Max Payne 2 continues the story and style of the original. You have the same graphic novel comic panels. You have the same deadpan vocal delivery as if from Joe Friday of Dragnet fame. You have the same themes. Murder, betrayal, lust, greed, and conspiracy. All told with the same fatalistic bleakness of no hope. It's pure noir. How can you not like lines such as "They were all dead. Love kills. Did I love her? Was there a choice? The past is a gaping hole. You try to run from it, but the more you run, the deeper, more terrible it grows behind you, it's edges yawning at your heels. Your only chance is to turn around and face it. But it's like looking down into the grave of your love. Or kissing the mouth of a gun. A bullet trembling in it's dark nest, ready to blow your head off." If you like noir, then you'll love how the story is told, if not the story itself. Personally, it's just good enough. It's nothing special. Another thing continued over from the original game is the device of playing through Max's hallucinations. If this aspect bothered you the first time around, it's going to be just as bothersome this time around. Maybe even more so. They're also trying something that might bother some people. They're having you play through story elements. Levels designed just to advance the story. One for example has you wandering around a fun house. There aren't any enemies. There isn't any combat. It's just Max, talking to himself, expanding on the history and characterization. You have other levels where you're doing much the same thing, but having to do menial adventure like quests of talk to this person, and then this person, and yet another person to advance the story. If you're not into the story, that's going to seem like a complete waste of time. It works for me though.
Next time should be the final opinion on Max Payne 2, as I'm into the third and presumably last section of the game.
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