Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

Max Payne 2 does a lot of things right. The gameplay is slick, the slow motion and bullet effects are awesome and the narrative techniques like the comic strips are vastly improved.
Now when you bullet dodge you won't get destroyed if you didn't get kill everyone as Max gets up, instead he will stay on the ground for you to finish everyone off. Also standing bullet time got a big buff as Max will quickly spin to reload and bullets send enemies flying all over the place.
The first game had the same music behind every comic strip and was limited in the voice acting because of the budget, in this it's a million times more polished with sound effects, atmosphere and epic moments where s single frame will cover the screen in the most dramatic moments.

The weakness of the game comes from Max himself and the overall narrative. I understand why the head of Remedy Sam Lake didn't want to use his likeness for Max anymore but his replacement lacks the youthful edge or the charisma to pull it off, not to mention that Max is just a much more miserable character in this game. He complains and antagonises people constantly leading me to wonder what the hell Mona sees in him, unless she's still smitten from their brief encounters in the first game.
Voice actor James McCaffrey does a stellar job but even he cannot save some lines like "the past is a gaping hooooole".

Luckily the game is still strong enough to be a worthy sequel and a top action game.

Tem uma história mais satisfatória e aprimora o gameplay em relação ao primeiro. Impressiona a qualidade da dublagem e o seu aspecto cinematográfico, tem poucos jogos como ele até a sua época, em especial no gênero de ação. Ainda não parece ser a Remedy em seu melhor momento, mas gostei bastante.

Well that was fucking quick

arguably enhanced everything about the original, but I don't really like it as much. for some reason the level design isn't quite as memorable, and I honestly don't really enjoy the mona sax storyline, its quite cliche and gross for me. but yes the gunplay is really fun and beating the game can be a challenge. good times.

7.5/10

I don't feel Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne has aged well, nor have the shooting mechanics borne any true influence over the 3rd Person Shooter genre (Gears of War is somehow the title the majority of people associated with the genre).

The most important features of this game are its narration techniques (the voice overs, psychedelic dream sequences, the comic strips, etc.) and James McCaffrey's voice.

The "film noir love story" is arguably so much more ham-fisted than the first, without a proper carry-on of the resolution of the first game, but it still has its moments and a so obviously Pyrrhic atmosphere, and remains engaging throughout. The level design also suffers a tad but not to any truly detrimental degree, and the overall package is way more sound, with far better integration of cutscenes, gameplay and dialogue. It's about as good as the first as a result.