Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (Knifey played through it!)

After just finishing the game a half hour ago I felt like I should write something up for such a great game. I bought it for $2.49 when it was part of the daily holiday deals on steam last week and hot daim, did it meet my expectations. I had some memories from the first one, mainly of the bullet time mechanics and painkillers as health packs, but something I had forgotten was the way the story presents itself in a 2d comic book- noir style. This blew me away as I felt it catered to the dark and grim mood so much better than dated in game cut scenes. The voice acting provided with these stills gave it a very unique vibe that I have not seen in any game before, and actually made me wonder why more games don't utilize such techniques.
 
BLOODY HELL MAN MAX PAYNE HAS GOT PROBLEMS!
 
Another thing I love about this game is how Max Payne, as a character, is built up within reality as a believable, truly beat down individual. The man has issues, and the way the game presents the troubled insanity is brilliant. I am so happy to see a game that isn't afraid to have everything be absolutely terrible. This may have something to do with philosophical ideals I've been learning/thinking about in the last year and a half, but boy does it bring me joy.
 
HEY MAN, LIKE, BULLET TIME EH?!!?!?!
 
Hell yeah some bullet time! This mechanic is the main reason I bought the game in the first place. I've had an gaming itch I needed scratched to play a bullet time third person shooter, and what better way than to go back to the series that started it? I feel it still holds up today, though some of the animation (namely running/normal jumping) is a bit clunky. Overall I had absolutely no problems playing through the game. I mean, you can blow dudes away while jumping through a door sideways and then turn on bullet time just so you can reload like a bad ass. This game is awesome.
 
So are there bombers out there who like me, picked this game up on a whim during the steam sale and have had their fizzy penis explode?! (Top Gear reference)
 Or maybe just those who played it when it came out and enjoyed the hell out of it.
 Or maybe you hated it, let me hear why!
 
tl;dr Knifey finished Max Payne 2 and loved the hell out of it, brilliant game. Thoughts?
 
edit: I should also say, having played through 2 I now want to see the crappy movie that came out, help!!

After just finishing the game a half hour ago I felt like I should write something up for such a great game. I bought it for $2.49 when it was part of the daily holiday deals on steam last week and hot daim, did it meet my expectations. I had some memories from the first one, mainly of the bullet time mechanics and painkillers as health packs, but something I had forgotten was the way the story presents itself in a 2d comic book- noir style. This blew me away as I felt it catered to the dark and grim mood so much better than dated in game cut scenes. The voice acting provided with these stills gave it a very unique vibe that I have not seen in any game before, and actually made me wonder why more games don't utilize such techniques.
 
BLOODY HELL MAN MAX PAYNE HAS GOT PROBLEMS!
 
Another thing I love about this game is how Max Payne, as a character, is built up within reality as a believable, truly beat down individual. The man has issues, and the way the game presents the troubled insanity is brilliant. I am so happy to see a game that isn't afraid to have everything be absolutely terrible. This may have something to do with philosophical ideals I've been learning/thinking about in the last year and a half, but boy does it bring me joy.
 
HEY MAN, LIKE, BULLET TIME EH?!!?!?!
 
Hell yeah some bullet time! This mechanic is the main reason I bought the game in the first place. I've had an gaming itch I needed scratched to play a bullet time third person shooter, and what better way than to go back to the series that started it? I feel it still holds up today, though some of the animation (namely running/normal jumping) is a bit clunky. Overall I had absolutely no problems playing through the game. I mean, you can blow dudes away while jumping through a door sideways and then turn on bullet time just so you can reload like a bad ass. This game is awesome.
 
So are there bombers out there who like me, picked this game up on a whim during the steam sale and have had their fizzy penis explode?! (Top Gear reference)
 Or maybe just those who played it when it came out and enjoyed the hell out of it.
 Or maybe you hated it, let me hear why!
 
tl;dr Knifey finished Max Payne 2 and loved the hell out of it, brilliant game. Thoughts?
 
edit: I should also say, having played through 2 I now want to see the crappy movie that came out, help!!

The Max Payne games are some of my favorite games ever.  Cannot wait for the third game.

" The Max Payne games are some of my favorite games ever.  Cannot wait for the third game. "

I bought that and the first one for three bucks on the sale. One of the best games I have played in a while. I love Bullet Time 2.0 and I seemed to use Bullet Time as opposed to shoot dodging because it has the coolest reloading animation.
 
Try beating it on Dead On Arrival.

