Overview
Updated: 7/3

quote 3D Realms: Press Release

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. announced that Rockstar Games, in conjunction with Remedy Entertainment, has begun development of Max Payne 2, a sequel to the blockbuster hit Max Payne.

Originally developed for the PC by Remedy Entertainment and produced by 3D Realms, Max Payne debuted as an award winning and top selling PC game in July 2001. PlayStation®2 and Xbox(TM) versions of the game were shipped in December 2001, and both achieved immediate critical and commercial success. Global shipments of the Max Payne franchise have exceeded 2.75 million units to date.

Take-Two also announced that it has acquired ownership of the Max Payne brand and all intellectual property rights associated with the brand, including trademarks, copyrights, characters, perpetual license to utilize proprietary technologies, including the Max Payne game engine and associated "Bullet Time(TM)" technology, and rights to license fees from ancillary Max Payne brand extensions such as cinema, television and literary productions.

Take-Two purchased the Max Payne property from Remedy Entertainment and Apogee Software in exchange for $10 million in cash and 969,932 shares of restricted common stock, in addition to certain future development incentives.

Kelly Sumner, Chief Executive Officer said, "A critical component of Take-Two's corporate strategy is to control the intellectual property rights to our key brands and as a result, build the most value for our company. Max Payne has been one of our most successful product franchises to date. The ownership of this top-selling brand allows us to broadly capitalize on the continued strength of the product on multiple platforms, and extend the brand with exciting sequels as well as providing opportunities for extending the brand to other forms of entertainment."

Scott Miller, Chief Executive Officer of 3D Realms commented, "This is a precedent-setting deal for Take-Two, Remedy and 3D Realms - the first time in our industry a highly successful IP alone has changed ownership hands. This deal validates our strategy for developing strong character-based games. Take-Two benefits tremendously by having full control of the Max Payne brand going forward and being able to properly leverage it to its full potential.

Game Information
Updated: 8/31

• Storyline - a violent, Film Noir love story between a cop and a femme fatale murder suspect, between Max Payne and Mona Sax. Dark, tragic and intense, the story is a thrill-ride of shocking twists and revelations.
  
  
• Max Payne's signature slow motion gunplay has been improved on every level. Get ready for Bullet Time 2.0.
  
  
• New guns and new moves make action more cinematic and intense than ever before.
  
  
• Fully integrated Havok physics engine allows for interactive environments creating incredible combat scenes. Ragdoll characters and physics in slow motion create breath-taking combat scenes.
  
  
• All new AI - cooperative NPC's fight with Max and more believable enemies create tension and more interesting and varied challenge.
  
  
• A stunning level of detail: Extremely detailed environments with photorealistic textures, highly enhanced radiosity lighting and extremely lifelike characters (including facial animations & lip synchronization) provide a visually staggering cinematic experience.
  
  
• Massive production values - including a motion picture stunt crew, professional talent for voice acting and graphic novels, motion capture and authentic digital source material from New York City.
  
  
• Professional talent for voice acting and graphic novels
  
  
• Motion capture and access to authentic digital source material from NYC help to ensure that Max Payne 2 provides the quality performances that fans have come to expect from Remedy and Rockstar.
  
  
• Fierce, yet stylish action sequences and slow-motion gunplay that has become synonymous with Max Payne is back and better than ever.
  
  
• New and enhanced moves and options provide breathtaking cinematic game play.
  
  
• Different reload animations in Bullettime.
  
  
• The AI code has been completely recoded from scratch.
  
  
• AI will assist Max in the game.

Articles
Updated: 8/25

• Gamespot Rockstar Announces Max Payne 2
  
  
• Gamespot Max Payne 2 Teaser Site Launches
  
  
• IGN Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
  
  
• IGN Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

Related Sites
Updated: 5/28

• Max Payne 2
  
  
• Payne Reactor
  
  
• Planet Max Payne
  
  
• Max Payne Headquarters
  
  
• Max Payne Zone
  
  
• Max Payne Area

First Screenshots
Updated: 9/4


[color=#666666]This message was edited by Scarchelli on Sep 22 2003.

Reopened by request for new information.

DO NOT POST IN THIS THREAD UNLESS YOU HAVE INFO THAT IS NOT IN THIS FORUM YET

Updated July 31 03
Added weapons, one new feature and Story info at bottom.
Why Max's Appearance has changed:

The original game used Remedy developers, family and friends for faces. A lot of the reviews for the game pointed this out even, as it was rather obvious in some cases that pro actors were not being used.

So, this time around, professional actors are being used all around, and they're all being hired from the New York City area (makes sense, right, with the game being set there). Yes, we all like Sam Lake better as Max, but he's also the game's primary script writer (and the script is HUGE!), and he doesn't have time to fly to New York to take part in the photo sessions.

