Max Payne 2 Demo Released, Developers Quizzed

Thanks to Blue's News for their post announcing that a playable demo of Remedy's PC third-person shooter Max Payne 2 has been released, with the 246 MB download featuring "the first three levels from the game, as well as a 'dead man walking' level that must be unlocked", and download sites including a BitTorrent link from 3DGamers. The well-received action title recently got a post-release interview over at Beyond3D, with project leader Markus Maki commenting on recent PC benchmarking controversy ("if a vendor can make the game run significantly faster with optimizations, without ruining the visual experience, I'm all for it"), and what they would have done with more time ("We're just scratching the surface of physics gameplay. With more development time, I'm sure our guys would've figured out a lot of cool stuff to do with them.")

Is it worth the download?

[pilot1]

Is it as good as the first one? Better than Jedi Academy?
What do the /.ers that have it think of it?

Re:Is it worth the download?

[Anonymous Coward]

Great game. Has everything the original had plus more... although it's just a bit too short.

Re:Is it worth the download?

[Hott of the World]

Mixed reviews, definitely caters to the fans of the original.

I for one, did not find the original all that entertaining. Beat it once.. then the novelty of bullet time wore off and I was stuck watching bad cutscenes.

But if you liked Max Payne, then its gold!

Re:Is it worth the download?

[irc.goatse.cx troll]

I enjoyed both, but you really only get one run through before its boring. It is a great story and told very well (dream sequence effect was superb), but I honestly don't see myself playing through it again. Same is true with any storyline based game for me, I can fire up quake1 singleplayer any time and its still fun, but once the game has too many cutscenes and dialog it just kills replay. (granted, playing through it again using developer mode to get the nude chick skin would be fun)

Re:Is it worth the download?

[McTimson]

I thought it was an excellent game...if you have a decent system, then it looks really good. It's definitely a fun game, but it gets kind of easy...easier than the first one anyway...and the novelty of bullet time does wear off after a while, but...it's so cool! It's worth the download just to check it out, there's a lot of cool physics stuff involved, and the game puts it in slow motion so you can see them happening. I thought it was excellent, but after you beat it, there's really not much else to do.

Re:Is it worth the download?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, it's worth the download if you liked the original MP at all...

The demo clocks in at about half an hour to finish, which means that you'll have played through roughly three quarters of the game.

MP2 - Great, but so short it hurts.

Re:Is it worth the download? Yes

[mseeger]

Hi,

it's a good but short game. Optimal for guys like me who like to play but lack the time. Even short on time you're able to play through the complete game.

Style and story is better than most games. And it's playable even without being 20 years old an having a cat's reflexes.

Regards, Martin

Another torrent

[AIX-Hood]

To spread the load a bit since they got bogged down last time: http://www.filerush.com/torrents/maxpayne2demo.exe .torrent [filerush.com]

Re:Support the Developers!

[Holi]

Ack should have said parent post. What a wonderful thing to do to the developers when they offer a free demo.

3 Levels?

[Anonymous Coward]

3 Levels? Isn't that like half the game?!

Only kidding. It's a great game, even if it's a little short maybe ;)

The snow falls down like ash from an chimney...

[DocUi]

And I wait, as the bits flow like dripping water into my hard drive. I think to myself..., is this a just as angsty remake of the original. Or will they make me believe again.

No duh..

[MMaestro]

"if a vendor can make the game run significantly faster with optimizations, without ruining the visual experience, I'm all for it"

Well DUH! Thats like saying "well if we can remove the speed limit everywhere without increasing traffic accidents, I'm all for it."

Re:No duh..

[wed128]

You took that out of context...in the article that was a statement to support optimization for benchmarking tools to make the game LOOK better for advertizing and review purposes, not for the end user...

Sounds fun

[wed128]

Sounds fun...do ya think we'll ever see a linux binary?

wineX

[trans_err]

anyone have this working with transgaming's wineX?