Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

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Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
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Developer(s)	Remedy Entertainment (PC) Rockstar Vienna (Xbox, PS2)
Publisher(s)	Rockstar Games
Release date(s)	October 15, 2003 (PC) November 25, 2003 (Xbox) December 2, 2003 (PS2)
Genre	Third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature (M)
Platform(s)	PC (Windows), Xbox, PS2

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a third-person shooter developed by Remedy Entertainment for the PC (Windows), Xbox, and PlayStation 2 systems. Max Payne 2 continues the story of Max Payne, a fugitive undercover cop framed for murder in New York City. The game, like its predecessor, is a film noir that includes very stylistic cinematography specifically, the use of camera effects such as bullet-time. The Fall of Max Payne was published by Rockstar Games and initially released on October 15, 2003 and later in the year for consoles.

Contents

1 Gameplay

1.1 Bullet-time
1.2 Graphics
1.3 Soundtrack

Gameplay

Max Payne 2 is one of the first games to implement the Havok physics engine 2.0, which calculates collision and dynamic physics, making interactions between the player and various objects feel more authentic. Every object in Max Payne 2 has its own weight and mass and can be manipulated or knocked around. The engine also implements ragdoll physics, allowing enemy bodies to sail through the air and contort into realistic (and sometimes amusing) positions.

Max Payne 2 has a more "arcade" feel to it, with the general play balance being closer to standard FPS games than the original was. Max is much tougher, and can now survive dozens of shots before dying. Conversely, Max's enemies are now a bit weaker, no longer able to survive as much damage as they could in the original game. Combined with the game's regenerating bullet-time, the overall level of difficulty is less than in Max Payne; this may be a side-effect of the game being developed with consoles in mind, instead of specifically for the PC. Due to this, quicksaving is not always implementable and thus being able to get from the beginning to the end of a level in a single playthrough is necessary.

Bullet-time

Max Payne 2 introduced "Bullet-time 2.0". Here, enemies and bullets are slowed, while Max himself continues to move and shoot at normal speed. However, the speed at which the action moves can change. Bullet-time does not initially slow time as much as it did in Max Payne, but the player can increase its effects by killing enemies while in bullet-time. Some purists complain that the "new" bullet-time is not a simulation of heightened reflexes as it was in the original Max Payne, but has become more of a Matrix-style super-power.

Bullet-time in Max Payne 2 is not as scarce a resource as in the original, as it regenerates over time instead of being solely based on how many enemies the player killed. Additionally, shoot-dodges no longer cost any bullet-time at all to perform.

Graphics

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Max_payne_2.jpg

Max Payne modeled after actor Timothy Gibbs.

Max Payne 2 features a massive graphical upgrade over that of the original game, including more detailed character models and improvements for the faces of all the characters. In the original game, Max's character model only had one static facial expression (a sort of uncomfortable half-sneer, half-grin). A common joke, as well as one that found its way into Max Payne 2, was that Max constantly wore a constipated grimace. The improved character graphics allow Max's character model to shift between multiple facial expressions during cutscenes, so that this is no longer an issue.

In the original game, most of the cast were played by the game's programmers and their friends, giving the characters a somewhat informal, dorm-floor look. The actors used in the sequel's still-photo cutscenes have an edgier, more hardened appearance. For example, in the original game the character of Max Payne was modeled after game designer Sam Lake. For Max Payne 2, however, Lake was unavailable; Remedy instead used actor Timothy Gibbs as the model for Max Payne. The voice of Max Payne was again provided by actor James McCaffrey.

Soundtrack

The Fall of Max Payne features a single titled "Late Goodbye" from the Finnish rock group Poets of the Fall. The song is based on a poem written by Sam Lake. It plays during the game's end credits, and several characters in the game also sing or hum snippets of the song to themselves.

The game generally does not have any music for most of the action sequences, although there are a few major musical themes that play during cutscenes or particularly intense shootouts. Major themes include a slower variation of the original Max Payne theme, a new action/love theme for cooperative firefights with Max and Mona, and finally a new version of the "nightmare" theme for nightmares and scenes involving the game's main villain.

Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

At the end of Max Payne, Max was arrested after a two-night killing spree. All charges were dropped, in part due to the intervention of Senator Alfred Woden; the fact that his victims had all been known criminals was an additional (if not publicly acknowledged) mitigating factor.

