Why believe in love?
The word is so common it's used with all the conviction of a guy trying to make it to second base. Love is a marketing ploy, a plot device; a lie told to children by Disney, Hallmark and pop songs so when little kids become big consumers, they'll keep breeding and buying when the only Better Tomorrow they're likely to see are the ones made by John Woo. Yet if hoping for love is the denial of reality, then there can be no guiltier party than geeks.

Escaping into fantasy at the drop of eight-sided dice, fandoms are a clientele of repeat customers to the whore of their hobbies: throwing money at objects of desire hoping they'll turn a few tricks to mute memories of the series of unfortunate events that comprises daily life. For all the smack talked about junkies, geeks are in the same crackhouse that would represent a boat in this metaphor - at least a heroin habit causes weight loss.

Shotgun Seranade

"I have two guns, one for each of ya."

Certainly, love is the drug for adrenaline-charged avenger Max Payne. Both plot point and selling point, that many splendored thing has brought the gravel-voiced gumshoe back as promised at the end of his 2001 film noir game debut. The Fall of Max Payne's title serves as symbolism for Max's philosophical as well as physical plummet; but more importantly his head over heels tumble for Mona Sax, a not-so-dead ringer for Demi Moore from Max's first tour of the underworld.

With the pissed-off pistolero unable to dodge Cupid's shots, Sax & Max begin packing heat in a relationship that puts the 'graphic' in graphic novel. Caught in a web of intrigue involving the surviving characters of our slo-mo hero's pistol-packing past, Max finds out the vengeance he had believed to have ended had only begun as he tries to get to the bottom of the fall. But in this adult's platforming game of Connect-The-Bullet-Holes, are both he and Mona in harm's way, Or is Max in more danger from her? Well...that would be telling.

Way Of The Gun

Demi Moore still gets Charlie's Angels flashbacks.

What needs no explanation are the many renovations to Max's interface; emphasis on face. Though it was serviceable, the simple look of the original Max Payne was ultimately dated and mocked. The comic book look was stylish, but Max's monologues were considered on par with diary excerpts of a Hot Topic goth channeling Raymond Chandler. And while the game engine's Bullet Time physics proved revolutionary, the permanent in-game grimace our narrator bore during firefights was akin to Christian Slater reading his own filmography.

Yet with original designer Remedy getting together with Rockstar of Grand Theft Auto fame, Max Payne 2 is not only a continuation of innovation, it's an evolution. The ironically health-restoring painkillers are still on hand and a lot more densely dispersed. Also, a small yet especially impressive tweak has been added - to prevent accidental deaths so common when handling incendiaries in games, explosive weapons (as well as a largely useless melee pistolwhipping attack) have been bound to a second key. And for fans of Max's singular brand of cinematics there's a Jump To Chapter feature available on completion; further likening this package to the special edition DVDs it emulates.

A heartening issue is MP2's system-friendliness - even on a relatively low-end PC, graphics and sound are superb as bullets and bodies fly, occasionally propelled by explosions or immolated by flame. Moreover, witness Bullet Time 2.0. With the Chow Yun Fat signature shootdodge somewhat de-emphasized, the most effective use of our slo-mo superhero's Matrix-y ability is to remain on his feet and keep firing. The subsequent combos of death not only top off the now self-refilling shot clock, but cause time around Max to move progressively slower until enemies draw like a kindergarten art class. Reloading in Bullet Time has also been given a classy new manuever, making Max wheel and dodge while emptying clips - a bird of prey with a Beretta.

Armed And Dangerous
Don't surmise that MP2 is all gun and no fun, though - the level of interactivity is far greater than its predecessor. In the original, coming upon an item of interest would usually activate a series of cutscene panels, but now the pages of Sega TruVideo on steroids serve largely as bookends to each action-filled chapter instead of jarring the flow of the ever-present story.

As such, the player actually has to explore or risk missing exposition both integral and ancillary. An excellent example is how the designers have sent up their own creation within a surprisingly persistant television selection of programs with commercials: a 70's cop show, a cartoon, a soap opera, a Twin Peaks spoof, and even a porn movie - all of which somehow humorously/eerily mirror Max's situation. With lines like "In a situation like mine, you can only think in metaphors," the cop show Dick Justice is no doubt a dig on the brooding protagonist. Still in place are the hilarious idle conversations between your foes if you sneak up on them, further adding to the surprisingly human element present in a story primarily concerned with killing.

Weapon Of Choice

As he fell, Max regretted using his beretta to nail the floorboards.

Of course, the game is not without flaws. I may be in the minority both figuratively and literally speaking, but as a graphic novel nerd I enjoyed the inimitable comic book cinematics which seem in smaller supply here and occasionally just as hokey as the first time. The tank-like bosses of the first game that absorbed bullets like water to a sponge have much weaker successors. And while once will be enough for most, they'll never see the charm waiting at the end of Dead On Arrival mode, only available after beating 2 other settings.

Plus, those who believe quality is dictated by quantity may want to pass this up, as even once through this shot-for-shot remake can go by awfully fast for its brand-new asking price; even with Time Attack and Survival modes (New York Minute & Dead Man Walking) to add longevity. Furthermore, the only button you'll be using more than the trigger are the quicksave / quickload keys. The whole package isn't likely sway detractors of Max's first escapade, as while certainly evolved; the sequel is very much the same beast. Still, it's far better than Enter The Matrix could ever hope to be, even with its chance to swap characters not as fully explored (a few segments that allow players to guide Mona are purely cosmetic, but still advance the story).

Parting Shots
So with its excellent marriage of action and story driving it forward, The Fall of Max Payne is probably the most Woo-tiful book you'll play this year. It's an NRAwesome shotgun love song, a bullet ballet backed by a full orchestra of features that aim to please even the most trigger happy of shooter aficianados.

You don't have to believe in love. Believe in Max Payne.