I keep referring to the period between the 1990s to around 2005 as the Golden Era of video games. This was the time when video games got their groove, when they went from being for the geeks in the basement to being for everyone. To make this move possible foundations needed to be built. These foundations were never from one company, but from the entire video game industry. It was ID software that made the run and gun; it was DMA designs that made the open world, Infogrames was responsible for survival horror and Core Design made the 3rd person shooter and adventure games. It was truly a time of greatness.

Nothing is created perfect… except me! ID kept on perfecting their art, DMA design brought their open-world into the realms of 3D, Infogrames grew their horror games but Core Design got into a rut releasing the same game with a different skin at regular intervals like some other major companies we know and hate. The success of Core Design’s third-person shooter influenced a young Finnish company to try their hand without making Core Design’s mistakes. They would fix the camera, the world would be dark and the lead character wouldn’t be like the action heroes that came before him, he would have flaws, he would have weaknesses, he would be human!

If you are trying to figure out the games I’m talking about in the last paragraph, I only have three things to say to you:

• There is something called Wikipedia which you should read once in a while instead of social media (Get off my lawn!)
• Documentaries about games and companies are a dime a dozen on YouTube. I suggest Gaming Historian, HistoricNerd, ColdFusion and Kim Justice in that order
• The last company is Remedy and the game is Max Payne.

If you knew what I was talking about all this time, good job on guessing Max Payne for today’s review. Except for the fact you are wrong: We are reviewing Max Payne 2… SUCKA! 

Story:

“I am Max Payne. My wife and daughter were murdered, it had something to do with the designer drug “V”.” If you asked me for a line from Max Payne that would be it. I would be wrong, that is not a line from the original Max Payne but the flashback in Max Payne 2. It is a testament to Sami Antero Järvi’s writing that he was able to consolidate a complete story into a few words. All the Max Payne games follow the same basic script: A drug-addicted cop is out to solve the wrongs that surround him. On the way, he loses himself in a web of intrigue and treachery while having someone close turn against him. This was fine for two rounds but Rockstar should have tried to do something new for the third game in the series. I would go into more detail but anything further is going to ruin the story for you, my dear reader.

Like its predecessor, the story in Max Payne 2 is delivered via comic book panels that are made out of pictures and some in-engine cinematics. The comic pages have a unique delivery, they allow a lot more artistic freedom over cut-scenes by using the full panel to deliver emotion, thought and pain while simultaneously being cheaper than making a full-blown video. These cost savings help the rest of the game as they release funds to where they can be better used.

The story as a whole is a little convoluted but won’t confuse anyone other than the Fifa players who buy a new game every year.

Sound:

Do you want to hear good voice acting? Do you want the actors to actually try and deliver their lines? Max has got you covered. The voice acting by the main cast is exceptional. Max sounds like a tortured soul out of an old crime series, Mona is extremely serious but carries out the occasional quip, Vlad is a Russian with a poker face for a while till it all goes to hell for him which makes him ‌loosen up since there is little left to hide. The non-hostile NPCs aren’t bad either, they are not as well voiced as the main cast but they are nowhere close to bad either. It is the enemies that are the weak point in the voice acting. While they sound okay the sheer number of enemies in the game forces a lot of the same lines to be repeated again and again. There are a few scripted instances before they notice Max where you can hear them talking about a TV show or people or just about anything in the game world which is a nice touch.

The attention to detail is purely stunning. The amount of sound effects is mind-numbing. From Max’s footsteps and rolls to boxes, ammo and even bloody clips hitting the ground, everything seems to have a sound effect. What is further impressive is that these sound effects along with the dialogue slowing down in bullet-time to keep the immersion intact. The only special effect I’m not too happy with is the sound used when picking up painkillers. The rest I can live with. 

Graphics:

The textures and models haven’t aged well. The levels have most of their detail simply from textures which makes them look bland by today’s standards. There are a few dilapidated rooms that change this but not often. The character models are not bad but we are so spoiled by face textures, dimples, expressions and smooth animation to the point where Max Payne 2 doesn’t look that great today. Speaking of the models: when enemies are killed, the physics engine drops their bodies in a rag doll form, this was cutting edge at the time but now feels a little strange, the way some corpses drop.

