Back in 2001, Remedy introduced Bullet Time in the hit Max Payne. Bullet Time lets you experience the "slowing" effect of the adrenaline rush brought on by panic, fear, and most importantly, action. While slowing down the surroundings and even your own character, you are able to really bring down the house because you maintain the ability to aim in real-time. This, coupled with some fancy moves called shoot-dodging, will place you in one Hollywood action sequence after another.

As you fill up the bullet time meter it turns into a yellow color. The more yellow the more "in the zone" you are and will be able to perform some pretty nifty reloading animations. This zone meter is almost disappointing because of the great potential it could have held in doing even cooler moves and tricks. Instead, the only real thing that happens is the screen fills with some nice motion blur and a sepia tone as you perform a spin-around move to reload. I suspect in the future they will incorporate more features like this, but it would have been nice to have some more complex maneuvers this go around. I also suspect that during the course of the motion blur, it does not take advantage of anti-aliasing because the individual frames appear to be very jagged compared to normal play without the effect. I find this credible because this occurs in Need for Speed: Underground (which uses similar motion blur effects and trails). ATi's new feature, Temporal Anti-Aliasing, should work on this so it will not be such a problem in-game (if you can maintain the 60 fps requirement for TAA), however I do not know what this will look like for individual frames.

The real heart of Max Payne 2 is the single player story which picks up after the original. The new story is less cliche and a little more classy, like the box says it's a film-noir love story and I think they did a pretty decent job of it. With no multiplayer, the modding value may seem like it's not worth the effort, however there can be some interesting things to come from the improved editor. There is a particular mod I thought was interesting that may or may not become worthy in the future. It is based on the Hellsing anime and though it is not that impressive right now, it has room for a lot of potential. There's also some other mods as well so if you're up for some free time and not working on any other projects you might be interested in something for this title. There's only so much that can be done, in my opinion, with a single player only game (short of a totally new campaign). The editor has taken a few improvements over the original as well. 3D Realms I hear has been very supportive in this area for Max Payne 2 and that counts for something in my book.

The gameplay is rather fast paced, but taking the time to look at all the scenery can really increase your experience with this game. The television sets in the game actually use slideshows and dialogue. For example, "Captain Baseball Bat Boy" is a comic-based cartoon series from the original. The show "Lords and Ladies" is quite worth watching if you love - or hate - soap operas. There are some nice examples of the Havok physics engine to be played with at the funhouse level. For example, there is a room with a device that is much like a catapult that throws small red balls from it's launcher. There are targets and a stack of rubber tires which will fall over with a pretty convincing effect. My favorite would have to be the triangle pivot with a board balanced on top of it (weighed equally on both ends by a tire). Shoot one of the tires and the other side will fall down. You can then jump on the higher end which will make the tire flip off. This is obviously the physics engine at work and it looks very nice. A modified version of the Havok engine will be used in future games, such as Half-Life 2.

You are forced to play on the easiest single player mode first which might be okay for new players, however the learning curve is extremely short for players of the original. An option to choose between the first and second difficulty levels would have been nice. The hardest level, Dead on Arrival, is somewhat challenging in that it limits the saves you can use per level. Like the original, it auto-adjusts to your play style. For example, if you get hurt a lot then the painkillers to restore your health are more plentiful. The reason to play through the game (or download a save game to ease your efforts) all three times is because beating it the first time unlocks Hard-boiled difficulty and Jump to Chapter as well as New York Minute (the objective is to run through the levels in record time). Beating Hard-boiled unlocks Dead on Arrival and if you beat that you get a special alternate ending which was a good secret. It was a good ending, by the way. Unfortunately, there is no multiplayer. The versus-bots play of Dead Man Walking is good for a quick trip into the world of Max Payne when you're bored or just want a feeling of nostalgia after the game has been around for a while. There's also some extra official maps for this mode available at the website (www.maxpayne2.com).

