Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a third person action game created and published by Rockstar Games. It is rated 18+.

==Storyline==

You're Max Payne, your wife and child were murdered by junkies in the night before you got home from your job at the NYPD. You've got nothing left apart from your job, and you feel the need to tell everyone about it in an extremely melodramatic fashion.

Max Payne 2 pits you as everyone's favourite slightly melodramatic and mildly depressing cop in yet another crime fighting adventure, filled with death, destruction - thrills and unexpected turns. However, I shall go no further into the storyline than that, and I shall allow you to discover that for yourself.

==Gameplay==

The actual gameplay of Max Payne is pretty consistent. Jump through the air in slow motion, shoot things in the face. It's a formula that Rockstar had realised they have done right in the first Max Payne, and they just stuck with it for the second. A lot of the gameplay is shrouded in noir and a very dark, gritty, movie-like atmosphere. Max Payne might as well be a particularly dark cop movie (and I'm not talking about the movie adaption of the game, which had nothing to do with the game apart from the main character and was an absolute disgrace).

There are also some puzzle elements, although these are pretty much always 'hidden object' style things, and you've just got to find them to progress - yes, you guessed it, this gets extremely infuriating very quickly, to such a point that you wish the developers would stop being so incredibly sadistic with their playing style and just let you get on with what the game does best, letting you shoot people in the face, while shouting, in slow motion.

==Graphics==

Max Payne 2 was released many years ago now, as such, the graphics are tiring a tad - but due to the sheer level of graphical options included at release, it still looks pretty passable today, with extensive use of pixel shaders, high resolution textures and graphics heavy cinematic effects ready to take on a modern day challenger, especially not-so-good-looking games like Call of Duty.

The best part? It's well scaleable, that's right, it looks great on highest settings, but you can play it on your netbook if you really want to, albeit with reduced settings. It's a good thing the difference between high, medium and low aren't so massive, but the framerate jumps are. With graphics approaching photorealism, upping the graphical settings can only add so much, so eventually the highest settings are only adding the most subtle of additions to the game, because that's all that's left.

==Sound==

The gravelly voice over of Max in the game is amazing as always, and with the games new sequel coming out, Max Payne 3, I'm wondering how they're going to recreate the voiceover with the new voiceover they hired. I'm not sure if the mildly depressive rants of this Max Payne will ever be paralleled. We'll see though.

The gunshots and supporting characters are also pretty good, however some of the sounds are a bit lower in actual bitrate because they had to keep the games size down - seen as this was probably released in the days of using CDs for game storage, instead of DVDs.

Also, any avid Max Payne player will tell you how the music of the game has stuck in their mind forever, and I can confirm that it does that. Max Payne has one of the most amazing soundtracks ever, at least in my book.

==Value for Money==

Max Payne was released a long time ago now, and the asking price has lowered with its age, the price of the games are still unusually high on retail digital distribution platforms like Steam, but physical retail copies of the game can be picked up for a few pounds these days, not a bad deal in the slightest.

There are, however, pretty frequent Steam deals where the game is reduced to a few pounds, and you also get the convience of being able to download the game to your computer wherever you go, if that matters to you.

The game apparently takes most people around ten hours to complete, but because I'm so bad at it, it was more like twenty for me.

==Content Watch==

Max Payne 2 is most certainly not a children's game. It features pretty intense violence, language, sexual content and frightening scenes. Here's a run down

===Violence===

It's a noir-styled cop game, of course there's going to be some high octane violence. The violence in this game generally involves diving through the air and shooting at people with a variety of weapons. When bullets impact, there is usually a splash of blood, a ragdolling effect and a blood stain on the wall or floor behind the character. It's not as gory as some games, but it's still pretty bloody.

Melee weapons are also used, but to a lesser effect, there is no physical damage that can be noted from hitting a character with a melee weapon, at least not noticeably.

There are also flash back scenes and cutscenes were the violence is more heavily emphasised on, and is also a tad stronger, so look out for those scenes. There is generally a lot of blood in these scenes.

Max Payne 2 also contains some surgical imagery, but there is no detail.

===Language===

Max Payne 2 has a variety of language, from the mildest terms to stronger terms. This includes anything from 'damn' and 'hell' to 'sh*t' and 'f**k'. There are also apparently some racist terms uttered in the game, although I didn't notice them specifically.

===Sexual Content===

There is a scene in the game where Max and a female character have sex, but it's present in comic book style and without any significant detail. There is a non-comic book scene of this, but the characters are fully clothed and there is no detail.

===Frightening Scenes===

Some of Max's nightmares may be deemed frightening by younger children, but if you look past the mildly trippy exterior, you'll realise that it's actually to show that Max's mind is messed up, and to show is conflicting emotions.

==Content Conclusion==

Any child aged 16+ should really be OK with this, but societies prudish view on Sexual Content earned the game the official 18+ rating. Remember every child is different, and some may be able to play from an earlier or later age.

==Game Conclusion==

Max Payne is your favourite cop, and he even narrates in a pseudo-saddening voice. Why do you not own this game yet? It's so cheap, and it offers so much. A true gaming classic, pick it up the next chance you get. I give Max Payne 2 a 4/5.

===System Requirements===

Pentium III 1.0 GHz CPU,
256 MB RAM,
32 MB video card RAM,
DirectX 9.0,
Windows 98