Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne
Posted by uruk on Wednesday, August 13 2003

Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne

Sometimes you have to think that poor old Max Payne just can't catch a break. Maybe it's his acerbic personality or his penchant for big, loud guns. Then again, if Max didn't always seem to be at the wrong place at the wrong time -- usually ending up on the wrong side of a dozen gun sights -- we wouldn't get to jump into bullet time and take part in all the fun.

So stop us if you think you've seen this one before: the tough "plays-by-his-own-rules" cop is framed for the murder of his partner -- a crime he didn't commit -- and what follows is that you'll have to lead Max through his own personal hell to get some payback and redemption. The difference is that the developers at Remedy are calling Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne a "film noir love story for the PC."

After visiting the offices of Rockstar Games in NYC for a demo of this still very-much-in-progress epic sequel to the original Max Payne, a few things are readily apparent. First and foremost, fans of the original game can rest assured that Max Payne 2 should easily surpass whatever bars the first game raised. With numerous sequels scheduled to come out this fall and winter, Max Payne 2 could have been lost in the crowd, especially with triple-A titles like Doom 3 and Half Life 2 among the most anticipated. But considering what Remedy has done with the engine, this one has the look of being a contender for last-game-standing in the shooter showdown. The other notable thing about The Fall of Max Payne is that developers are hoping to create a much deeper story with a real cinematic feel often missing in games.

On the visual front, where much of our demo focused, it was apparent that Remedy has really been tweaking the code to create an extremely robust graphics engine for a shooter. The proprietary engine has been completely revamped, with the addition of Havoc physics code to create popular "rag doll" effects for those dozens upon dozens of bad guys that you'll take down, and this results in what we can only say you'll have to see to believe. With improved real-time shadows, dynamic lighting and destructive elements, things really are getting pushed to the max (pun intended)... and maybe beyond.

Along with the other aforementioned PC shooters, The Fall of Max Payne should also offer some truly realistic and stunningly impressive facial features. The characters in the game actually blink and move their eyebrows to express emotions. Max himself has also undergone quite a change; at times, he was almost unrecognizable ... and that's meant in a good way. The character looks much more realistic, but a bit older, too. While the development team stresses that some time has passed since the original adventure, it almost appears they wanted to show off how they could add the effects of time to this quick-triggered character. Max shows signs of stress and age in his facial features; wrinkles are apparent, as are dark circles under his eyes, suggesting what a lifetime of shooting at criminals might do.

The plotline, which will reportedly have more twists and turns than the original, is perhaps taking the biggest twist by focusing on that "film noir love story." While the original game focused on Max Payne getting revenge for the murder of his wife and daughter, the romantic elements were certainly missing. This time around, the love story theme will play a much bigger part as Max becomes involved with killer-for-hire Mona Sax. In the different sequences that were displayed, Max and Mona seem causal and have a bit of playful banter when they cross paths -- even after Mona blasts away a few villains wearing dark ski masks (we can only imagine what turns on a guy like Max).

The other notable difference that gamers can expect with The Fall of Max Payne is that the game will be noticeably longer than the original title. While the final game will still be lean and mean (i.e. not beefed up with needless filler), this sequel is centered on a longer script that still provides plenty of meaningful gameplay to create a total cinematic experience. For the developers at Remedy, it's still important to create a game that everyone can finish, and thus Mr. Payne will no doubt rake up quite a body count in a reasonable amount of gameplay hours.

Other similarities to the first Max Payne abound with the presentation and plotline, which has Max back with the force on the NYPD where he has to deal with the death of a partner, only to be then framed with murder. This time he'll actually confess to doing the deed, in what we can only assume is part of one of those much deeper plot twists. The game will begin with the same type of flashback sequence as the original, which will show how Max ended up in his current situation. The story will again be advanced through the use of graphic novel sequences that further provide the cinematic film noir look to the game, but these features will be used a bit more sparingly this time around -- these will serve as plot devices in between the levels while otherwise staying in-engine with Max narrating the events and offering insight.

For those of you who haven't played the original, don't feel left out. You won't need to have played the first game, as The Fall of Max Payne is being designed as a totally original story that stands on its own. In fact, the game's team believes this is partially necessary because only a handful of characters managed to survive the first outing. As a result, Remedy admitted that they essentially threw away too many characters, and with the sequel, different NPCs are being used more wisely, being created to be much more complex and play a bigger role. Some will obviously work against you, while you'll come to rely on others. As numerous plot twists are being hinted, you'll no doubt need to watch your back.

These NPCs will work via scripted elements as well as being somewhat dynamic depending on the particular level. One thing for certain is that you won't have to baby sit or go out of your way to protect these characters. It was apparent that they could be shot and even killed; whether this means you'll have a harder time at a later level without them or if certain NPCs only pop up at key times is unclear, but it did seem to create a more immersive experience to have other folks helping out.

The gameplay appears to remain straightforward with plenty of John Woo-style fight sequences and enemies to blast away. Max will once again sport a small NRA arsenal in that fine Italian leather jacket, this time with enough firearms to satisfy any Hong Kong action cinema fan, while bullet time is back big time. If anything, it almost seems that the bullet time effect could be called overkill, but in a game that has dozens upon dozens of heavily armed thugs shooting at you, we'll take all the help we you can get.

The New York locations are back and if you played the original, you'll be treated to some familiar territory, although the entire game has undergone a major revision. Remedy even called in help from Rockstar Games to help create convincing locations, as well as to provide their experience with motion capture, so you can expect more gritty New York settings and even more seamless animations.

The city settings are where the fantasy elements take hold, of course, and where the film noir stylings really come into play. The game might be taking place in the Big Apple, but this is far from the Disneyfied Times Square or cleaned-up Lower East Side. Instead, you can expect a dark city where it always seems to be 2:30am and raining. The streets are seemingly empty -- save for the legions of bad guys armed with M16s and AK-47s -- but this non-populated look just further conveys the look of a Kubrick film set. The result is that the game has a cinematic dream sequence feel that suggests Max's personal hell… perhaps heaven, as he does seem to be enjoying himself.

What's missing, especially considering Rockstar's involvement, is any sort of vehicular combat. It wasn't in the original game, but considering it's the feature du jour, it almost feels weird to have an action game without it. Once again, Max will also go it solo, even with the various NPCs helping out, so the game remains a single-player only experience. But as Max is a take-charge kind of guy with a sawed-off shotgun who can handle things on his own, these are features that might not be needed. On the flip side, however, a much welcome addition is planned in the form of easier-to-use mod tools, so hopefully we'll see more topnotch fan-based games utilizing bullet time this time around. PC Spaghetti Western, anyone?

As it stands, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne should have everything fans of the original would want, but without the epic wait that accompanied the first game. That's right -- Max Payne 2 is planned to ship this fall in time for the holidays, so you'll get to lock and load and hit the gritty mean streets of NYC again by then.
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While this was a news article for the PC version...a Max Payne 2 will be coming out for Xbox as well.