Rating: 
Summary: Grat game but just too short.
Review: Before reviewing this game I'd like to start with the only thing I didn't like. The game is just too short. Took me a couple of afternoons and a saturday to finish it.That being said I must say that it was quite a great game. And despite being so short it will be worth playing it again and again. If you've played Max payne before you will immediately fit in with the game. The improvements aren't much. The graphics are somewhat improved but, in my personal view, they're not much of a leap forward from the previous max payne although the textures in particular have been much improved. But the best aspect of the game is that it has the whole package, that is great sound, gameplay, graphics and story. After several years of only having "shoot 'em up" games one gets rather tired. Great graphics can dazzle the eye but at the end of the day what I'm looking for in a game is sheer enterntainment value (I'm looking at you Unreal 2!). But this game is much more than shooting. Sometimes you have to do some exploring and other times think about what to do. The story is quite nice as well....specially with the "addition" of Mona Sax (Move aside Lara Croft! This is one "lovely" lady). One of the things I like the most are those missions where Mona has to protect Max and that in which Max has to protect a guy from the mob who got dressed up in a cartoon character suit with a bomb (abolutely hilarious by the way). Of course, all that which was great about the first game is present in this sequel. So conclusion. A great game but unfortunately too short. But don't let that drive you away from this game. It's short but quite fulfiling.....Max Payne 3....please come soon! A footnote. If you haven't played the first Max Payne I recommend you do so. Not only is it also a great game (and quite cheap nowadays) but you won't understand much of the story of Max Payne 2 unless you've played the first one.
Rating: 
Summary: The Genius of Max Payne
Review: I've read a review of this game where the person complains that it is too difficult and there's not enough gameplay. If you're having too hard a time on your own, get some cheat codes to help ya. gamewinners.com is a good place to find them. And, about the gameplay...true there's not as much as say, Half-Life or something, but with Max Payne 1 and 2, one of the main ways they tell the story is thru the cutscenes and graphic novel selections. That, in my opinion is why MP2 is called a "Film Noir Love Story", because the cutscenes and such make it seem more like a film. This isn't a game where the player can understand it simply by going around shooting people and occasionally talking to someone on the street after a massacre. That's the genius of Max Payne and I have to give serious credit to Rockstar Games for thinking this idea up. Look forward to Max Payne 3 and Max Payne the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Every bit as good as the original, and more!
Review: Max Payne exploded onto the scene in 2001 with innovative gameplay using the 'Bullet-time' special effect that made 1999's hit 'The Matrix' so amazing. Incorporating that effect strategically into gameplay was unquestionably difficult, but it was done so well that Max Payne became an instant classic with its noir, indie-movie style story told through 'Graphic Novel' interface, which is basically comic book inspired images with real actors and some great voice-overs. Max Payne 2 retains all those features and more in this new and excellent installment. Gone is Max Payne's infamous 'scrunchie face' or 'constipation face' from the original. He also talks in metaphors alot less than he used to. All characters have been completely redesigned and are more life-like than ever, with fully animated facial features. The new AI system allows some people to fight along side you, which can really help in a jam. Since the AI is good, you won't find yourself on the receiving end of your computer allies' gunfire too often. As you progress, the enemy AI adapts to your tactics, which keeps you on your toes. Bullet-Time is better than ever, and the death scenes in this game never cease to entertain. Many people complain to no end about the 'ragdoll physics' on the bodies, which basically means that the dead bodies flail into extreme positions, like a ragdoll stunt double would in a movie. While these physics can be a bit silly (and at times glitchy), I personally think they make for some very entertaining death scenes. At some points, when you defeat a crucial enemy or the last enemy in the area, the camera will pan around in slow-motion and show you the death. Since the ragdoll physics apply to many other objects, watching your dead enemies fall into a pile of 2x4's, sending them flying all over the place, is very entertaining. The story in this game is just as good, if not better than the first game. The new, haunting soundtrack is also excellent and sets the mood of the game perfectly. Voice-acting even seems to be vastly improved over the first game, even though the first game had great voice acting to begin with. The characters all have their own distinct personalities, and the game was just a blast to play. The game isn't short, but you could probably rip through it in about 8-12 hours of actual gameplay. Alternate gameplay modes open up when you beat the game, adding replay value. Overall, Max Payne 2 is an excellent game that is well worth the money. The action-packed and dramatic gameplay sequences, great story-telling and music will keep you glued to your screen until the very end. Definitely a sequel that lives up to and even surpasses the original.
