Was Max Payne 2 one of the worst and most disappointing sequel??

Hello friends,

So i recently revisited Max payne series and replayed them again. all 3 games. Original is still masterpeice dispite its visuals are aged. then went to Max payne 2. I remember long ago i was so disappointed by this game as it was inferior to original in every way except it has nice physics. its level design is far worse, its atmosphere is less gritty and dark, gameplay was step back as it has automatic bullet time mechanics instead of gain bullet time by killing enemies, story is worse as max is no longer lone revenge thrusting, he is nypd detective which feel generic to me and have shitty love story except ending was awesom. even soundtrack are worse except main theme.

It make me realize that why this game getting so much loved when its shorter than original, easier, more simple and have less atmosphere??

Many people think Max payne 3 is worst in series. even i initially didnot liked it at first but i gave it second try and loved it. it has better story than 2, bring back original bullettime mechanics and most challenging game in series too. cant say same about MP2 which is enjoyable game but worst in series by far. The way i see, its in the category of Deus Ex IW, FEAR 2 and Crysis 2.

so what you think my friends? lets discuss

STFU

My friend, im a big fan of franchise. and as a fan of franchise im talking.

Original and 3 are absolutely Masterpeices. shame cant say same about second game.

Max Payne 2 is akin to Terminator 3/Terminator Genisys where they are basically just mimicking something that already existed and was better to begin with.

Max Payne 3, thanks to a new developer and taking place further along in time feels comparatively fresh.

The brighter colour pallet from the new setting in complete opposition of the original, with a new composer and look for Max Payne makes it aesthetically distinct from the previous entries.

Instead of the hard-boiled story-line, it's closer to a Western where a washed up old gun doesn't give a shit anymore, letting corruption go unchecked as the gangs run the town with Max Payne reduced to a yes man until an epiphany happens, and he shooted them in the faces like big cocks reconciling his personal fuckups with abit of death therapy.

The gameplay has some issues thanks to Rockstar style shit nobody asked for and nobody wanted. A shitty on-the rails section and absolutely pointless wall cover in there because "DATS WHAT GAMES DOOOO NOW!".

It's a better sequel than 2 and wraps up his story-line. Character redeemed, walk into sunset, da end.

This being gaming, I doubt they will end it there, somewhere at some-point, some knob head will do another one.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna skip this conversation for the day.

I also never like what they done with Max. I prefer this look

Over

i agree than 3 is better sequel than 2. 2 was like 4 to 5 hour short and easy and very forgettable except the ending. although 3 ending where Max gone to sunset beach was best conclusion.

I never understood why most people think 2 is best in series when its worse.

@davillain- said:

@ghosts4ever said:

@vfighter said:

STFU

My friend, im a big fan of franchise. and as a fan of franchise im talking.

Original and 3 are absolutely Masterpeices. shame cant say same about second game.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna skip this conversation for the day.

My friend. i was a child when MP1 released. and that time my head was blown that is this the video game? then i waited for sequel and was disappointed. now i revisit both Payne games. and still found 2 is worse of all trilogy. i even notice there is not bullet time in MP2. just some super power mode that recharge because it doesnot slow you down. only enemies. MP1 and 3 bullet time mode is slow mo.

Max Payne 3 is huge step up both in a term of gameplay, and in a term of Story.

I thoroughly enjoyed Max Payne 2. Imho it was a perfect sequel.

Same. Max Payne 2 was really enjoyable.

Is it bad to say I also enjoy Max Payne movie? (Just another guilty pleasure movie for me)

It was an okay-ish movie. It's too bad it had only one bullet-time scene (the one with the shotgun).

The most disappointing sequel was Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness (PS2). Total glitch fest.

I loved Max Payne 2. 3 is good as well but my least favourite. It's been over 15 years since I last played 1 and 2 so maybe I need to play them all again to see which is the worst but overall a really strong trilogy.

Max Payne was miscast. Mark Wahlberg (aside from being a racist piece of shit who blinded a guy and got away with it), can't act to save himself. He has two modes, frown and confused.

That dude from Oz who plays O'reilly would have been perfect.

Max Payne 2 is a amazing game and it's a great sequel I love the first game but the shooting mechanics and movements are stiff. MP2 fixes that MP2 is better in everyway then the original game from a gameplay standpoint. You can say the original MP has better story and atmosphere that's debatable I will say. But Max Payne 2 combat is a major improvement over the first game also it's one the first games if not the first to use the Havoc physics engine which added more fun to the combat.