Congrats on picking up and playing through Max Payne 2! For kicks, you should go back and play through the original again. I say this because a lot of folks tend to not give Max Payne 2 the credit it deserves for improving so much. The way Remedy tweaked bullet-time in the sequel changes the way it plays completely and of course, for the better. 
 
I absolutely love this game and I'm glad to see that you do too. It's such a dense, yet brilliantly paced game. It also has two the distinction of having somewhat common gameplay twists, but Remedy actually pulls them off in a way that's enjoyable. 
 

Still play the game today, one of my top games of all time. 
Check out some of the mods for it, the people really went crazy with alot of them.

 There's really not enough nice things to say about it. So, now that you've played through Max Payne 2, do you understand the fan backlash against the third? :) "

Absolutely by far one of my favorite games of all time. And the only game I've done competitive speed-runs of!

I bought max payne 1 and 2. I am trying to get through max payne first which seems to go on forever. I'll be playing this game within a week, however I did play the demo. It's actually a very good game.

I just wish that

Its one of my favourite game,glad to know you enjoyed it too.

I've said on these forums before that Max Payne 2 is one of my all-time favorite games (and I'm 99% sure that it might be right at the top for me). I play it on a yearly basis, at least. It's a ritual. I still have yet to play a shooter that is as satisfying as this one.
 
So glad you got to experience this game. I don't know if it'll grow on you like the game did for me, but honestly at the price you got it for, as long as it wasn't Big Rigs, it was probably worth it.

BLOODY HELL MAN MAX PAYNE HAS GOT PROBLEMS!

BLOODY HELL MAN MAX PAYNE HAS GOT PROBLEMS!

I've played through it many, many times. I'm probably one of the few who enjoyed the second game more than the first, too. Story-wise, it i the clear winner. Gameplay-wise, the fact that it had fewer restrictions on bullet-time (recharging meter) without de-balancing the game (it seems like there are a lot more enemies) makes it superior. Sure, it was probably easier on default difficulty, but it was also a whole lot more fun. Bullet-time + reload animations made you unstoppable. It was also cool that it was one of the first games to use the Havok engine.
 
Also got the alternate ending by cheating my way through the hardest difficulty (I cheated mostly because I wanted to get through it as fast as possible to see what it was like). I'm not sure which ending I like better. The first is obviously more bittersweet, but it kind of makes more sense, especially the last line of the game... which made me tear up quite a bit. It's a lot less impactful with the alternate ending. I'd also like to know which ending is supposed to be canon. I guess it's the first one, according to Max Payne 3, but I'm pretty much willing to write that game off and pretend it doesn't exist anyway.

I've played through it many, many times. I'm probably one of the few who enjoyed the second game more than the first, too. Story-wise, it i the clear winner. Gameplay-wise, the fact that it had fewer restrictions on bullet-time (recharging meter) without de-balancing the game (it seems like there are a lot more enemies) makes it superior. Sure, it was probably easier on default difficulty, but it was also a whole lot more fun. Bullet-time + reload animations made you unstoppable. It was also cool that it was one of the first games to use the Havok engine.
 
Also got the alternate ending by cheating my way through the hardest difficulty (I cheated mostly because I wanted to get through it as fast as possible to see what it was like). I'm not sure which ending I like better. The first is obviously more bittersweet, but it kind of makes more sense, especially the last line of the game... which made me tear up quite a bit. It's a lot less impactful with the alternate ending. I'd also like to know which ending is supposed to be canon. I guess it's the first one, according to Max Payne 3, but I'm pretty much willing to write that game off and pretend it doesn't exist anyway.
 

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

" @KnifeySpoony: Here's the alternate ending.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Actually, I'm not quite sure which image is which.

And I totally agree, which is what makes me annoyed they'd be willing to shit on that ending by making a third game after all that time. "

" The Max Payne games are some of my favorite games ever.  Cannot wait for the third game. "

" The Max Payne games are some of my favorite games ever.  Cannot wait for the third game. "

i never got to play 2. i liked the first one. nice that somebody just beat a great game from a couple of years from it being released.

" @Br3adfan said:

" The Max Payne games are some of my favorite games ever.  Cannot wait for the third game. "

Eh..I would set yourself up for disappointment. Not made by Remedy anymore, and everything shown about it looks like its being turned into a typical third person shooter now with nothing good about it. As well as making Max look like a fucking bald Sam Fisher instead of anything like he should. "

Just a side note, am I the only one who thinks that Max Payne's new look makes him look like Double Agent's Sam Fisher?

"  I've had an gaming itch I needed scratched to play a bullet time third person shooter, and what better way than to go back to the series that started it?  "