The game will be better, in part, because Remedy's developers are not being distracted by photo shoots, and they can focus on their real jobs: making the game.

So, that's the short story. I wish we could have stuck with Sam as Max, too, but this change had to be made, and having played numerous builds of the game already, I am already used to Max's new look and I don't even think twice about it anymore.

A lot of people complained about Zelda's new cel shaded look, too, but when they played the game it became much less important of a point. It only takes a little time to get used to.

But, the real bottom-line is that it was just not possible for the Remedy developers to make the game and also reprise their old roles again (or have to fly to NY city several times for photo shoots).

The good news is that Max's voice will be the same. :-) -Scott Miller of 3D Realms

Subtitle of the game explained:

...According to Sam Lake, lead writer on both Max Payne and the sequel. "The script for the sequel is three times as big as the original. It's going to be a much deeper game and we're taking a big risk by putting him in a love story this time around. In the original we kept the story seperate so that you could blast through the game even if you didn't want to spend time with the graphic novel but this time around we're working hard to incorporate the story into the game."

Subtitled The Fall Of Max Payne, the title hints at another playful feel-good romp through the streets of New York, although it's also set in New York in the fall (read autumn), so the title isn't necessarily as dark as it sounds. Set a year after the end of the first game (all the characters that were lucky enough to survive the original are back for the sequel), the story starts with Max back in uniform, but once again standing accused of killing his former partner. Instead of shruging it off, he confesses to the murder, which sets up the whole film-noir love angle. But don't worry, Remedy hasn't gone soft on you. According to Sam Lake, The Fall Of Max Payne is "dark, tragic and violent, and mostly in Bullet-Time of course. Love hurts, and you just know there isn't going to be a happy ending? Or is there?" -PCZone Magazine

Release Date Info:

Max Payne 2 Pre-Orders and ETA
Mika Reini and Petri Järvilehto of Remedy posted two links to pre-order a copy of Max payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne on This 3D Realms thread.

So you can pre-order from EB Games who estimate the release date as 11/14/2003 or Gamestop who have an ETA for the game as 9/15/03.

Neither of these are official release dates that have been set by Remedy or Take 2 because guess what, there is no official estimate.

Expected Features:

* Professional talent for voice acting and graphic novels

* Motion capture and access to authentic digital source material from NYC help to ensure that Max Payne 2 provides the quality performances that fans have come to expect from Remedy and Rockstar.

* Fierce, yet stylish action sequences and slow-motion gunplay that has become synonymous with Max Payne is back and better than ever.

* New and enhanced moves and options provide breathtaking cinematic game play.

As of yet there is no official word from Remedy on whether these are actual features of the game or not, but I'll update again as soon as I hear word about it.

More Features:

PC Powerplay has a good few pages on Max Payne. Some new info it has I haven't seen elsewhere...

1.) Different reload animations in Bullettime. For instance, normally Max will eject the empty clips from his Dual Berettas and manually reload them. In bullettime he'll fling the empty guns aside and pull fresh ones from his coat.

2.) The AI code has been completely recoded from scratch.

3.) There will be events where Max will have AI buddies who will take cover, return fire and chat amongst themselves, providing clues to where the enemy is. Apparently, this sequence is on par with the Half-Life 2 video.

4.) Bullettime has been improved an incredible lot. To quote the magazine: "It's tough to describe such a sight in words, but after seeing the single-most effortlessly cool and emphatically visceral minute of gameplay we've ever seen, all we wanted was more".

5.) Quotes from the new-and-improved Graphic Novels! They reveal that the trouble will start, once again, with "the death of a woman", and that after MP1, Woden keeps his word and Max emerges from the bloodbath with little more than a slap on the wrists, quitting the DEA to return to his NYPD roots. There's also a bit of a rant, with Max listing his wants.

6.) Finally, why a love story? "Because no-one has done it before", according to a certain Sam Lake.

So, yeah. Hope this clears some things up. If you want more info, grab the magazine or wait for someone to scan it or something.

Also: lip synching will be in the game. Lips and facial expressions will be made and move.

Story
So far we know that

A. Mona Sax will be Max's love intrest

B. Max will lose a loved one

C. Has been cleared of all alligations thanks to some help by Alfred Woden

D. Goes on the run for a murder he did commit

Weapons
Weapons that we know will be included

AK47

An MP5

Uzi

Any comments you have on this information should go to its respective thread and any additional info PM myself or Scarchelli

This message was edited by GTA GOD X on Jul 31 2003.

This message was edited by GTA GOD X on Jul 31 2003.

