Once I heard word that Max Payne and Max Payne 2 were on the Xbox Live Marketplace for download, I knew the charge on my credit card would be worthy of the purchase. I just couldn’t decide which one I wanted to buy, because I knew I had already played one of them. I didn’t want to download both because well, I’m a cheap ass. It’s cool, I’m totally comfortable admitting that. Also, I was certain I had played the first one but couldn’t quite remember what Max Payne 2 was all about. So I felt like I was taking a risk downloading this one not knowing if I had played it before, or if I even liked it. But I knew I liked the first Max Payne so I gave the sequel a go.
To my surprise, the game overall was very entertaining. It has an artistic dramatic story similar to the first and the comic style cut scenes easily draw you into the story. I really enjoyed that aspect of the game. It didn’t start off well for me though. I knew I was downloading an older game, but to see how low poly the characters are in this game was quite a shock to me. I have gotten so used to HD graphics and high poly characters, you forget sometimes y’know? Boxy shoulders, stretched textures, and seams in almost every scene. We’re really spoiled with the games that are released now days. It’s nice to be reminded how fortunate we are with how far the game engines and 3d modeling technology has come.
The game was off to a slow start but once the story grabs hold of you, that’s it. Moving forward through each level, I couldn’t help but be impressed at how well this game was made. What made it even more impressive to me was the fact that this game was made almost 6 years ago. That’s really not that long ago but in the video game world, it’s quite obvious how far we’ve come since Max Payne 2. But still, very impressive for it’s time and still is today. With random dark humor and all, this has become one of my favorite games ever.
I really enjoyed the bullet time in Max Payne 2. I found myself using it more and more as the game progressed. I needed to in order to take out the many enemies lurking behind every door and corner. Using it while reloading is probably one of the coolest features of the game. The slow motion and the 360 degree reload spin isn’t very practical but it sure as hell looks cool! Very Hollywoodish. Very Matrixy. (I know those aren’t words but you still understand them)
Unfortunately for the shooting and aiming though, I felt like that mechanic was a bit off in the game. I don’t know if this is because it’s a different version made specifically for download or if the original game was like this as well. When I would shoot someone at just about any distance, it almost didn’t matter that my recticule wasn’t directly aimed at the guy. Spray a few rounds in the general direction, and enough spray will take them down. I found myself spraying AK-47’s and MP5’s for dear life as I try to take them out before I ran out of painkillers, and somehow even though my aim was totally off, they managed to jump in the way of enough rounds to kill themselves. It worked in my favor so no complaints really. But if this was the case in today’s next gen games, it would be a huge flaw and possibly not even pass QA. That’s not to say it killed the game for me though, it did not. It’s just something you have to look past.
Not only do you get to play Max Payne in this game, you also get to play as a different character. Max Payne’s sick and twisted love interest, Mona. There is a level where Mona is helping Max Payne take out some dudes on the ground with the sniper. You somehow end up getting hurt (which happens a lot, this is the fall of Max Payne) and in order to find out what just happened to you and what Mona was doing the whole time, once you beat that part, you get to go back to the beginning of the level and play through as Mona to see her side of the story as well. So then you get to pick off the bad dudes with the sniper playing as Mona. I found it refreshing even though this has been done many times since this game. It still felt perfectly in place in the game.
I won’t talk too much more about this game because if you have not played this game yet, I am telling you it is most definitely worthy of a download onto your consoles hard drive. Especially if you played the first Max Payne, you must give Max Payne 2 a go. Need even more of a reason? Well, you need to play the second one before Max Payne 3 is released! You gotta catch up with the story right? So that’s more than enough reason right there you should take my advice, spend the $10 or so and download this game today. Yes it’s old, yes it doesn’t look as good as other games you’re currently playing, but in order to understand where the game industry is going, you first need to understand where the game industry has been. And Remedy’s Max Payne 2 to is the perfect example. Bravo Remedy. A few years too late, but bravo.
Best part of this entire game? No crying babies.
The Gamer Report 
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