Rating:
Summary: VERY fun, but too short...
Review: First off, lemme say, whoever thought this game was that hard was not utalizing the game controls, theres a thing called bullet-time (MP's signature) and with it this game is a breeze, and also very fun. They added a new feature, shoot dodge, with I used A LOT, it allows you to press shift, then you will jump right, left, forward, or backwards depending on the key you press afterwards, and it happens in bullet-time (doesn't take up bullet-time fuel). Its really fun to jump around a corner with a couple Desert Eagles and blast a room full of gang members to peices (the rag-doll physics are also outstanding) Secondly, people have said this game has poor programming which is completely false, I have a P4 2.4mhz, 258 ram, geforce4 ti 4600, and all the graphic controls were either medium or good althought my comp specs arent even up to the recommened area, I've played games with half the graphics on the same comp and they lagged a lot worse than this game, I have to comment Rockstar on the great job they did in this department. The ONLY complaint I have is that it is WAY to short. WAAYYYYY to short. I beat the game in little under 6 hrs, with movies/stills. Half-life was 20hrs, and at the time the graphics were outstanding. They should have just MP and MP2 one game, becuase it really makes me mad when I pay 35$ (best-buy price) and get about 1 hr worth of gameplay for every $5, (not including extras that come after you beat the game, although I grew tired of them rather quickly) Overall this game ran very smoothly, and was well worth my time, althought maybe not my money for the shortness. I give it a 4/5, -1 for the length.
Rating:
Summary: I don't see what the big problem is
Review: First of all these people who keep complaining about how hard games obviously don't like challenges. I admit the game was really hard, but thats what made it fun. Max Payne 2 is part action part love story. Graphic wise, Max Payne 2 is so far one of the best looking games i've ever seen. Very high res. Very good plot, a lot of twists go on in the story that completly make you feel different about the story in the first game. And the swearing im not going to complain about because im mature enough to hear the F word a few times. Plus you get new weapons and plus you get to play as Mona Sax as well. The secondary characters AI is a big imporvement. Some downfalls that the game was too short and loading time is kind of long as well. Overall they put a lot into this game, a very good love-action story, kind of like a movie, had twists and turns, graphics improved a lot, enemies deaths more detailed, bullettime effects as well. If your looking for a good action game, this is a great one.
Rating: 
Summary: Tedious, extremely difficult, and full of the "F" word.
Review: Mp2 starts out twice as difficult as MP1 ever was and has now way to change the difficulty level (HIGHER difficulty levels are unlocked when you beat it once). That's probably great if you devote you life to video games, but for a casual gamer like me it boils down to a LOT staring at the quickload progress bar. Right off the bat you're thrown into rooms full of guys with uzis and hand grenades firing continuously. Too often your life meter is halfed before you even have a chance to duck. And that's when you actually get to PLAY the game. Between the lengthy still frame storyboards, the frequent cinematics, the loading bars and the dream sequences, MP2 squeezes in some short stints of actual game PLAY almost as an afterthought. Hey guys, I wanna watch a movie I'll rent a video--they're cheaper. I put the bit about the "F" word in my title to warn parents who may get begged into buying this for their child thinking the mature rating is only for video game "violence". MP2 takes profanity to a new level with the usage of the "F" word on par with typical R rated cop movies. Of couse with its M rating it has every right to do so--just thought I'd point it out. Great graphics save MP2 from a one-star rating. You can interact with just about any object in the game and the dynamics of how things react is spot on. Barrels roll down stairs, bodies flop about convincingly, crates teeter, fall and bounce, etc. Too bad they didn't make a game worthy of it's graphics.
