Genre: Shooter
Developer: Remedy
Publisher: Rockstar
# of Players: 1
ERSB: Mature
Features: Guns
Website: www.maxpayne2.com
A couple years ago, the world was introduced to Max Payne, who, much like fellow ass-kickers Duke Nukem, Serious Sam, and Will Rock, came to the party with a catchy name, a shtick, a whole lot of guns – and not much else. It was a great game, albeit far too short, but ultimately he was just another computer-generated guy with guns and a grudge.
A couple years later – that’d be now – Max Payne is back. And this time, things are different.
All the good stuff is still there: the incredible slow-motion moves, the insane violence, the over-the-top dialog. But the whole package has been refined and tweaked and crammed into one of the most impressive game engines I’ve ever seen, resulting in the very fine Max Payne growing into the work-of-genius Max Payne 2.
Everything about Max Payne 2 is improved. The graphics are stunning, the physics are a bit fluffy but ideal for a game of this sort, the voice acting is right on, and the story is as twisted and dark as anything you’ve seen in a computer game. The “so bad it’s good” narration has been toned down somewhat, replaced with a grittier, more realistic voice-over that keeps an appropriate tone while maintaining a subtler, smoother flow.
The most recognizable feature of Max Payne, the beloved Bullet Time, is back and better than ever, tweaked and balanced to near-perfection. Simplistically, the more killing you do in bullet time, the more the world around you slows down. Rack up a good body count, and you could find yourself surrounded by enemies who are practically standing still, waiting for you to bust a cap in their skulls. Combined with Max’s gymnastic “shootdodge” moves, our dear Mr. Payne can charge into a room and wreak havoc on a scale most other computer-game heroes can only dream of. And until you’ve seen a slo-mo bullet time reload in the heat of combat, well, you ain’t seen nothing.
This is easily one of the finest action games ever made. The moves, the gunplay, the explosions, the graphics, the sound, they all add up to a mind-blowing violence overload that’ll make even the most jaded digital-Columbine-wannabe giggle like a schoolgirl.
But that’s not the best part.
Every once in awhile, we’re lucky enough to come across a game that impacts us on an emotional level, beyond the simple visceral thrill of the gameplay itself. This is most commonly seen in RPGs, such as Planescape: Torment, or perhaps one of the Ultima titles; some adventures, like The Longest Day, can also offer the potential for an experience that stays with us beyond the game itself. Where you are most likely not to see it, obviously, is in a shooter; FPS’s are all about putting some lead in a guy, maybe giving him the ol’ asshat, and then moving on to the next poor dumb idiot who needs to die. Not a whole lot in the way of emotional investment there.
Max Payne 2 changes that, completely. The game’s supporting characters don’t just move the action along, they breathe life into it; given the game’s limited opportunities for character development, Mona Sax, Vladimir Lem and the rest are remarkably well-realized. They’re not the typical (and expendable) window-dressing you see in games such as Medal of Honour; you will think about them, and feel for them, and care about what happens to them.
Max himself is as three-dimensional as any computer-generated character has ever been. He is pitiful, tormented, desperately lonely and alone, driven on his journey through the darkness not by any sort of nobility in his soul, but by sheer stubbornness. It’s impossible to tell whether Max is interested in justice, or simple vengeance, and when he says, “I felt compelled to give him back his gun. One bullet at a time,” it’s clear that he no longer cares about the difference. He’s no hero; he’s just a man.
That sort of characterization fits very well with the game’s scripting, which easily earns it’s “M” rating from the ESRB. The dialogue is neither excessive nor gratuitous, but the moment you see Vinnie Gognitti doing his great Joe “FUCK!” Pesci impression, you’ll want to usher the kids out of the room. It’s a testament to the game’s writers that this is the very first computer game I’ve played where a character has said “fuck” and it hasn’t been a jarring experience. In other games, it feels too contrived, put there for shock value and nothing else; in this, it’s so well integrated into the natural dialog that it’s hardly even noticeable.
What impresses me most about Max Payne 2 – and there’s an awful lot to be impressed with – is the way it appeals to adult gamers without contriving to be an “adult” game. There are no garish labels on the package, no bleating from the marketing whores in various insipid ads, nobody trying to convince you that adult gaming is synonymous with sophomoric bullshit; it presents it’s themes simply and forthrightly, passing on the titillation and instead treating the gamer as – gasp! – an adult.
All is not quite perfect, of course, because that’s just the way the universe works. The game’s most glaring flaw is it’s brevity. This is one short-ass game; casual players should have it finished in a week, and hardcore types will likely blow through it in a couple good nights. And once it’s done, sadly, the replay value isn’t quite up to the level of some other games. Once the plot has unfolded and it’s various twists and secrets are revealed, the game loses much of it’s impact. It’s still a great shooter, but it’s a shooter that lacks a compelling reason to be played. Furthermore, because the game is so short, you really don’t have time to lose your familiarity with the games levels, so that even though they’re very well done, they tend to feel repetitive in fairly short order. Upcoming mods should address that problem to a degree, but most players will likely find themselves losing interest in the game itself after two or three times through.
These are relatively minor quibbles, however, and certainly not enough to detract from the sheer brilliance of the game. Max Payne 2 just never lets up. From it’s opening cinematics, through the inspired graphic novel cutscenes, to the ending that’s both unforeseen and inevitable, this is a game that grabs you and won’t let go, even to the very finish: the final line of dialog in the game is among the most haunting lines ever spoken in any computer game, ever. It’s one of the finest games I’ve ever played, of any genre, and certainly among the top games of the year. Max Payne 2 is going to win a lot of awards from a lot of gaming publications over the next several months, and it richly deserves all of them. This is a gaming experience not to be missed.
