The real meat of Max Payne was its story, and, more importantly, the way that story was presented, and sadly this is where the sequel truly disappoints. Hitting heavy objects will send them flying as if they weigh a few pounds, with the ragdoll deaths of enemies being way too funny for something that's supposed to be dark and gritty, which basically means that, while obviously pre-baked, the original dying animations turn out to be the better choice, even if they look kind of archaic.įorget everything about the gameplay and visuals, however. Looking back at the physics, while they were impressive back then, in all honesty they are kind of weird. The bad? While more "realistic," and definitely far from unappealing, all areas lack that unique, almost apocalyptic aura of the original, with some levels actually looking as if they're fake movie sets. The good? The quality of the textures has increased, the lighting is much, much better, as are the special effects, be it explosions or whatnot, and character animation is clear evidence of a bigger budget. The audio-visuals is one more part that's equally better and worse. that's all! The whole thing remains mind numbingly simplistic and repetitive, despite the developer's effort to spice things up a bit, like for example with those few missions were you get to shoot some guns along with an NPC. It's now a skill that recharges on its own, making the game a lot easier, but it starts noticeably less slow upon activation, with the slowdown effect increasing only after you do some killing.
The ability that slows down time has seen an improvement as well, or, more specifically, a change.
They are still simple, but not as annoyingly ruthless as before - although this can still turn into a Quick Save & Load marathon. What's the improvement? First, the enemy AI is better in the sense that foes aren't the perfect, super-fast bots of the original. You run around, you aim, you shoot, and try to survive while at it. Sure, it's still your basic WASD & Mouse, third-person shooter, with no fancy mechanics bar its famous "bullet time," but it all works as intended. and try this one out only if there's nothing better to spend some time with, although, from a purely technical standpoint, this is an improvement. Almost all characters from the original make an appearance, but while you are being told who, for instance, Senator Alfred Woden is, you won't really feel what's the big deal. Max Payne 2 recaps the titular protagonist's previous journey, but it fails to make the player care about anything if you haven't already experienced that.
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