[QUOTE="CondorCalabasas"] What plot holes? If you are going to make a claim, then you should prove it, correct? I felt the story in Max Payne 2 was overly simplistic, and obviously slapped together in the most sloppy way possible. Just using the same characters from the last game, why? Because they can. Why on earth would Vlad, go from being on Max's side, to being the bad guy? Its stupid, its the exact opposite of what the character would do from the first game. Vlad knew how powerful Max was, he helped Max out, because he knew it would stupid to get on his bad side. Vlad would've never done what he did in the second game, never. If you felt that all he was doing was complaining, then you weren't paying attention. I've finally played MP3 over the weekend and I've got to say that above anything else I was completely embittered by the simplicity and shallowness of the story! (The gameplay wasn't bad, I played on hard and it posed a nice challenge at times, missed a lot of the golden guns though) I'd love you to elaborate on how the use of past characters was simplistic, when it actually allowed the characters of Vlad, Woden and Mona to become more complex and interesting. Your question about Vlad flip-flopping can only be attributed to naivety or a sort of childish polarized mind. Firstly, the great thing about the characters in the first MP games was that nobody was completely good or bad, there is rarely such a thing in real life unless you believe the populist identity politics of Fox News or most contemporary Hollywood blockbusters etc. In fact, you almost got the feeling that Vlad did actually like you but knew that he had to kill you (same with Mona) which makes him more human and less like a cartoon-villain. Secondly, he was using you bro! Didn't you get that? He needed the mob (who are actually in the pay of Woden) wiped out. You were the perfect dude to do it. Then immediately after you'd done the job, the cleaners (in the pay of Vlad) came after you. There was so much more going on in the MP2 story that you don't realise until later on and the whole illuminati type "inner circle" setting made it feel much bigger and darker. The fact that Max was personally tied up in it all (being used as a pawn for both sides in MP2) made it gripping and entertaining. In both of the prequels you felt like Max had no choice but to keep going, he'd had everything taken from him and had nothing to lose but everything to gain. MP3 on the other hand is obviously written by a completely different author (no surprise it resembles GTA with its penchant for clubs, drugs and obsession with shallow, obtrusive wealth). There isn't any depth to the story or the characters. The "big twist" is that human trafficking thing but finding out about that (and then finishing the game to find that was the biggest twist) is completely underwhelming. All in all I came away from the whole thing feeling empty and wondering why Max even continued to try to help these borign characters past the 2nd chapter! TL;DR: Characters in MP1+2 had more depth and were much more interesting. The story in MP3 seems to made for/by adolescent boys
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