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Max Payne 2 Reviewed

Posted by michael on from the slow-motion-review dept.

Some random reader writes "Max Payne 2, the sequel to the awesome original game released years ago, hit shelves three days ago. The first review I've seen thus far is at PCSynapse. It seems to be what fans want, give or take a few quirks. Overall conclusion - 'MP2 was not designed to be revolutionary - but more evolutionary, and in that apparent goal it has succeeded with flying colors.'" There's a selection of other reviews collated via GameTab.

6 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. For Those Who Haven't Played the first.... by dirkdidit · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Max Payne is one of those games where you literally forget you're playing a game. It's that good and realistic. The first one had a good, solid plot, which in my opinion makes a game worthwhile to play.

    It's going to be the longest short wait ever for me until Max Payne 2 comes out, I'm just hoping it's as good as it sounds and can live up to the reputation the first one got.

  2. Games with guns are ubiquitous by zymano · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Thief was a game. Games that make you think and can build suspense like in a good movie. There seems to be a lack of real story telling and artistic talent at these game companies. The game are all cookie cutter now.

    1. Re:Games with guns are ubiquitous by Obyron · · Score: 4, Insightful

      > and can build suspense like in a good movie.

      > There seems to be a lack of real story telling and artistic talent

      > cookie cutter

      You've never played Max Payne, have you? ;) We're talking about a game that set a bar for what graphics should be in a FPS. Not artistic? Look at the amazingly cinematic way the levels are laid out. The action actually flows like a movie. Lack of storytelling? You don't have to listen to me to find someone who thinks the story was simply incredible.

      And "cookie cutter?" That's just laughable. Sure, the game follows certain basic FPS traits (lots of guns, physics gets raped), but to say it's cookie cutter is to say that Star Wars is bad just because it uses the hackneyed "anonymous farm boy turns out to be universe-saving hero" schtick.

      --
      --Obyron
  3. My favorite mass review site... by frekio · · Score: 3, Insightful

    is GameRankings.com which has a lot of MP2 reviews here

  4. Why I love Max Payne by quantax · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As someone who does artwork for games, Max Payne is just great; gameplay-wise, not much new going on but as far as visuals, stylistically Max Payne is a major cut above the rest. Before Max Payne, stylism was there in FPS games, but not in the quanities as it was in MP. Throughout the game, I felt like I was fighting in a grungy, bleak and lonely version of NYC, much like the one depicted in comics and movies. Then include their photo-realistic textures that gave everything such grit and depth, and you end up with a visual masterpiece. Max Payne is not great because it brings revolutionary changes to the table, but because it raises the bar for the quality of art in games and not only that but the thought behind the stylization, not just 'because its cool'. Lets hope that other games follow suit (Doom3 is another example of good art direction and stylistic techniques.)

    --
    "What can a thoughtful man hope for mankind on Earth, given the experience of the past million years? Nothing." -Bokonon
  5. Re:Bullet time ruined it for me by Migrant+Programmer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    the gameplay consisted of mostly save, enter the room, hit bullet time, shoot, save/reload, repeat.

    You ruined it for yourself, by taking any challenge or risk whatsoever out of the game. Try playing a game without reloading when you get hurt or die. Makes it much more interesting.

    --
    Bitchslapped. Neat.