Max Payne 2

When I first read the preview in PC Gamer a few months ago my expectations were low and I was expecting Max Payne 2 to be a decent game but nothing special, seems PC Gamer agreed as they gave it the 2/6 bullet rating. After several hours of blasting away a couple hundred people I realized that I just played through a GREAT game. I really enjoyed the first game, the dark story was a good addition to a happy and humorous market. As good as the first game was the second improved upon it's methods and delivered a true hard-core action game.


The game does a real good job of capturing the tension of battles and the urgency to progress. The level where Mona is sniping people off the scafold while Payne fights on the ground was incredible. While you were racing through the building trying to find the new balcony you had to fend off enemies all the same, never giving a pause in the action. The story had some great twists although many people probably won't appreciate the ending (I thought it was decent).


The new physics engine is spectacular, there's nothing better then pushing a flaming barrel off a ledge and having it detonate in a crowd of bad-guys. As soon as I started the game I ran into a chair and knocked it over, almost every object can be interacted with (within reason, mostly smaller objects however). The physics have an impact on gameplay as well, leaving several options in how to tackle a situation.


If you're a fan of the action genre I recommend you go out and get this game whenever you have the oppurtunity. While the single player game is short the game is given additional options of gameplay and we can expect several mods from the community in the future. Max Payne 2 was a real nice suprise for a game that wasn't soaked in hype, a very good buy.

Id call the first person shooter market a lot of things, but "happy and humorous" isn't one of them, pre- or post-Max Payne.

Guess I should've chosen better words, but the stories in other games definately don't amount to the depressing and sadistic feel of Max Payne.