Max Payne 2 seems to be highly regarded as the best in the trilogy but I gotta say while I enjoyed it I still like the first game and from memory the third game more.

The story is probably paced better than its predecessor and the character models and textures are a definite upgrade but the campaign is pretty short and not as challenging. The guns and sound design for them also feel way inferior compared to the first. There's barely any blood when you shoot an enemy and I just didn't really feel the visceral impact of a kill in this one. I do like the ragdoll physics though.

Of the three Max Payne games this definitely feels the most like a comic book and that will determine whether it's your favourite or not. Personally, I prefer the more gritty and grounded approach of the first and third games but this is still a solid entry. I liked it, didn't love it.

Max Payne was incredibly well written, but the gameplay, while fun, tripped over itself in the final acts by attempting to be hard in unfun ways. Max Payne 2 fixes almost every gameplay problem I had with the first, while also telling a hauntingly beautiful tale of a man falling farther and farther down into the pit of self loathing, still blaming himself for the murder of his family. His relationship with Mona is as toxic as toxic gets, both of them using each other for their own gains, but underneath that you can feel that there is some sick form of love between them that leads to both of their downfalls. At the end, Max finally forgiving himself for what happened brought me to tears. This man has been through so much, and that final line just hit me in the gut. Sam Lake is one of the best writers in the industry.

"With no way to deal with the past, I kept my eyes on the road, off the rear-view mirror and the road-kill behind me. I chased lesser mysteries, other people's crimes."

The Fall of Max Payne is a slick follow-up to the original that scales back the stakes but makes the more sensible choice of portraying an intimate character drama using the ones we already know from the first game. In turn, Remedy treats us to a tragic noir love story between Max and former one-scene-wonder Mona Sax as they become entangled in a mob war.

The more personal approach to the narrative this time pays off, and I found it to be an overall improvement from the first Max Payne's story. The graphic novel interludes, of course, make a return, along with real-time cutscenes. While I appreciate the desire to mix things up more, especially with the fancy new technology at their disposal at the time, I feel that a bit of the style is lost with the reduced number of graphic novel scenes. Though it is an even trade in exchange for a stronger narrative this time around.

The gameplay remains largely the same, though that's by no means a bad thing. After all, the combat in the original was already tight and fun to play around with. What does receive a huge upgrade here, however, is the level design and the difficulty. Clearly, they listened to complaints the first time, as Max Payne 2 provides adequate challenge from beginning to end on the default difficulty. The levels themselves are far more engaging, too, with the funhouse being a particular highlight.

In short, Max Payne 2 provides a worthy follow-up to the original. It doesn't rewrite the book, but it doesn't really need to. Instead, it expands on the base experience in new and engaging ways with a stronger story at the helm.

8/10

Max Payne 2 is a good time, although I do feel like it doesn't really stand up to it's predecessor which will always be a classic.

The biggest shortcoming is probably that Max Payne 2 doesn't take you to as many interesting places. The first game had Max in dirty slums, intercepting an ongoing bank robbery, going to seedy hotels, secret underground laboratories, demonic cult controlled night clubs. Max Payne 2 just lacks that variety and while there is stuff that is nicely done I just don't find the locations overall to be as memorable. It's a good deal shorter as well which makes the problem stand out even more. The levels aren't even badly designed or anything - it's just the variety and where they are set rather than the layout.

The story is not as crazy as the first game for sure, but it's rather interesting from a thematic and character standpoint. Max as this detective who doesn't really fit in anymore at the force after everything he has been through is great. He feels more at home being in massive firefights now rather than being tied to a desk.

On an even more positive note, the gameplay is glorious. Remedy understood the power of Bullet Time and there have been a lot of changes to make it more accessible and useful. Combat is made more fast-paced in general. Everything feels very snappy and satisfying. I feel like a badass in an action movie every step of the way. The only slightly negative aspect is perhaps that the arsenal of weapons becomes available to you very quickly and there is never really a lack of ammo to force the player to switch up tactics.

This all causes a bit of a dilemma in me because technically it succeeds at what an action game is supposed to be most competent at - the action. It's just that having a varied experience and a satisfying journey ended up being really important to me and I feel like this aspect could have been improved on while keeping the gameplay and grounded nature of the story intact.

So yeah - it's a good game, but it could have been amazing.

Stellar.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is basically everything that made Max Payne 1 so good but expanded with a good layer of complexity in it's story.

The level design is less trap-centered than Max Payne 1. And the story can get dark at times. The only thing that is not very good is the VA's in the cutscenes. They still have the goofy nature from the first game, except Max Payne and Mona Sax.

If the remake ever comes out I would like to make everyone more serious while still highlighting Max's voice.