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In my opinion this is the best Max Payne game. The first is a classic, and Rockstar made a great third entry, but for me, this is where Remedy perfected the formula they started with Max Payne 1, and would continue to add onto with their later games. Coming off of a pulpy revenge popcorn fest, Max Payne 2 instead adopts a moody and fatalistic tone, with Max relaying to you, in between frenzied and violent gun battles, the choices he made that has ultimately led to his fall as a good person. Was he ever a good person?
Picking up a number of years after the the first game, Max is once again a detective, on the way to the scene of a shooting. In the midst of bullets and bodies he runs into a familiar face: Mona Sax. The rest of the story revolves around their reunion, and a deep criminal conspiracy that threatens to turn on its head everything Max has taken for granted.
The story, as much as the gameplay, is what solidifies Max Payne 2 as the best in the series. Deeply personal and full of angst, Max and Mona's relationship creates a great emotional hook to push you through one bloody and overwhelming battle after another. The ending is one of my personal favorites of any video game. Few games have left me with the empty and drained feeling that the last chapter offered, and as with the best game endings, kept me contemplating long after credits rolled. It also compelled me to beat this game on every difficulty setting (for the secret ending, shh), a feat I've matched in every Max Payne game to date.
The gameplay is almost identical to Max Payne 1, save for some QOL improvements that make plowing through rooms of strapped bad dudes even more exhilarating and smooth than before. The reload mechanic while in Bullet Time™ adds a stylish flair to fights, and watching bodies fly through the air as you pump countless shotgun shells into them will never, ever get old. And don't forget, this is a Remedy game. Working vending machines, pulpy TV shows on in the environment, set pieces involving large 3-D objects blowing up or away, few games of the era could immerse you in their world like Max Payne, and the sequel improves on that in every way.
Max Payne 2, for all its simplicity and potential frustration, is the gold standard for stripped down third-person gun-based action games. No other competitor or clone has come close to the feeling or the immersion that this game offers. It is a must play for anyone who prides themselves on being skilled with twitch-style gun play or loves nothing more than a dower and rainy noir story to comfort them on a stormy night. Bottle of whiskey optional.