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The journey through the night continues.
Story:
Set two years after the events of Max Payne, we are again placed into the shoes of the titular detective. After responding to a distress call in a warehouse you find yourself meeting a lot of familiar faces and a story that puts you deep into a conspiracy that is unraveling.
The story of Max Payne 2 is the weakest of the trilogy. It's not bad by any means, but a lot of it has some moments that I'm not the biggest fan of. I especially didn't like all the incredibly over the top moments like that one escort mission with Vinnie, ( I won't spoil what happens) to give you an idea of how all over the place the writing is in this game, however the highs of this game are incredibly high.
Graphics:
Visually however, Max Payne 2 looks miles better than the first game. Environments you visit are varied and even though they are supposed to look run down, they visually at least have a lot of things going on which I really appreciate and it was my biggest gripe with the first game.
Also the characters also don't have a single facial expression slapped onto their face and actually have more expressive looks. When they talk it's not just a JPEG, but actually a moving mouth. It's a massive step up over the first game, but it still shows it's age, with some really low poly models and some low res textures.
Audio:
The audio design is a major step up over the first game too. The soundtrack is a great mix of orchestral tracks and some decent gunfight music, however it does retain the same issues as the first game where the music just abruptly cuts out once the action stops and it even feels more sudden now.
The voice acting is also still as great as ever. James McCaffrey is as Max is as great as ever and the line delivery would not be the same without him. The side characters also don't have those over the top accents now and sound more serious and in turn makes this game feel a lot more professional.
Gameplay:
Max Payne 2 is basically the same game as the first one. Shoot bad guys, jump dodge and use bullet time to take out your opponents. It's pretty much identical to the first game however just like in almost every department, it's also a massive upgrade.
Shooting feels a lot tighter, shots feel like they go where you aim and the combat feels like it has a lot more weight to it. It's especially more satisfying when you use incredibly powerful weaponry and send enemies flying into the environment and they crash into a pile of boxes and everything around them breaks, it's just so incredibly satisfying.
The difficulty also feels a lot more gradual. It's not as difficult as the first game, but it still has some difficult moments. I will say that I hate all the escort missions you have to perform cause it feels like every single enemy books it to the person you're supposed to protect and ignores you making certain areas needlessly difficult.
Also it's nowhere near a pain to play on modern rigs as the first one. I didn't have to tinker with this game whatsoever. It ran perfectly fine out of the gate and I didn't encounter a single issue. Considering how many issues I had with the first one, I was pleased with not having to tinker for hours on end.
Verdict:
Although this journey through the night is a lot shorter than the other two games in the series. Max Payne 2 is better in every way over the first game except the story. It provides an upgrade version of the bullet time shooter the first game was and makes one for one hell of an adventure.
Final Rating:
8/10
Pros:
+ Combat is a lot tighter
+ More interesting locations
+ Great audio design
+ Some great emotional story moments
Cons:
- Overall the story is pretty weak
- Incredibly short
- Escorting characters is not fun
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