Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a violent, film-noir love story. Dark, tragic and intense, the in-depth story is a thrill-ride of shocking twists and revelations. Love hurts.
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne delivers the most intense gameplay experience imaginable. The fierce, yet stylish action sequences and slow-motion gunplay that has become synonymous with Max Payne is back and better than ever. New and enhanced moves and options provide breathtaking cinematic game play. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne raises the bar on action games all over again.
Bringing PC titles to the PS2 never seems to work out quite right; it's to developer Remedy's credit that The Fall of Max Payne plays as well as it does, especially considering the graphical sophistication of the title. It's no secret that this doesn't look as good as its bigger brothers, but it can certainly stand up to against anything else on this console.
Though the title does maintain a stable number of frames per second, it's just not a very high number. The only times it really felt smooth were when I was in a small room with no other characters present Ð it was a fairly bumpy ride pretty much everywhere else. Tack on the abysmal load times and three-menu-deep saves, and you've got a significantly slower play than can be found elsewhere.
On the plus side, Max 2 is still an excellent game. All the content is still there, and when you're in the zone capping thugs, you tend not to notice a dropped frame here and there. Also, the control is about as good as it gets Ð rarely did I yearn for the precision of my mouse.
If you have access to one of the more powerful platforms, keep in mind that Max Payne 2 is a much smoother experience when backed up by some high-end electronics; but, if that's not an option, by all means get this.
Concept:
Hey, let's pretend that the PS2 can run Max Payne!
Graphics:
There is no comparison to the Xbox version, much less the PC
Sound:
Freakin' interstellar. Some of the best sound design around
Playability:
Holding down R3 to speed up turning is a great addition that I'd like to see copied in every single title with analog view control
Entertainment:
Still worth playing, but definitely of a lesser caliber than the other two releases
Playing this port Max Payne 2 is like seeing a picture of Biggie Smalls wearing Naomi Campbell's bikini Ð you've got to appreciate the effort that went into fitting everything in, but the results are not pretty. Rockstar claimed that there would be more effort going into the PlayStation 2 port this time around. I only wish I could claim that the work paid off. Yes, it looks better than the horrid PS2 version of the original, but still does not come close to reaching the level of excellence achieved on the PC or Xbox. The primary flaws are mostly visual, everything from the poor water and explosive effects to the dreary texturing to the weird, angular character models. Also, the choppy framerate really diminishes the thrill of the jump-and-shoot action. Even worse, the game loads too often and too slowly. Sorry, Max, but maybe you weren't meant for PlayStation 2.
In 2001, Max Payne arrived to set the benchmark for action gaming, earning countless awards and revolutionizing the genre with cinematic combat sequences fueled by the groundbreaking use of slow motion and compulsive narrative-driven gameplay. Now, working together with Rockstar Games, Remedy has combined Max Payne's hallmark gameplay with all new innovations and unmatched production values. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne raises the bar for action games all over again.
