9 / 10
13 Sep 2004 at 16:50
Review by: Doomed
Max Payne 2
Max Payne is back! In Max Payne 2, Max Payne is a Detective but finds this life turned upside down again with the past. This is an action packed game and a noir love story as well with full of twists. Max Payne is trying to find the answers but in his way are murderous thugs that will kill at nothing. Max Payne 2 is bigger, better, and more action packed than the original.
After the succession of the first Max Payne along came it’s sequel in 2003. I loved the first Max Payne to bits that I decided very quickly without hesitation to buy Max Payne 2. I bought it for £14.99 at game station in town, it was second hand though but the condition of the CD was perfect. I knew it was a bargain.
I went home and turned on my Xbox and inserted the game into the console. The game loaded through okay. There was an intro of Max moving in bullet time mode. I thought it was cool but not as cool as the originals intro but this did not matter at all it was the game which I was mainly bothered about.
Looking at the graphic while I was playing the game I noticed that there was a vast improvement in the quality. Max Payne’s head was no longer slightly rough around the edges. It was smoothed out. I thought the graphics were more realistic and looked even more photorealistic. The bonnet on the cars when you walked past them in the streets had a shine which was not featured in the original. Graphically the game is perfect, I thought at one point that I was really walking in the streets in the game. Objects can now topple over if Max walks into them which is different and an improvement in gaming technology. But on the other hard why as his expression on his face is changed this puzzles me a bit, why did they change his expression and image? And why does Vinnie Gognitti look younger than all the rest of the characters in the game, everybody looks older now? This is the only real fault that I can say about the graphics but this does not affect the score.
The sound effects have improved, more sounds have been added to the game for example, when Max Payne walks, his leather jacket makes a noise and this is good because it shows that the game as progressed from the original.
The music in the graphic novel has changed from being action packed to a dark and moody sound. I thought this fits well because the main story line happens to be a noir love story and the music adds to the atmosphere of the game however, on the other hand I still think that they should have kept some of the action packed sounding music in the game. This time round there is more music in the game which is better.
I thought the game was harder than the first, because the enemies in Max Payne 2 can now dodge your bullets and do some more tactical evasive rolls more than what the enemies could ever do in the first. They have become smarter and more aggressive because when they attack they tend to move while they are moving. Bullet time I thought was used more to combat the problem of being killed by the enemy. Painkillers are even rarer, so if you do pick up some painkillers use them wisely.
The controls are more difficult to master because the developer has altered the default controls around, which means that you are not familiar with them from when you played Max Payne. I could still adjust the controls to my own personal setting but it means farting about in the options menu for along time. There is no control sets like there was in the first game which is very annoying. On the plus side, Max Payne 2 loads up much quicker and the graphic novel isn’t slow to load up.
Max Payne 2 is a huge game others may disagree, however game does have some slight similarities which could put some gamers slightly off. An example is at the end of the game but I have not going to reveal on what happens, you have to play the game and see for yourself and if you have played through Max Payne you will see what I mean. The game still as the tutorial and the game modes are still the same but the story is different and you’ll get to meet some new characters as you progress through the game. I think the value is okay but I fell that after you compete the game there should have been some new modes devised, for example a two player mode or a level editor mode.
The game works very well because the developer as still included the dual shock option in the game which can be enabled or disabled during play. You can still save your process at any time by doing a save or a quick save but again there are no changes in the game. I think some times if something in a game works well to begin with, why change it?
Max Payne 2 is a excellent game and a slight improvement for the first game but the controls are very hard to master and gamers will notice some similarities in the game, however this will not put the player off the game. I will definitely recommend this game to every serious gamer should buy this game. It is a must!
Overview
User Reviews
Prices
Reviews
Change Country
RSS
