Max Payne 2 is a continuation of the first game and pretty much improves upon everything thanks to a higher budget, with Remedy being picked up by Rockstar Games.

• The gameplay and gameplay loop is what you know and love from the first game, with improvements - Enemies deal less damage on the game's first difficulty, you can move at normal speed whilst in bullet-time, bullet-time slowly regenerates by itself on top of killing enemies, and you can shoot while being on the floor. Huzzah!
  
  
• The story follows up from the first game, with the game taking more of a film-noir love story side approach, as Mona Sax pops up whilst answering a dispatch call and the past comes back to haunt him once again. I won't spoil too much for those that haven't played it, but it's really good, told in comic strips and top tier voice acting from everyone involved (R.I.P James McCaffrey :( )
  
  
• Graphically, looks levels from the original, and runs good straight out of the box. There is a Max Payne 2 Fix Pack you can download if you wish from this steam guide, just a quick drag and drop files into the game's main directory
  
  https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1633394421
  
  
• Good weapon variety - Weapons are the same as before, with some new ones - The dual deagles (I was so happy when I learnt these could dual wield because they SLAP) the AK and the M4 carbine just to name a few (you can argue the carbine is pretty much just the commando from MP1 but reskinned). MP2 encourages you to use different weapons for different scenarios, so don't expect to be using the same guns over and over again
  
  
• Game uses projectiles and a bloom system as opposed to hitscan to give the game a bit of a skill gap, where movement, timing and dodging bullets is key to coming out unscathed. I like this a lot, it helps balance the "BS" deaths that you'd get in other games, where you just die to ridiculous hitscan enemies. (I'm looking at you Call of Duty on Veteran)
  
  
• OST never fails to disappoint. Nuff said. Masterpiece
  
  
• The addition of NPCs helping you was pretty cool. There's a moment in the game where two people can help you gun down cleaners, and even though it's short and sweet, I can appreciate it being a thing for its time. It felt more like an experiment to me, and it worked, so huge props to Remedy for trying something different
  
  
• More deep, hard-hitting Max Payne one liners. "Death is inevitable. Our fear of it makes us play safe, blocks out emotion. It's a losing game, without passion you are already dead."
  
  
• Set pieces are really good. My favourite one would have to be the construction site, where you play as both Mona and Max, especially when you get to Mona, as you defend Max from hostiles and work your way through different sides of the site to get the drop on enemies. May seem like a simple, one-off escort type of mission, but for its time, very fun to play!
  
  
• Unlockable difficulties, allowing multiple replays and just making the game harder for yourself
  
  
• I learnt that this and MP1 use an "self-adjusting skill level system," where the difficulty changes based on how good you're doing. This is only available on Detective, but I thought it was cool to mention because it'll be a mix of easy and hard moments when you play for the first time. This is why.

• Game was too short!!! I completed this two hours quicker than MP1 (MP1 took me 6 hours, MP2 took me 4), which is a shame because after I finished it, I felt like it more of a showcase or tech demo than an actual game, despite being a full game. Maybe it's because of the numerous difficulties you can complete it on, so that's why they decided to make it shorter
  
  
• Story could've been fleshed out a bit more, felt a bit confusing at times and didn't get the full picture until I watched a video on it

Max Payne 2 is a great sequel to the original game, building upon what they've established and making it more stylish, visually pleasing and question life. That last part is on Max, given how dark and sad this story gets.

"The past is a gaping hole. You try to run from it, but the more you run, the deeper, more terrible it grows behind you, its edges yawning at your heels."

KILL KNIGHT is an isometric twin-stick shooter that spawns you in arenas and has you surviving and fighting monsters.

• This game is freaking gorgeous. From the blood splatters to the red and black color palette to suit their representation of "The Abyss" and the visual effects shown on display when reigning down on your enemies, I've never seen anything quite like it before. With the exception of Devil Daggers, as I have a hunch that they took inspiration from that game when making this one, as they're very similar games with similar settings
  
  
• Gameplay loop is incredible. You start off by selecting your loadout (pistol, sword, armor, and heavy weapon), and you jump right into the fray, surviving for as long as you can in the game's 5 "layers" or levels. You're very limited at first glance, as you unlock more pieces of gear by completing challenges, but can also be unlocked with currency that you earn from completing different layers. You're able to repeat them again and earn more currency, and the rewards depend on your score at the end and difficulty
  
  
• Difficulty settings are available, as this game can be FREAKING hard, even on the game's first difficulty. It starts you off on the second one, but you can drop it whenever it's too much for you
  
  
• Runs like butter, no need for a god-tier PC. Frame rate options and a few graphic settings are available if you need to turn something off (blood effects may be the best thing to turn off if i had to suggest something for players who put more time into the game after completing it because it can be a bit much at times and hard to see what's going on)
  
  
• Leaderboards in this kind of game are always a nice touch - Lets you compete globally for high scores and there's difficulty separate ones too!
  
  
• KILL KNIGHT works off of a score + kill counter system where racking up kills and picking up blood gems raise your score and kill power, which plays the game in slo-mo for every threshold you hit. Basically, the quicker you kill things, the more score you get
  
  
• Love the wrath/overdrive system, allowing you to juice up your weapons after collecting a certain amount of blood gems. Essential for keeping yourself up and it just looks awesome seeing monsters get obliterated by whatever it is you're using. Allowing to slow time after parrying a move is also nice
  
  
• Game isn't just as easy as shooting things for as long as possible - You have to use all of the tools at your disposal. Heavy weapons are good but extremely limited, resorting to your sword to get it back. Your wrath is also limited, so you need to use it wisely as it takes a while to build. Overdrives require an active reload, so you can't just use them straight away. It's got a bit of a skill gap to it, and it's something worth noting for those that may want an easy and fun game, cause you won't get it here.

• Some of the game's challenges can be hard to achieve, like completing a level without failing an active trigger or completing a level without ever running out of heavy ammo. Thankfully, the unlock system helps to alleviate this a bit, so it's not too bad, but things are costly, which results in putting time in in order to unlock gear that way
  
  
• Game can be... a bit difficult at times, with so much happening at any given time, it's hard not to get frustrated if you just die due to clutter

Difficult, brutal and satisfying, KILL KNIGHT is a game I recommend to everyone who loves twin-stick shooters and is itching for more of this genre. On a positive note, I did test this on the Steam Deck as well and it ALSO runs like butter! Just lock your FPS to 60 instead of 90 to save that battery life :P