Rating:
Summary: Rockin You Computer
Review: I played this game on Athlon XP 2600+, 512MB RAM, GF Ti4200 128MB and i find some drop frame in game... in 1024x768res with full detail, aniso off, fsaa off, but this game so nice and i very like this game, so you MUST BUY THIS GAME if you a freak gamer...
Rating:
Summary: TEDIOUS EXPLORATION
Review: This was the one I was waiting for. All the hype was there, All the expectations were there. It's a dud. Graphics are fantastic, although the Max face is unwelcome, and disturbing (as has been reported by others....where did they get this guy?). The problem is that it the game is 60% searching for an open door, following which, something can happen. You spend most of this game time looking for open doors. That was "ok" and state of the art in the late 90's, but it's simply tedium for no purpose now. What is the benefit of me checking 18 doors to see if they're openable? There is no gameplay added...it's simply an annoying stall until gameplay progresses. The most adventurous level is visually amazing, the "Fun House", yet you go through it without a shot. What's going on here with game design? Maybe there's something comming at level 3 but right now I'm saying "big snooze". Unworthy. Not well planned....a programming failure with a graphics magesty. Overall....no fun....just frustrating tedium. Remember this has been 4 years since the originasl appeared....shouldn't we expect something more than better graphics in this time of PC game evolvment? A shame.
Rating:
Summary: i figured out what's been bothering me...
Review: Man oh man didn't we all love the first one...I couldn't wait to buy this game, and after one defective copy (cyclic redundancy error-if you get this don't waste your time, return it) I was in business! Lot's of story, relatively short game, something just wasn't right about the game. Don't get me wrong, the physics are awe dropping-rag doll hello! But I don't agree that the graphics are much better at all. I can max out both games with full 6xAA and 16xAF and I feel the first looks just as good. Anyway...I FIGURED out what made me feel like MP2 wasn't as fun as Max Payne. For those of you that played MP a lot and got fairly good at, it probably wasn't challenging enough and sorta boring, like going through the motions. This happened to me. The fact that you can only play on detective mode made the initial play of the game a TOTAL LET DOWN.
Rating:
Summary: Practically perfect.
Review: Minor bugs not-withstanding, this game is a visual feast. It has AI that stands out as an effort beyond any other FPS style game yet. The incredible fluidity of plot was much better than in the first. The comic-book cutscenes were more worth watching this time around. I ran this on an athlon 900 with windows xp ,a geforce 4 4800 ,and 1 gig pc133 ram and it ran *almost * perfectly with EVERY feature cranked all the way up. My specs are far below the recommended specs on the box. Game length? Anyone who says they finished this in under 10 hours is missing out on the true grit of this game. The background conversations in the jail cells, police officer interrogations in the background, and 'noone lives forever' style conversations between the bad guys at the 'top of the stairs' or, wherever they may happen to be. As long as you stay out of sight, you can hear some juicy gossip that just may clue you in to the next step in this 'noir' mystery. I aced the game,covering all extra -and very enjoyable- features, in about 17 hours. If i had skipped all the worthwhile extras, probably about 10 or 11 hours would've done it. But, the beauty of the MAX PAYNE 2 world is that it is much more complete than the first. Including some haunting dialogue ,spoken by max himself from the first game, that will come back to haunt you in nightmares. There is one incredible 'escape ' moment near the start of the game that sets the scene for the whole game. This is more of an interactive movie than a 'shooter'. And, a funhouse moment in the game that will make your jaw drop. More than a pleasant surprise is this game. It is a shocking one. Rockstar games have outdone themselves once again. Now, i'm going to wait 3 or 4 years for MAX PAYNE 3. I will hold my breath. Don't miss this program. The inner circle may be calling you. G'night max.
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