Few people could’ve predicted the lasting effect of the original Max Payne upon its release. The “Bullet Time” slow motion action sequences could’ve been written off as an attempt to cash in on the popularity of The Matrix, which was wildly popular and still fresh in 2001. The gritty, dark, and mature story came along at a time when Grand Theft Auto III was practicing M-Rated shock value. Years later, still no title can emulate the simple, yet extremely entertaining gameplay of Max Payne (even, embarrassingly enough, Enter the Matrix), and the imaginative and gripping narrative outpaces most of the hack Hollywood stories being told in videogames today.

That narrative continues in Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. One could argue that a man whose story begins with the death of his wife and child has already fallen far enough, but Max Payne has (seemingly) put his life back together. He never served any time for the bodies he left in his wake during his original adventure, thanks to friends in high places. Returning to his roots, Payne becayme… excuse me, became a NYC cop once again. When Mona Sax, an accomplice of Payne’s left for dead in the original, returns to his life, it results in another trail of dead bodies and ruined lives.

Once again, most of the story is presented in the form of a graphic novel (a comic book, if you will), replete with well-written, yet corny dialogue and farfetched scenarios (Anyone care to explain how Payne can survive a gunshot to the head?). Regardless, the memorable characters, darkly odd metaphors, and uber-depressing tone of Payne’s tale make it unforgettable.

Gameplay
Max Payne 2 plays, more or less, like the original released two years prior. Stages are pretty straightforward action, with little to no path branching or puzzle solving involved. The weapon count remains pretty steady, with the same assortment of handguns, semi-automatics, shotguns and sniper rifles. They may be renamed, but you can’t fool us, Rockstar. Payne’s patented Bullet Time maneuver also undergoes very little change, though you can now manually reload without interrupting the process. Be still, my heart.

One new element introduced in Max Payne 2 is the ability to recruit and give orders to various NPCs during the game. The commands are extremely simplistic; Payne can either order them to join him, or to stay behind, and the process doesn’t come into play too often.

A notable deduction from the original is the de-emphasis on platforming. Plain and simple, Payne ain’t a jumper, and thankfully, the developers realized that. Fans of the first may remember the “nightmare” stages that required pinpoint leaps onto ultra-thin platforms of blood. Thankfully, there’s nothing nearly that frustrating this time around. Unfortunately, the “nightmare” stages have returned, and while you won’t spend an hour trying to finish one, they are still extremely boring plot pieces that could’ve been incorporated into the graphic novel storytelling.


Control
Like the gameplay, the control is another category where the mantra “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” comes into play. Although set in third-person, Max Payne 2 plays close enough to a FPS for government work. The left thumbstick controls movement, the right, aim, the directional pad allows you to change weapons, and the right trigger fires. Sound familiar? Some of the button commands have been switched around on the control pad, and while they are for the better, there is the option to fully customize the controls if you wish to return to the classic Payne control scheme. If I could find fault with anything it terms of controls, it would be that there isn’t a separate button for the throwing weapons like grenades and molotov cocktails.