Max Payne 2

Max Payne 2 is a third-person shooter featuring linear levels spread across three distinct chapters. Throughout the majority of the game, the player assumes the role of returning protagonist Max Payne; in several levels from the second and third chapters, the player controls secondary protagonist Mona Sax. Initially, the player's weapon is a 9mm pistol. As they progress, the player gains access to more powerful weapons including other handguns, shotguns, submachine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and hand-thrown weapons. To move the game along, the player is told what the next objective is through Max's internal monologue, in which Max iterates what his next steps should be.

When first played, the game offers one difficulty level that is adjusted automatically if the game is too difficult for the player. For example, if the player's character dies too many times, the enemies' artificial intelligence is made less effective, while more health in the form of painkillers is made available. After completing the game once, other difficulty levels are unlocked. Two special game modes are also activated: New York Minute and Dead Man Walking.

Two years after the events of the first game, Max Payne (James McCaffrey) has been acquitted of the charges against him and reinstated in his old job as a detective for the NYPD, thanks to his connections to the Inner Circle secret society. The story is narrated from Max's perspective, who recalls the events of the past few days. The first flashback takes place in the hospital, where Max is recovering from a gunshot wound. Several assassins raid the hospital to try and kill him, but Max avoids them and makes his way to the morgue, where he finds the body of a woman he has recently killed. The game then goes back further in time, to a few nights prior.

While investigating a gunfight at a warehouse owned by his ally, Russian mobster Vladimir "Vlad" Lem (Jonathan Davis), Max encounters a group of hitmen called "the Cleaners", who raided the warehouse for guns. Max is also surprised to run into contract killer Mona Sax (Wendy Hoopes), who he thought had died two years ago. Max heads to Vlad's restaurant to question him about the raid, only to find him under attack by mobsters led by their mutual enemy, Vinnie Gognitti (Fred Berman). After saving Vlad, he claims that Vinnie, now the underboss of the Punchinello Crime Family, is trying to monopolize the black market arms trade and sees Vlad as a threat.

Take-Two Interactive issued a press release on 5 December 2001 that announced its acquisition of the Max Payne franchise from Remedy Entertainment and 3D Realms for US$10 million in cash and 970,000 shares of common stock, and its plans to release Max Payne 2. On 22 May 2002, Take-Two announced that they agreed to pay up to $8 million as incentive payments to 3D Realms and Remedy Entertainment to develop Max Payne 2. On 3 September 2003, Take-Two officially announced a release date of 15 October 2003 for the game.

Originally modeled in Max Payne after the game's writer Sam Lake, Max's appearance was remodeled after professional actor Timothy Gibbs for Max Payne 2; James McCaffrey returned as the voice of Max. The game's plot was written by Lake, who decided to write it as a "film noir love story", as he felt that it suited Max's persona the best. Lake hoped that the story would break new ground, noting, "At least it's a step into the right direction. I'd like nothing better than to see new and unexpected subject matters to find their way to games and stories told in games."

Max Payne 2 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, while the PS2 version received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.

Steve Polak of the Australian The Daily Telegraph, who enjoyed the first Max Payne game, also praised Max Payne 2, calling it an "outstanding" game that "keeps alive the sense of atmosphere and engaging gunplay-oriented action that was so exciting in the first release." He lauded the game for better production values compared to the first game, including its more polished story, more professional scripts, and better acting and graphics. The complexity of Max's character was a welcomed element by Polak, who found that games often created heroes that were simplistic. The Sydney Morning Herald's Dan Toose described the game's experience as "brutal, yet beautiful gun-blazing gaming".