Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

Other products by Rockstar Games

Product Features

• Max is back on the NYPD as a detective, still haunted by his dark, bloody past. Responding to a police dispatch at a warehouse leads Max down the same violent path he'd abandoned before, with old friends and new enemies along the way.
• Team up with the beautiful and deadly Mona Sax from the first game, as you control her intense sniping missions
• All-new Bullet Time features -- the more enemies you kill the faster Max moves
• New fighting moves and new weapons, like the MP5 and the twin Desert Eagles -- plus Max can equip grenades and Molotov Cocktails, and throw them while shooting
• Advanced AI and superior graphics bring this twisted tale of revenge and murder to life

Product Details

• Our recommended age: 17 - 20 years
• Manufacturer recommended age: 0 months and up
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000A92KX
• Item Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 8, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,128 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Game Informer Review

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 – 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 – 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

Replay:
Moderate

Rated: 8 out of 10
Editor: Adam Biessener
Issue: February 2004

2nd Opinion:
Playing this port Max Payne 2 is like seeing a picture of Biggie Smalls wearing Naomi Campbell's bikini – 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.

Rated: 7.5 out of 10
Editor: Matt Helgeson


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Product Description
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne brings back the film-noir and gritty gaming of the popular anti-hero, Max Payne -- a good cop who turns his back on the law, and goes after revenge. Cinematic twists and turn as you follow an incredible plot and uncover the secrets of Max Payne's past

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stylishly Honorable to the Action Platform, December 1, 2003

By	Sixto Limiac (I Don't Know!) - See all my reviews

This is merely an expectation that the PS2 will undoubtedly astound gamers as the PC version has done to me.

I was foreign to the world of Max Payne. Because I was not exposed to the frenzy of the detective's game back in 2001, I felt nonchalant towards the coming sequel. Now that I have experienced the sequel, I must profess that I have been stunned, then mesmerized, and all the more thrilled to have this game land on my laptop. Max Payne 2: The fall of Max Payne is a barrage of devilish quality saturating all through the game and then some. From the gutsy gameplay to the direction of the story, this game falls into a certain pizzazz of stylish coolness.

I can crack the code as to why the first game ignited a stir. An action game has never felt so empowered to be reckoned as the high octave blast that is Max Payne 2. Playing as a pessimistic detective, you must blaze through he dark, gritty streets of New York city. The story alone is topnotch suspense bundled with extraordinary twists and turns that'll have you gasping throughout your day. Driven by the story, the game's focal highlight is the gameplay's Bullet Time implementation. Heck, Max Payne is one of those games that is truly augmented by the graphics and sheer physics of the environment. With eye-candy in every so direction, it's a joy to shoot baddies with a multitude of weapons. Further adding to the bountiful fun, is the Havok engine which has the environment fully interactive. There's also rag-doll effects where spectacular combat scenes are distilled in slow-motion scenes and the best part is your in control. The gist of Max Payne 2 is the more baddies you gun down, the faster Payne is in a slow-motioned surrounding. With the environment flinging all over the screen and the slow motion of the game setting in, it's a delight to control this gem again and again.

Payne romps through New York City at its absolute darkest. As you go guns-a-blazing, you'll notice the graphical powerhouse. Each nook and cranny in the game is a stellar high point. What hit's the stride even more is the detailed photo realistic textures and the maw-gaping lighting effects. Like the story, the graphics stand on its own. A spectacular soundtrack kicks in to add to the already fascinating atmosphere. There are plenty of compulsive tracks, but the best part of the audio derives from the firefights where the signature sound of Payne's heart gallops as enemy gunfire sounds distorted. Plus, the voiceovers are good and suit the personality of Payne. The gritty comic book scenes heavily attribute to the overall atmosphere of the astounding game. You can easily tell that the makers of the game, have put sweat and effort into this wet-dream-come-true production.

The first game has been known to be very short, and the second one follows suit. Under the circumstances, its honest to say that fans of this game will not go out aching. This game is really something, but does leave the gamer wanting much more. Aside from that quibble, the stunning action warrants a purchase. Max Payne 2: the Fall of Max Payne is stylishly honorable to the action gaming platform.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost as great as the first!, December 26, 2003

By A Customer

Pros: Great guns, great graphics, great sound, great level design, and easy to pick up, play, and save games.
Cons: Only half as good as the first game (But that's still a great game!). Story is rough and the dream sequences are just a break in the action and not as good as the blood trail levels in the first one.

Other than that, there's not much to complain about in this game. Some gamers may think it's too easy, but the harder levels are unlocked after you do the first run through, which is fine by me. What the game lacks in AI, it more than makes up in quantity of action packed levels with tons of bad guys to shoot at. Game was very addictive and I had a hard time putting the controller down. Even for a violent game, this was the perfect early x-mas present.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes a great story can't save a game..., January 6, 2004

By	Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This is a continuation of the original Max Payne story, the film noir (or comic film noir) tale of a hard-bitten investigator with a taste for shooting his opponents. In the course of the first tale, Max loses his family, his job, and his self-respect. Now, in this episode, Payne confronts his own ghosts as he gets caught up in a gang conflict, crooked cops, and a hard fall for the woman who helped ruin his life.

The game unfolds using short cut-scenes and comic book style illustrations to provide the narrative. From a purely artistic viewpoint, the game deserves high grades. The settings are highly detailed, including a grotesque funhouse and a Washington manor house among other settings. Levels are maze-like and sometimes the clues are subtle. Not so subtle is the script, which has a style somewhere between Mickey Spillane and a sledgehammer. Payne's narration is bitter, full of the knowledge that everything must die.

The initial reception of this game was only slightly less than ecstatic. I'm not normally a fan of pure shooters, but I decided that this one was one to try out. What I discovered is that the PS2 implementation (I can't speak for the PC or Xbox versions) left a lot to be desired. Control over the characters is quirky at best. The player has no useful control over Payne's jumping ability - getting Payne to jump out a window to a small ledge just below it results in a low of reloading and cursing. Turns are extremely slow, resulting in all kinds of maneuvers to avoid having to turn when in a full battle.

The end result is that the game failed to capture my full attention - there never came that magic moment when I lost consciousness of the controller. It was the enemy, not the geek trying to unload an AK-47 at me. I just finished playing Prince of Persia, so I was acutely aware of what a game could do, and The Fall of Max Payne simply fell too short of the target. Hopefully, this is the result of a poor port of the game from the PC version. For those that don't have PC's to play on, I would wait a bit for the price to drop.