As I continue my journey through this classic of series I finish the only one I had yet to play prior. I originally played 1 through the mobile port (have since got a original xbox copy of the first game) and I played 3 much more recently witch brought me to want to finally finish the first game and play its sequal. I played through this game on my Steam Deck with the widescreen fix and my god does it play good on steam deck with gyro controls, absolutely wonderful time.

Now on to the actual review.
I did not fully know how to feel when starting this one, I had just come off the heels of the first game, witch has a delightfully wierd and even funny feel to it even through it gritty one liners and story,. Max payne 2 took some time for me to get that remedy feel, but once I started seeing those tv shows (and a level that takes place in a old theme park) max payne 2 really solidified itself as sequal unique from the first. 2 is trying to tell a bigger story, as well as flesh max out more, instead of being a man deadset on a revenge mission where he revels in the killing hes become more contemplative and for lack of better phrasing just more depressed. I appreciate the new dream segments, they still have that wonderful trippy feel, and Mona as a secondary protagonist gives this game so much more to really latch onto. While Mona and Max's love could have definitely got more fleshing out I love the ending of max finally being able to move past the death of his family (even if 3 throws that somewhat out the window).

Now that I have finished both 1 and 2 for the first time I now plan on replaying 3 with my new outlook on this series, and appreciate the context these 2 original romps have given me for the rest of remedy's catalog.