This gritty shooter, with a touch of romance, was released on October 14th, 2003 and was developed and produced by Remedy Entertainment and Rockstar Games, respectively. It received a mature rating because of it's liberal use of blood, violence, sexual themes, and strong language.  Platform: PC

I just finished this game and had a surprisingly good time, playing it. I did not have the chance to play the first "Max Payne" game that came out in 2001, but that fact did not affect my enjoyment of this installment.

The sequel to Max Payne, continues with the comic book style pages and mono-tone narrative, that despite being rather bland, does have it's redeeming qualities. The story telling is done with a tough sounding, course spirit and has an obvious play of romantic sentiment and situation. This style of narrative is quite enjoyable, once you accept that this was what they were going for, all along.

There are so many shooter games that come out every year, that I generally do not take the time to go back and review older games that have been out for longer than a year. Alas, there haven't been very many "good" shooters, released recently, so I decided to pick this one up and I am very happy that I did. To be sure, I found a "diamond in the rough", or bargain bin, as it were!

In this game, Max has fallen for a woman that has both gentle beauty and infinite grace, despite the fact that she is a very dangerous combatant and is quite skilled at using any weapon that she comes across. Her name ....... Mona Sax. Unfortunately, she is a murder suspect and Max jeopardizes his career, repeatedly, trying to keep her from the clutches of the law, as he tries to solve the case. 

The story is very deep and intense, because you can only imagine, what it would be like to be on the edge of death, for so long. The only thing driving you, is that you are hopelessly in love with someone that needs you now, more than ever. You push on, knowing in your heart that you will most certainly be killed in an attempt to save her life. You push on, to put an end to the criminals that have caused you and her so much suffering. Sadly, your love is not fit for the world's pace. Pretty deep!

• Gripping, comic-book style story telling.
• The Cello music, performed solo, enhances the atmosphere and really puts you in the mood.
• The story and dream sequences are quite good as they give you a break from the intense action, although, they may have been a bit to frequent. In the dream or hallucinating sequences, the sounds echo when max is shell shocked and staggering in pain, which adds to the realism.
• The environments are descent enough, especially, since many of the objects, like chairs, boxes, books, and equipment, can be moved and batted around. They cannot be destroyed and show no damage from explosions or gun fire, however.
• The weather effects are pretty descent. Sound and lighting are quite convincing.
• Descent controls and targeting is a breeze!
• There were a few humorous moments, specifically, some of the bad guys, were particularly funny, because of their utter stupidity. Incidentally, these moments were quite intentional by the developers and added a nice touch. Most of the story is quite serious, though.
• The cut-scenes and comic book style narratives were really quite good.
• You can skip these cut-scenes, which is a good thing, if you plan to play through the game more than once. This should be standard in all of today's games, but Max Payne 2 was done a few years ago, so they deserve some credit.
• There were some great moments in the police station and down in the cell block. You should spend some time looking around, listening to the television broadcasts, and paying attention to the characters around you. Very entertaining.
• The voice acting was done rather well. Even the narrative, regardless of it's mono-tone nature, was pretty good, considering the style they were going for.
• Bullet-time was a very interesting way to allow max to take on many enemies at once and still survive. There would be no way for Max to accomplish this, otherwise, because there are just too many bad guys attacking you in some areas. Because of Max's exemplary skills and awareness, you would expect him to be able to handle a few bad guys, but without the bullet-time feature, he wouldn't stand a chance in areas that are filled with enemies. This game-play element is a lot of fun, because you feel like an unstoppable, killing machine.

• There were some graphic glitches / clipping in a few of the levels.
• Max's narrative, was mono-tone. Although, given the style that they were going for, I consider it acceptable.
• Escort missions suck!
• In one instance, where you are escorting a bad guy to safety, the voice acting was quite annoying, almost like fingernails on a chalkboard! His high pitched whining, was very aggravating.
• Running back and forth to get into sniper position was understandable, but was taken a little too far and became repetitious and boring.
• The game is short and can be completed in less than 10 hours.
• Some of the environments were quite dull / generic.
• The final boss battle, was very difficult. It seemed that the bad guy never ran out of explosive devices to throw at you. I recommend saving up some bullet-time so that it makes this fight easier.