Despite his freedom, Max has not found peace: his dreams and waking thoughts are still haunted by memories of his brutally murdered wife and child. In addition, Max is inwardly disappointed that he eluded punishment for his crimes. As a policeman, the cover-up of his vigilante actions festers within his soul.

A few years have passed, and Max has returned to work for the NYPD as a homicide detective. A seemingly routine murder investigation brings him face-to-face with Mona Sax, a woman he last saw slumped in an elevator with a bullet in her skull. Her unlikely reappearance brings new hope to Max; maybe the dangerously attractive assassin can help answer the questions Max still has about his past and his family's death.

Homicide chief Jim Bravura suspends Max for his continuing interference with Detective Valerie Winterson's investigation involving Mona. When Mona narrowly escapes an attempt on her life while in police custody, Max joins forces with her (and falls under suspicion once more). Together, they discover a gang war erupting within New York's criminal underground. The primary aggressors in this war are The Cleaners, a group of vicious mercenaries that disguise themselves as janitorial staff. This shadowy organization eludes detection because they dispose of all evidence of their crimes: bullet casings, bodies, and blood.

Jumping into the back of a fleeing Cleaners van, Max is taken to their apparent headquarters: a huge construction site. He communicates with Mona via radio and she arrives at the site, where they separately battle their way across the half-finished buildings. Detective Winterson arrives and holds Mona at gunpoint; Mona says that Winterson is there to kill her. Max struggles with the dilemma, finally shooting Winterson and telling Mona to run. Assuming Winterson is dead, Max turns his back on her, but the fallen detective manages to shoot Max in the back. Winterson later dies at the hospital and Cleaners swarm the hospital to finish off Max.

As Max and Mona fight for survival and answers, they discover that Vladimir Lem is behind the Cleaners' actions. Although Lem claims that he has given up crime to run a legitimate restaurant, he secretly controls the Russian Mafia in New York. He employs the Cleaners to destroy his competitors, including rival mob boss Vinnie Gognitti. When the Cleaners fail to eliminate Gognitti, Lem takes matters into his own hands and tricks Vinnie into donning an outfit of his favorite character, Captain Baseball Bat Boy. The oversized head of the outfit is rigged with a bomb that will explode if the head is removed; although Max protects Vinnie against waves of assassins, they are both captured and Vlad blows Gognitti to pieces.

Lem shoots Max in the head and leaves him to die in the fire caused by the bomb, but Mona rescues him. Knowing that Vlad is going to attempt to kill Woden, he and Mona fight their way through hordes of Cleaners to protect the old senator. Just as they reach Woden's "panic room", Mona confesses that she has been hired to clean up the mess -- including Max. She has feelings for Max, however, and can't pull the trigger. Lem suddenly appears and shoots Mona; Woden emerges from his sanctuary and is also shot. In the struggle, bombs placed throughout the manor are detonated, and Max chases Lem through the burning, collapsing structure. Finally cornering Vlad above the sprawling main room of the mansion, Max dislodges a giant spire hanging from the ceiling. The massive weight crashes through the skylight just below, and Lem falls to his death.

Notes

When the game is completed on the "Detective" (normal) difficulty setting, Mona Sax dies from a gunshot wound inflicted by Vlad Lem. If the game is played again to completion on "Hard Boiled" (advanced) difficulty, Mona survives the bullet.

Television shows seen throughout the game feature plots that often mirror some aspect of Max's life:

The Adventures of Captain Baseball Bat Boy - a cartoon about a child superhero facing Maxwell's Demon
Lords and Ladies - a costume drama/romance set in the 19th century
Address Unknown - a fictional drama from the 90s in which the protagonist is plagued by a doppelganger named John Mirra; he eventually discovers that he is John Mirra. Mona lives in an abandoned funhouse based on this show.
Dick Justice, a parody of the blaxploitation genre.

An easter egg within a police station depicts officers "Miller" and "Broussard" arguing over an investigation. Miller emphasizes the importance of "positioning", while Broussard mutters "it's done when it's done". This is an apparent reference to a (presumably fictional) argument between 3D Realms' vice president Scott Miller and president George Broussard about the long-delayed game Duke Nukem Forever. (Broussard is also the project lead for DNF. 3D Realms was involved in the development of both Max Payne and Max Payne 2. The phrase "when it's done" is a phrase used widely within the game development industry to avoid committing to release dates.)