Truely incredible story that makes it worth the ride itself.. Plus more enjoyable guns and enviroments to demolish!
User Rating: 9.3 | Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne XBOX
While it’s clear that Max Payne 2 is an experience tailored for a PC keyboard-and-mouse configuration, this port admirably recreates the experience on the Xbox. Obviously, the developers realized that your targeting could never be as precise with an analog stick, so they helpfully added an unobtrusive auto-aim feature, which translates into a frustration-free experience. Sadly, the graphics had to take a bit of a hit to run on Xbox. However, the PC version was absolutely stunning, so in its reduced form, Max Payne 2 is now merely a really, really good-looking game. Think of it like this: It was like Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, now it’s like that cute girl that waited on you at Applebee’s. Either way, she’s way out of your league and you should be happy that she’s even talking to you.
Another big draw of the series is the film-noir, graphic novel-inspired cutscenes. This time around, the story is even more mysterious, cutting back and forth in time as Max tries to escape his fate as an accused murderer. While I’ve heard some complain that the plot is a bit overblown and intrusive, I actually appreciate the effort that went into creating a compelling story and finely drawn characters. Over the top? Sure, but I’ll take it over the usual "let’s get the terrorists" tripe that usually passes for writing in a video game. I especially like taking control of Mona’s character and experiencing the events I’d just played as Max from a different perspective, à la Pulp Fiction.