At fall, it rains bullets



"I wanted cigarettes and whisky. I wanted the sun to shine. I wanted to sleep and forget. To change the past and have my wife and baby girl back. I wanted endless amounts of ammo and a license to kill. And more than anything, I wanted her!" –Max Payne

Remedy Entertainment's Max Payne is a unique success story in finnish gaming history. A team from Espoo, raised from nearly nothing had faith for half a decade to work on a completely new kind of action game, where familiar patterns would be broken with movie-like slow motion effects.
The duration of work is well described by the fact that in the beginning of the project, slow motion tampering wasn't even specially fashionable. It was until 1999 when the big screen astonisher Matrix popularized the idea of playing with time for the gaming generation.

Max Payne came out for the PC on August 20012 and turned out to be an instant selling- and reviewing success. The game quickly broke the hit-frontier of a million copies sold, The success on the PC was only the beginning, for the sales of the game multiplied alongside the Xbox and Playstation 2 translations appereances. Based on the latest information, max payne has sold over 3,5 million copies all over the world. Thanks to the low-price publishments of the game, it is being sold as we speak.

Although a major part of the profits of the multi-million sales did drop into the money vaults of the publishing company Take 2, Remedy didn't come out empty handed either. In last years May, Take 2 bought Max Payne's rights to itself from Remedy and the producing 3Drealms. This was no minor deal: the price was nearly 40 million euros, from which nearly 30 million was handed over in Take 2 stocks.

Remedy had a gold mine in their hands, from which the group could have easily make express-profits by quickly producing the same kind of products over and over again. But the ambitions of Remedy grew much further than that: a sequel would be made but it would be made properly.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne has been in production ever since the first game came out. The work has advanced swiftly and another four-to-five-year wait isn't predictable. Remedy promises that the sequel will be in stores already in the next fall. After the PC-release come the translations for P2 and Xbox in the winter.



Dark Love



In the beginning of the first game, Max Payne was nothing but a boy, a young New Yorker with a beautiful wife, a newlyborn baby girl and a home on the better side of the river in New Jersey.

But the sunny days in Max Payne's life were about to end. The life, which at every perspective seemed too good to be true, turned into Max Payne's personal hell, when he discovered his family murdered in his home.

A fierce journey for revenge into the drug-infested underworld of New York didn't offer a salvation. The guilty ones paid for their crimes with their lives, but no sacrifice in blood would bring Max's family back. Destiny had reserved a hole so deep for Max, that there was no coming back once one hit the bottom.

A man can leave hell, but hell won't leave a man. In Max Payne 2, our tragic hero continues his struggle with the demons of his past.

" A dark past will probably never leave Max alone", says the scriptwriter Sam Lake, "That's why we have to think really carefully, what could drive Max forward anymore"

Lake's solution is surprising, but then again is very logic. Love overcomes all. If love to a lost family drove Max into the voyage for revenge, now love is what is keeping him alive. The new love in Max's life is Mona Sax, the murder suspect dwelling on the wrong side of the law. This creates the spark to Max Payne 2's film noir- love story: Max is an honest cop and Mona is a classic femme fetale, a dangerous woman.

"Just don't think that we are going soft", Lake comforts the players not used to love stories, "the sequel is dark, tragic and violent. Love can hurt, and Max's and Mona's romance can't have a happy ending."

Or can it?



Max's memoir



In the beginning of the first game, Max Payne was framed for the murder of his police partner, an aquisition that he finally was able to clear of. In the beginning of the sequel, Max is once again sitting in the bench of the accused, but this time he can no more convince his innosence. Max confesses the murder.

Max Payne 2 advances like it's precessor, as a flashback told by Max. The outcome, where Max takes the life of his partner is therefor already generally known, but the chain of events that lead to it, isn't. The journey is more important than the destination.

The story of the sequel is written to work as an independent piece, and you don't necessarely have to know anything special from the first game. To new players Max's past is quickly briefed in the beginning of the game. Older players may entertain themselves by seeking secondary characters from the first game, the few that were left alive, that is.

"We were very spendy on the characters in the first game. We introduced new characters just like that, only to get them killed a moment later", Lake states slightly troubled.

The lessons have finally been learned and the same mistake won't be made in the sequel. The story has been written to be much more intense and movie-like than the previous one. The person-gallery hasn't been filled too much, the game concentrates in a few central characters much more deeply instead.

On the other hand, effort is placed into the details of the game situations. The dead moments of the first game are gone, something is always happening around Max in the sequel. The use of graphic novels as a substitute of gameplay has been decreased, so one bumps into such screens only in the middle of levels.

