Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

Moby ID: 10708
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Two years have passed since Max Payne first embarked on his desperate quest for revenge. Returning to his former position as a detective in the New York City Police Department, Max is assigned to investigate a series of murders carried out by group of contract killers known as the Cleaners. Unexpectedly, Max encounters the enigmatic Mona Sax, whom he assumed dead. People from his past begin to return one by one, and Max gradually realizes that he did not know everything about the mysterious Circle and those who were involved in the murder of his family. Somebody out there is trying to kill Max, and he must find the answers before they succeed.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a direct sequel to Max Payne. The game is very similar to its predecessor in gameplay concept and presentation, bringing back noir detective atmosphere, cinematic John Woo-style action, and cutscenes shaped like comic book panels.

The game is built on the same engine as the predecessor, with several additional special effects and enhancements, such as dynamic shadows and lighting, cubic mapped reflections, and high resolution textures. The Havok engine with ragdoll physics is used to enhance the interactivity with the game world: objects can be moved and destroyed, physically responding to the actions of the player character and opponents.

A new feature in the sequel is the possibility to use secondary weapons alongside regulars guns, namely melee strikes, grenades and Molotov cocktails. Certain characters will join Max and fight on his side from time to time. The player also controls Mona Sax during a few stages. The Bullet Time feature from the previous game has been upgraded to version 2.0, in which Max's speed in bullet time increases as he gets more kills consecutively.

During the first playthrough the game only offers one difficulty level. If the player struggles to succeed, the game will automatically lower the difficulty, reducing the effectiveness of enemy fire and increasing the amount of painkillers. Additional difficulty levels are unlocked when the player completes the game, as well as two new modes: New York Minute and Dead Man Walking. The first awards the player with a score for completing a level as quickly as possible, while the second has Max fighting endlessly respawning enemies.

Spellings

  • è‹±é›„æœŹè‰Č2ïŒšé©Źć…‹æ€é…æ©äč‹ç§‹ - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

324 People (272 developers, 52 thanks) · View all

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 86% (based on 59 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 262 ratings with 13 reviews)

Stumbling sort of Sequel

The Good
The new weapons in the game, such as the Russian firearms, add to the previously intriguing arsenal of the first game (except for the lack of M79). The ability to pistol whip or use grenades with your current weapon means there's no longer any need for weapon switching, especially in the middle of a firefight.

The newest feature, by playing as Mona Sax, is a definite plus, being able to wield unique guns and access parts of the chapter that Max doesn't. There are also NPCs who support you and Vinnie Gognitti you need to protect. Kind of makes me wonder what it would be like to play as Alex Balder.

The Bad
There is way too much re-usage of the same levels, including Ragnarock and the Address Unknown theme park. The other levels are just bland buildings instead of the rooftops, slums, hotels and factories of the first game. Then of course there are the little things missing, like laser traps, rats and breakable objects. This lack of variety also makes the game feel short. Even the unlockable minigames can't really compensate for the smaller chapter count. Using Mona Sax more often in the game might have improved the game overall. Much of the game mechanics are the same, except that bullet-time feels a little faster than it should, making it almost useless. Finally, the game also doesn't have much in the way of atmospheric music.

The Bottom Line
This sequel didn't quite capture the experience and take the best from the first game. This sequel was a bit of a let-down. This game could most likely be finished faster than the prequel and then you'll be craving for more. Not sure what Rockstar was going for, but it should be emphasised that Max Payne should not be given a Grand Theft Auto treatment. Worth the occasional play, but not worth the money to buy.

Windows · by Kayburt (30255) · 2020

Certainly a great game, but not necessarily better than the original.

The Good
If you've played Max Payne, or have Internet access, or you're not a caveman, then you probably know what Max Payne is, and chances are you know what it's all about. It's about slow-motion gunfights with graphic novel cutscenes and Max with a funny look on his face.

In Max Payne 2, the gameplay is enhanced, and the funny face is gone, but at its core, it's still the great Max Payne we knew from 2001. Gunfights are fought in a similar manner, but with Bullet Time 2.0, you can actually utilize it rather than being forced to "shot-dodge" every time you want to kill someone. Using bullet-time in Max Payne 2 is a spectacular sight. The colors change, the screen goes kind of blurry and it completely immerses you in the world of Max Payne: Faster Than God. And with the best ragdolls I've ever seen in a game, gunfights are a blast to play over and over and over.