Max Payne 2 is the best in the series in terms of gameplay MP3 was missing grenades and Molotovs it only had it in MP .

Also to say that FEAR 2 and Crysis 2 is the same category as Max Payne 2 is blasphemy

FEAR 2 and Crysis 2 gameplay was dumbed down and the combat sucked ass. Max Payne 2 combat is extremely satisfy the weapons look and sound great and the way the enemies ragdoll is awesome.

It sounds like you are playing the console version of Max Payne 2 because it's watered down compared to the PC version.

Love Max Payne 2, one of my favourite games ever made.

@uninspiredcup: How is he racist, and who did he blind and get away with it?

I dont game on console.

Max payne 2 only advantage is good shooting mechanics. everything else is step back. its more easier, less atmospheric, doesnot have charm of original.

talking about combat. Max payne 3 comba blow it out of water.

As someone who loves the games and has replayed the trilogy recently. I think the 1st was the best when it came to the story and setting the standard for bullet time and gun play. 2nd improved upon the game play and introduced more in depth perceptive of the characters. Now as for the some of song choices of the 2nd, they could have done better. Now for the 3rd game they could have done a much better job on the story, locations and setting. The only thing the 3rd game had going for it was the smooth gunplay. It was like Rockstar and Remedy's styles were in conflict. The cinematic direction for the 3rd didnt feel the same as the first two games.

Max Payne 3 combat is great no doubt but I still prefer MP2 combat over it MP3 combat is missing grenades and moltovs. Throwing a nade in MP2 and then seeing your enemy fly and filling them with bullets never gets old.

Max Payne 2 is excellent. It has some of (if not the best) writing in the franchise and some of the better in gaming overall. Vlad? Mona? Vinnie? Captain Baseball Bat Boy? The game was fucking hilarious, well paced, with extremely well written characters, great voice acting, amusing enemy chatter, built around solid mechanics and it didn't suffer from poor level design at all.

Payne 3 is the game that lost the series' charm as it tried to get all super realistic with its 'Man On Fire' shtick after it had moved from Remedy into Rockstar's hands. Its mechanics might be on game, but much was lost otherwise that made series so amazing.....the soul of the franchise felt absent.

I consider MP2 to be the best in the franchise easily.

It's a strange one as 1 had the gritty atmosphere 2 better gun play but 3 was a better all round game. It's difficult comparing 3 to the rest of the series.

Jack lupino is better character/Villain than all of these. I consider Vlad in MP1 as supporting character instead of becoming main villain in second game. the best Max payne villain is either Jack lupino or BB by far. although i also like victor branco of MP3.

I just dont like story in MP2. and even i replayed after long time. still not impressed.

I didnot found anything like this in MP2.

Ghost you are such a boring c*^÷.

While this is creative, the level itself is kind of shit if we're being honest.

You don't have any friends, sniper.

He's also a piece of shit who harasses people on their DMs. He sent a number of us homosexual pornographic images when he was under the username sniper.

What are you smoking and where can I get some?

Max Payne 2 was the best game in the franchise.

nope max pain 2 was the best.

max pain 3 was trash tho.

Max Payne 2 is easily the best in the franchise. It's Remedy's masterpiece, and I can't think of a third person shooter that has topped it.

Not only did it look and play incredibly well when it came out, but the noir atmosphere was spot on. The combination of writing, soundtrack, and general aesthetics are among the strongest in all of gaming.

Max payne 3 was far more challenging than Max payne 2.

In MP3. you die alot especially in last few levels, in MP2 you barely died.

my friend, like i said. Max payne 2 was enjoyble game but it lack the charm of original.

Max shine when he was lone wolf revenge thrusting badass. i just hate what they have done with him in 2.

Take a look a this. how atmospheric it was. that scene was just amazing. MP2 is about some crappy love story.

like i said, MP2 was enjoyable game but lack the charm of original.

btw

Max payne 3 Last mission set in Airport is easily the best level in entire series..

compare to MP2 last chapter

MP2 definitely fall flat. I even prefer finale of 3 over original.

Airport shootout is easily best level of entire series.

theres lot and lot of reasons why MP2 is blacksheep of series. no wonder it was commercial failure.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you.