Even though afterwards it's easy to point out the obvious mistakes in "Max-one", the main designer of the game, Petri Järvilehto doesn't want to judge the first part too steeply.

"In the end we are very satisfied on the first Max. When we were making it, we were practically just a garageband, so obviously we made some mistakes. Concerning the circumstances, the first game turned out as good as it ever could have gotten."



The new face



After lots of beginning-mambo-jambo, the moment of truth is near and the boys from Remedy start up Max Payne 2's demo. Attention does not focus on the technology first, but on Max's appearance: the man has gotten considerably older!

The new tough-guy look represents both Max's growth as the main character, but the clearly higher production values of the sequel. It has been possible to hire real professional actors as game characters, instead of anybody at Remedy who has the appropriate face like they did with the first Max Payne. Because Max Payne 2 is set in New York, what would be more appropriate than to hire the actors straight from New York?

"Still, we didn't want to choose Vice City's way and fill up the game with big name actors", Petri Järvilehto says, "The use of more unfimiliar faces was a concious choice by us. We wanted that Max Payne would stay in people's minds as Max Payne instead of some bought Pierce Brosnan"

Järvilehto moves to introduce the uncanny character cast of the game: dirty street bums, swollen italian gangsters and scarfaced junkies. It's easy to believe that the inhabitants of the gameworld are regular citizens of the dark side of New York. Also Max's loved one, Mona Sax looks like a woman instead of a cute girlie.

Photographic precision is only half the cake in the game characters. Only by careful animation designing the characters are really brought to life. The wholeness of Max Payne 2 is built by smaller and smaller details: instead of static grinnfaces the game characters can make realistic gestures with their faces and blink their eyes.

Besides the familiar bullet time air dives, the action scenes have been turbocharged with new electricity by growing Max's movement selection: doors are kicked open and the reloading of weapons are coloured by dramatically turning a full 360 with the leather jacket swinging. As one could expect, the recent fashion phenomenon in shooting games, ragdoll-physics, are playing their part in juicing up the gun-ballett in Max-two.

If Max Payne 2 looks good in the pictures, it looks even better in movement.



Impressive action



Alongside animations, Max Payne 2 has taken a huge step forwards in all the other things, too. The amount of detail in levels and the lightning- and particle effects have been taken to a whole new level. Is there anything left from the original MaxFX code?

"Max Payne 2 is based on the same technology, but as we went on with the project, the code had to be rewritten in many occasions.", Petri Järvilehto admits. Time was saved though, because it was not necessary to rewrite the entire code from scratch. The dirtiest and most time-consuming basework has already been done during the first Max.

One of the biggest positivities that spawn from the new game code is the game's AI, which is needed to control both the enemies in Max Payne 2, but the NPC's that travel alongside Max. Max, who stumbles into the wrong company finds himself aiding mafia gunmen. The guys are ugly and judging by their strong italian-american accent, quite stupid. But under fire these men prove to be a true help.

Even though the AI companions move on Max's side, the player doesn't hand out direct orders to them. Järvilehto states that the helpers are smart enough not to get them into situations where it would be necessary for the player to tell them to guard a door for example. Interesting playability is spawned from the companions and sweet situations, but also dark humor by making them do something really stupid.

Järvilehto decides to show the NPC's in real action.

After the compulsory introductions and other flip flopping, Max and the mafiamen move to the nightly street. Graffitis covering all the walls and pieces of wood covering the windows tell that we are not on Upper West Side. Max's gang's welcome is as warm as a 9 mm bullet dropping on the sidewalk. Max fires and the italian gansters scream from the side. Time slows down and the camera turns to a commando, who flips around from the force of the blow like Rudolf Nurejev in his best days. More shooting. Bullets tare down wall scrappings and cling as the hit a parked van on the side of the street. The gas tank receives a hit and the car raises to the nightly sky like in the Jerry Bruckheimer movies – again in stylish slow motion.

Max hurries onwards supportes by the mafiosos. One musn't lay down in the fire.

Järvilehto's talk about intensive movie-like action feels completely true while watching the gun action brought to it's absolute high in stylishness.



The Mona-card left unplayed



Alongside good technical ideas and sturdy action Max Payne 2 promises to the players more options. In the first Max continuing was always based on one card, but now the trouble spots have been scripted with alternative solutions.

But weight on the word "scripted", for strict control on the players doings is still in Järvilehto's opinnion the only way to keep the script intact. By solid scripting of the gaming events, the gamemakers can make sure that the game experience is in every situation and to all players, optimal.

"Still, I strongly admire games where the player is given the freedom to do what he wants.", Järvilehto says. "But in that kind of games one is forced to make big sacrifices concerning storytelling. Gamemakers divide into two schools in this matter, and both are right in some way."

