Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Review (Miyumi)
TL:DR? See Conclusion
INTRODUCTION:
Max Payne 2: Fall of Max Payne is the sequel to the critically acclaimed and award winning 2001 game, Max Payne. Max Payne 2 is a Third-Person action shooter developed by Remedy Entertainment which was acquired by Rockstar Games whose notable works include the popular Grand Theft Auto (GTA) franchise.
Once again the player steps into the shoes of Max Payne, a New York City Detective who, after the events of the first game, went on a downward spiral both in career and personal life, struggling with the death of his family and his newly formed Pain Killer addiction (the direct result of the pain killers taken by the player in the first game to regenerate lost health). While Max is investigating a series of murders and assassinations, Max encounters Mona Sax, a textbook femme fatale who was presumed dead from the first game. Follow Max and Mona's adventure through New York City and discover a conspiracy behind a Mob War between two rival Mafia groups and a deadly team of hitmen called 'The Cleaners' in this film noir love story.
PROS:
+ Significant and highly noticeable improvements on the graphics, animation and texture quality from the first title
+ Better sounds, voice acting and sound track
+ Improvements on the innovative Bullet Time game mechanic
+ Great locations and level design which goes well with the better graphical fidelity
+ Graphic Novel style cutscenes are back and with better delivery
+ Expanded weapon variety
+ Mission variety
+ Challenging Difficulty levels (the game provides a good challenge on any difficulty setting)
+ Adaptive difficulty if the player is on Easy Mode. (AI gets toned down and pain killers heal more if the player dies too much on Easy Mode.)
+ Magnificent story that surpasses even the first game
+ World is ALIVE and more immersive.
CONS:
- VERY Short (I personally completed it within 5-6 hours)
OTHER NOTE:
- Replayability: - Linear storytelling is FINE, its a good way to tell a narrative story in a directed pace but Linearity does sacrifice replayability at degree because, after finishing the story, there is little reason to play through it a second time around. Like a good action movie, it's best to be played again after some time has passed. (Copy Pasted from my Max Payne 1 Review)
CONCLUSION:
I rarely call something a 'MASTERPIECE' but after playing through the whole game, twice (once on my Xbox back in 2005, once again on my PC 2013), and sitting here writing this review, I cannot find any more CONs aside from the short story. Contrast this to the PROS I listed, I can easily say we have an almost perfect action game. Max Payne 2 blends perfectly the immersive storytelling of a good action movie, and the dynamic adrenaline pumping gameplay of a video game.
MUST BUY and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for both new and old fans a like. I do, however, not recommend you buy this game solo but instead, BUY the MAX PAYNE BUNDLE which includes the Original Max Payne and Max Payne 2. At $15, this is a game worth your time and money.
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