On the other hand: like the sound effects the attention to detail in the graphical effects is another strong suit. Shells flying out of guns as they are fired, clips dropping during reloads, muzzle flashes, actual bullets, blood clouds on human impact, this list could go on forever. As always the star of the show is the bullet time: on triggering bullet-time an overlay falls onto the screen giving it a bit of a darker tone but watching all the effects mentioned above is a sight for sore eyes. 

Gameplay:

Like its inspiration, Max Payne is a third-person shooter. Anyone who has only taken a cursory look at Max Payne will be confused by the levels of fame surrounding it, it looks like any other third-person shooter. You walk around a level and kill bad guys before moving onto the next level. I’m annoyed from typing those last few lines. Anyone reading this should know what a third-person shooter is. If you remove the cover mechanic from your thought process you are thinking about Max Payne.

Max Payne isn’t famous for being another third-person shooter. It is famous for stacking unique mechanics onto the third person formula. Each mechanic separates Max Payne from Tomb Raider and other third-person shooters. The first mechanic is spectacularly low health: Max can only take a few hits before he dies, a few shots from most weapons or a single shot from a shotgun means game over for poor Max. The second mechanic is portable health, painkillers act as healing potions throughout the game. The sheer number of painkillers makes me think New York City might have an addiction. The third: the most famous of Max Payne’s mechanics is the bullet time, bullet time slows down everything in the world except for Max’s aiming, this is the mechanic that was used to balance the game, that lets you slow down time or dive in slow motion like you were Neo, this is the mechanic that made you go wow! Bullet time now has some quality of life improvements: Time gets slower the more kills you rack up and the bullet time meter is always recharging. We know and love Max Payne for the bullet time but it would have been a poor game without the other two keeping the game difficult but fair.

The levels take you through the dark underbelly of New York City. They vary from rundown apartments, warehouses, derelict roads to a high-end nightclub and a mansion. They move from corridors to open areas naturally, you never wonder how a certain section came about. The levels don’t have the lazy design you see in modern games, each level has either a unique layout or mechanic. There is an example of playing the same level twice which is in Part 2: Chapter 2 and Part 2: Chapter 3, the first time you go into the level it is a partially completed construction site but the second time around it is a construction site accidentally being demolished with poor Max in the middle. This is a brilliant design since the same layout can be used twice by the developers but is unique to the player. The item placement in the levels is worth noting too: there are never too many pickups or too few. You will never be able to finish the game with a single gun but at the same time, you are not overly desperate for ammo or painkillers though there are a few close encounters where a bad shot could be game over.

Time for the meat of this review: Don’t think for a second that you can take on a Max Payne game without bullet-time or painkillers. Between the heightened damage from enemies and Max’s low health, you need the supporting crutch of bullet time to take them out quickly while you pop painkillers to stave off death. While enemies are usually positioned in front, they will take cover to thwart your attacks, attack fast so that they don’t get a chance to hide or flank you and think faster about your actions. There are tons of tip-offs about what the enemies are doing from the chatter between them, the sound of their footsteps and shots. These can all be used to give the player an advantage about where to look and what to do. There are cases when enemies will come in from behind but they are nice enough to shout which gives you a second to dodge out of the way.  Since death means that you restart from the last save or checkpoint you usually find your heart going nuts as you do your best to clear out an area. The gameplay is exhilarating and good fun. 

The only flaws in the gameplay are the occasional tight rope acts which a fall from means death, thankfully they are few and far apart. This is also the first game in a long time that has made me hate the shotgun, the shotgun spread is too high and the fire rate is too slow to be a worthwhile weapon, just ditch it and stick to the pistols and assault rifles. 

Conclusion:

Max Payne 2 feels like the game Remedy originally wanted to develop. The painstaking attention to detail accompanied by fast gameplay walking on the edge of difficulty without falling into the pit of frustration shows Max Payne 2 as a true labour of love. 

If it was just a bit longer, had a few graphic upgrades and more voice-overs for the enemies it would have been a God among Titans but for now, it is just a god among men.

Pros	Cons
Well written story	Short Story
Comics deliver the story	Poor facial animation in cutscenes
Great graphical effects	Dated models and textures
Great sound effects	Repetitive enemy lines
Bullet Time is so cool	Physics are hit and miss
Well designed levels	Nothing here
Tight gameplay	Not enough autosaves

Recommended Purchase Price: $15 or ₹750 

Final Score: 8/10