Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

The original Max Payne gave us a long enough taste of mind-bendingly exciting action and adventure to make us salivate profusely at the mouth with delight, and then quickly took it away before we got too greedy. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne takes almost the exact same approach, but gives us a slightly different game, as well as an even more engrossing experience. Although we all wish the game had been just a little longer, its quality would probably have suffered. For what you get then, Max Payne 2 is an absolute diamond of the highest degree.

First off, if you haven't played the original Max Payne, go out and play that first, as it is a truly fantastic game in itself. Although there is a very nice and handy storyboard cutscene summarising the events of that game, actually playing through it means that you will understand the story much easier. Since the storyline is one of the best aspects of the game, this point should not be underestimated in any way. This time around, Max has dispensed with his Hawaiian shirt, is out of the DEA and back into the NYPD as a detective, when he gets called to a warehouse where shots have been reported. However, the storyline actually jumps around in a very cool kind of Pulp Fiction style, and so the first thing you experience is Max awaking in a hospital, before suddenly hopping back to the 'beginning' again. Starting the game 'in medias res' was an exceedingly novel idea, gives the game a sense of style and adds to the film noir, or even classic pulp fiction feel even more. Although Max has put pay to several ghosts already in the first game, he is still deeply haunted with Survivor's Guilt concerning the murders of his wife and child, and has not been able to get over it yet. Further, his infatuation/love interest with the character of Mona Sax has notably increased. There are also new twists around the corner waiting to be discovered. Overall, the plot of Max Payne 2 is just as good, if not better than the original, offering a very interesting twist at the end.

On gameplay, Max still has access to a nice variety of weapons, and can now brandish dual Desert Eagles, for double the killing power. Further, Payne's main advantage over his enemies, Bullet Time, has gone through a substantial change. Before, it was of mainly about shoot-dodging your way round corners and leaping across rooms from cover to cover. Now, as well as that, activating Bullet Time just before an encounter with numerous enemies will allow Max to continually speed himself up and slow down time further in line with the number of bad guys he takes out, making large battles hugely entertaining as bullets ricochet everywhere and the rooms become wrecked with holes and flying splinters. AI is now even more intelligent, rolling around, hiding and throwing grenades when suitable. Aiming on the PC is nice and easy as always, and you can choose the design and size of the reticule. The ragdoll physics are good, and allow vanquished enemies fall in many interesting (and occasionally amusing) ways. There are also several levels where you get to play as Mona Sax, which is good fun and a nice change, but as Max is the more intricate character, his levels are much more exciting.

The graphics have improved substantially. Lip-syncing on the characters is good for the era, the character models are highly detailed and expressive, and all the environments are extremely interactive. Instead of a blizzard, there is now heavy rain falling across the boroughs of New York, giving more depth to the film noir, and showing that it really is the fall (autumn). Cutscenes are again delivered through the exquisitely beautiful graphic-novel storyboard format, and the sharp, cold and witty lines combined with superb voice acting give the game an amazing ambience; "Firing a gun is a binary choice, you either pull the trigger, or you don't." The music too, most notably the main theme, has improved significantly and is sombre and exciting when required.

There are again dream sequences like the previous game, but this time they are much better, as you can no longer 'die' whilst in the dreams. Again, they form a surreal sideline to the main story, but are still interesting. Aside from the relative shortness of the game, there are very few, if any, major weaknesses. I struggle to think of anything terribly critical to say on the gameplay front. Secondary characters have been developed nicely, notably Mona Sax, who is simply perfect in the role of mysterious femme fatale. There are also a great number of little in-jokes which have been in added, giving some nicely light-hearted moments. The best of these is the television programmes which have returned from the original, but now in longer format with a running plotline themselves; Address Unknown, a thriller about a guy called John Mirra, along with Lords and Ladies, where everyone is either addressed as "My Lord!" or "My Lady!"

In essence then, Max Payne 2 is really a 'film noir love story', just as it was billed. Max is one of the most interesting video game characters ever designed, and playing as him, you can also sense his emotions; a hardened but grief stricken individual. Apart from it being too short, as was its predecessor, this being a minor qualm at best, I sincerely hope that Payne will return for a third instalment some time soon in the future.