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Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max


KBell

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Yep, Max Payne 2 is finally released and i was there at my local Best Buy to snag the final copy that was on the shelves. The first thing that hits you when you see the game is its casing, which I found to be pretty cool. They didnt settle for those thin 2 inch thick boxes, no, they went THINNER :p

 

Okay, so right off the bat your probley gonna look at the system specs (if your smart you would ;) ). My system is nowhere near the Alienware type. Inside i hate the standard P4 processor with a $70 GeForce FX 5200 card, so i figured i would take the risk and install it. SUCCESS!

 

 

You'll hear the familiar Dark Violin music as your start the game, which brings back old memories. As usual, things start off on a confusing foot. Your in a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds and you dont know why. What dissapointed me was the loss of the "Runaway fugitive" Story that all lovers of the original loved. It is replaced with more of a "Film Noir Love Story" as read on the box ;) The storyline is mediocre at best, as it will take you some time to put some of the pieces of the puzzle together, while pumping lead into hundreds of baddies. Which brings me to the next catagory, Gameplay.

 

Gameplay is much the same as the original, infact, its a carbon copy. There are some levels that require you to find a valve to turn or a lever to pull, but other than that it's pretty much a "Shoot first, think later....MUCH later" game. So if you love using the Bullet-time feature, you'll love this game aswell. Sometimes an AI member will join you for a short time, but they're almost useless.

 

Whats different about this game is definetly apparent when you first startup this game, the graphics. Max Payne had recieved a makeover with some wrinkles to his cheeks and alittle experience in his eyes. You may not like the "Older" version of Max, but it fits the story perfectly. Character models are superbly done, with individual faces scrunching as they fire their last rounds of ammo in your general direction. One thing that did Disturb me alittle (And im a Knit-picker mind you ;) ) was the fact that sometimes cutscenes that were not done in the fun Comic Book style, they were done in real time graphics. This may not seem like a problem at all, but when Max or any other Character would talk, their mouths would move like they were chewing stale bread. One MAJOR addition to this series is the Rag Doll physics incorperated. We all know that rag doll physics can either make, or break a game, and this time it made it. Baddies keel over if you shoot them in their gut, others will clutch their shins as your pump their legs full of lead. And when the baddies fall, oh do they fall. Usually what makes a game look ridiculous when attempting Rag-Doll physics is when the baddie falls against the wall, only to have half of his body consumed by the wall. Max Payne 2 fixes that glitch as baddies will slam into the wall and realistically slide down. I came across only one instance where there were clipping issues, and that was late in the game. But other then that, Rockstar pulled the Rag-Doll physics off perfectly.

 

The weapons are the same mostly, with the exception of the MP5. But these weapons do get a visual upgrade. And an Audio upgrade aswell. Bullets realistically ping off of the walls and gunfire sounds more realistic aswell.

 

AI is pretty much the same as in the original. Guards will sometimes throw grenades into a hall that they eventually run through and blow themselves up in. Sometimes if an A.I member joins you, they'll run far ahead of you and try to take on multiple enemys, only to get pumped full of lead and become useless. Other than those minor causualties, these can be overlooked and you may not even notice anything else. The A.I is pretty much standard.

 

If you loved the first one and your waiting for an ending, buy Max Payne 2. If you werent a fan of the original, then this game will not win you over. Much of the original has been used in MP2, with the eception of the graphics, which might just win over newcomers alone.

 

 

Rating: 8.4/10

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Anyone have any opinions on the review? I'm actually trying to snag a position at Pregaming as a Game reviewer and was hopin i could get constuctive critisism on this review? (Besides the grammar errors....*Glares at Wacky*)

 

 

Oh, and to answer your question Mamba, no demo has been released yet, but you could pick up the original Max Payne for $10, like i said, they're almost alike ;)

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I liked #1 so I should like this one!!!

 

 

Not nessesaritly. Its true that Max Payne 2 borrows a lot from its original, but really it depends on what your looking for. If you enjoyed #1 for it's linear gameplay, then im sure you'll love MP2. But if you enjoyed #1 for its gritty story that left you on the edge of your seat, then you'll be dissapointed in Max Payne 2.

 

 

I mean, i pretty much said this in the review Rythe.

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I've been waiting with baited breath for this game since it was announced a few months back. Only 5 more days to go, I can't stand the anticipation any longer XP I just think it looks amazing, despite how alike/unlike it is to it's predecessor. By the end of the first game, I just wanted more Max Payne...and now, I nearly have it:D

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Originally posted by KBell

Not nessesaritly. Its true that Max Payne 2 borrows a lot from its original, but really it depends on what your looking for. If you enjoyed #1 for it's linear gameplay, then im sure you'll love MP2. But if you enjoyed #1 for its gritty story that left you on the edge of your seat, then you'll be dissapointed in Max Payne 2.

 

 

I mean, i pretty much said this in the review Rythe.

 

 

I liked #1 for all of it, exept maybe the grapics but I'll see.

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i liked the first one, but it was getting a bit repetetive by the end and i only really finished it to see the end of the story. Now im wondering if enough time has passed that i won't get bored of the gameplay in MP2 quickly. Still, if it is short i might buy it, play it and sell it next weekend.

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Originally posted by Azrael

So... how is this the Fall of Max Payne? Wasn't his life bad enough in the first one?:confused:

 

I believe the "Fall" refers to the Autumn - bloody Americans ;)

 

I am getting it in a few days, can't wait :p And as for the physics? Gotta love Havok 2 - that's what Half Life 2 uses (Deus Ex 2 and Thief 3 will use the same)...

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I have heard it is really short (like Max 1). Question - HOW short? Are we talking Red Faction 2 (5 hours)? Max 1 (~8 hours?), Halo (~10) or ... well, beyond 10 is now a 'long' game.

 

Short games should get a penalty in the reviews. But then it would encourage people to replicate areas in 6 hour games to make then 10 hour games rather than expanding actual content. Oh wait, they did that, it's called Halo ...

;)

 

Mike

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