Ahead of its Time: The Fall of Max Payne 2

[Vegeta187x]

I enjoyed both MP 1 and 2 when they first came out and I don't know why the second one didn't sell very well. I do know it's not because of its mature themes. At that point in gaming, maturity in games was becoming fairly common. I remember playing the first Metal Gear Solid and marveling at how much the game affected me on an emotional level...moreso than any other game before it. While I agree that back then, the general population had not jumped on the "games as movies" idea and that mature games were just starting to come into their own as a recognized proverbial vein to pump blood through, but I don't think that's why the game failed to hit it big.

It was just a good game that fell below the radar. Probably because other, bigger games were coming out.

 

[Damn Dirty Ape]

Lmao, max payne 2 didn't sell because it was too mature to handle? Compared to max payne 1, 2 was just easy as hell to play and didn't contain anything interesting at all. Bullet time was extremely long compared to that of mp1, not to mention it slowed the enemies down to a crawling halt instead of slowing everything down a little. Combined with the abundance of ammo everywhere, you could literally speedrun your way across the game. In mp 1 bullet time was new, you had to use it some areas or you wouldn't survive. The story was interesting, sad and extremely amusing at times. Mx2 was just a bad copmovie with poor gameplay to beat, heck they turned Mona into Monica Belluci to appeal to these "mature gamers" you speak off. It was just a poor sequal, that's all.

 

[Putter]

Don't look at me, I own 2 copies (one still in its shrinkwrap, just in case).

It sold poorly because its a 6 hour game with no multiplayer and no replay value. Personally, I don't have a problem with that. But a lot of people do.

Further, I'm pretty sure it was announced something like 2 1/2 weeks before it came out, so there was no hype.

MP2 is one of those games that changed how I thought about video games, although I had played significantly fewer games at that point. It remains one of my favorite games, though; it's simply stunning.

 

[Ludological Outlaw]

Max Payne 2 is indeed an underappreciated masterpiece of the highest order. The writing and storytelling are leagues better than the original, which was strictly amateur-hour. It's notsomuch the story itself, which on paper seems kind of dull and cliche, but the way the game so skillfully puts you into the mind of the main character. The level design is frequently brilliant, and the stuff happening in the background, the TV shows, throwaway conversations, is often hilarious.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

It sold poorly because its a 6 hour game with no multiplayer and no replay value. Personally, I don't have a problem with that. But a lot of people do.

Gotta admit, there's a lot to be said for that. Max Payne 2 is awesome, but I don't know about 60 dollars awesome. Technically, most games aren't 60 dollars awesome. Neither are most books, TV shows, or movies.

But ten bucks off steam or 15 off amazon? Definitely worth it.

 

[Smokescreen]

It's been a long while since I played MP2, but I remember enjoying it quite a bit. They cut out the nightmare sequences from the first game that were just awful to get through, told a good story, and ratcheted up the camp value in the other characters to 11. (It may have been a serious tale, but they were using cliches to the max to get it told) It did everything you could want for a sequel: trim the bad, boost the good, and I thought enhanced the way they told the story.

Putter's point about the pricing should be well taken, though. I don't care about multiplayer and never will, but without some reason to replay it, gamers will choose to spend their money on the thing that gives them the most value, and sixty bucks is a lot.

"How many seasons has it been for the most profitable shows on TV- Lost, Heros, Prison Break, SG-1? They never seem to go anywhere. Normally sequels are bad because the original story was told so well that anything made afterwards feels tacked on and passe. Now films actually build the seeds for sequels into themselves. Why? Because it is easier to make a continuation of a placcid franchise than taking the effort to actually think up a new, exciting IP"

That's only about a half-truth. The money that gets made on TV shows usually comes in syndication, so all of those shows have an impetus to NOT get anything accomplished quickly so they can really make the money. In addition, TV has become significantly more complex than it used to be, in it's use of narrative. Complexity takes time to build and pay off.

