Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

1. Theophilus February 6, 2009

   Wow, I was thinking about buying this game since I liked the first one a lot. However, upon reading this review I think I’ll pass. Thanks for the info.
2. Ryan February 7, 2009

   Honestly, I hated Max Payne 2, even though they used the same voice actor for Max; the tone and everything of the game lends to it feeling like he’s “old” and (not to mention hiring a professional actor to model for Max in the graphic novel parts and in-game). In the first one Max was young and had bit of a wit to himself. not only that but it wasn’t focused on a love story (imo the first one will always be the best).
3. Popcan February 9, 2009

   Uuhhh… As a born again christian I’m not even THINKING about even looking into buying this game.
4. Parentle Guidance suggested February 16, 2009

   I bought this for my 8 year old and was horrifed to hear the F word. Why is this game so dark? What happened to respectful superheros like superman or green lantern now we only have evil superheros like batman, punisher or this awful Max Payne. Avoid this game at all costs. Its not for children.
5. Jake February 16, 2009

   Batman is most definitely NOT evil. He’s a classic superhero, except not a cheesy, boring, cliche Superman type hero, who has superpowers. Batman is much more real, and more inspirational. It shows that any normal person can fight crime. Not just people with magical superpowers…
6. Jake February 16, 2009

   And by the way, if you’re a good parent, you won’t buy your kids games that are rated M… No offense…
7. SeriousGamer February 17, 2009

   @Jake:

   Agreed. Batman is not evil. Like you said, he’s a normal man. Plus, he does not kill, no matter what the circumstances. He knows his limits and he stays within them.

   And also agreed on the M rated games. It’s rated M for a reason. I strongly believe M rated games should only be played by those old enough, and depending on the game as well. This is something I wouldn’t even pick up.
8. Parental Guidance Suggested February 17, 2009

   Well, I’m not savvy on video game ratings I didn’t even know they had them till now. And batman is evil he’s a dark character that dosn’t follow the law. What kind of superhero calls himself the dark knight? Batman is a bad superhero though not as bad as max payne.
9. Tim Cornett February 17, 2009

   @Parental Guidance Suggested: Bats are nocturnal; they only come out in the dark. So logically, Batman would be…the Dark Knight. What’s wrong with that? Plus, Batman’s just about as bad as any other superhero – which is a lot better than Max Payne.
10. Jake February 17, 2009

    Dude, Batman’s trying to save people are fight crime, so either way, he’s still doing what he can to fight terrorists like The Joker.

    Dark Knight is probably THE most patriotic movie Hollywood’s churned out for quite some time. Fighting terrorists, only resorting to killing when there’s absolutely nothing else you can do.. That’s justifying what we were doing when Bush was in office. (Obviously, Obama being a liberal, he’d rather have a cup of tea with people who want to murder innocents, and act like there’s nothing wrong with these people.)

    Anyway, Tim’s right on.

    And that’s why we have the ESRB in the first place, so parents know what games their kids should play, because you know exactly what’s in a game before you buy it. Do you not reside in the U.S.?
11. BoyMan February 18, 2009

    The game is bad and offensive. Why would buy an M game for an 8 year old. Its not all surprissing given you also bought him conker live and reloaded.

    Heres a link

    http://guide2games.org/2008/03/05/conker-live-and-reloaded/?zoom_highlight=conker+live+and+reloaded

    Scoll to the bottom and read his comment.
12. Jake February 19, 2009

    @Parental Guidance Suggested: I very seriously hope you’ve learned from your mistakes.
13. Parental Guidance February 19, 2009

    Thanks. I will research now. I now know I shouldn’t of bought mass effect or several other M games for him now. ESRB is very useful and fasinating.
14. callan meikle February 26, 2009

    sweet review i loved it.
15. Colonel Link February 27, 2009

    @callan meikle:
    Thank You.
16. G March 6, 2009

    This game is fantastic. It touches on so many facets of human nature its unbelieveing. Yes its bleak and violent, but if you played the first you’ll understand that the stories main protagonist has nothing left to lose.

    Its a cautionary tale about how far a man can sink and how fragile things such as friendship and love are.

    A masterpiece. eloquent andgritty.
17. trachean March 6, 2009

    @G: Well said. The game really does have an important and profound message that is often missed, in classic “baby with the bathwater” action.

    The game is appropriately rated M, and due discretion should be observed. But MP2 is one of the few games that not only tells a tale of a man degenerating, but also follows his actions through to their consequences. Max Payne is not a hero, which I think is something that the character himself would agree with.
18. Theophilus March 7, 2009

    The main premise behind the game kind of concerns me. In the first game Max acted out of rage after his wife and child were murdered. Max very much loved them and wasn’t concerned with starting up a new relationship but instead wanted not only revenge but to survive and seek due justice. Max Payne 2 however seems to show that Max is looking for someone to replace the love he had lost, which seems to contradict the “family-man” image of Max that I got from the first game. Yet I suppose I could still see him, if he’s degraded so much as a character, as one being driven by raw emotion and passion which could also perhaps be seen to be behind his some of his actions in the first game. Max was sane and yet also somewhat out of control with his anger. Like trachean said he wasn’t a hero; in fact Max explicitly admitted in the first game that he wasn’t, but he was rather a flawed human with perhaps somewhat right morals. Because of this, you could kind of relate to Max while also want to distance yourself from him. To me he is not only reminiscent of Batman but also I suppose of the Watchmen characters (I’ve only read the book), especial Rorshach.

    I really don’t want to see Max “fall”, especially after all he did in the first game to clear his name. Ultimately I’m satisfied enough with how the first one played and ended; I really didn’t think there needed to be a sequel. But that’s just me; I haven’t played through the second game (although I must admit a did enjoy the demo).
19. Theophilus March 7, 2009

    But still I think I’ll pass based on what I’ve read from this review.
20. Alan Heer March 11, 2009

    I had this game once…till I split the disk in half – on purpose. Based on what I have played, he is not batman. Seriously first the methods. Max: guns, explosives,other weapons, killing, killing, MORE KILLING. Batman: he has a wide array of tools to incapacitate, or stop in other words, his opponents. Batman has his flaws…but thoughtless murder is not one of them. No matter how bad you are, he only cares how you are now. Also the term “Dark Knight” kind of refers to how he made himself an enemy to Gotham so Harvey Dent could have a clean reputation and so Gotham would still see hope in the DA. In a similar situation Jesus became so sinful at his death because he took all of our sins so we could be as white as he was. He became a dark knight so we could become white knights. That parallel, though paraphrased a bit came from pluggedinonline’s review of The Dark Knight. Anti-heroes, like Max Payne, may seem interesting, but for me I’ll stick to the heroes; the ones who actually have a noble cause or conviction.
21. Theophilus March 11, 2009

    @Alan Heer:

    Fair enough. I was only tying Max to batman in that they have their share of weaknesses and faults and as such aren’t the best examples of a hero. No doubt batman does a better job; Max really doesn’t try as much (he can be quite violent). Who knows though; maybe he’ll do better in Max Payne 3 to make up for his “fall”.

    I was a little more sympathetic of Max in the first game in that, as Ryan pointed out, he had a wit about himself and that he was actually fighting for survival as much as purging the city from the evil that took away his family. He was a cop at one point but when things turned sour and he was framed for a murder even the cops were against him. So it was that he couldn’t even turn to the police for help like batman often does.

Post your comments about this game »