Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne takes you on another roller coaster ride with Max as he tries to uncover more about his past, and once again cop and criminal alike want a piece of him.
This is the sequel to one of the most innovative shooter games that has ever been created.
Once again, you play as Max Payne, and you start in the hospital where you are recovering from a bullet wound to the head. As before, the past is haunting Max, and he must get out of the hospital and find out what has happened to him. Characters from the first game will make another appearance in this one, including the sexy female cop, Mona Sax, whom you will actually have the chance to play as and control during some of the missions.
Gameplay is the same as it was in the original Max Payne (see my first review). The fantastic "Bullet Time" feature is back in this game, and there is an additional "Bullet Cam" feature that is excellent to watch. This new feature is used most often with the Sniper Rifle, showing a movie-style sequence of the target getting hit. The controls are still the same, with keyboard driven movement, and everything else controlled with the mouse. The graphic novel is still part of the Max Payne experience, and it pulls the gamer into the ever-changing story. Painkillers are still the way that Max heals himself, and they still look the same. Max will still have access to some great weaponry, including some new ones like the MP5, and the Dragunov sniper rifle. There is a great new addition to the trusty 9MM pistols; you can now use two at once (dual action). Unlike the first game, you will have to guard some people during some missions, and as I mentioned before, you will have the chance to play as Mona Max. Another great gameplay feature that is incorporated into this game is that it will automatically adjust difficulty according to how well, or how bad you are playing.
Graphics are excellent in this game. I really think they improved upon this area with this sequel. Great detail in every environment, and the characters looked real.
The sound is very good. The weapon sounds are authentic, and voices are good. One thing about the sound that I just happen to notice the other day is that it is even more outstanding when you use headphones, you get an excellent stereo affect when using them.
The learning curve is good in this game. There is NOT a tutorial in this sequel, and I think that would probably be the only complaint I would have with this game. There are two options on the Main menu that do help considerably when trying to learn how to play, and catching up with the story. The first is "How to Play", and it will display the default control configuration. The other one is called "Previously", and it will show a movie sequence that goes over what happened in the first game.
Replay value is once again the low ranking in the review, and once again the only incentive that this game had to offer gamers for playing it again is the harder levels that become unlocked once you play Max Payne 2 for the first time. There is a new gameplay mode that has been added to Max Payne 2, and it is called "Dead Man Walking". This mode will test how long you can keep Max alive when his enemies are resurrected.
If you want further details on how "Bullet Time" works, and other features of this game, than I would suggest that you look at my review for the original Max Payne, because it goes into extensive detail about those features, and they are all used in this game as well.
So pick this one up, and I assure you that it will keep you entertained for hours upon hours.
Thank GOD there were no dream sequences in this one.
