Max Payne 2 is almost just as good as the legendary original and is a game that every fan of shooters should play.
I literally could not play the PS2 port because of the glitches and frustration plus those terribly annoyingly bad graphics.
But I really wanted to finish it because I am a MASSIVE fan of the original Max Payne which I played on the PS2 and LOVED.
So I decided to go for the PC version, apparently being the best one to get.
Well, I was so suprised at how superior it actually is!
The graphics are so much smoother and cleaner and you can actually make out things that were blurry and muddy on the PS2. Wow.
The awful loading times are gone. They still appear in the same places but they only last for a couple seconds or less.
It's never frustrating no matter how challenging it gets. The awful save system from the PS2 is gone. You dont have to manually save although you can quick save by pushing the F5 key.
Enough comparison. Max Payne 2 for the PC is gold.
Loved every minute and although it may not be as immersive or awesome as the first game, which I'm now inclined to get on the PC also, it lives up to the title favorably and has alot to offer despite its length.
The biggest con about Max Payne 2 is the length. It wont take long to beat at all, you can pretty much blitz it in a day or two.
It doesn't detract much from the overall experience but those looking for a longer game to play should be cautious.
The gameplay is absolutely awesome. Much the same as the original Max Payne, this is a third person shooter except there are a few more tweaks with the bullet time mode and new weapons. Wow, I forgot to mention the bullet time. If you're familiar with Max Payne then you would know that it uses this mechanic, in fact it's the first game that used it and has been imitated ever since.
It's basically just slow motion, but unlike before, not only your aim remains in real time, so does Max himself. He is almost going at full speed and aims normally still. It makes the game faster and more ballistic and bullet time is a life saver. I found that I used it much more than I did in the original. This time the game forces you to use it, and wisely, if you want to stay alive because at normal speed, dying is much more likely.
The reloading is also different in bullet time. Max will twist around gracefully reloading his gun and then just start blowing enemies away again. It makes everything more fun and faster.
You can also dive in slow motion which is also useful and adds alot of action. The are also a wider variety of weapons in Max Payne 2. Some are different and others return but they are all fun to shoot.
In this game you can also carry secondary weapons like grenades and molotov cocktails which is useful instead of having to manually select them. The gameplay is all very fun.
The story is also very good! Much better than you usually get with games like this. The whole style of the game is noir, dark and grim.
The story is great and very immersive, you will constantly want to know what happens next but I felt that the story was more interesting in the first one and it sucked me in much more. Ultimately, that's what made me like the first one more, the gameplay and story were more compelling and epic.
The cutscenes are entertaining and are mostly told through comic book panels, it's all very well done.
The graphics are much better than the original and Max definately looks better. You know, that one screwed up face texture in the original game that made Max look psycho. Well know he looks like a real guy, dark and brooding.
There are also some sections where you play as Mona but these arent all that fun, sooner or later I wanted to get back to Max.
Being Mona, you get a number of sniper missions but these were boring and I didn't like them very much.
The game can also be pretty challenging. Sometimes you can just die and die and die but this is where the quick save becomes very handy and saves A LOT of frustration. The game can be difficult at times but it's never frustrating and never feels like it's against you.
In the end, Max Payne 2 is almost just as good as the original, it may sound like I've said otherwise but no matter how much has been improved in Max Payne 2, the original was still much more immersive and awesome, like I said. Fans of the original will love this game, and even if you haven't even heard of the game before you will love it. Absolutely recommended but just make sure you get it on the PC, okay?