The first Max Payne was critiziced for it's short length and to that Remedy promises a clear change. "We are certain that the sequel will be longer than it's precessor.", Sam Lake assures. Lenght is not artifically grown by stretching the plot. Interesting happenings and shocking plot twists are to be expected from the beginning to the very end.

Everything is taken to use from Max's and Mona's affair. Violence has been seen in video games for millions of times before, but lovestories is a subject that many have not had the courage to handle. Could that be the reason why shooting games have never been considered very adult-like?

Lake does not stop to underline Mona's central role in Max Payne 2. Even during the short introduction of the game, Mona is seen getting Max out of trouble and sharing an intimate moment in a dark alley. The Remedy boys give the impression between the lines that they have reserved an even bigger role for Mona in he game. Could she even be a playable character? "I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear the question.", Järvilehto answers with a wide smile on his face.

To one thing Petri does give a sturdy answer: multiplayer is not in plans this time around either.

This is all from a magazine that was translated. It gives ALOT of info too much to scatter it all over the above post. It answers alot of questions asked in the threads.

This is the first preview of the game I've come across. It's from GameSpot.com... has some nice info:

"Modern Hong Kong gangster movies such as The Killer and A Better Tomorrow from filmmakers like John Woo have become famous for their high-intensity, ultraviolent gunfights, in which heroes and villains spray each other with hundreds of rounds in beautifully choreographed, insanely over-the-top sequences. These films went on to influence the popular Matrix film series from the Wachowski brothers, as well as a small Finnish developer known as Remedy Entertainment, a self-described "garage band" group whose lack of resources resulted in constant delays in the development of the highly anticipated 2001 action game Max Payne. Yet despite its delays, Max Payne surprised everyone when it was finally released with its technically impressive graphics, exceptional production values, and its innovative "bullet time" game mechanic, which let you actually slow the passage of time--a neat trick that came in handy in the game's toughest battles and mimicked the dramatic effect used in the movies that inspired the game.

Remedy Entertainment and publisher Rockstar Games are back and have announced that the sequel, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, is not only in development, but is also scheduled for release this fall. That's right, the developer and publisher are both confident that the game will ship this year, and they attribute the sequel's shorter development cycle to having a more-experienced team of developers at Remedy, as well as having full access to Rockstar's production facilities in New York, which are home to motion-capture equipment, sound studios, and a team of producers who regularly go on location in their hometown of New York City to help provide on-location photos, artwork, textures, and other material for the upcoming game.

Like the first game, Max Payne 2 will take place in New York City, and the star of the show will still be the titular, world-weary cop Max Payne. And though Max is older, wiser, and much worse for wear, the story will unfold over the course of a retrospective that covers a recent series of events that led up to his current situation, like in the original game. Though Rockstar was not yet ready to confirm the lineup of actors who will provide voice talent for the game, the original actor who voiced Max Payne will reprise his role in the sequel. Apparently, despite the fact that in the original game Max had been framed for murder, had witnessed his family get slaughtered, and had exacted a brutal revenge on the criminals who had wronged him, he was somehow cleared of the charges brought against him and reinstated as a DEA agent--and was even considered to be a hero by the city. However, the understandably embittered Max cared nothing for those accolades and left the DEA to return to the NYPD as a regular detective. Over the course of the game's story, it will be revealed that Max will get framed once again, but he'll react much differently, considering that he's tired of fighting the system, as well as his own loneliness.

In other words, Max Payne 2 will be, as you might have heard, a love story--or as Rockstar describes it, a "film noir love story." His main love interest will be the beautiful and mysterious Mona Sachs, a murder suspect who had previously had a few run-ins with the law--and with Max himself--before the events in the sequel. Remedy apparently felt that a love interest was a key element that was missing from the original game, which introduced several key characters but quickly killed most of them off in a way that was practically wasteful. The developer felt that the sequel could benefit from developing its characters further, so just about every major character that survived the original game will return in the sequel. More importantly, according to the story, Max still is easily one of the best cops ever to hit the streets of the Big Apple, but it will take a lot to bring him back on duty--and Remedy decided that a love interest would fit the bill.

Tough Love

Like in the original game, the story in Max Payne 2 will be told through graphic-novel-style still pictures narrated by the characters, though we were assured that these sequences, along with in-engine cinematics and actual events in the game itself, will help unfold a much tighter, more cohesive story that may even include some risqué sequences that detail how the complex relationship between Max and Mona unfolds, both emotionally and physically. Though the game won't feature any obviously graphic scenes, there may be some innuendo from time to time, at least between the game's action sequences.