* Game-play
- This is a "good" shooter game, that has you taking out bad guys, as you play the part of a detective, trying to solve a case. "Bullet-time" events are used to slow down time and thus, your enemies, while Max is able to aim in real time. This allows you to take on a great many enemies at once, and still survive. This feature, is actually quite fun, because you feel like you are an unstoppable killing machine. The feature is used to show Max's exemplary skill and awareness, thereby, making his victory over the odds, much more believable.

* Fun Factor
- I had a great deal of fun, playing this game. It had plenty of bad guys to shoot, and interesting level design, even though some of the textures were a little generic and boring.

* Difficulty
- There are several difficulty settings, but I found the default setting just about right, the first time through. After you become accustomed to the controls and bullet-time effects, you can crank it up a notch and truly be given a challenge.

* Modes of Play
- The story mode is the most satisfying, initially, but afterward you can choose to play in the "Dead Man Walking" mode, which puts you in a level with non-stop spawning enemies, in which you must survive as long as you can, thereby, setting records. Another mode that is provided is sort of a timed-trial of each level, that you have completed. You have to unlock these modes by completing the game at the different difficulty settings. Finish the game on this highest difficulty level to watch an exclusive ending sequence that's altered from the two lower difficulty levels.

* Re-playability
- There are different modes that you can unlock and some of them are quite fun, specifically, the "Dead Man Walking" mode, where you must survive the level as long as you can. Also, the story is a bit complicated, and re-playing the game on a harder setting allows you to fill in any of the pieces of the story that eluded you the first time, around. Another thing that makes the game worth playing the second time, is that you can unlock different cut-scenes, that will surprise you and fill in the story, even more. Also, there is a mod-community that will stretch the game out even further, by adding new story-lines, levels, and other fun game-play elements to the product.

* Depth and Length of Game
- It took me about 10 hours to finish the game. There are three parts of the story, each with it's own prologue level. Each part is divided up into 6-8 chapters of some great story telling. As far as depth goes, I have rarely found a story with such consuming and enthralling content. It was like a good movie, where you wouldn't get up for anything, not even to go to the bathroom, because you didn't want to miss anything.

* Game Controls
- Loading and switching your weapons are very intuitive and easy to do. Targeting is a breeze! The bullet-time controls are very easy to use and is a lot of fun to watch. This feature, makes the insurmountable odds much more believable, as well.

* Physics
- Havoc / Rag doll physics are common place in todays games, but a few years ago, they weren't. Even though this game has aged, the animations are still quite good.

* Graphics
- The graphics are pretty descent, even though the game is a few years old. There were a few graphical anomalies that were present on certain levels. Mostly, just clipping problems and they can easily be dismissed, as they are not that bothersome, compared to the grand scheme of things.

* Audio
***** Voice Acting
- The voice acting was rather good, except one, in particular, was quite annoying. The guy on the escort mission was extremely aggravating with his high pitched whining. He just wouldn't shut up! Additionally, the narration of the story was mono-tone and very bland. However, if you consider that the developers were going for a gritty, course spirited effect in their story telling, you can appreciate what they were trying to do.

***** Television Broadcasts
- Scattered through-out the levels are television sets that are tuned to programming that is quite comical and some very interesting. During the dream sequences, you can watch the events that have unfolded and gleam a little more detail on what the story is all about.

***** Atmosphere and Other Sounds
- The atmosphere is very reminiscent of a "Mike Hammer" type story, including a gritty detective, a compelling crime drama, and of course, a beautiful woman to spice things up a bit. The sounds are mostly bullets and explosions and are done quite well. Nothing new in that aspect, however. During the dream sequences, the sounds that echoed through the hall ways, made you think about, what it would be like if you were shell shocked and on the edge of death. Very potent!

* Movie Sequences
- The movie sequences, weren't really movies, per se. They were done with a comic-book page, style of animation and was an interesting way to tell the story.

Max Payne 2, was a very enjoyable experience and I, whole heartedly, recommend this game to anyone that enjoys a rich and intriguing story-line, coupled with an intense, fast-action shooter type game. There are plenty of reasons to play this game through, more than once, which adds to the value of the title. This is one of the games, that you will remember for years to come, because of the depth in story and interesting characters. Most notably, the Max Payne performance was so riveting and believable, that it made you feel sorrow, because of the trouble his unwilling love had brought him.

Thanks for reading!

Hamarabi