Got it! Got it today after work and played through the first 3 levels of Chapter 1. I pretty much agreed with what was opined here and in other gaming forums. Max Payne 2
is a playable action movie with an impressive production quality. Looks like I'll have to 're-learn' the nuances of Bullet Time, they've tweaked it to be bit more complicated, so that I have to figure in room for little slo-mo rewards in addition to lightning fast strategizing. It's also good before going further into a level to scout for helpful inanimate 'allies' like explosive fuel jugs and drums.
Graphically, it has absolutely no peers in the hyperrealism school. The characters look almost uncomfortably too real. As is agreed upon by many others, the star of the show (next to Bullet Time, of course) is the Havok physics engine. It is always,
always a treat to shoot a fuel barrel with 3 or 4 baddies near it and watch them blow up into the air like the dead bodies they are, along with whatever other objects happen to be nearby! Almost everything not nailed down has been given physical properties. Also worth a great mention is the dynamic shadows - they are gorgeous, they are soft, and they fade away the further they recede into space, all while moving!
The inside jokes are OBSCENELY FUNNY! Many of them are found as commercials or show on the various televisions scattered around the levels, and it does pay if you had played the first Max Payne, because many of these jokes reference back. Dick Justice - LOL, I love it! And the flamingo one, and Max Heat (which was actually supposed to have been the original name of the game), and Lords & Ladies - LOL!!
So, I actually want to take my sweet fecking time with this one, so don't expect me to finish any time soon like most everyone else. This is gourmet cuisine, not fecking McDonald's. Besides, I still need to complete Silent Hill 2 before Halloween.
