Review: Max Payne 2

Originally written on 6.15.04
Website: http://www.rockstargames.com/maxpayne2

Minimum Requirements:
- 1Ghz PIII/Athlon or 1.2Ghz Celeron/Duron processor
- 32MB AGP graphics card with hardware transform & lighting support
- 256MB RAM
- 1.5 GB hard drive space
- Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
- DirectX 9.0

The original "Max Payne" was a born classic released some years ago about a cop's revenge of the murder of his wife and baby. Executed very stylishly in 3rd person with features such as "bullet time" (a'la The Matrix action scene slowdowns), level interactivity and comic-book narratives, Max Payne had everything going for it. Story, action, drama, looks. Now in Max Payne 2, you pickup as a more matured Max Payne. No, it's not Max on Geritol, but at least he doesn't have that constipated smiling face permanent-like this time. In the sequel, Max deals with plot twists, haunting dreams, love for a murder suspect, confusion and crumbling trust. To quote the Max Payne 2 box:

"His life in ruins, Max Payne finds himself back on the NYPD. During a routine murder investigation he runs into Mona Sax, a woman he thought dead, a femme fatale murder suspect. She holds the keys to the questions that haunt him. But nothing is simple in the dark and tragic night of New York City. An army of underworld thugs stands between Max and the answers he seeks. His journey deeper into his own personal hell continues."

The game is very similiar to the original Max Payne. Still in 3rd person, you still have bullettime and shoot-dodging. It's pretty much more of the same, just with a different story, a little more detail and high on action. I haven't played Max Payne 1 yet, so I cannot make too many comparisons. The game begins with Max (the player) awake from his hospital bed in an abandoned hospital. You can search the various cabinets for painkillers, but you won't find any weapons just yet. A couple flashbacks hit you in a blurry in-game cinematic, hinting at what is to come. Eventually upon discovering a dead victim, you grab his gun and have your chance to fend off a commando. Things get confusing for Max, but as you play the story unfolds nicely over in-game cinematics, and comic-book narrative screens complete with voice dialogue.

Along the way, over 3 parts, and 21 chapters, you will encounter the heated combat and tense level roaming. There is the occasional requirement to progress in the level, such as having to shutoff the gasline to stop feeding an apartment complex fire that is otherwise hindering your path forward. A welcome change in the game is the ability to play as Mona Sax, the beautiful female star of the game. On one such Mona mission, you must defend Max from the "cleaners" - disguised killers. If Max dies, you must start over. This particular mission is very tense, but with a zoomable MP5 gun or sniper rifle and some patience, it shouldn't be too hard. Another very fun mission is to escape an exploding and crumbling building, which really shows off the game's physics engine. Ceilings and walls will fallout and explode, objects whipping about while you dash for an exit, leading to a really nice, dangerous cinematic. Your arsenal throughout the missions include pistols (9mm, Desert Eagle), shotguns (Striker auto-shotgun, sawed off), semi-autos (AK, MP5, etc), molotov cocktails, grenades and more.

As far as visuals are concerned, there is no lack of detail throughout the game. Each weapon has brilliant firing lighting, individual bullets and their smoke streams can be seen, and hi-res textures compliment the level design quite well. Physics are very well done here too. Fire a couple bullets into an explosive barrel, and boxes and other objects will blast away, even enemies. More present here than in Max Payne 1 are ragdoll physics. Say you fire a load of shotgun buckshot at an enemy, he will lunge backwards - spinning or flipping. If they are near a rafter or steep edge, they can roll straight off and plummet to the ground. Enemies bodies will "conform" to tables, boxes or chairs instead of being stiffened corpses.

Bullettime is a wonderful feature. Often, I use the shootdodge function. With this, you can dive forward, backward, left or right in bullettime and fire as you wish. It's fun zooming in with an MP5 in shootdodge mode and firing a paced shot at an enemie's head, for that one-shot-kill. Gun firing, objects falling/hitting, and character voices are all done very well. Enemies will shout "whack him!" when they spot you, among other dialogue. Some will yell "oh shit!" and run when you toss a grenade near them. Occasionally you will hear enemies conversations between eachother. Here you can wait and listen, or interrupt with a few fiery streams of bullets. The missions in Max Payne 2 are often well paced and suspenseful. Unfortunately, though 21 levels may seem like a good amount, the game really feels too short. There are 3 difficulty modes to play the game through, and also a "Dead Man Walking" mode - where special maps with enemy spawnpoints release enemy after enemy after you, with your main goal to survive with the most efficient timing. I personally don't like this mode, but others seem to enjoy it. An additional mode is "New York Minute", just as in Max Payne 1, where your goal is to get the quickest time of completing the levels. The exception in Max Payne 2 as opposed to Max Payne 1, is that you never run out of time in this mode.

I really enjoyed the game. I was quite impressed by everything. But I felt a bit robbed on it because it didn't take me too long to finish the game, about 2 days. I still believe it is worth the money (I got it used for $25), and since Max Payne 2 is also modifiable, there are a number of mods (such as first-person-view, 007, Kill Bill tribute, new weapons and features...) available online for you to download. The developer has also released level editing tools online for free. In summary, Max Payne 2 is a thrilling and fun ride, albeit a short ride.

Get it!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Pros: The detail, the physics, the fury!
Cons: Some may want multiplayer, you won't find it here. 21 missions really isn't enough.