And there will be plenty of action sequences in Max Payne 2. We saw a few different levels that resembled the basic mission structure of the original game, in which Max must make his way through each area by getting past crowds of gun-toting enemies. From what we've seen of the game, it seems like many, many aspects of the original game's presentation have been updated and improved for the sequel, such as the facial animation for the character models, including Max, who went through most of the original game with a single, squint-eyed facial expression. Characters will be able to crease their brows and smile, frown, and speak with animated lips. They'll also be more detailed, thanks to Remedy's implementation of the Havok physics engine, which will provide minor visual touches, such as the way Max's leather jacket flaps behind him as he runs, as well as more-obvious effects, such as ragdoll physics in some of the game's more-spectacular death sequences. Thugs that are dispatched with incendiary grenades or Molotov cocktails will burst into flame, while enemies that get caught in the blast radius of a frag grenade will be launched into the air and will land in a heap.

Even Max's old stomping grounds will look better than ever; the game will feature even more highly detailed indoor and outdoor environments. The improved graphics engine will allow for extremely detailed scenery textures for colorful graffiti spray-painted on walls as well as for run-down brick buildings papered with old movie posters. Max Payne 2 will feature an improved lighting engine that will allow for real-time shadows and realistic fluorescent light from everyone's favorite light source, the New York City bus kiosk, as well as improved reflective surfaces on vehicles, such as the pristine police van we watched get torn apart with shotgun fire. The sequel will also feature improved particle effects, which will provide more-realistic-looking flames and smoke, and better-looking weapon effects, especially for shotgun fire that sprays fiery blasts of pellets, as well as Max's favorite lightweight submachine gun, the Ingram MAC-10 (like in the first game, Max can wield one in each hand simultaneously), which spits out a continuous supply of shell casings that accumulate in small piles on the ground when Max really gets down to business.

We also watched a sequence in which Max infiltrates a run-down building and poses as hired muscle for a group of jumpsuit-wearing thugs that bore more than a passing resemblance to the gangsters in the popular Sopranos TV series. In this mission, Max joined them as they descended down a stairway into the basement, then crept out to the streets. Though Max Payne 2 will primarily be a single-character game, the sequel will have AI that's advanced enough to allow for some squad-based tactics; we watched the lead thug open the door while his two cronies stood back and secured either side of it before the group took to the streets. But while the sequel will have interesting gameplay features like these, Remedy remains committed to its primary goal of creating a compelling and cohesive single-player game, which is why Max Payne 2 will feature some interesting play modes (including the challenging New York Minute mode from the previous game, as well as a currently unannounced, all-new mode) but will feature no multiplayer options whatsoever. Remedy is also very much aware of the criticism that the first game received about its length--the game could be completed by most players in about 10 hours. Yet while the game's script will be three times longer than that in the original game, the developer still wishes to focus on a game that most players will fully explore and eventually complete, so while the new game will be longer than the first, it won't be a drawn-out, 40-hour game that no one finishes.

Max Payne 2 seems very far along at this point, and both Rockstar and Remedy remain confident that the game will make its PC ship date this fall, and they will follow up with console releases for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 next year. Stay tuned to GameSpot for more updates on this action-packed sequel."

http://www.gamespot.com
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/maxpayne2/index.html

There are also some really good screens available there also.

NOTE: This is a preview of the PC version only.

Taken from the September 2003 issue of Game Informer Magazine, several sections wrapped up in one. I took out all quotes BTW from remedy, they kept reiterating everything

Introduction
When we were offered the oppurtunity to do a story on the return of Max Payne-the game that spawned dozens of clones and helped Rockstar establish itself as a force in the popular culture-we couldn't wait for the chance to see what the notoriously controversial company has in store for us.

The original max Payne was a breakout hit, selling over 4 million copies worldwide largely off of the strength of its hard-boiled tale of a man wrongly accused and then-unprecedented use of slow motion shooting (now known as bullet time)

For both Rockstar and the Finnish Creators of the series, Remedy Entertainment it was both a blessing and a curse.
...........quotes

This commitment to crafting a sequel that exceeds the original explains the two plus years since the original was released. What it doesn't explain is the "new direction" that Rockstar had been hinting that Max Payne 2 would take. Given the fact that the company has already scandalized the mass media Senator Joeseph Lieberman and parents around the world with the Grand Theft Auto Series; we naturally began to suspect the graphic and gritty avenues that Max Payne
2 might explore.
However in the world of Max Payne things are never as they seem. The truth behind this game actually proves to be more surprising than any display of virtual gore. Defying both our expectations and the mainstream media's perspection of Rockstar as purveyors of cheap shock tactics Max Payne 2 is something we could have never guessed, a love story.

