Perfect sequel. Sticks to the Max Payne formula, but has enough to separate itself from the originall too.
Like the original, you don't start at the beginning of the story, you're dropped in to the action right off the bat. In the original, you were at the end, and as Max narrated the story of how he got there, you play through the events he described. This is how Max Payne 2 works, but the intro is a tad disorientating. You jump around a little bit, from different sections of the story, but after a brief, hallucinationised romp around a hospital, you'll find yourself on familiar ground, in the violent streets of New York.
Max has been bailed out of prison (with the assistance of Alfred Woden), and he is being hailed as a hero for what he did in Max Payne. But, a few months later, Max is back to being a regular NYPD Cop, and on a routine murder investigation, he stumbles onto something much more sinister. Someone is eliminating major crime bosses, and Max is dragged into it.
But enough about the story, you should see it for yourself. The graphics have had a huge overhall, so much, that Max actually looks different from the original. He no longer wears his trademark hawaiian shirt, or a cross on a chain, but he's replaced them with a white business shirt and an NYPD badge. But, his face actually looks different too, and Max's appearance will change throughout the game, mostly by adding blood, scars, that kinda deal. Max always looks awesome. In fact, he and Mona (she makes a return appearance, more on that later), are the only ones who look exceptional, the rest of the characters look better than in the original, but they still have glitches like arms going through a fat guy's stomach, that kind of thing.
The voicing is once again brilliant, and the thugs don't sound as... Mafia-like as in the original, which I like. The sound effects are loads better than in the original, and there's a lot more of them. In the original, all you'd hear is Max's footsteps, the occasional in-game narration, and bad guys yelling profanities at each other, and you. Then there was the gun sounds, and some occasinal music. In Max Payne 2, there is much more ambience, mostly rain, which sound different as you go through the level, there's police sirens, and people chattering too.
Now, onto the gameplay. Max Payne was the first game to emply bullet time, and it was revolutionary, spawning many, many imitators (Max Payne was made before the Matrix. I lost all respect for the Wachowski Brothers anyway). Bullet time was fun, and really gave you an awesome feeling as you dove through the air, shooting madly at the guy with the machine gun. Now, bullet time is a little bit more stylised, and when you kill a guy, things slow down further. Also, diving no longer takes up bullet time, so it makes things a bit easier. Also, there are many more painkillers around, and it really seems like Rockstar tried to make this game easier than the original. On two occasions, you play as Mona Sax from the original, who Max teams up with, to figure out what's going on. She plays basically the same as Max, except instead of dual berettas at the ready, she usually has a sniper and a handy-dandy Desert Eagle. The game uses the Unreal Engine, so stuff reacts accordingly, and it's fun to watch stuff fly about the place when you blow up an oil drum. Also, you can replay any chapter you want once you've unlocked it, unlike the original, where you could only restart the game. Throughout the game, you will team up with temporary friends, from hobos and girls in miniskirts who have the hots for Max, to acutal bad guys who are too stupid to remember who they have to kill. These characters are actually helpful, so always watch out for them for a hand.
The game is filled with jokes. These range from an old lady packing a shotgun, to the return of Lords and Ladies from the original. There is also a TV series of Captain Baseball Bat-Boy, and a new show called Address Unkown, which provides for a fairly creepy experience. It seems as if Rockstar wanted show how sleazy these criminals were, as you'll occasinally hear girls... Uhhh... Enjoying themselves on the adult channel, and on the occasional answering machine. But, if you have kiddies about, or concerned parents, just shoot the TV and it'll be ok.
Now for the bad stuff, but there isn't much. The game is a bit short, but I hear there's an alternate ending, so you'll want to play through again, and you'll go back just to find any TV shows, answering machines, or jokes you missed last time. Also, at times, the frame rate suffers, but this only happens once in the game, so it's forgivable.
Max Payne2: The Fall of Max Payne won't have the same major impact as the original did, cause it's the sequel, the impact stuff has been done, but there's enough changes to appeal to old players, and the difficulty has been toned down a little to appeal to new players (there's an option in the main menu to recap the first game if you missed it). Basically, Max Payne 2 is an all round great sequel, and the Max Payne games are a fair rival for Rockstar's other juggernaut, GTA.