29.99 Discount Price: $16.95

Features:

• A violent, Film Noir love story between a cop and a femme fatale murder suspect
• Slow down gameplay with Bullet Time 2.0
• Fully integrated Havok physics engine allows for interactive environments creating incredible combat scenes
• Cooperative NPC's fight with Max and more believable enemies create tension
• For 1 player

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

fun game? yep. perfect? nope.  [Posted on 2007-03-17]
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.

Good game, better than #1 [Posted on 2007-05-06]
Good action game that is very difficult. I myself am a Bond game person, but this game was very fun for me either way.

Bring on the pain [Posted on 2007-05-13]
Awesome story line, brings it to a close. Its too bad that there isnt another one after this. the most fun i have had playng a 3rd person shooter.

Some great new features but not altogether better than the first [Posted on 2007-09-27]
To begin with, Max Payne 2 has some great features, including extended bullet time, being able to play as both Max and Mona, and more/better quality in-game storyplay (you see the story in video format as well as the comic format more so than in the first one). Playing as Mona is also really fun because you get to try out certain weapons more, such as the Dragunov. Many of the levels involve a lot more than shooting up everything and are much larger and dynamic than the levels in the first game. One of my favorite chapters in this game is called "Mob War" where Max is flung in the midst of a war between the Mafia and the Russian Mob in a street block of run down tenements (and yes, they do shoot at each other when they aren't shooting at you). When you have beaten the game you also unlock these really cool and fun "Dead Man Walking" scenarios, basically they are certain game areas where enemies respawn and you have to survive as long as you can, and the game keeps your best record time.

I personally liked the first Max Payne much better than this one for many reasons. First of all, the guns in the first one have a much better "feel" (for lack of a better word) to them; at least the berettas, ingrams and the pump action shotgun all have better sounds, fire faster, and actually look better (some people might disagree due to realism, but it's just my opinion). Second, the storyline in the second game pales in comparison to the first. While you get to see a lot more of the characters, the storyline in the first game is a little easier to follow and has more of an mystery to it, in the second you pretty much know whodunnit or can at least make a good guess fairly early into the game. There is also a more diverse pick of enemies (yes, because I like to be able to kill lots of different kinds of people) ranging from bank robbers to mafioso to corrupt cops to gothy club bodyguards. You also get A LOT more monologue from Max in MP2... and as has been said before, the empty metaphors get a little monotonous and aren't as good as his lines in the first (Seriously, how can you beat "And me, I made out like Chow Yun Fat" as a lead to a great shootup?). Also, I just have to say it, Vlad has such a horrible voice in MP2; in the first game he actually has a Russian accent, but in the second he sounds like a bad Dracula impersonation: "Maaax dearest of all my friends... I vont to suck your blood!"
One other thing to consider, in MP2 there are only two bosses, including the finale. While again this may make the game a little easier and realistic than the first game (I mean really, who can still stand after having two ingrams unloaded into them), it kind of takes away from the meat of the game.

I'm not trying to rag on MP2, I liked playing it a lot. I'm just trying to stand up for the first game, especially for those of you who haven't played either. In terms of storyline and weapons I feel that MP1 is superior, but MP2 definitely has great features, and definitely improved a lot of the gameplay features.

Not a FPS [First-Person-Shooter] at all... [Posted on 2008-07-05]
This is a Third-Person-Shooter. As in a movie, you are looking over the

shoulder of the hero. You are not THE hero. If that's what you're

into then the game is fine, but if you're like me and want to BE the

hero, then avoid this game.

As with other similar games such as 'Stranglehold', product descriptions

leave out this aspect, an unforgiveable omission.

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