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Dear Lord

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 26
Date: September 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

One of the most outstanding games I've ever played. The graphics engine is revamped, and the new bullet time 2.0 is AWESOME. The plot is way better than Max Payne 1, even though Max Payne 1 was revolutionary in it's time. The plot is much more part of the game, rather than just running around and wacking the bad guys. This was also true in MP1, plot driven action is taken to the next level in this latest incarnation.

Been There, Done that...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 27
Date: October 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

From what I have played, not much has changed. The plot is relatively the same, (although much less involved as the first.) It is still just basically getting revenge for the murder of your family, legally this time. It has the all to familiar been there done that feel to it.
Bullet Time is better, but not that much better. If you've played the first Max Payne and accidentally played Enter The Matrix, it is also a been there done that experience.
The Graphics engine is much improved. Max does not have the stinky feet (or constipated) expression that we had to suffer through in the first game. He looks a lot better along with the other characters models. The environments look quite realistic and the partical effects when bullets hit surfaces are pretty.
The A.I is another great improvement. The enemies will use much better tactics and will not just walk around a corner to get mowed down. They will use tactics and flanking maneuvers along with throwing grenades if the conditions are right.

After all these improvements, it is not that much better or different than the original. It is a been there done that experience. It seems like a 50$ expansion pack with better graphics.

The best game of 2003, 2004 and likely 2005! Period.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Holy smoke, this game is simply awesome! Without a doubt the best game ever made so far!!! (running you of exclamation marks)

Seriously, MP2 expands on everything that I loved in MP1. The graphics blow your mind away, the story is top-notch, the game play is the most polished ever and Bullet Time 2.0 rocks your socks off.

Games don't get better than this! Stop reading now and buy your copy you dummy!

Good Game!! BUT BUGGY!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: October 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Well I Got the game from bestbuy and got it home the 15th.I installed it, played it and got to chapter 7. then it froze while i was at the splash screen loading the next chapter, i could not get out of it so i had to hard reboot it. i came back tried to load the level i last played no go. so i disabled the startup group items, rebooted and tried again with nothing running in my sys tray, same thing would not load, so i went to a previouse saved game and it loaded. ok thought maybe it was a bad save..played to the chap 7 again would not load. deleted saved games started over..same thing.uninstalled reinstalled the game, nope same issue. I now cant get passed the 4th chapter and it freezes. all my other games work of course.i even tried it on low setttings. no go. i am tired of hard booting my compupter. so i bet they will have a new big patch hopefully to fix this issue. otherwise i will be selling it here soon. other than that the game is a blast to play, it is one of the best games i have played all year..but battlefield was buggy too in the beginning so i will give them a week otherwise i am selling it.....maybe some day in the future after they fix this i can buy it again... i have a amd 2200+ win xp home 512mb pc2700 266 fsb with geforce 4 ti 4600 128 agp x8.......all other games run fine..even halo..!

SO SAD ENDING!!!! :'(

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 11
Date: October 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I completet the game and it is AWSOME!!!!!!!!! so cool improved gfx and the bt 2.0 is so cool but the bt is a little to fast and you get to play 2 diffrent people.

BUT THE ENDING is so SAD!!!! :'( WHY didnt they make it a happy ending?

More of the same isn't really a bad thing...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: October 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Three things you should know:
1. Gameplay has been significantly enhanced. Levels are much larger, and full of tons of entertaining stunts and tricky situations to work Max out of. Enemies are much, much smarter, throwing their arms around corners to spray down hallways, and calling "Cover me!" to each other. Toss a grenade into a room, and you can hear furniture toppling as they scramble to get away from it. The addition of AI helpers is excellent, and the previous game's focus on bullet-saving has been tossed out the window.....Max Payne 2 gets difficult FAST, and within a few minutes of gameplay, will require you to trade hailstorms of bullets with opponents. Unlike in the original, the game is no longer a match of "who shoots first," with such excellent aim and strategy, it becomes a fast-paced challenge of rolling from cover to cover, tossing grenades, and using liberal bullet-time.
2. Story and plot are not much better. While the dialogue is significantly less cheezy, (and remember, it was cheezy on PURPOSE in Max Payne 1) it still falters here and there, making it in some senses worse than the original's....the plot's a bit blurry in the beginning, a thin set of excuses to carry Max from one gorgeously-constructed arena to the next. And on this, MP2 delivers: The plot allows for a much wider range of environments and challenges than its predecessor. While most of MP1 looked like the same damn place, now, each location is rendered to the fullest with colored lighting, weather conditions, and attention to detail that truly separate them from each other. I began skipping through the graphic novel sequences after a bit, partially out of impatience, but wished I'd listened more after finding myself in each new surprising area.
3. Graphics are amazing. Max Payne 2 is by far the most visually impressive game yet (soon to be upstaged by Half-Life 2) and even on mid-range machines, the improvements are stunning. Real-time physics make gunbattles gorgeous, as bodies twist around like marionettes on strings of bullets, crates topple over and glass objects collapse into dust. Shoot a baddy in the head and it snaps back, laying him out flat against a radiator, which clanks and falls to the floor under his weight. A much more impressive bullet-time regulator is in place here, allowing you to see lead scream past Max even in real-time, but filtering out less impressive or important shots. (And of course, Payne's ground-breaking fire effects are back, better than ever) Tiny touches like perfect puffs on the wall and muzzle-flash reactions on nearby objects fill out the visuals into an utterly believable experience....MP2 isn't just beautiful, it's devoid of most the imperfections that would give it away as a game. After ten minutes of play, you're no longer "awed" by the visuals, simply disgusted by the visuals in every other game.

