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First Encounter:

The Payne Is Back

Back in 2001, the Xbox was brand new, and Bullet Time was something you only saw in The Matrix. Rockstar Games changed all that with the release of Max Payne®, a third-person shooter that combined intense firefights with graphic novel storytelling and a major does of gameplay innovation. Now, Max is back in Max Payne® 2: The Fall of Max Payne, which puts our hard-boiled hero right in the middle of another mob war and even secret society power plays. Once again, Max has his own personal reasons for getting involved, but this time, it’s a gritty, violent love story between Max and the dangerous femme fatale Mona Sax.

Play as Max and Mona.

The story opens several years after the end of the first game, in which Max killed a lot of people in his quest for vengeance. (He was tracking down the murderers of his wife and baby girl. Heavy stuff …) But, thanks to some behind-the-scenes string-pulling, he’s being hailed as a hero instead of a psycho. When Max is called to investigate gunshots at a local warehouse, he’s drawn right back into the clandestine schemes of the Inner Circle, a secret society of rich and powerful people, who influence everything from local and federal government to international economics. A civil war of sorts has broken out among this group, and someone has hired a team of professional “cleaners” to wipe out the opposition. The Inner Circle members are so dirty that Max can never be sure who’s telling the truth and who’s setting him up—not even when it’s Mona herself.

The most striking new feature of the sequel is the ability to play as Mona. She’s survived her wounds and is also involved once more in the Inner Circle’s games. Max isn’t sure if he can trust her, but gamers will have no such trouble. Both Max and Mona have the same set of moves and Bullet Time options, but Mona carries a powerful sniper rifle as her default weapon. During the middle part of the game, you’ll play as Max to storm key locations on the ground and then switch to Mona, who provides cover fire from the rooftops. The sniper levels are among the most pulse-pounding in any action title, forcing you to zoom out repeatedly to locate the most dangerous opponents and then zoom in to cap them from afar.

Ready for Bullet Time?

The new game includes the time-dilation Bullet Time effect that made the first game such a standout, only now, the Bullet Time has been upgraded and expanded for maximum carnage. When you enter Bullet Time, everyone on the screen slows down, but you can still aim and fire in real time. This gives you a quick-draw advantage over your enemies, which you’ll need because you’re always outnumbered by about 10 to one. Shoot-dodging (diving in Bullet Time) no longer reduces your Bullet Time Meter, and now, each enemy you kill during Bullet Time replenishes the meter. Successive kills also slows down the action even more, increasing your advantage and letting you execute stylish quick reloads.

In addition to playing as Mona, there are several levels that let you play with A.I.-controlled partners. These extra guns won’t win the game for you, but they will take some of the heat off and thin out the opposition. All of the favorite weapons from the first game are back, and there are also a host of new weapons, like an MP5 machine gun with a sweet zoom, a heavy-duty Stryker shotgun, and a pair of Desert Eagle handguns.

Fill the air with lead.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is an excellent follow-up to the first game, with better graphics, expanded gameplay, and all of the series’ defining elements fine-tuned to near perfection. Check it out … if you’re curious to find out how much tragedy, violence, and painkillers one man can endure …

By Luke Judge