Hmm, I haven't actually done much to write about. The last two days I've been reading and playing Max Payne 2. I've finished it now, on the 'detective' setting, and although I could play the newly unlocked levels of difficulty I can't really be bothered. The game was great, but I know the story now! Well, I ought to know, to be honest I'm quite confused what with all the conspiracies that seem to be ever more elaborately intertwining. If that's even a word.

I liked lots of things about it. The thing that struck me first of all (apart from the fact Max looks like a completely different person... yeah, they used another model, boo hoo) was the way things fall over when you run into them. The graphics are very pretty, and the graphic novel is as moody and atmospheric as ever. (If you didn't play the first game, between each bit of action you're told things in the style of a graphic novel, with voice actors reading the lines... it's very cool.)

I also liked the way they'd tried to add new elements to the gameplay, although the game seemed a little too easy for some of the new aspects to be necessary. For instance, in two places you join up with other people, but when you can do the job singlehandedly why bother? You also get to play a character other than Max, and at certain times you're working together, which is very well done. And there are babysitting levels, which work well. But it was a little easy. I mean, there was a lot of ammo. Never any danger of running out. And it was very hard to exhaust your supply of bullet time (the slow motion Matrixy effect). These two factors meant that you didn't really have to think about strategy very much.

And I'm still confused about what it all means.

*sigh*

Ho hum... one last thing about the game was the excellent song that plays in the end credits, which is perfectly suited to what you're feeling after completing the game. It's called Late Goodbye and it's by the Poets of the Fall, who don't have a record deal so you can't buy the song. I expect if you download the mod stuff from the game's website you can extract the song from one of the game CD's, but I found it on Kazaa. I like it. :)

So that's about it... for the moment.

I have been mostly.... WATCHING (TV): neighbours (bbc 1); stargate sg-1 (sky 1) / READING: birdsong (sebastian faulks) / LISTENING: late goodbye (poets of the fall); disarm (smashing pumpkins)

posted by Fiery Fred @ 10:36 PM