Gunfights are what this game is all about. With a plethora of weapons at your disposal, and of course with the aid of Bullet Time 2.0, you'll blast your way through an insane amount of enemies, each one who may be almost as strong as you, only lacking the bullet-time advantage. This means that the game really does require a bit of skill on your part, and you won't be able to just stand in the middle of a gunfight taking the hits. Use your bullet-time, shot-dodge the blasts, take cover, and use the environment to your advantage.

And boy, how you can use the environment! The guys who made this game must have put great effort into making a TON of interesting quirks in the environment. With the amazing physics in the game, you can use these against the enemy (whether you're intending to or not) and they can use it on you. Imagine, you charge into a room with a staircase. Enemies are flying up the stairs, and behind you more are coming. You spot a tank of gasoline on a box. Switch to bullet time, dodge some gunfire, blast the gasoline. The tank ignites and flies into the first guy on the stairs. He topples backward and the tank follows him down. Suddenly the tank explodes, blowing a hole at the bottom of the stairs. The blast throws the box against the door, blocking any further entry from the flankers. Whoever else was on the stairs is now dead or falling down into the hole left by the tank's explosion. You look down to see pieces of the wall, boxes, bodies, tumbling down the stairway into the hole. You jump down yourself and find you can use this area as a second passageway to where you were heading. This is just one of many, many incredible outcomes I encountered in the game.

As well as incredible gunfights, there is an interesting story to go along with it. The same mood from Max Payne is back, with graphic novel cutscenes progressing the story further.

The game also has incredible graphics, and even more incredible is that I can run the game at medium-to-high detail levels on high resolutions on my piece-of-shit computer and STILL get amazing frame rates. The graphics-to-framerate ratio is hands-down the best I've seen on my system. This is one of the few games that actually stays true to its "system requirements", unlike many games in which still run like ass even if you have more than the recommended system specs. If you were reluctant to get this game because you were afraid it wouldn't run - buy the game!

The Bad
Despite all the greatness in this game, I can't help but feel like I enjoyed the first one more. Now, don't get me wrong, Max Payne 2 is a solid game, and a hell of an experience...but, well, let me just list some things that bothered me.

The writing. I just can't believe that the same writers worked on both games. In the original Max Payne, Max would always have some interesting metaphor to say in the cutscenes, and perhaps it was just that stupid smirk he had in the game, but I always got the feeling that Max didn't take the world too seriously. It didn't change the dark mood of the game - if anything, it enhanced it. Max was hurting bad inside, but he only let us know about it - never his enemies. But in Max Payne 2, Max is always depressed. I don't think he smiled once, or even suggested that he wanted something other than to die. And he almost never uttered a quirky metaphor - when he did, it was ho-hum, not nearly as clever (or cheesy!) as in Max Payne. A good example of different writing is when his boss is yelling at him for letting innocents die. In Max Payne 1, he would have been spitting out metaphors and insulting his boss in a cheesy quirky way, comparing the predicament to off-the-wall situations, similes that had you raise an eyebrow. But in Max Payne 2, he just pleads to his boss that the situation got out of control, that he needed to crack the case, boo-hoo-hoo.

Max also looks much more realistic in MP2, but he looses a lot in that transition. He's now seems like a real person - a real depressed person, and not the suicidal life-is-too-fucked-up-to-take-seriously guy from the first game. MP2's Max did a fantastic job of portraying emotion...one emotion: depression. It was intense...but that was it.

Also, his voice has taken a noticeable change. He sounds like the same actor, but he has a sort of...Boston?...accent that just seems out of place. He also never raises his voice above a certain level, in-game or in a cutscene. In MP1, you heard him literally yell out for his wife, you heard him get angry at his enemies. But in MP2, he always stays at the same depressed please-kill-me volume level, devoid of emotion, life. "She was dead..." "I hated him..." "I dreamt I killed my wife..." always the same. Maybe if the lines had been wittier, it would have been acceptable, but...this isn't the Max I remember.

There are other things "bad" about this game. Lip-syncing is pretty buggy. Sometimes Max doesn't move his lips at all when he talks, other times it's ridiculously out of sync. Going through the same three levels two or three times was kind of awkward, but not too much.



The Bottom Line
Max Payne 2 is a great game. But any fan of Max Payne will notice a definite change in writing, style, voice acting, and so on. It's not necessarily worse than Max Payne...but it is certainly different.

If Max wasn't so damned depressed throughout the game, I might have enjoyed it more. But it's still a great game, with new game options, including a survival mode where enemies will continue spawning until they finally get you!