But love is rarely the central focus of a video game. Will gamers accustomed to Rockstar's usual satirical, testerone-charged offerings embrace astory built around the most powerful of human emotions? Can a video game ever hope to deliver a story that truly affects the audience in the way a great book or film does? In theory, of course it can; but there's a difference between doing something and doing it right. Staking the long term fourtunes of one of your company's best known franchises on a narratibr device as tricky as love seems a bit risky doesnt it?

QUOTES basically Rockstar has faith in the Love-Noir fil concept, that it ain't a soft its a dark and violent love story, esque to Romeo and Juliet.... a cop in love with a female murder suspect...

I'll have more tommorow on this story, its huge

Ok heres the next part(s)

..is perfect for an action game.

Max Payne 2 does not find Rockstar going the way of soft focus Harlequin romance novels, Rockstar has not gone soft on us.
the story that Max Payne unfolds promises to be a dark ride through the life of a troubled man plaugued by old demons and new. The crucifix of MP2's plot is his desire for Mona Sachs, a dangerous woman who leads him into a strange series of events that threaten his very existence.
Like so many of the love-noir classics that inspired Rockstar and Remedy, Max Payne 2 is structured as a tragedy of sorts- a tragedy with enough violence intrigue and diabolical plot twists to satisfy any fan of life's seedier side. As the game 's subtitle suggests (fall of Max Payne)
Fate has not dealt a kind hand since the end of the First adventure, he stands accused of the murder of his partner again, however somehow he has confessed to the murder
Following this stunning revelation, we see the story unfold in a series of flashbacks as Max recounts where it went so wrong.
In the beginning we learn that not only did Max survive the ordeal of the first game, but actually emerged as a hero thanks to machinations of Senator Alfred Wooden. Although not exonerated, the death of his family and the corruption that he faced lead him to leave the DEA and join the NYPD. Ironically the man who once heavily pursued him, Jim Bravura is now his boss.
Working the homicide beat Max comes across a case that will change his life forever, and Mona Sachs, whom he assumed dead is the prime suspect. Although he senses that she cannot be trusted, their uncontrollable attraction leads him to the first of his errors in judgment that begin his decent into what reveals itself to be a hellish web of corruptions, lies and murder.
Although both Rockstar and Remedy were reluctant to reveal specifics on the plot, they did say that characters that survied last time would be in, Alfred Wooden, Russian Mob Boss Vladimir Lem, and to my(bri89)'s surprise, Vinnie Gognitti.
Rockstar promises that the story although it does contain more than it's share of bizarre turns, will be much more focused and coherent than the last game. Much of this is due the fact that there is a smaller cast of fully drawn characters.

Next Part- A different kind of Payne
If you've looked at the screenshots in these pages so far, one thing is noticable. Max Payne is a changedman in both the literal and metaphorical sense. The tremendous suffering and stress he has been through has written its story across his face, resulting in a character that looks a decade older than he did in the last game. In that aspect, it is almost blindspot to tell the difference between the two.

Rockstar explained to us that last time, Remedy had only a pool of amatuer models to choose from, well now that Rockstar and remedy have partnered, it has allowed for better, professional models and the use of Rockstar's New York Studio Development, which has worked on GTA 3 and Vice City in the past to help them out with movement.
After austioning more than 200 people, Remedy finally found the perfect Max Payne. Another thing that hasn't changed is Max Payne's trademark graphic novel cutscenes, which played a vital part in establishing the pulp fiction ambience the first time around.
We suspect that these static visuals were also due in part to the ecnomic constraints under which the first title was produced. They proved to be such a hit with both critics and fans that remedy has decided to stay with that style. if anything, they are more effective, showcasing an campy, tough-guy over the top style dialougue that fans expect. In one scene we witnessed, Max meets Mona in a back alley After a brief exchange, Mona asks Max-"What do you want from me"?
Max replies "The Things I want" by Max payne" A smoke, a whiskey, for the sun to shine, to get my family back, unlimted ammo and a license to kill. And you.

Next Part-A Graphic Depiction

Although Max Payne's gameplay redefined the shooter genre, it was not a graphical masterpiece. Realizing that success in the rapidly evolving PC Market can never be taken for granted, this was the area in which Remedy has improved on the most. To acheive this, the develpoment team rolled up their sleeves and went about ripping the original graphics engine. They've added mirrors, dynamic shadows, and even licensed an actual physics engine. yes that is a veritable laundry list of technical enhancements, but what is translates to is a game that is simply gorgeous. Seeintg it in action, we marveled at the detail that Remedy has achieved.
The nighttime city looks eerily real as we saw rain splashing on the ground and neon lightd reflecting on puddles and casting real-time shadows. During combat, shotgun blasts showered sparks off of a parked van ehich then exploded in a huge pyrotechnic display. texturing has been improved expotientally as had nearly every graphical aspect of the game.
The in-game characters models also eclipse their predecessors. Facial features can now be fully animated-allowing the developers to raise eyebrows furrow brows and create accurate lip movement. On a homelesss characters, the developers zoomed in close so we could see the deep lines, pockmarks that scarred his face. Max BTW has trashed his constipated look.