 

[LionheartDJH]

The Max Payne games are among my favourite games of all time. I've completed both of them multiple times and they are fantastic. Okay the clichés are a bit grating but the dark noir story is a rarity in games and I appreciated it much more than the average ten-a-penny "you're the hero kill the bad guys" story that many games like it have. There's no clear sense of what is right and what is wrong and that makes the story quite compelling and certainly worth investing in. I'm not sure if a movie is a good idea for the game but if they're taking that up then I'll probably give it a watch. Would have loved to see a third game but it's likely not to happen even though the end credits of the second game state that "Max Payne's journey into the night will continue". Perhaps the games were ahead of their time, especially with the use of bullet time, which was then plagiarised and so overused in games in the years following the release of the first game, which probably dampened people's enthusiasm for a sequel.

 

[mGoLos]

I think Max Payne 2 is a prime example of piracy destroying a great franchise.

 

[williamjg]

thanks to this article, i just went out today and bought both max paynes. i was too young at the time they were released so they passed my by as if it wasnt a lord of the rings game i didnt tend to buy it... very sad i know.
anyways i just started on 1 and am planning to run through them both. so far its really good and has scored high with me. especialy the scene where you come back to your house to find it trashed with all the screaming.
thanks again

 

[The_Mop]

Max Payne, as far as I'm concerned, was more than just a fantastic game, it was a trendsetter. Game Developers started noticing that thick, intense plotlines should be a hell of a lot more integral to the over all experience, and most of the respectable big, high-budget games after MP1 started following suit. Not to say Max Payne was the first game to implement a plotline as immersive as it was, but it was probably the first to really bring it into the limelight as a primary ideal.

Max PAyne 2, honestly, I have no idea why it didn't sell so well. The plotline's fantastic, the action is fast paced and undeniably cool, and the characters are much better developed than in the first. I found it pretty disgraceful that I bought another (digipack) copy of Max Payne 2 a year ago for 99p when it is obviously worth so much more...

As far as the movie goes, well, I dunno if they're gonna try and do a kinda synoptic film of the first and second games or mabye something new, but what I do know is that the script to Max Payne 2 is supposed to be about 4 times the length of the average movie script. Looks like the writers have a job on their hands!

Anyway, cool article, shared a lot of sentiments.

 

[Ptrack_Git]

Max 2 was absolutely great and it pains me that idiot who didn't even play it has the first comment.
I didn't get to play 2 on the PC (sadly), but even on a PS2 it was f*cking fantastic because the story was great, the levels were fun and the action was insane. Plus the way they tweaked
the bullet time system made it more challenging and gave it more variety than the combat in the original... although you fought a lot of guys in cleaning jump suits. And suits. Who else would you fight though?
Maybe it wasn't popular because of the steep difficulty curve. It was hard for me and I played the first one to death.

 

[reffee]

Beware of a wall of nostaliga-induced text.

I remember playing the max payne, thinking it was cool. I was, what, 14 by then? It was a cool game, had a "cool" story, bullet time which was new and breath-taking at the time, and loads of violence. It was the kind of game you and your friends would talk about during school breaks, more or less simply because of the blood.

And then I played the sequel. I only played it once, as a matter of fact. But even so, I still remember Vlad so clearly. I can still hear Max' rough narrating voice, see the comic-design of the cut-scenes. I can still remember the elevator scene with Max & Mona during the first or so chapter, and I can so very clearly remember the ending.

When I finished it, when everything was over, "the final gunshot having left the barrel" (that was MP1 tho, right? ), I remember feeling a void inside. That this was a really great game, and I was actually sad I had beaten it. And that's after only two-three days of gameplay! I still get that feeling now and then when finnishing a really good game; but never have I had that feeling so much ever again. And I think, because of this, I still use MP2 - unconciously - to benchmark other games.

