Max Payne 2 is one of those games for me where I feel crazy for having such a different opinion on it compared to others who seem to really enjoy it, with some considering it the best in the series, when for me it is very easily the worst.
As far as gameplay is concerned - its Max Payne with some added flair and ragdoll physics. While the improvements to the gameplay are evident, they are far from vast like everyone likes to claim - they're marginal at best. The largest change to the gameplay is how the gun spread is handled, and this change is a detriment to the game in my eyes. The spread on every weapon has been tightened up a bit, making long range shooting easier, and taking away from some of the John Woo bombasity of the first game, feeling more like a standard action flick. This coupled with Max having a noticeable boost in health this time around, makes you feel less vulnerable and makes the entire game much easier. Combat encounters are pretty trivial especially when you use bullet time and shootdodging as well, making combat even easier. The game really can't afford the combat encounters being as easy and at times unengaging as they are either considering its length. I have played this game twice, once on Detective (Normal) and the second and most recent time on Hard-Boiled (Hard), and both times around I beat the game in three and a half hours. Within that time span, the gameplay on offer here only serves to leave the impression of having played a less challenging, inferior Max Payne 1. The length of this game also damages...
The story. Max Payne 2's plot revolves around a love that forms between Max and femme fatal Mona Sax, who was introduced as a side character in the first game. A love that forms over the course of three and a half hours, which is being generous as it isn't exactly being displayed the entire time you play. It goes without saying it makes this romance between the two feel inauthentic and shoehorned - a seemingly patched together plot for the sequel to a successful title. In my eyes, the first Max Payne is very self contained and ends with most everything wrapped up, and the small fling of a love plot which plays out in this game at worst feels like a slap in the face to Max's character, having lost his wife and child no more than 3 years prior, yet still falling for this stranger and even killing for her. It just feels inorganic and out of place, despite the games writing itself still being decent, even if it doesn't quite live up to the first game for me.
In the end, the gameplay is made far too easy to be memorable with less enjoyable encounters (and even a godforsaken escort mission), and the story doesn't help it with its hamfisted romance that one finds very difficult to care for. With all of this taking place within a 3-4 hour timespan, it makes for a very forgettable game, sitting very awkwardly in the shadow of the game that came before it.
As far as gameplay is concerned - its Max Payne with some added flair and ragdoll physics. While the improvements to the gameplay are evident, they are far from vast like everyone likes to claim - they're marginal at best. The largest change to the gameplay is how the gun spread is handled, and this change is a detriment to the game in my eyes. The spread on every weapon has been tightened up a bit, making long range shooting easier, and taking away from some of the John Woo bombasity of the first game, feeling more like a standard action flick. This coupled with Max having a noticeable boost in health this time around, makes you feel less vulnerable and makes the entire game much easier. Combat encounters are pretty trivial especially when you use bullet time and shootdodging as well, making combat even easier. The game really can't afford the combat encounters being as easy and at times unengaging as they are either considering its length. I have played this game twice, once on Detective (Normal) and the second and most recent time on Hard-Boiled (Hard), and both times around I beat the game in three and a half hours. Within that time span, the gameplay on offer here only serves to leave the impression of having played a less challenging, inferior Max Payne 1. The length of this game also damages...
The story. Max Payne 2's plot revolves around a love that forms between Max and femme fatal Mona Sax, who was introduced as a side character in the first game. A love that forms over the course of three and a half hours, which is being generous as it isn't exactly being displayed the entire time you play. It goes without saying it makes this romance between the two feel inauthentic and shoehorned - a seemingly patched together plot for the sequel to a successful title. In my eyes, the first Max Payne is very self contained and ends with most everything wrapped up, and the small fling of a love plot which plays out in this game at worst feels like a slap in the face to Max's character, having lost his wife and child no more than 3 years prior, yet still falling for this stranger and even killing for her. It just feels inorganic and out of place, despite the games writing itself still being decent, even if it doesn't quite live up to the first game for me.
In the end, the gameplay is made far too easy to be memorable with less enjoyable encounters (and even a godforsaken escort mission), and the story doesn't help it with its hamfisted romance that one finds very difficult to care for. With all of this taking place within a 3-4 hour timespan, it makes for a very forgettable game, sitting very awkwardly in the shadow of the game that came before it.