A year ago, I played the original Max Payne, and I loved it for its gameplay and its story and it’s incredible how the story manages to be great even to this day. Now, I have decided it is finally time to play Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne and see where Max’s journey would take him from the first game.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Amazing story with a return of the classic cheesy voice acting
- Fun and amazing gameplay with exciting gunplay
- Tons of mods to use in the game
- Smoother animations that have improved from the first game
- Improved graphics that look much nicer
Cons
- The game is rather easy to play with no real challenge
- You may need some mods for the game to work properly
Story
Two years after the events from the previous game, Max Payne has had his charges taken off and got his old job as a detective back. He is investigating a series of murders that are from a group of contract killers named the Cleaners. Max encounters Mona Sax, who was thought to be dead from the previous game.
Mona has found herself in a lot of trouble. First, she is wanted for the murder of Senator Gate which Max tries to protest but Mona is still arrested. Also, the Cleaners are after Mona for some reason, and it’s up to Max to try and find out what is really going on and put a stop to the events that are unfolding.
The story for Max Payne 2 is excellent as it retains the feel of the first game very well and includes some very interesting twists.
I love how playing through the story feels like a classic crime drama with the return of cheesy voice acting, something that I am personally glad to see here. The comic book-styled cutscenes have also returned and look very nice as well.
Gameplay
Max Payne 2 brings back the 3rd person shooter action-oriented gameplay that the first game had and it’s still as fun as ever. For a game that is two decades old, the shooting in this game is fantastic and is definitely one of the highlights of it in my eyes. The bullet time mechanic has returned in this game and it’s still good to use in this game as well.
Shootdodging has been improved slightly as when you do it, it will no longer consumes adrenaline, rather it imparts it when you kill enemies. It also allows you to remain prone after landing from a dive if you continue to fire your weapons. Max will get up automatically if he runs out of ammo or if you stop firing.
There are also a few missions in the game where you can play as Mona Sax, although she doesn’t really have anything different to offer gameplay wise except for a different dodge as she is more acrobatic, but she can use bullet time just like Max can. She does come equipped with a sniper rifle, but she can use every weapon Max can.
The shooting does feel the same from the previous game and that’s not an issue, as I think the gameplay, just like the previous one, has aged very well. There are some platforming moments that haven’t, but they only appear once or twice in the game, so it’s not an issue for me.
The only issue I had with Max Payne 2 is that the game is rather short. While that is not an issue, the first game was at least seven hours long for me and was priced at 10.99 CDN - Max Payne 2 took me five hours to complete and is priced at 16.99 CDN. Don’t get me wrong, I would pay full price for the game as it’s fantastic, but I just wanted to point that out.
Mods
Max Payne 2 is also full of mods for you to use, which adds replay value to the game in a few ways for you to enjoy. Just like the first game, I am not someone to really use mods, but they are there for those who enjoy doing that sort of thing.
Max Payne 2 may need some mods to run on modern PCs as there are many available to assist with various issues and they can be easily installed. Luckily, my experience was smooth as I did not have to resort to installing any mods to launch and play through the game.
Graphics and Performance
The graphics for Max Payne 2 have improved and look much smoother. I really appreciate the dark contrast. The comic book art style during cutscenes is also great and is something I really do enjoy. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM, I experienced no issues while playing the game and it ran fine for me.
Final Verdict
If you loved playing the first game, then Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a game worth picking up. It has a great story, interesting characters, and fun gameplay, including everything that classic video games should have. It’s fun from start to finish and it’s what a game should be, something everyone can agree on.