And yes. It is cliché - just like any Tarantino movie I might add. Yes, at first glance it's a very typical story of a "hardboiled" ex-detective, watered-down or whatever, looking for a glimpse to the past. But really, it is so more. And thinking about it, the way they implemented these little movie-like story-telling bits into interactive gameplay is still unparalelled if you ask me.

Example - the undercover apartment next to yours where you can chose to stay when you have to pass through, and listen to records of your character's phone calls. The sex hot line mentioned in article, where he keeps freaking out the girl on the other end - calling her not the name of his dead wife but instead the name of the new "love interest", Mona.

Things like that were good for laughs, but it ALSO added extreme depth and sadness, somehow. It's just such a well-rounded game, and a shame it didn't become more popular. Would've loved to see what they'd be able to do with a #3 - though I like to think #2 was a good place to leave it alone.

Then again, what do I know? I might just be easily amused.

Oh well, sorry rambling and ranting. Either way, I think I'll try to find my copy tomorrow, dust if off and see if can't manage to replay it. It's certainly worth it.

 

[eggdog14]

But ten bucks off steam or 15 off amazon? Definitely worth it.

Indeed! I did just that, got it off steam, and it's pretty good considering its age. I'll post some more detailed comments when i play through it some more.

 

[Jare]

MP1 was fantastic in many ways, and MP2 built on top of it, but the entertainment value wore very quickly. I was entranced for the first 2 hours of MP1, then enjoyed the next 2, then went through the motions for another 2, and I don't think I even finished it. I vaguely recall turning the game off for good when I reached a 2nd nightmare scene?

Everything I saw of MP2 reminded me of MP1. It didn't matter that everything was clearly improved, because it was not a matter of quality - I just didn't want anything to do with the character, the universe or the gameplay anymore. I played the MP2 demo or borrowed it from a friend (memory hazy), played 1 hour and that was it.

The Tarantino parallels are interesting, because that's exactly my problem with his movies. Well done, fascinating initially, and leave great memories, but I am bored and tired of them way before they finish.

 

[the_tramp]

You have just explained to me why I loved Max Payne 2 despite all of the flaws. Back a few years ago a couple of friends and I picked it up, whilst they found it mediocre at best I loved it and played it furiously but could not convey why it was good. Thank you for explaining it to me.

 

[portuga-man]

I don't think max payne was ahead of it's time. Unfortunately, for the game, it wasn't an age-old franchise. It was a game no-one ever heard of, meaning that, instead of taking the risk of paying 40 bucks w/o knowing what you're gonna get, players went for other safe purchases. The fact that it was made by rockstar, which to this point only hit the spot with gta made gamers even more insecure about buying the game. These two factors contributed to max payne not getting "the audience it so richly deserved". In today's market, if a game is neither from a famous all-around company (like lucas arts, or konami) nor an age-old franchise, it has a one-in-a-million chance of being successful (example?: psychonauts).

 

[Colodomoko]

I can only say Max Payne's Story is one of many storys that I can agree with. The world at most is cruel and painfull. Around every corner there are lost souls each diffrent from one another. They all feel sick and tired in there cold hearted bodies with only the very thought of what my lie ahead in life. So much hate... So much fear....... to tell you all the truth would be to much to handel even though you already know it. Let me be the one to shead some light here saying what keeps us going is our loves and our very instinct for survival. As one of these peole I wish I could end it all, but then I would never of known what it means to live life and die without pain.

 

[qbert4ever]

Eh, to tell the truth I never played either one. By the time I was old enough to buy them, the gameplay seemed tired, and it never had any real appeal over other games I wanted.

Plus, ya know, the fact that it's called Max Payne of all things didn't help too much.

Although since most people here seem to like it, I may see if I can find it in a bargin bin somewhere.

 

[Colodomoko]

Try checking Blockbusters for Max Payne 2. Thats where I found mine.

 

[sirdanrhodes]

I qued out overnight for this game when it was released, it was also in sale on pc, £20.