Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3749 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Take 2
• Released on: 2003-10-24
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP

Amazon.co.uk Review
When the original Max Payne first hit the streets, the prediction was that it would spark a swathe of imitations--not least, imitations of the bullet-time feature. Yet it never really happened, meaning that Max Payne 2, like its predecessor, is a little bit unusual.

At heart, the game is another over-the-shoulder actioner, with Payne once again in the midst of an intelligent, well-developed story replete with unpleasant turns. And once more, the story is presented in a dark comic-book style with moody voiceovers and deeply atmospheric music. It positively drips with detail. At times, it's mildly annoying that there's so much story to get through, but there's a fantastic game underneath it all.

The levels primarily rely on action, and each feels suitably sombre, in line with the tone of Max's adventure. Bullet time is back, and the game does it far better than even Enter The Matrix could manage. It's an even more cinematic spectacle than before, yet a very handy gameplay device. You could argue that the game won't last too long and that it's perhaps a little linear, but these are very mild grumbles about a game that's engrossing, addictive and completely unmissable. Here's hoping we meet up with Max again, soon. --Simon Brew

GamesMaster Magazine
"Unbelievably violent and distressingly short--but brilliantly atmospheric and just so cool to play that you'll forgive it. 85%."

Manufacturer's Description
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a violent, film-noir love story for mature audiences. Dark, tragic and intense, the in-depth story is a thrill-ride of shocking twists and revelations. Working together with Rockstar Games' New York-based production team, developer Remedy has now been able to take the game to new heights with extremely high production values. Professional talent for voice acting and graphic novels, motion capture and access to authentic digital source material from New York City help to ensure that Max Payne 2 provides the quality performances that fans have come to expect from Remedy and Rockstar. The fierce yet stylish action sequences and slow-motion gunplay that has become synonymous with Max Payne are back and better than ever. New and enhanced moves and options provide breathtaking cinematic gameplay. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is set to raise the bar on action games all over again.

Customer Reviews

Just got the game...excellent stuff...
After reading many of the previous reviews it occured to me that not many of them had actually played max payne 2.

If you liked max payne 1 then you SHOULD buy this...no excuses If you havent played max payne 1 then look at the screen shots to see for yourself what your buying...but in a nut shell it has astounding graphics, animation is almost film-like and contains 100% non-cheesy dialogue, a lot more guns, and the IE is very clever...it will shoot through cardboard boxes and thin material to get you...which means you take a lot more care when observing your suroundings.

The AI is a lot more patient...no more showing your face and then running off to a convenient position to ambush them...they will just wait...which forces you to enter the good old bullet time (slow -motion matrix style shooting)

There is also comedy in the AI as well...it sounds strange but the bad guys will sometimes make mistakes and accidentally blow them selves up with their own grenades if they throw it wrong...which is funny in itself but just as they realise their mistake and are about to get blown out of existence...they utter various comments of profanity before they exit the world superman style

The interaction with the world around you is the best ive seen in a game (ie...objects have gravity and mass...and they get knocked over and make noise when your trying to creep round)....everything is improved whilst not changing too much of the original concept to spoil the whole max payne experience..

The best thing i love about this game is it is still scary in places - it definately keeps it integrity to its 'noir' feel...(almost gotham city style)..especially where you walk around in real time in one of max paynes nightmares - or even a freaky fun house...but ill stop giving bits of the game away.

I just spent the last 3 hours on it and my brother and one of his friends heard the gun shots and explosions which shake the house on my stereo....they then came in and watched me play it like they were watching a move.

I dont buy games unless they are very good...and this is one of them...enough lip service for one day though.

The good, the bad and not too much ugly, thankfully
If like many of the gamers reading these pages, you played Max Payne (the original) then you too would have marvelled at how close to reality they the programmers achieved in the game play and admired the portability of a B-movie-esque storyline into the gaming world. Max Payne broke the mould and was worthy of its extremely high ratings.

In this edition, the quality of the reproduction has undoubtedly improved, smooth graphics, glitch-free movement, audio-visual synchronicity and a cracking story-line. Add to that being able to play the characters of both Max and Mona (I guess your name has to start with an 'M' too) you have what most people would describe as a 9.9er, a best-of-class, a sure-fire winner.

I'm really going to nail my colours to the wall here and say that although the packaging was faultless, there simply wasn't sufficient differences between MP1 and MP2 to leave myself gasping at the extremely low price for such perfection in gaming. I was left with a distinct feeling of been-there, done-that at almost every turn. The sequence was apparently such a well-trodden path of "enter room, take cover, aim, shoot, fire, three baddies dead (or four or five)". And if you did it badly, load up the last save-game until you do it better.

So to the other features that make this game more of a film-noir than a shoot-em-up. The video footage and storyline were excellent, I think most reviews state that. Incredibly the publishers had managed to generate an ambience in the game that I have rarely seen before, and I've seen a few. sure the game is fairly short, 10 hours first time around, but the game offers a lot more than a just a blast-around shoot-em-up. And even if it was only 10hs worth of game play - that's still only £3/h - cheaper than most movies.

And another thing. I find the weapon choice and possibilities pretty mono-dimensional. You always seem to find yourself using your best weapon and when the ammo runs out, you use your second string weapon. There is surely a case in combat for a more selective choice of firearm? Maybe a stealthy approach to bump off one lookout with a silencer in order to avoid detection and prevent a slough of enemies arriving on your doorstep. Or a room full of enemies where you need rapid-firing in-yer-face armoury. Like I say, a touch mono-dimensional. The lack of control with grenades and Molotovs was also an incessant source of frustration.

So to cap it all, Rockstar games were well justified in creating MP2. They have produced as they claim a great film-noir B-movie where you play a very active roll. I suspect, however, that if anybody ever wants to create MP3 (ho-hum), then I'll want to see many reviews about how "different" the game play is!

If I had only ever played Max Payne 2 - it would have got 5 stars.

The Rain In Payne
Oh, Max. What have you got yourself into this time?

In a sense, the action is the least interesting thing about this game. I don't care how many goons Max kills or how spectacularly the physics throws boxes around after an explosion. Most modern games use Havok 2.0 now. Big deal.

But in an industry where involved and careful plotting is a rarity and "You are a government agent - the best of the best of the best" cardboard characters are the norm, it was refreshing to control a character whose fate I actually cared about. I wasn't playing this game to kill goons. I was playing it to see what more bad things could possibly happen to my protagonist, to find if it really was his fault and (rather unworthily) to see if he'd score with Mona.

It is interesting to note that the most striking chapter is one where you are never confronted by enemies, working your way through a macabre "fun"-house on your way to meet a contact. It was chilling, nauseating and utterly gripping. Not a game to play at night with the headphones on.

With all this in mind, the decision by the developers to leave Max's viewpoint and switch to another character for some chapters was infuriating and I found myself counting the minutes before I could be put back into his shoes again. I wanted to be told Max's story - no-one else's.

A lot of effort has been put into the game world. It has payed off - in spades, in some cases. The constant rain is a typical reminder of the bleak, unrelenting storyline which has less time than the original did for comic relief and sly witticisms. Not that the game is without humour: Max's call to a phone-sex line "just for a talk" had me doubled up with laughter.

The characterisation is much improved on the original - particularly in the animations. Police officers hunch over their pistols, patrolling back-to-back and looking anxious; soldiers dive and fight tactically and gangsters pimp it up with some classic swaggers.

Rockstar are one of very few developers (along with Valve and Ion Storm) who understand that action sequences do not breed good drama - well-written characters do. After all: does Max care how many goons he's killed? No. He only wants the answers.

We should be more like him.