Mona Sax is Max Payne's love interest, and the two seem destined for each other. Play through the game a second time (perhaps on the higher difficulty setting that's unlocked after you finish it the first time) and you'll likely get a much clearer sense of what's happening. The plot itself features a number of twists but is rather convoluted the first go-round. All of the game's between-level loading screens and graphic novel sequences are impressive-looking and often very cool. These graphic novel sequences are unmistakably similar to those of the first game, though they are, in some cases, even more artistic this time around. It uses some very slick, graphic novel-style storyboards-complete with melodramatic dialogue straight out of a pulp detective novel-and good voice-over to go with it. The storyline unfolds in much the same fashion as the original. Still, this is a surprisingly complex narrative for a game, irrespective of the genre. Fans will undoubtedly be pleased by some of the nudging and winking, though someone starting off with Max Payne 2 would probably feel rather left out, despite the presence of an optional cutscene that summarizes what happened leading up to Max Payne 2. There are tons of references and parallels to the original story. Max, now a detective and wearier than ever of the world, once again has his hands full as he finds himself hopelessly attached to the lovely Mona Sax, a murder suspect and part of a bigger plot that ties in to Max's own dark past. Max Payne 2 is a direct sequel to the original and picks up after the events of that game. The PS2 version of Max Payne 2 is a mere shadow of the original PC release-and, on its own merits, it's got some serious problems that prevent it from being a good game. Anyway, if you've already heard about Max Payne 2 and were wondering how the PS2 version turned out, now you know. Though if you only have access to a PlayStation 2, Max Payne 2 may still be worth a look, since it can still be entertaining and exciting, at times. As such, this particular version of what, at its core, is a stylish and intense shooter, loses much, if not most, of its appeal in translation and just can't be recommended in good conscience when two far superior versions of the game are already available for other platforms. It also has pretty lengthy loading times, and, worst of all, a completely messed-up save system, which requires you to manually save your progress from the game's options menu-an awkwardly slow process-or else you start all over from the very beginning of the game (or wherever it was you last saved) when you run out of health, rather than, say, from the beginning of the level you were on, as in other versions of Max Payne 2 or any other action game these days. While the PS2 version basically features the same content as the original PC version, it's filled with terribly blurry, downright ugly textures and serious frame rate issues, and it's missing sound effects. Now the game is available on the PS2, but, unfortunately, it's suffered severely in translation (and is far worse off, for that matter, than the recent Xbox version-and even that version had some corners noticeably cut). Though the game is short-lived, Max Payne 2 made quite a splash when it was released on the PC some weeks ago, thanks to its excellent action and presentation.
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