Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
- November 17, 2003 12:03 PM PST
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Max Payne 2?s coming to consoles real soon, and GamePro has the red hot exclusive hands on preview and screens.
Max Payne 2 has already knocked over PC gamers with its combination of film-noir style and intense gunfighting action, but it?s also making its way onto Xbox and PS2 in December. Max Payne purists often feel that the game belongs on the PC, where a mouse and keyboard seem like a natural fit for Max?s precision-heavy combat, and some worry about whether or not a console can handle the sequel?s highly detailed graphical look.After a little hands-on time with the Xbox version, it?s pretty clear that the game should rock regardless of what platform it?s on. If it?s possible, Max?s controls fit even better on the Xbox controller than they did on the PC, showing that Rockstar and developer Remedy are really working to make sure the game plays right. The way actions were mapped to the buttons on the controller just made sense; hitting the White button to take painkillers was definitely better than having to find the Tab key in a pinch.
Hardcore Max Payne players might object to the auto-aim, but with the lack of a mouse for aiming, the Xbox version?s auto-aim was a necessary feature. As long as the crosshair is in the right direction, Max will aim and hit targets on his own. This takes some emphasis off of precision aiming (one of the features of combat on the PC version) and puts the focus on dodging, movement, and finding targets in the first place. Overall, the auto-aim made the game feel a little less precise, but a little more intense.
Graphically, the PC version didn?t suffer much from running on lower-end machine, so the console versions should look fine. The early Xbox version we saw looked a bit rough, but all the texture optimization hadn?t been done yet. It?ll be a challenge to get the game to look as good on the PS2, but based on the early Xbox version, the developers are doing all the can to smooth out the game?s look before launch.
Of course, the build we saw was still quite early, and so any of the above could change without notice. If things stay on course, though, console gamers can expect a Max Payne 2 experience that?s close, if not identical, to the one PC gamers have had for a few weeks now. Judge for yourself with the latest exclusive Xbox screens in the picture gallery. Just remember this is a Mature rated game so be warned the screens are not for the young ones.