This is the best action game you can get for PC

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: October 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is the best action game you can get for PC right now. The game picks up after the first game and Max works at the NYPD now and has aged as well as other characters from the previous game. As you can tell by the cover art on the box, the story has to do with a girl, Mona. I don't want to tell you much about it, because I don't want to ruin the really deep storyline.
When you start up singleplayer you will notice that everything looks like it did in the old game but with way improved graphics. Which isn't a bad thing, because the way the HUD looked in the last game looks great in the new one also. Everything looks sharper now. The bullet effects look great, shells hit the floor as you fly through the air with two pistols firing away at a nearby enimie. You will also notice the physics. The physics are the best in any game you will see so far. You can shoot back an enemy and he will fly into a big pile of boxes and brooms with ragdoll physics and while he falls to the floor, the last bullet you shot hits him in the arm and it spins him backwards and falls over the ledge two stories above the city pavement.
This game is awsome. I am not exagerating one bit when I give this game 5 stars. The only gripe I have is, this game can be completed in about 8 hours (Rockstar will release a map editor later, so users can create there own missions) and even on a High End machines the load times aren't long, but longer than they should be. But this game is simply, outstanding! Go buy it now!

Payne Rules!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: October 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you were a fan of the first, you'll love this! The visuals are awesome. I just got through to part 2 of the story tonight. The funhouse chapter was so cool (not challenging at all, just a visually stunning environment to walk around in). They really did a good job with it. Bullet time and environmental interaction is so much better. Sound is better too. I want to add more, but I don't want to spoil all the cool stuff you're gonna see (Mona baby!). Get this!

Haven't I seen this before?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 10
Date: October 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The graphics in Max Payne 2 are the only improvement over its predecessor. The game play was unchallenging and boring. Part of the reason for this is that weapons and powerups are too abundant. The enemies will make the same stupid mistakes time after time. There were not too many points in the game where I was forced to put my skills to the test. Since I found this game so easy, I will review as if it were a movie.

The core of a good movie is the script. A movie with a strong script can still be successful even if the actors are not great. The script for Max Payne 2 is weak and the actors are bad. I was left wondering many things about the back story, and as a result I didn't really connect with any of the characters. How could Max really be in love with Mona Sax? From what we saw of their relationship in Max Payne I, it was limited to a handful of brief encounters. I didn't buy into it. The characters were superficial and two dimensional. The developers could have easily taken the plot further by putting more items in the game that help develop the characters and story. I found that the answering machine message and television sets worked well in this regard. The nice thing about these types of elements is that the player is allowed to control what they want to see.

In summary, when I play a game; my primary reason is to be entertained. In a game like this, either a strong story or great game play will keep me entertained. Max Payne 2 did not fulfill either of these criteria.

Simply Outstanding

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: October 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Being a big fan of the original "Max Payne" (for playstation2) - I decided that I didn't want to wait for the console version of this new game so I decided to pick it up for the PC. What a fantastic decision.

Max Payne 2 is a wonderful combination of shoot'em up action, a convincing storyline, and oustanding graphics on a very stable engine. This game is constant fun. Bullet time is better than ever and the weapon selection is superb. Plenty of bad guys to kill and plenty of difficulty options for the more experienced gamers. There is also a nice variety in the gameplay by switching characters, going from close quarter battles to open field sniper battles and so on...

One of my favorite things about this game is how well it runs. I have a 1.7ghz Athlon, 768 SDram, 64 DDR Geforce 4 MX 440 and the game runs flawlessly. Ready to go out of the package. Some people have said that the game is too short, well I can't comment on that because I'm not through it yet, I'm on Part III.

In conclusion, if you like games that are heavy on action, heavy on storyline and are fun as hell, than you've found your game.

"The Final Countdown"
GRAPHICS: 9/10
GAMEPLAY: 9/10
STORYLINE: 8/10
SOUND: 9/10

OVERALL: 4.5 Stars / 5
Go Get this game!!!!!

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