Max Payne 2 is awesome. It's Max Payne 3 that's disappointing. Even though Max Payne 1 is the best in the series for me, MP2 is still a great game.

At least MP2 is an actual game because MP3 is a literally a fucking movie. Seriously you play for a little bit and it forces you into a very long cut scene every time. Plus you can only carry few weapons while in Max Payne 2 you can carry all of them. And the Brazil setting doesn't fit well for me. The only level that was nice was of course the New York City level but that's it.

To this day I'm still disappointed with that game. Max Payne 2 may not be perfect because Max Payne 1 still has the best music, enemies, and overall the best Max Payne design look, but Max Payne 2 is still a way better game then Max Payne 3 ever was.

If they made max payne 3 exactly like first 2. it would be more of same. its refreshing game in every way.

its a perfect example why people cant accept change. and not even in good way.

@ghosts4ever: My friend, I agree on auto bullet time. But everything else I don't. Revenge seeking badass for another entire game in succession would've been stupid; I have no problem with females or love stories; the gameplay was fun; the graphics were better; the physics were better. Its a good game.

I don't mind change at all but Max Payne 3 is not a proper Max Payne game. Like I said before Max Payne 3 has too many cut scenes that makes it more of a movie game then an actual game and carrying few weapons really sucks while the other two games lets you carry all of them making the gameplay more fun. Plus the enemies and main villains are not interesting. And for a game that is mostly cutscenes, I didn't like the story at all.

The gameplay is perfect. and huge step up form 2.

MP2 was 4 to 5 hour long game. even shorter than original. so if it has more cutscene. its still almost same length. as MP2 chapters were waay too short.

I agree, the gameplay is perfect but I agree with AcidTango that cutscenes interrupted that gameplay way way too often. It seems they didn't learn from MGS4 and even Kojima got that message: cutscenes are ok if balanced properly. Too long or too often or both and it breaks immersion.

Yeah, Max Payne 3 was pretty bad. It's the only game in the trilogy that I haven't replayed.

I hated the endless cutscenes that constantly interrupted the gameplay, and I hated that they ditched the noir aesthetic to go after the whole Tropa de Elite vibe. Max Payne's character felt shoehorned into the story at the last minute - he really had no reason to be in the game.

The gunplay itself was fine, but the mission design made the gameplay the worst in the series.

I honestly don't know why anyone would think Max Payne 2 is worse than 3.

I already explain. Its far too easy, faar too short, worse bullettime mechanics, based on shitty love story instead of how Badass Max is in 3. story in 3 is also better than 2.

and another thing I mention airport shootout.

Nope, it's oneof the best sequels. Had a blast with it, more so than MP3. The only negative was its length.

Man I still love this commercial I miss when PC gaming had timed AAA exclusives built from the ground up no console parity bullshit.

I loved 1 and 3 I know 3 got some hate but I had a blast with it.

2 I don’t remember to well to be honest so I guess I didn’t love it or hate it.

^ This

Max Payne 2 is one of the greatest games ever made.

Flawless combat, a gripping story, and elements way ahead of its time.

It used the whole character switching dynamic many years before GTA 5 and The Last of Us.

I think it also used enhanced physics prior to Half-Life 2.

I read that in Schwarzenegger voice.

No man, no. I honestly believe, at a minimum, Max Payne 2 was a great game for it’s time. I disagree.

Just read these reviews.

https://www.gamerankings.com/pc/561633-max-payne-2-the-fall-of-max-payne/index.html

Couldn't agree more in my opinion it's Remedy's best game. It was definitely ahead of it's time the texture work is amazing this came out in the fall of 03 and compared to other games at the time and years later it knocks them out of the park.

2 was my favorite. I couldn't get into 3 though. Gave it the ol college try but it just wasn't quite the same for some reason. What's also fun is to try out the first person mod for MP 2. It works really well actually.

@biggest_loser: Yup, max payne 2 was one of the very first games to implement havok physics. And the physics in both max payne 2&3 make it better than max payne 1.

Max payne 2 is one of the best games ever made.

When i was Kid. I saw max payne 2 disc at store with boxart that have max and mona was posing and film noire love story written there. i was like what the hell was that? was it really max payne sequel? is max wife back in sequel?? my first impression was it might not be as good as original and they might ruined it.

then i played it and i was right. apart from havok physics which is awesome. everything else was worse than original.

Also Raul passos was better than Mona imo.