Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003) (VG)

Writer:

Sam Lake (written by)

Release Date:

25 October 2003 (Ireland)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

A Film Noir Love Story

Plot:

The brooding cop has left the DEA and returned to the NYPD. When his latest case ends up involving the thought-dead femme fatale Mona Sax, he finds that his journey through the night is far from over. |

Plot Keywords:

Nypd | Desert Eagle | Shower | Shot In The Head | Van

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

James McCaffrey	...	Detective Max Payne (voice)
Wendy Hoopes	...	Mona Sax / Answering Machine (voice)
Jonathan Davis	...	Vladimir Lem / Witness (voice)
Vince Viverito	...	Lt. Jim Bravura (voice)
Jennifer Server	...	Detective Valerie Winterson (voice)
John Braden	...	Senator Alfred Woden / Security Guard / Male Sales Voice (voice)
Fred Berman	...	Vinnie Gognitti / Junkie / Mental Patient (voice)
David O'Brien	...	Cartoon Host / Return To Sender Announcer / Male Sales Voice (voice)
Michael Mags	...	Captain Baseball Bat-Boy (voice)
Victoria Pontecorvo	...	Bicycle Helmet-Girl (voice)
John Zurhellen	...	Demon / Zombie (voice)
Ann Scobie	...	Lady Amelia / Doctor / Kyra Silver (voice)
Chris Durham	...	Lord Valentine / Cleaner / Security Guard (voice)
Kevin Conroy	...	Lord Jack / Cleaner / Commando (voice)
Marge Redmond	...	Mama / Neighbor (voice)

Also Known As:

Max Payne 2 (USA) (working title)
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne - A Film Noir Love Story (USA)

Country:

Finland | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | Germany:18 | Ireland:15 | New Zealand:R16 | USA:M

Company:

Remedy Entertainment

Trivia:

In Part 1, Chapter 4 ("Continued" on Playstation 2): When you go outside onto the ledge of the building from the window of the apartment with the dead woman inside, you will see a black-colored "M" on the wall immediately after the first metal pipe you encounter. It is very hard to see because it's so dark. Press the Action/Use button while facing the "M" and you will see Max move his arms. Wait for them to stop moving then press the button again. Repeat a third time and four mysterious sets of flames will appear as you walk along the ledge. When you encounter the first set, Max will say "That's odd." If you touch the flames, you will die so avoid them as they move up and down. Remember to jump over the gap where the first flame is.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: While in the derelict building as Mona, a number of signs display the word "authorised" spelled in UK English even though the game takes place in the United States.

Quotes:

Max Payne: [narrating] Like all the bad things in my life, it started with the death of a woman. I couldn't save her.

Movie Connections:

References Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)

Soundtrack:

Late Goodbye

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is the best video game I have ever played in recent years. (* * * * out * * * *)

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003) is like a puzzle waiting to be solved. The pieces aren't in the right place, which leaves the game player to figure it out. Instead of giving us a straightforward action game, it successfully builds mystery. This "film noir love story" is a better improvement over the original, and the characters, the plot, and the setting are better this time around.

Max Payne no longer has that "constipated grin" on his face, but a face that is filled is with all the loss and anger that he once suffered in the past. By now he's a brooding cop, and he has every right to be one, since his wife and baby child were killed in the original.

The message of film noir is that there are no real heroes. Max Payne is not the typical cardboard cutout action hero. Here is a man so cheerless, that he doesn't even form a smile, and we can understand why. He also shows a "survivor's guilt." Having taken his revenge in the first game, Max is not satisfied with what he has--due to what he sees as his "crime" (surviving) going unpunished, and due to the fact that, even though he has claimed his revenge, his family is still dead, and he is still alive.

One night, Payne responds a hostage situation in a gun workshop run by men in jumpsuits. He stumbles upon Mona Sax, a femme fatale presumed dead after the events in the original. Payne learns turn too late when Mona warns him that they are both in danger. A sniper hits Max's apartment, and Mona escapes, with Payne setting out to find the person who wants him dead.

We are also introduced to several characters from the original, including Lt. Jim Bravura, Max's boss at the NYPD, and Alfred Woden, a dying senator and a member of the Inner Circle. There is even a subplot involving a Mob war between Vladimir Lem and Vinnie Gognitti (who, this time, resembles a foul-mouthed Joe Pesci character). The mob war subplot may sound unnecessary, but it's crucial to what happens in the story.

I liked the original Max Payne (2001), which was released in 2001, and I thought it was the benchmark of action-packed video games. I liked the dialogue, the intense action, the graphics, and the locations it used. But I like Max Payne 2 even more. This is a game that gives life to almost all of its characters. Like Max Payne, the characters are able to express their feelings and thoughts to each other, and there is a big surprise as Max finds out who's after him.

Max Payne series creator Sam Lakes keeps the player involved with his characters We're not just playing a typical action game where we shoot mindless bad guys, but we're learning about the characters as well. Even the villains in the game, get to share their stories.

I also liked how the characters' lip movements were convincing and how they moved along with the way they speak. They also do some convincing movements, such as ragdoll-like movements, which allow the enemy's body to move around like a limp corpse.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a great video game, but it shares the same flaws the original once had. There is a lack of character variety; a lot of the characters such as bodyguards, thugs, mobsters, and police officers look essentially the same, and once again it resembles a John Woo movie with its handgun leaps and ridiculously high body count. And the firing sounds for the weapons in the game sound unrealistic and could have been better.

I also think the game is also a bit too short, whereas the original was like playing a TV marathon. But what it lacks in quantity and length, it pays for with quality.

The New York settings in each level looks convincing and great. My favorite is the New York Police Department, where Payne is able to interact with other characters such as suspects and police officers. Even the streets of New York, during the mob war levels, resemble a war zone.

The narration in both the game and the graphic novel helps to not only move the story, but to provide humor or reaction to an incident. The narration by James McCaffrey (who also voices Payne) is great. Instead of sleepwalking in his dialogue like the original, he actually moves along with the words.

And fans will probably agree with me that Mona Sax is one of the most sexy 3D heroines out there. If her voice (perfectly provided by Wendy Hoopes) doesn't get to you first, her appearance certainly will. She is endowed with a high poly count and blessed with some very smooth motion-captured animations.

The beauty of the unfolding storyline of Max Payne 2 is that the player is never really sure if Mona feels the same way Max does, or if she's luring him into a trap--unless some heartless game reviewer ruins it for you. Being the highly trained killer that she is, playing as Mona is just as easy and equally lethal as when playing as Max. One wonders and hopes if their will be a spin-off to such a great series.

But will there be a "Max Payne 3?" Maybe. But to make another would seem difficult, especially after what happens in the end of this game. But Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne still remains the best in the series. This is not only an action game. It's about love, life and death in a city facing chaos.