The graphics are very sweet and most of all the textures are just like in the original, digital photo-turned artwork. The weapons are very detailed and so are the actual bullets that wizz by your character as you play. The larger caliber bullets, such as from the M4 Carbine are easier to see and very detailed. Like the original, bullets from the sniper rifles are detailed and when you come close to a hit or miss headshot with the scope, the camera moves to follow the bullet. This is a nice touch that the game has inherited from the original. There are minor clipping issues, such as when Max falls on the ground to the side his hip and leg partially go into the ground. Things like that are hardly noticeable during the heat of action, but still worth mentioning. A common trend in animation with games is that the hands hardly move or fingers are not actually animated. Payne follows in this trend as even though his fingers are individually made, they do not move from the same gun-holding position. Sprites are fairly well done and for example, if you pause the game the camera will follow in circles around your character allowing you to see some nice angles. If you pause while shooting the sprites can look stunning and the loss of frames sometimes can prove it. One of the best effects in the game is how well the fire is done. While it looks good in motion, the point where it touches the ground seems to be more or less like it is actually going through the ground instead of spreading across the ground. Despite the little details, this is a nice looking, detail-oriented game and can put up a fight with a lot of other favorites in the genre.

A nice selection of music and sound effects accompany the pretty settings and fancy gun-play as an added bonus. It has support for EAX and multi-channel audio, however if you are not using multiple channels, it is best to turn it off. There are nice orchestra-level scores if you pay attention to parts of the game and music. When you start the game it comes up with a little movie, displaying the title of the game along with a little clip showing off some of the new bullet time effects. On the main menu is a revamped Max Payne theme (try playing these on a piano, press use). There seems to be another minor theme that consists of a cello solo by Perttu Kivilaakso. If there is one thing that stood out to me as I played Max Payne I would have to the say it was the multiple references to the song "Late Goodbye" by Poets of the Fall (www.poetsofthefall.com). The song can be heard by characters humming, whistling and even singing the lyrics. The guns sound relatively good, although a tad perhaps with their own style -- a movie-style of sorts. For example, the 9mm Pistol sounds almost like a pop gun and the Desert Eagle has a more powerful sound.

Artificial intelligence is fairly decent and while it's not the best in the world, it comes off pretty good overall. Enemies are not stupid, but they're not exactly rocket scientists either. I felt some heavy scripting in the game, not a whole lot, but repetitive things sure did seem like they were in the right place at the right time. Obviously without some help, a lot of the funny dialogue and some sequences would not have been the same. For example, at one point in the game a decoy is set up and if you don't fall for it, you can find a couple thugs not far away hiding. If you wait a moment, you can hear them chatting about how good the trap is and such. A good example of how the AI reacts to your player is to imagine you are in a room in front of a door way facing the opening. The door hinge is on the left and it is opened inside towards you. An enemy is coming from outside the door. You move up into the right opposite the door and hide behind the wall there. Instead of coming in the room and attacking you he may move close to the wall and shoot inside the doorway. His partner however, may decide to rush you or throw a grenade while he provides cover. If you just blow through the levels the AI will not shine as bright, but instead well, if you're breezing through the levels then you already know.

Overall the game plays good, but can become repetitive after the first run through (maybe before that, depending if you're into the story or not). The game is not all that long, however it was more enjoyable than the first in terms of pretty scenery and things to do. It's more refined and fluid overall than the original, so chances are if you were a fan of the first one then you'll probably be a fan of this one, too. Combined with the other game modes and alternate ending, some people will find a lot of replay value while others may long for something more. It has a lot of room for potential in some areas, but if the one thing consistant between the series so far is the good artwork that has surfaced because of it. I had fun playing this game the first time and after really stopping and paying attention to more things the second and third time I can easily say that I had a pretty good experience. This game, with it's fancy DVD-style packaging, will be sitting on my shelf right next to the spot reserved for Half-Life 2 (and some other goodies coming out this year).

• Video: 8/10 - As technology ages, so do the graphics, but until then the texturing and general graphics can be impresive; the configuration options are excellent for a large variety of systems and performance
• Audio: 9/10 - Audio tech does not advance as much, true to theme it includes real musical scores that fit the scene and add to the action, including real songs and cello solos
• Gameplay: 7.5/10 - Although tried in the original, it is more fluid and just plain fun, a hard time to convert back to the original; no multiplayer is a minus, but the good story and different endings are worthy
• Replay Value: 50% - Only certain gamers will find this title attractive, it is half and half for those who flat-out refuse it for no multiplayer and those who find themselves intrigued with the story, it's split down the middle of "fun the first time" and "fun every time" with no real middle ground, low modding value versus time and effort
• Overall 8/10 - A good contender in all areas except multiplayer (and modding), this title is a good single player pick despite the lack of innovation for the second coming, lots of easter eggs and the melodramatics to keep things going