Next part: Evolving bullet time


Probably the biggest challenge Remedy faced when conceptualizing the sequel was how to address to host of gamers that had copied Max Payne' bullet time slow motion action Most of you probably still have fond memories of the first time you have experinced Bullet Time. You'd experience it again in other games (Dead To Rights, Enter the Matrix) to name a few. Rockstar actually finds it flattering all the cpycats of bullet time, but all that has been blown out of the water.

Unloaging your Glock in god-like fashion feels good before but the refined gameplay coupled with engine enhancements like the new particle effects and Remedy's use of the industry standard Havoc rag roll physics engine makes the sensation even more vivid. Now enemies flail and spin in the air crumpling to their knees and then the floor.
Although the developers are not changing the game's focus on blazing gunplay, the team realize the need to provide levels with more depth and variety than in the past. One major addition sees Max working with NPC characters, one scenario has him coming to the aid of three gangsters assaulting a crowd of gunmen in a back alley, his companiond took out snipers covering different postions and utitlizing cover like dumpsters and parked cars. Its an exciting new dimension to the game but the not the only surprise that Remedy has in store for fans. There is also more variety to the gameplay, as there is a police station location in where you get to do what Max Payne does in a day, you talk to fellow officers, intwerview witnesses and interview felons in custody and so forth-all in a day of a cop's work.
Console Conversion
While the XBOX version translated beautifully, the PS2 version was disapointing, and suffered from both a rushed production schedule and the condtraints of the console itself.
Rockstar Vienna is ensuring that the PS2 version has a better transfer than last time, We hope they're right.

Closing Note:
Given Rockstar's shocking success over the pst few years and the aobvious devotion that Remedy exhibits over it's hard luck detective, it would be difficualt to bet against Max Payne 2. This fall, when the PC version is relaeased and finally revealed in its finsihed form, expect that gamers around the world will be lining up to discover the answers to the questios themselves.

I'm not sure if anyone has already found this. I got some info off of the offical MP2 site.

In 2001, Max Payne arrived to set the benchmark for action gaming, earning countless awards and revolutionizing the genre with cinematic combat sequences fuelled by the groundbreaking use of slow motion and compulsive narrative-driven gameplay. Now, working together with Rockstar Games' New York-based production team, Remedy has combined Max Payne's hallmark gameplay with all new innovations and unmatched production values. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is set to raise the bar for action games all over again when it's released fall 2003.

FEATURES INCLUDE:


Storyline - a violent, Film Noir love story between a cop and a femme fatale murder suspect, between Max Payne and Mona Sax. Dark, tragic and intense, the story is a thrill-ride of shocking twists and revelations.

Max Payne's signature slow motion gunplay has been improved on every level. Get ready for Bullet Time 2.0.

New guns and new moves make action more cinematic and intense than ever before.

Fully integrated Havok physics engine allows for interactive environments creating incredible combat scenes. Ragdoll characters and physics in slow motion create breath-taking combat scenes.

All new AI - cooperative NPC's fight with Max and more believable enemies create tension and more interesting and varied challenge.

A stunning level of detail: Extremely detailed environments with photorealistic textures, highly enhanced radiosity lighting and extremely lifelike characters (including facial animations & lip synchronization) provide a visually staggering cinematic experience.

Massive production values - including a motion picture stunt crew, professional talent for voice acting and graphic novels, motion capture and authentic digital source material from New York City.

MANY ADDITIONAL FEATURES TO BE ANNOUNCED


This message was edited by MerylSnake on Aug 20 2003.

Alright guys this thread is starting to get cluttered alot of the stuff ius already posted by either scarch or myself so please read this WHOLE THREAD before you post

As long as everyone posts information that isn't already posted, and they edit their previous posts instead of posting new ones, it is fine.

IGN Media Page: There is a whole crapload of new media stuff there, videos and screens. In the videos it shows that the old health meter and painkillers are back. Fire in this game looks awesome

First review... It's for the PC, but in a forum as dead as this one, it deserves posting:

GameSpot.com's review of the PC version of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/maxpayne2/index.html

Sorry to be a bit of a pain in the arse, but is this game out yet? if not, when?

Thanks

Yeah, it's out. I think it's been out for a mounth.