Worth the money, definitely. But it could have been more. I want to know where the original writers went.

Windows · by kbmb (415) · 2003

Max Payne 2: Electric Boogaloo

The Good
Max Payne 2 the sequel to the critically acclaimed PC smash, is not only as fun as the original but in many ways exceeds it. That’s right it is better. I wanted to review this one for the PC, but there were too many reviews, so since I also played this version I decided to write it for this one.

Max Payne 2 introduces us to a wreak of a man. Max’s head is messed up and as you play the game you unravel the last few days of Max’s life and see his fall from grace and his fall for another woman. The story is still told using graphic novel style panels. Max can still slow time and still kick ass. The plot in this one is even darker than that of the original, and told almost backwards like film noir. Other than that I do not buy that ‘film noir love story crap’ how can it be film noir if it is not a film?

Anyhow Max Payne 2’s plot is just as good as the originals albeit darker, and told out of sequence. Many of the characters return many with bigger roles, as well as some new ones. Max is now a brooding drunk, you will find many of the characters have changed quite a bit none however as much as Payne.

The Graphics are simply amazing in this one. Max no longer looks constipated. The lighting effects are incredible even on lower end PC’s and of course on the Xbox, the PS2 version however does not fare well in this department, let’s face it the PS2 can’t run this game so why does it try?

The sound/ music is good. Loud and convincing gunshots, play it on 5.1 surround sound! The music is excellent particularly, “Late Goodbye” preformed by Poets of the Fall.

The gameplay is very similar to the original. With a very important change. Max can now shoot dodge without using up any of his bullet time meter. This move is essential to victory and very handing going around corners with foes on the other side. It is so useful in fact that you will find yourself relying on it more than the bullet time!

The Bad
The bad, Max Payne 2 can be finished in about 3 hours, it is very short even for an action game. When I rented the Xbox version I finished it before it was due back!

The Bottom Line
Overall this sequel does a rare thing it surpasses the original. And you can pick it up for 10 bucks if not less! Do not play the PS2 version it sucks, hell the PS2 could barely run the first one.

Xbox · by MasterMegid (723) · 2006

[ View all 13 player reviews ]

Discussion

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Need help with retarded ending Indra was here (20760) Jan 29, 2011
Please help to Max Payne Movie! Marex (40) Nov 12, 2007

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Max Payne

Max Payne looks very different in comparison to the predecessor because this time a professional actor, Timothy Gibbs' was used as Payne's face instead of writer Sami JĂ€rvi.

References

  • Towards the end of the game, one of the police officers quotes one of Max's first lines from the first game; "They are all dead." In both instances, the police are arriving after the situation has been resolved.
  • If you listen to the messages on Vinnie Gognitti's answering machine, you'll hear a threat from the "God Father." Someone did a an impression of the late Marlon Brando.
  • First time Max walks around the police HQ, there are two cops in basement garage. The cops are modeled and named after 3D Realms leads and co-founders George Broussard and Scott Miller. Pay attention to their dialogue; it makes fun out of the long production time of Duke Nukem Forever, ending with 3D Realms' legendary release date slogan ("When it's done!").
  • In the level "Dearest of All My Friends", Max and Vinnie escape in a delivery van which has the word "Deliverator" written on its side. According to Joe Siegler, it's a reference to Remedy's earlier racing game Death Rally, where "Deliverator" is the most powerful car in the game.

References to the game

May Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne was parodied in an episode of "Die Redaktion" (The Editorial Team), a monthly comedy video produced by the German gaming magazine GameStar. It was published on the DVD of issue 06/2007.

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2003 – Best PC Story of the Year
    • 2003 – Best PC Graphics of the Year
    • 2003 – Best PC Successor of the Year
  • GameSpy
    • 2003 – #8 PC Game of the Year
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • February 13, 2004 - Best PC Action Game in 2003 (Readers' Vote)
    • Issue 12/2008 - One of the "10 Coolest Levels" (For "A Linear Sequence of Scares". It is the highlight of the game because it is very different from the rest of the game, represents a silly image of Max' soul and offers many surprising script sequences.)

Information also contributed by Jason Musgrave, Jouni Lahtinen and Scott Monster

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by kbmb.

Xbox, PlayStation 2 added by Corn Popper. Xbox 360 added by karttu. Xbox Series, Xbox One added by Eufemiano Bullanga.

Additional contributors: Xantheous, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Slug Camargo, Daniel Albu, Havoc Crow, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.

Game added October 25, 2003. Last modified March 15, 2024.